TRUE STORY OF THE CHILD AND PADRE OF GUADALCANAL
During World War II, this "Child of Miracles" gives hope to thousands of Marines during some of the deadliest battles in the Pacific.
The story opens with fierce battles raging between the Japanese and Marines for control of Henderson airfield on Guadalcanal. During these battles, natives on the island find a wounded child of six in the jungle. Padre's prayer vigil brings her back from near-death. He coincidentally names her "Patsy Li."
The saga then takes us back to early 1942, where a child is fleeing from Singapore with her mother aboard a crowded evacuation ship. Suddenly the ship sinks. Separated and set adrift in treacherous waters, mother and child survive. The mother never gives up the search for her child.
Many years later, a reunification meeting of Patsy at the orphanage with her possible mother. When all seems lost, unexpected evidence appears that suggests that Patsy might indeed be her long lost child.
They both become U.S. citizens with the help of Padre's official contacts. Patsy Li ultimately overcomes her traumatic experiences, until a later DNA test changes everything--or does it?
Captain Rev. Frederic P. Gehring was the First Naval Chaplain to receive the Legion of Merit Medal from the President of United States, and the Presidential Unit Citation, for his heroic work on Guadalcanal
