 Margaret Utinsky was actually long gone from Manila by the time the  raid on Cabanatuan took place. She fled to the mountains of Bataan  in September 1944, when the Japanese discovered and broke up her  smuggling operation. Also, she had no love interest with any officer  inside the camp, she did what she did out of compassion for the  prisoners plight, at great risk to her own life. After the war she  was awarded the United States highest civilian decoration, the  Medal of Freedom. The producers are to be commended for including  her story in the movie, however, and their depiction of how she and  her cohorts smuggled medicine and supplies into the camp is fairly  accurate.