in 1966. At the time, uncertain of her son's death, the book's dedication read as follows: "FOR THE ROCK [her son's nickname] and the children and sugar people of NamCan". The TV series The Flying Nun, starring Sally Field, was based on this book. The sitcom was produced by ABC between 1967 and 1970. Upon learning of their son's fate, Ríos and her husband tried to find out what they could about the circumstances surrounding his death. She went to Paris in the late 1960s, trying unsuccessfully to see the North Vietnamese delegation as it arrived for peace talks. Ríos expressed her frustration and anguish in poems and in unpublished novels. Final years Ríos was presented with a Special Forces patch and unit membership certificate. In 1970, a movement to award her son the Medal of Honor failed and instead Ríos and her husband were presented with their son's Silver Star. Her husband Colonel Humbert Joseph Versace died on June 12, 1972. Ríos returned to Puerto Rico in 1990, retiring in the town of Fajardo. In 1999, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and she left the island to return to the mainland. She was hospitalized in Sarasota, Florida. Marie Teresa Rios died on October 17, 1999, and her funeral was held at the Ft. Myer Old Post Chapel. Representatives of the Special Operations Command from Fort Bragg were present. Her ashes were buried with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery on November 12, 1999. She was survived by her four children Dr. Stephen, Richard (former coach of the Indiana Pacers), Michael and Trilby Versace. On July 8, 2002, President George W. Bush presented Marie Teresa Ríos' surviving children with the Medal of Honor which was posthumously awarded to Captain Humbert Roque Versace. Bibliography An Angel Grows Up (1957) Brother Angel, Academy Guild Press (1963) The Fifteenth Pelican, Avon Camelot (1966) See also List of Puerto Rican writers Puerto Rican literature Puerto Rican women in the military Irish immigration to Puerto Rico History of women in Puerto Rico Notes References 1917 births 1999 deaths American people of Puerto Rican descent United States Army personnel of World War II Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Puerto Rican Army personnel Puerto Rican women in the military Puerto Rican Roman Catholics American women in World War II United States Army soldiers Military personnel from New York City Writers from Brooklyn