Corregidor

 You may or may not know this about our family: we are huge history buffs, especially Roy.  So the second biggest draw about Manilla (after the Temple), was the chance to visit the island of Corregidor, which sits in the mouth of the Manilla Bay. Thankfully, on the last day of our visit, the weather cleared, (good-bye curse!) so the tour boat to Corregidor was running again. Quick to the docks and off we went! 

 The trip took just over an hour and although my motion sickness once again threatened, the barf bag was unused.  whewwwww. 

Manilla

written by Roy:
Corregidor Island, about 3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, sits at the mouth of Manila Bay and during World War II was defended by American and Filipino troops against the Japanese.  It was the HQ for General Douglas MacArthur until he was ordered to Australia in March 1942.  The island was heavily fortified with large cannons/mortars and underground tunnels/bunkers.  The Japanese planned to capture the area within two months of the attack on Pearl Harbour and first bombed the Philippines 8 hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, but almost 15,000 American/Filipino soldiers held out on the island until May 1942, which disrupted the Japanese invasion plans throughout Asia.  The American commander (after General MacArthur was evacuated) was General Jonathan Wainwright and he spent the rest of the war as the highest ranking American POW; at the Japanese surrender ceremony on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor in 1945 General MacArthur counter-signed the surrender document and handed the pen to General Wainwright as a sign of respect.  There are many buildings and big guns still on Corregidor, all with extensive battle damage, and it’s a very interesting place to visit (there is much lush rainforest there so great birds and wild monkeys too).
 

our island tour transportation

Middleside barracks

Battery Hearn

Topside Parade grounds

It was truly beautiful here; I wonder if it was considered a Garden of Eden posting? There was a movie theater, swimming pool, private beach, Officer's Club, cheap domestic help and a wonderful tropical climate.
That is until December 7, 1941..... 

This statue is titled "Brothers in Arms" ; and the base reads:
In these hallowed surroundings where heroes sleep, may their ashes scatter with the wind and live in the hearts of those who were left behind. They died for freedom's right and in heaven's sight theirs was a noble cause.

Lorcha dock

General Douglas MacArthur

This is the Lorcha dock; where General MacArthur made his famous statement: "I shall reurn" He was ordered earlier to leave twice and refused. Finally in early March 1942, after being sternly ordered a third time, MacArthur, his wife and son, reluctantly departed for Australia.  He would keep his promise and return in 1944, landing on Leyete with the United States Sixth Army, to liberate the Philippines.
 The mountains across the bay is Bataan, as in the Bataan Death March of 1942. The US military personal captured on Corregidor were taken there. 

The Malinta Tunnel is 834' long,  with twenty four 24' wide side laterals. Built with concrete, it was a bombproof shelter with a 1,000 bed hospital, Gen. MacArthur's USAFFA headquarters, shops and vast labyrinth of storehouses.  I was humbled by the incredible bravery of those men that held out for 6 long months against the intense Japanese bombing.  The #1 reason that forced their surrender was the loss of water; the bombing had destroyed the islands' water supply tanks.

I have long held a very low opinion of the Japanese Army for their atrocities against American soldiers and brutal treatment of POWs. On our tour was this elderly Japanese gentleman that had been a young soldier on Corregidor just after it was taken in 1942.  He was returning for the first time since the war.  It was hard to hate this friendly sweet man who spoke no English and just following orders. 
Good lesson to me about judging others.......