Capas National Shrine April,20,10

[jnmodeller]

Some pics from Capas National Shrine, Unveiling of the new monument dedicated to the Filipino civilians, who help the soldiers along the Death March, risk their own lives. I was surprise most of the attendees were Australians and Americans.






The ceremony started with the playing of the Australian, U.S., and Philippine National Anthems. while the scouts and commonwealth army holds the colors. they stand attention for 40minutes or more with out moving a bit.


Dr. Rico Jose –in denim uniform a highly reputed historian and professor at the University of the Philippines


Dr. Legarda announced and unveiled the new monument


Rep US Embassy (left) and Rep from Australian Embassy


Jojo Nicolas, Scottish Bag piper who flew all the way from Japan to play and Many Ortega (right)


Hubert Caloud Assistant Superintendent American Cemetery


Philip, Dax and Erich (right)


Junreys first event

[legionnaire]

Dr. Rico Jose's opening remarks not included below were about our different uniforms of the USAFFE units we represented that fought in Bataan. Thank you Rico!

Dr. Rico Jose's speech:
VFW Ceremony 20 April 2010, Battling Bastards shine, Capas, Tarlac, Philippines

Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor – Defenders of the Philippines

Today we commemorate the sacrifice and patriotism of those men and women who participated in the battles of Bataan and Corregidor. We remember how so many of them, without thought of reward or fame, volunteered to do their duty to country when World War II in the Pacific began. 68 years ago today, they were here in this camp… Unfortunately many of them have gone, and their heroism and sacrifice are being slowly eroded by experiences of others – who were not in Bataan and Corregidor. Those still around are of an advanced age and can no longer travel far.

Some of those men and women were regulars – officers and personnel of the US and Philippine armies. Some were professionally trained in West Point, Annapolis, the PMA and other military training institutions. But the bulk of them were reservists who had been called to duty just a few months before the war. With the creation of the USAFFE, tens of thousands of Filipino reservists were called to the colors and reported for refresher training. The PAAC was first inducted into the USAFFE in August 15, 1941; the first reserve regiments reported on September 1. The second reserve regiments were called over a month later, and the third regiments were called only a week before Pearl Harbor was bombed.

The PS was authorized to fill its ranks to full strength also a few months before the war started; thus the PS units were manned by long time hardened career soldiers as well as newcomers. The same can be said of the 31st Infantry Regiment (US), whose ranks were opened to Americans living in the Philippines.

From the US came last-minute reinforcements in the way of two tank battalions – National Guard units – fighter and bomber units and junior officers to serve as advisers to the mobilizing Philippine Army. Many were called from peacetime pursuits and hurriedly sent to the Philippines.

As for women, there were American and Filipino nurses serving in the US Army and Navy hospitals; and although the PA did not yet have a nurse corps, it had civilian nurses in its employ. Other women were involved in intelligence gathering.

Few realized the gravity of the impending crisis, as we well know. Although hindsight shows that the signs were glaring, we must remember the peacetime mood in the Philippines at that time, and the prevailing attitudes towards the Japanese.

The start of the war caught almost everybody by surprise; but the mood was buoyant as most people felt that the war would be over in a few days or weeks. The US and the Philippines had been attacked without warning, and volunteers flocked to the recruiting centers. These included reservists who had not yet been called, and civilians with no military training but who simply wanted to do their share in the fight to defend the Philippines. Overage and underage alike wanted to join the army. Those volunteers were not just Filipinos and Americans – we must also mention Czechs, Norweigans, Danes, British.

We know most of the story – how the bulk of the air forces were destroyed in the first days of the war, how the beach defenses were overwhelmed (but not without a fight in some places such as Mauban). Units which had not witnessed war yet were still optimistic – when the withdrawal to Bataan was ordered, some felt it a picnic (brought golf clubs, dress uniforms for the victory parade, etc).

But the reality of war soon was upon them. Defending the front lines with unreliable ammunition, facing a relentless and determined foe, seeing death in the face… Conditions in the front line are difficult to imagine now – foxholes and trenches – difficulty of doing even the most basic things in the front line (no change in clothes, no baths, limited rations and water; Japanese use of psychological warfare – firecrackers, noise at night… ). The miracle was that the defenders held as they did.

It was the shortage of food and medicine which in the long run proved costly. Doctors and nurses struggled with limited resources to treat the combat casualties and the increasing numbers of sick – malaria and dysentery, malnutrition. Members of the Quartermaster Corps sought ways to provide alternative sources of food – salt making, fishermen, going behind Japanese lines to obtain rice and rice mills. Crews of ships made the dangerous voyage to the Visayas to obtain food, while that opportunity was still available. Many of the ships were sunk.

The USAFFE also cared for the civilians in Bataan – through the creation of camps – and the civilians themselves tried to provide what assistance they could.

I am not sure how many states of the US were represented in the defense of the Philippines, but many of them were. As for the Philippines, the defenders of Bataan and Corregidor included men from all provinces on Luzon, and also men from the Visayas – two divisions were sent from Negros and Leyte/Samar to bolster the Luzon defenses. There were also men from Panay, Cebu – and even Mindanao. There were some Muslim Filipino officers, and Igorots and Aetas from the mountains. There were at least two Filipino officers with Japanese fathers (and Filipino mothers). So the country was well represented.

The whole Philippines had a stake in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor. Filipinos and others followed the campaign as best they could – in Manila, wives of soldiers went up to the waterfront to look at the Bataan peninsula. The defenders of Bataan and Corregidor were the source of hope and inspiration for the Philippines and the US. Even today among Filipinos, one who served in Bataan and Corregidor is regarded with awe and respect.

It is no wonder that the public outpouring of support to the defenders was so sincere even after Bataan and Corregidor surrendered. Selfless civilians gave food, clothing and even their homes to those marching the Death March. Even at the risk of getting slapped or worse by the Japanese. When Corregidor surrendered in May and the American defenders of the Rock were forced to march in the “gloat march” in Manila, Filipinos and others tried to provide water and at least signs of sympathy and support.

Civic organizations were mobilized to provide medicine and food for the prisoners in Capas, and even for those Filipinos who were released but could not go home. These individuals and organizations continued to try to help the American POWs until the last; and many of them paid with their lives.

In the end, we recognize that, as Carlos P Romulo once told me, the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor were not just that; they were defenders of the Philippines.

[legionnaire]

From: Steve Kwiecinski
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 3:19 AM
Subject: Steve and Marcia go to the Capas National Shrine

On Monday Steve guided for a group which arrived from the province of Cavite in two small bancas. Several of the adults were supporters of a local orphanage, and three boys, orphans, were also among the group. All went well until they was ready to return to Cavite, at which point the Coast Guard informed them that the banceros were in violation of several regulations, including one bancero having arrived without his license, no life jackets on board either boat, and overloading the bancas. The one bancero claimed to have forgotten to bring his license, and both acknowledged that they should have brought the life jackets, but also asserted that in the past they have never been approached by the Coast Guard. (Due to a number of banca accidents in the Philippines in recent months, it appears that the Coast Guard is cracking down on unsafe practices, something that will ultimately save lives.)

After a lengthy discussion, the Coast Guard agreed to let both banceros return home with their boats, but were adamant that the passengers find another way back to Cavite. This meant either renting a large banca from Corregidor at considerable cost, or taking the Sun Cruises ferry to Manila and then finding their way back to the orphanage by bus. They chose the ferry, and as it turned out, we were going to Manila that afternoon so we spent the 75-minute trip visiting with some of them. So be forewarned: if you are coming to Corregidor via banca, make sure that your bancero is in Coast Guard compliance, or you could be stuck in a similar frustrating situation.

The reason that we were going to Manila was to attend the annual Bataan Death March remembrance ceremony at the Capas National Shrine in Tarlac. In the past it has been scheduled soon after the Mount Samat ceremony of April 9, thus taking place while we were still on tour with our Valor Tours group. This year it was moved to the 20th in hope of drawing a larger audience. The shrine is located at the site of Camp O’Donnell, terminus of the DM and the initial prison camp for the 50-55,000 soldiers who survived it.

After an overnight stay in our usual hostel in Malate, we were off to Makati where we joined a distinguished group for the ride to Capas. Edgar (Bubi) Krohn, whom we have featured in the past, rented a 10-passenger van for us. The group included Leslie Murray of the Filipino-American Memorial Endowment, her husband Brian, author Marie Vallejo, retired Doctor of Economics Benito Legarda, Jr., and Elsa, a website designer hard at work on the site for F.A.M.E.

We left Makati at 8:30, hoping to arrive at the shrine before the program’s scheduled start at 11:00. However, traffic was so heavy that we didn’t get out of Metro Manila until 10:00, putting us almost an hour behind the goal. Given the group in the van, it was an enjoyable and interesting ride. Bubi was directing the driver in Tagalog, and talking with Benito in Spanish. Bubi’s first language is German, since his ancestors came to the Philippines from Germany. He says that he also “gets by” in French, and we can vouch for his excellent English.

Leslie had phoned ahead, and since our group included some of the honored guests, everyone at Capas waited patiently for us. We arrived shortly after 11:30, and the ceremony got underway around noon, opening with the playing of the Australian, U.S., and Philippine National Anthems. After the invocation and several introductions, Dr. Rico Jose – a highly reputed historian and professor at the University of the Philippines – gave the keynote talk. He was dressed in period clothing which he described for us, a typical Filipino Scout’s uniform, essentially a one-piece blue denim coverall. Then Dr. Legarda announced and unveiled the new monument dedicated to the Filipino civilians of the three provinces of the DM – Bataan, Pampanga, and Tarlac – who aided the soldiers along the Death March, at risk to their own lives. Approximately eighty percent of the participants of the DM were Filipinos, and this new marker was dedicated to Filipino civilians. Therefore we found it a bit ironic and sad that most of the 100 or so in attendance were Americans and Australians, many of them members of the Angeles Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2485. We hope that the smaller Filipino contingent was a byproduct of publicity challenges combined with the event taking place on a work-day, and not due to apathy. We were pleased that a number of our friends from the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society in attendance. They came wearing their authentic khaki uniforms, serving as an honor, lending a nice air of formaility to the event.

The two of us have prior experience with lunch at VPF Post 2485, since we always stop there during our trips with Valor Tours. Our sincere thanks go to Bubi Krohn, who treated the group to a tasty though very late lunch. Thanks also to Leslie for her invitation and encouragement to attend in spite of having just gotten back to Corregidor following our tour.

Fortunately for all of us, we seemed to encounter less traffic on our ride back to Manila. We arrived at the hostel about 7 o’clock, much more tired than you’d expect from a day mostly spent sitting. Wednesday morning we returned to Corregidor, with no major events scheduled for a while.

Steve and Marcia on the Rock – comment and read previous newsletters at: steveandmarciaontherock.blogspot.com

[VeeVee]

Great job guys. Good to see Dr. Jose too. His PA impression looks good. Do you have the rest of his speech?

[legionnaire]

I've added them in it was on three pages. Thanks for checking.

20th April 2010, Battling Bastards shrine, Capas, Tarlac.






Dr. Rico Jose wearing Guinit Sun helmet and dungaree's of the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines
Flanked by Philip And Manny Ortega

photos of upper two sent in by Steve Kwiecinski




Wreath for the Filipinos killed aiding the USAFFE pow's.

Philip, Edgar Dela Pena, Erich Nicolas, Manny Ortega, not seen is Reynaldo holding Commonwealth Flag of the Philippines.




detail of the Plaque of the Philippine Scouts, were we had two guys with the US and P Scout flag next to it.




10th of April, 2010 , Battling Bastards Shrine, Capas, Tarlac

Lto R - Pedro Javier, Jojo Nicolas, Philip Garcia, Edgar Dela Pena, Erich Nicolas, Jojo Dy







Taps

Capas Shrine, Black circular wall.
Philippine Scouts Living History Company, Fort McKinley, Manila

photos taken by Perry Javier

[frank]

Thanks for posting the pictures.

Frank