News items and articles of interest

[VeeVee]

Please post any relevant news items or articles here. I'll start:

I found this from the Philippine Military History forum, and thought this piece of news should also be posted here.
----------------------

South Koreans invite Filipino war vets to lunch

Inquirer
Last updated 09:14am (Mla time) 06/11/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- A South Korean federation on a worldwide tour to thank the 16 countries, including the Philippines, that sent combat units to fight in the Korean War is inviting Filipino veterans of the conflict to a luncheon in their honor at the Manila Hotel on Monday.

The UN Peace Forces of the Korean War Memorial Federation based in Seoul will host the luncheon which will feature a program to be hosted by UPKMF officers.

The UPKMF aims to reunite South and North Korea which technically are still at war since both nations have not signed a formal peace treaty ending the Korean War of 1950-53.

The UPKMF has invited veterans belonging to the Peftok Veterans Association Inc., the association of Filipino Korean War veterans, to the luncheon. The UPKMF is also scheduled to lay a wreath at the Korean War Memorial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes Cemetery) in Taguig City.

Peftok, or the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea, consisted of five battalion combat teams from the Philippine Army that fought in the Korean War and helped maintain the peace following the Armistice signed on July 27, 1953, ending the combat.

Over 7,000 Filipinos fought in the Korean War, suffering over 500 casualties. Some 2,000 of the veterans are still alive

[VeeVee]

18,155 Filipino war vets to benefit from US equity bills

services.inquirer.net/express/07/06/20/html_output/xmlhtml/20070619-72188-xml.html

[VeeVee]

Filipino WW2 vets in Guam

www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/COMMUNITIES/704070301/1054

[VeeVee]

www.philstar.com
Manila largest circulation daily
Headlines:

Pinoy war vets win pension battle in US Senate

By Jose Katigbak STAR Washington Bureau
Friday, June 29, 2007

WASHINGTON - The US Senate Committee on Veterans
Affairs voted on Wednesday to give monthly
pensions of up to $375 for Filipino World War II
veterans and their widows for their service to
Uncle Sam more than 60 years ago.

"Today marks a special and historic occasion in
our long-standing quest for justice and equity for
our brave and courageous veterans," said
Philippine Ambassador to Washington Willy Gaa
after the committee, at a mark-up hearing,
approved an omnibus benefits bill providing for a
special set of benefits for men and women who have
fought under the US flag.

The measure provides a monthly pension of $300 for
Filipino veterans who are single, $375 for married
veterans and $200 for widows.

A mark-up hearing is where the committee decides
the level of funding that goes into the
appropriations for the bill.

The House Committee on Veterans Affairs is
expected to have its own mark-up hearing on the
House version of the Filipino equity bill in two
weeks' time.

Gaa, in a statement, thanked Democratic Sen.
Daniel Akaka of Hawaii for sponsoring the Senate
bill and for working for its passage with the
veterans Committee which he chairs.

"The tireless support of such friends of the
Philippines as Sen. Akaka and Sen. Daniel Inouye
(Democrat, Hawaii) will always be remembered by
the Filipino people," he said.

The committee vote on Wednesday came exactly a
week after Sen. Richard Gordon visited Washington
to lobby Senators Akaka and Inouye and other US
legislators, some personal friends of his, to pass
the equity measure pending in Congress.

"We've never come this close before on the equity
issue. We're almost at the end of the tunnel. We'
re on the last lap," Gordon told the
Filipino-American community.

According to official records there are 18,155
Filipino veterans still alive out of 260,143
inscribed in the US Army roster immediately after
the war. The number of widows is not immediately
known.

About 12,000 of these war veterans live in the
Philippines and the rest reside in the United
States.

They have been seeking non combat-related
disability pensions since the US Congress passed
the Rescission Act of 1946 which stripped Filipino
soldiers drafted into US military service in the
Philippines of their US veterans status.

In his statement Gaa said the committee vote
marked "the first time ever in history" that the
important contribution of the Filipino soldiers in
World War II were being officially recognized by a
US legislative enactment.

Retired Maj. Gen. Delfin Lorenzana, head of the
Office of Veterans Affairs at the Philippine
embassy, said he was very optimistic the Filipino
equity bill will become law this year.

"We won a big battle today but we have not yet won
the war, so we have to stay focused," cautioned
Eric Lachica, Executive Director of the American
Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV).

Supporters in the House are pushing for a monthly
pension of up to $900 to put the Filipinos on par
with their American comrades but may be forced to
settle for much less to get the measure passed
because of the enormous medical expenditures for
US soldiers coming back from Iraq.


Extreme gratitude

Gordon relayed the gratitude of the Philippine
government to the two US lawmakers who supported
the cause of Filipino veterans.

Accompanied by Gaa, Gordon thanked Inouye and
Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) for their continued
support for the passage of an equity bill for
Filipino World War II veterans.

Senator Inouye is the sponsor of Senate Bill 57
seeking equity for Filipino World War II veterans.

Inouye is currently the chairman of the US Senate
Committee on Veterans Affairs while Senator Leahy
is a member of the Senate Committee on
Appropriations and chairman of Sub-committee on
State and Foreign Operations.

Aside from thanking both senators for their
support for SB 57, Gordon stressed the issue of
recognition is a matter of honor and an
opportunity for the US government to finally
fulfill a commitment and an obligation to people
who fought under the US flag for the cause of
freedom and democracy.

The meeting also afforded the senators an
opportunity to discuss developments in Philippines
and US relations, particularly the success of the
joint RP-US cooperation programs in Mindanao.

Gordon told Inouye and Leahy of the progress made
in the efforts to bring much-needed economic
development in various impoverished and remote
communities in Mindanao.

Gordon joined the two US lawmakers in reaffirming
their continuing commitment to efforts aimed at
further strengthening and enhancing the
Philippines-US partnership.

[VeeVee]

Ailing US veteran makes sentimental trip to RP

www.asianjournal.com/?c=187&a=21362

[VeeVee]

I'm reposting the news article about the Old Fort MacArthur Days event here:

www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/8377247.html

[VeeVee]

"Art Helps as Vets Reflect on WWII"
www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/06/23/news/local/30-wwiiart.txt

--------
"American Vacationers To Receive Hero's Welcome At Leyte, Philippines Annual WWII Re-enactment"

travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=11857_0_1_0_M

[VeeVee]

Filipino War Hero to be Remembered at Arlington National Cemetery…

After six years of sometimes frustrating effort, Gregg Baltazar Timbol received an important post card: “This is to inform you that the memorial marker has been received at Arlington National Cemetery.”

Sixty years ago Gregg’s Filipino grandfather, Corporal Fernando Baltazar, was killed in action fighting for the United States at the beginning of World War II. On January 23, 1942 Corporal Baltazar’s unit, the 45th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Scouts, was ordered into the front line on Luzon Island in the Philippines to attack a Japanese regiment that made an amphibious landing on the rocky cliffs of Bataan Peninsula in the dead of night.

The battle raged on in the dense jungle for more than a week and although the 45th was ultimately successful in driving the Japanese force back over the cliffs and into the sea, many men were killed. Corporal Baltazar’s body was never recovered. The Army posthumously awarded him the Bronze Star for his bravery in combat, and the Purple Heart for his fatal wounds.

Fernando’s three young daughters were left orphans and there was no one to arrange a memorial service for him.

Having heard the story of his grandfather’s bravery as he was growing up, Gregg Baltazar Timbol, decided to do something about it. He began in 2000 by applying for U.S. citizenship for his grandfather. Non-citizen soldiers killed in action in the U.S. Army are sometimes eligible for posthumous citizenship, a special honor which does not convey benefits but recognizes the soldier’s personal sacrifice.

The application was first delayed, then denied because a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973 had destroyed Fernando Baltazar’s Army records. Gregg re-submitted the application through Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office and it has again been denied, but Gregg is submitting another appeal.

During this process Maxine McLean, a member of the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society whose father commanded Fernando Baltazar’s unit, urged Gregg to contact the National Battle Monuments Commission to see if his grandfather could be honored at Arlington National Cemetery.

Gregg submitted the application on April 30, and got a quick response. Just after the 4th of July, 2007 Arlington installed a marker commemorating Corporal Fernando Baltazar. On August 14 Gregg, his family, and any others who wish to join them will attend a U.S. Army memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C., honoring the bravery and sacrifice of Corporal Fernando Baltazar, more than sixty years ago.


Corporal Fernando Baltazar, right, pictured with his cousin Private Pablo Betones in 1941


Gregg Baltazar Timbol has worked more than six years to honor his grandfather’s bravery

[VeeVee]

Bank puts WWII veterans at centerstage

www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bac/2007/08/13/feat/bank.puts.wwii.veterans.at.centerstage.html

WHAT is expected of a bank calling for a press conference?

Surely it must be schemes of money marketing and investments. But it was not.

Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo

It was Dr. Ricardo Jose, a historian who spoke in behalf of the 300,000 World War II veterans and heirs who own the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB).

This, as 20 percent of the bank’s profit goes to programs that benefit widows and families of Veterans who had less in life.

Jose, an expert in Philippine World War II history, was very passionate in drawing present day lesson for today’s Filipinos after experiencing war.

“Not that we like to have war just so the beautiful in the Filipino comes out. In those years, courage and valor exhibited by our veterans suffering the Japanese atrocities and American manipulations, were ‘indescribable’ by any word we know of,” he said.

Such courage and valor, Jose said, are seen among many veterans whom he had met and interviewed and who voluntarily refused to receive their war pension for the simple reason that they live for their country and will die for it.

“Many of them are not rich, but the flame of defending the country is a monument in their hearts,” Jose added.

“The Filipinos of today should learn from these veterans. The conviction of their hearts is touching,” he said.

In the honor of World War II veterans, world-class exhibit dubbed, “The War of our Fathers... a Tribute to the Filipino Fighters” will open for the public at SM City Bacolod From August 10 until 31, 2007.

[RayAdillO]

This photo of our Corporal Fernando Baltazar with his cousin Private Pablo Betones seems to have been shot sometime in the 1920's with the stiff "closed neck" style of uniforms they are wearing. If so, then they were grizzled veteran Scouts by the time of the Bataan campaign in 1942.

It's really sad that a forlorn hero who died in battle would practically have to die twice when his own military service records would be destroyed by fire.

[VeeVee]

Veterans want victory in Philippines honored
By Rick Rogers UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Link: www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070909-9999-1m9vet.html

September 9, 2007


EDUARDO CONTRERAS / Union-Tribune
Navy retiree Bob Medina spoke yesterday about life in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation.
SAN DIEGO – Elena Jamero and her daughter Melissa heard of yesterday's commemoration of World War II Philippines liberation during a visit to Balboa Park this year.
It reminded Jamero of the tales her grandfather told of the Battle of Corregidor, the Bataan Death March, fighting the Japanese as a young Filipino guerrilla and meeting Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Jamero and her daughter drove from Temecula to join about 200 others at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center at Balboa Park, where Filipino veterans shared their stories.

“I thought it would be good to expose my daughter to some history,” said Jamero, 59. “I wanted to pass on stories my grandfather told me. There was much more to the story than he ever said. They sacrificed a lot. It turned out to be real eye-opening for both of us.”

“In school there is is only a paragraph in a textbook,” said Melissa, 17, a freshman at the University of California Los Angeles. “It's never taught.”

Victory in Europe Day, May 8, and Victory Over Japan Day, Aug. 15, have long been fixtures on the calendar.

But victory in the Philippines, Sept. 3, 1945, has gone largely unacknowledged. It is an obscure day for all but a dwindling few who fought the Japanese army starting in May 1942 when U.S. troops surrendered at Corregidor until the Japanese surrendered in 1945.

Until now.

The day is being embraced like never before. Yesterday's commemoration was the first of its kind in San Diego County, and it came 62 years after the war ended.

Some, like Rudy D. Liporada, a Filipino community leader, would like to see Sept. 3 recognized on par with June 12, the day the Philippines won independence from Spain in 1898.

Liporada thinks the day deserves that kind of honor.

“The liberation of the Philippines is very significant because it's really where World War II started in the Far East and where it ended,” said Liporada, president of the Baguio City Association of San Diego, a nonprofit association of immigrants, retired and active military personnel.

“We are beginning to see the significance that the Philippines played in the broader war.”

Isabelo Torio, a Bataan survivor and a guerrilla, said it has taken decades for Filipinos to finally grasp and take pride in their role of hobbling the Japanese advance in the Far East after the attack at Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

The Japanese defeat in the Philippines “was an important moment in history, but not one very well known,” said Torio, from Rancho Bernardo. “It opened the way to make the United States and the Philippines allies. It delayed the advance of the Japanese and kept them from taking Australia, which might have altered the war.”

A man who shaped this history was Edwin Ramsey, 90, a retired colonel. Ramsey is credited with leading the last horse cavalry charge in American military history Jan. 16, 1942, at the village of Morong, Bataan.

Ramsey is further credited with gathering intelligence that helped MacArthur fulfill in 1944 his famous “I shall return” oath of 1942.

MacArthur hung the Distinguished Service Cross around Ramsey's neck “for extraordinary heroism in the Philippine Islands from 21 April 1942 to 30 April 1945.”

Ramsey, who lives in Los Angeles and attended the Balboa Park event, said he is glad the public is reappraising the Philippine guerrilla war, but not for any vainglorious reason.

“Hopefully it will remind people that if you don't have the courage to step up for what is right, it is very easy to lose it,” Ramsey said as he signed copies of his book “Lieutenant Ramsey's War: From Horse Soldier to Guerrilla Commander.”

“Don't think that because the United States is powerful now that it will always be that way. If you don't stand up for your freedoms, chances are you won't be free.”

[VeeVee]

I got this article from J. Michael Houlahan:
-----------------

The Manhattan Mercury

www.themercury.com/News/article.aspx?articleId=0b875d71887e4f5caa26d15ab2fb0276

Picturing his life, in vivid detail
One of the Army's last great horsemen visits post
Mark Scott [e-mail]

A detail from the painting depicts Ramsey firing his weapon at Japanese
soldiers. Staff photos by David Mayes

FORT RILEY - Edwin P. Ramsey's role in the final horse cavalry charge in
U.S. history came by chance, but his subsequent exploits as a resistance
leader in World War II Philippines are legendary.

Ramsey, now retired as a lieutenant colonel, was awarded the Silver Star for
gallantry in action by Gen. Jonathan Wainwright for the charge Ramsey led on
the village of Morong, Bataan, on Jan. 16, 1942. Three years of guerrilla
warfare followed the battle, with Americans and Filipinos on Luzon Island
opening the way for the return of Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Ramsey, 90, is still a folk hero in the Philippines, and has been decorated
by nearly every Filipino president since World War II. His story is
chronicled in the book, Lieutenant Ramsey's War: From Horse Soldier to
Guerrilla Commander.

Ramsey was the special guest Friday at the U.S. Cavalry Association meeting,
signing the first print of a new painting of the charge, against a Japanese
patrol squad in Bataan. That print, by artist John Solie, was then given to
the U.S. Cavalry Museum.

It is Solie's second painting of the historic event; he did the first in
1992 when Ramsey's story was published in Reader's Digest.
Ramsey was born in Illinois, raised in Wichita, and graduated from the
Oklahoma Military Academy. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the
Cavalry Reserve in May 1938, and he entered active service in February of
1941 with the 11th Cavalry Regiment at Campo, Calif.

In June of 1941, he volunteered for service in the Philippines with the 26th
Cavalry Regiment, Philippine Scouts. Then came Dec. 7, 1941, the day Japan
attacked Pearl Harbor and the later invasion of the Philippines.

The 26th Cavalry Regiment was preparing for battle when Wainwright randomly
picked Ramsey to lead the charge. Ramsey said it was a matter of being in
the right place at the right time, or wrong place at the wrong time.
"But it all turned out all right," he said.

Escaping after the surrender of Bataan, Ramsey formed guerrilla forces in
Central Luzon, enduring three years of death and disease in the Philippine
jungles. Fighting both the Imperial Japanese Army and the Communist Huk
guerrillas, he sent critical intelligence to MacArthur in preparation for
the liberation of the Philippines. Ramsey said for two of those years he did
not even know whether his reports were making it back to MacArthur.

His guerrilla forces numbered as many as 40,000 during those three years.
After his return, MacArthur awarded Ramsey the Distinguished Service Cross.
Over the past 65 years, Ramsey said the memory that stands out for him the
most is of the "tremendous loyalty" of the Filipino people.

"I wouldn't be alive, or wouldn't have lasted for a week if it hadn't been
for their fantastic love and loyalty for the United States," said Ramsey,
who lived and worked in the Philippines for 18 years after World War II.
"They gave us the last they had to give to keep us alive. I can never say
enough about how loyal the Filipino people were."

In 1946, Ramsey was approached about adapting his story for a movie
screenplay, but he said not enough time had passed since the end of the war.
"I had a couple nervous breakdowns doing it," Ramsey said.

About 40 years later, his wife Raqui insisted he put his story down in
writing and he developed a manuscript, but it was not picked up by any book
publishers. Ramsey said he then took the advice of a friend who said, "Get a
professional writer. It's a great story, but you're not a professional
writer."

Ramsey, who lives in Los Angeles, teamed with author Stephen J. Rivele, and
the book was published in 1990. The book is out of print, but can be found
on Amazon.com.

Ramsey said in recent years several movie companies have had the option on
his story, but nothing has happened. He said he doesn't expect to see his
story on film during his lifetime.

"Right now it's up in the air," Ramsey said. "There is a producer in contact
with us now, but it takes a lot of money. If they are going to do it, I want
it done right."

Ramsey, who last rode a horse in 1996, firmly believes there is a place for
at least one regiment of the horse cavalry in today's high-tech Army.
"They should have always kept a regiment of the horse cavalry because there
are places in the world where you can't maneuver with equipment," he said.
"They are still using the same tactics we used in the horse cavalry."

Ramsey said he could see the cavalry's demise coming when they started
hauling horses around in trucks to areas where combat was being conducted.
"It's never coming back," Ramsey said. "You don't turn back the clock."
_________________________________________________________________

[VeeVee]

US Army's Soldier of the Year

www.asianjournal.com/?c=124&a=23647

October 15th, 2007

US Army Awards Soldier of the Year to FilAm
Momar Visaya/Asianjournal.com

Spc. Heyz T. Seeker, who represented the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, won the grueling competition after competing with 12 other soldiers in tests of physical fitness and military skills ranging from marksmanship to first aid.

“It’s still sinking in. I was really overwhelmed at first,” Spc. Seeker told the Asian Journal in a telephone interview Thursday, Oct 11.

The 35-year-old soldier is stationed at the Hunger Army Airfield in Georgia with the 75th Ranger Regiment. While he listed Grover, California as his hometown, his family is now based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He was born to Filipino parents in Atascadero, CA, and grew up in Grover. His father died when he was 2 years old and his mother remarried when he was 10.

“I only know stuff about my father through pictures and the stories that my mother used to tell me,” Seeker said.

His mother, Maxima Voelker, is from Bohol, which he describes as a “small and beautiful island in the Visayas”. Seeker’s first and only trip to the Philippines was when he was 15.

Spc. Seeker recognizes the fact that with this win, he is now in a different position. “This is an honorable position to be in and there’s a lot of weight on my shoulders now,” he admitted.

“My mission now is to promote the army and I will go out there to tell the army story. I plan to reach out to the struggling inner-city youth and tell them my story. I am a testament to what the army has given me,” Seeker said.

Goal

Spc. Seeker is the first in his family to become an Army Ranger. He said that his ambition was to become the first Filipino sergeant major of the Army, the Army’s top enlisted rank. He grew up hearing stories of how both his father and stepfather had fought in World War II.

Spc. Seeker said three deployments to Afghanistan and one to Iraq helped prepare him for the competition.

“I love the Army, and I love living a structured life,” he said. “I’m all about paving the way, leading the way and being the first at something. I was the first in my family to be a ranger, and I’d like to one day become the first Filipino sergeant major of the Army.”

Asked about what he considers as his favorite part in the five-day competition, Seeker replied, “It has to be the first day of the competition, when we had to go before the board. I had to concentrate and focus on it and afterwards, I was pretty confident that I did well. I felt like a winner.”

Fathers’ footsteps

When he joined the Army in 1991, Spc. Seeker was following in the footsteps of his two fathers who were World War II veterans.

In his first enlistment, Spc. Seeker became a forward observer artilleryman and when he transferred to the National Guard in 1995, he was an armored crewman.

When he enlisted again in 2004, he signed up as an infantryman. During his second round of basic training, he raised his hand to apply for the Ranger Indoctrination Program.

Now as an airborne Ranger, Spc. Seeker is looking to be the best in the Army through this competition.

Culinary arts

Throughout his military career, Spc. Seeker has kept an interest in the culinary arts, according to a news release from the Army’s Public Affairs Office.

For about six years between his Army enlistments, Spc. Seeker was a sushi chef apprentice in San Diego.

Oddly, he never considered becoming a food service specialist for the Army.

“I wanted to roll around in a tank or become a Ranger,” he said.

He’s putting off his goal of opening up a sushi bar until he retires from the Army. In the meantime, he’s focused on making his two deceased fathers proud.

“And I want to set an example for my kids so they can serve their country too,” he said.

Fierce

US Senator Harry Reid of Nevada commended Spc. Seeker of Las Vegas for being recognized with the Army’s Top Soldier award.

“I congratulate, Specialist Seeker, for being named the Army’s Top Soldier,” said Reid. “While I am proud of all of our men and women in uniform, Specialist Seeker’s exemplary service honors the country and honors Nevada.”

Spc. Seeker was selected as the best of 26 competitors, representing 13 U.S. Army major commands, after a fierce battery of physical and mental tests. The results were based on his performance in simulated urban combat drills, battle drills, physical fitness tests, and written examinations.

Seeker and 11 other Soldiers competed for the title of Department of the Army Best Warrior. The 12 Soldiers and an additional 12 non-commissioned officers spent a week at Fort Lee competing in events such as the board, land navigation and warrior tasks.

The winners were announced Oct. 8 at the Association of the United States Army convention in Washington, DC.

(www.asianjournal.com)

Seeker's picture:
www.army.mil/-images/2007/10/04/8808/

[beancent]

hope this is not too old...
April 1941 news

Q Boats... the would be menace of the Japanese Navy.

[beancent]

Cont. No shelter for civilians...

[VeeVee]

Awesome! Thanks for that article. It's news to me

By the way, one of the commanders of those Q-Boats was PMA Class of 1940 Commodore Alcaraz who was in some of the pictures in this event last weekend:

pinoyhistory.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=photos&action=display&thread=1193241699

[VeeVee]

re: 100 year old Bataan veteran (PS vet)

newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view_article.php?article_id=100979

I'm just not so sure about the accuracy of the "helicopter" reference...

[legionnaire]

INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

Returning GI recalls war massacre


By Redempto Anda
Inquirer
Last updated 01:08am (Mla time) 11/15/2007


PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – No gun salutes welcomed Don Schloat as he disembarked from a commercial flight and stepped on Palawan soil again after 63 years. Neither were there streamers, military honors or flag-waving schoolchildren.

Had the American alerted authorities of his coming, these would have been standard greetings.

But Schloat had decided that he just wanted to see where it all happened: For more than two years, he had been held at a small prisoners-of-war (POW) camp now called Plaza Cuartel, on that fateful day when the kempeitai (Japanese military police) ended it all in a massacre largely overlooked by history.

At 86, Schloat is the only person remaining among 11 men who had survived the massacre and told the story of war’s brutality.

On Dec. 14, 1944, over 150 American POWs were herded by the kempeitai into bunkers to die by burning and machinegun fire.

Most of them died in the pandemonium inside the two tunnels soaked with gasoline and set on fire. Others who tried to escape were bayoneted to slow death or ripped by bullets.

Schloat was lucky to have left the camp before it happened.

He was captured by the Japanese while trying to escape with two other prisoners, was beaten and transferred to the Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa to face a Japanese court-martial.

All of those who died he knew, even the few who had lived to tell the horrific tale.

“They were all young men and they were all hoping to survive. When I asked who wanted to come with me to try and escape, most didn’t want to risk it. We knew the war was going to end soon and everyone just wanted to wait it out. I never expected the tragedy to happen,” he recalled.

Plaza Cuartel

A small bronze marker with the names of Schloat and 10 other POWs who had survived the massacre was erected on top of what used to be the main underground bunkers occupied by the prisoners.

“I still remember all the details, but the emotion seems to have died down in me after all those years. I’m just pleased to make it back here to take a look at the place,” he told the Inquirer.

Schloat took his time to walk around what is now a quiet garden frequented by schoolchildren.

“There were six coconut trees in the middle of this place. The Japanese would tie up the prisoners there and beat them with wooden planks for everyone to see,” he said.

Except for the main portal to the camp that had been preserved, Schloat said the place had completely changed. Gone were the garrisons and the three main barracks where over 300 POWs had been housed. Also gone were the barbed wires surrounding the camp that overlooked Puerto Bay.

“You came in through the front gate and there were two towers on either side that ran parallel the road that went down the middle. There was another barracks at the end of it but they were connected with foot rails,” he said.

“I would stand here in the morning to smell the breeze and look out to the sea,” he said, pointing at the mangroves where he tried to hide during his escape.

Hard labor

They were not allowed to intermingle with the villagers, the American said. “That was a big no-no. If you got caught trying to speak to a local, they would kill you.”

Every morning, the prisoners were hauled into trucks and brought to the other end of town to work on the airstrip of what is now the city’s international airport.

“Yes, we built that strip with forced labor. We had nothing but picks and shovels, and they had to be accounted for every afternoon when we got back to the camp because the Japanese made sure we did not use them as weapons,” Schloat said.

Beautiful place

In the two years he had spent in Palawan, the veteran said he never realized how pretty the place was outside camp. For two days, he toured Puerto Princesa and its outskirts, and marveled at the natural beauty he never witnessed and enjoyed as a prisoner.

“This is a very beautiful place and I have met some very nice people,” he told Dr. Teresita Salva, president of the Palawan State University, during a brief tour of a local campus.

While at Plaza Cuartel, Schloat was helped by schoolchildren in etching a piece of paper on the marker to bring home.

Before leaving, the American stood at where he used to stand every morning. He breathed the same air that he breathed over 60 years ago. “It’s still the same aroma,” he said, and walked on.



Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view_article.php?article_id=100980

[VeeVee]

Link to story forwarded by Ivan Dizon. Thanks!

New American: Flores 1st naturalized citizen of 2008

www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080102/NEWS01/801020324/1002

[fox]

Hi Philip,
I agree with you that we need a Battle Of Bataan Documentary and it is coming. United Movietone Pictures film entitled' Death March is close to been finished. Rainer Loeser their Director tells me not only will you see the Battle Of Bataan but
also what follows on the Bataan Death March.