Post by VeeVee on Apr 26, 2007 6:33:41 GMT -5
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INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON
Heroism of N. Luzon bolomen retold
By Cristina Arzadon
Northern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 07:01am (Mla time) 04/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Stories of heroism by Filipino guerrillas and American forces during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in World War II have been locked inside a monument built in honor of the men and women who fought to liberate the country from Japanese atrocities.
Crowned with an anchor, the marble stone and pebble marker was unveiled on April 21 in a seaside ceremony in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. The event was attended by war veterans both from the Philippines and the United States.
The ceremony also marked the return of the original bolo that Filipino guerrillas used and had found its way to the US after the USS Stingray submarine unloaded assorted weapons for the locals on Aug. 27, 1944. The bolo was said to have been traded by a local to a submarine crew while the war materiel were being unloaded offshore.
Veteran Ramon Miranda and two surviving bolomen received the weapon from Stingray crewman Basil Wentworth. In return, the Filipinos handed over a Thompson submachine gun, which was part of the weapons that the Americans brought to the country.
The monument was built on the site in Caunayan Bay in Pagudpud where the Stingray beached 63 years ago and unloaded arms and ordnance that Filipino guerrillas used in fighting the Japanese forces in Northern Luzon.
Collaborative project
The Stingray marker was a seven-year collaborative project among Pol Bautista, Lucky Guillermo and Peter Parsons—all scions of war veterans.
Its crown symbolizes the anchor that the submarine dropped off the waters as it left the Pagudpud Bay so that it would not be detected by patrolling Japanese troops.
The late Gov. Roque Ablan Sr., an Ilocano war hero, was known to have led a ragtag troop of guerrillas, locally known as bolomen, against the Japanese Imperial Army. They earned the name because they fought the invaders with bolos and sharp bamboo lances that they normally used in tending their farms.
Ablan's son, Rep. Roque Ablan Jr., has promised to work on declaring the marker's site a national shrine for Filipino war veterans.
Dr. Ricardo Jose of the University of the Philippines' history department said the Stingray was one of 21 US submarines on special missions to the country to provide arms and war equipment to the resistance movement across the archipelago.
"The landing of the submarine was very, very dangerous. It (Stingray) landed here very early in the morning in Japanese-controlled water," Jose said.
"There were Japanese ships coming by every now and then and the Stingray was caught between the open sea and the shore by Japanese ships. It was not able to lift its anchor [after dropping it] because it would cause too much noise."
The anchor still lies offshore in Caunayan, Jose said. "Local fishermen found it," he said.
The submarine, however, succeeded in unloading six tons of armaments. On board along with US forces were 15 specially trained commandos led by Lt. Jose Valera, who were sent to help local troops.
"These [armaments] had to be brought from the submarine by raft or by boat. Once they were ashore, they had to be brought into the mountains where the other guerrillas would receive and use [these] to fight the Japanese," Jose said.
The bolomen were the key in transporting the materiel from the shore to the mountains undetected, he said.
Aside from land mines, bazooka, Carbine rifles and bullets, the Americans also brought the latest Life magazine either to counter the Japanese propaganda or to indicate the date of the latest landings, Jose said.
"Other materials included communion wafers, Mass wines, and pamphlets just to boost the morale of Filipinos," he said.
Most dangerous
According to Jose, Pagudpud was considered the farthest and most dangerous landing that the 21 submarines made across the Philippines.
Unlike the other landing sites in the Visayas and Mindanao, Northern Luzon was risky because it was next to Taiwan, a strongly guarded Japanese territory, he said. "Most of the Japanese convoys would be sailing from Taiwan to Luzon and these straits were infested by Japanese ships," he said.
The war exploits of Filipino guerrillas in Northern Luzon are stories that have not been fully told.
"With the memorial, we will be recognizing the submariners, the Filipino guerrillas and the landing forces for the role they played in liberating the country," Jose said.
INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON
Heroism of N. Luzon bolomen retold
By Cristina Arzadon
Northern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 07:01am (Mla time) 04/25/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Stories of heroism by Filipino guerrillas and American forces during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in World War II have been locked inside a monument built in honor of the men and women who fought to liberate the country from Japanese atrocities.
Crowned with an anchor, the marble stone and pebble marker was unveiled on April 21 in a seaside ceremony in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. The event was attended by war veterans both from the Philippines and the United States.
The ceremony also marked the return of the original bolo that Filipino guerrillas used and had found its way to the US after the USS Stingray submarine unloaded assorted weapons for the locals on Aug. 27, 1944. The bolo was said to have been traded by a local to a submarine crew while the war materiel were being unloaded offshore.
Veteran Ramon Miranda and two surviving bolomen received the weapon from Stingray crewman Basil Wentworth. In return, the Filipinos handed over a Thompson submachine gun, which was part of the weapons that the Americans brought to the country.
The monument was built on the site in Caunayan Bay in Pagudpud where the Stingray beached 63 years ago and unloaded arms and ordnance that Filipino guerrillas used in fighting the Japanese forces in Northern Luzon.
Collaborative project
The Stingray marker was a seven-year collaborative project among Pol Bautista, Lucky Guillermo and Peter Parsons—all scions of war veterans.
Its crown symbolizes the anchor that the submarine dropped off the waters as it left the Pagudpud Bay so that it would not be detected by patrolling Japanese troops.
The late Gov. Roque Ablan Sr., an Ilocano war hero, was known to have led a ragtag troop of guerrillas, locally known as bolomen, against the Japanese Imperial Army. They earned the name because they fought the invaders with bolos and sharp bamboo lances that they normally used in tending their farms.
Ablan's son, Rep. Roque Ablan Jr., has promised to work on declaring the marker's site a national shrine for Filipino war veterans.
Dr. Ricardo Jose of the University of the Philippines' history department said the Stingray was one of 21 US submarines on special missions to the country to provide arms and war equipment to the resistance movement across the archipelago.
"The landing of the submarine was very, very dangerous. It (Stingray) landed here very early in the morning in Japanese-controlled water," Jose said.
"There were Japanese ships coming by every now and then and the Stingray was caught between the open sea and the shore by Japanese ships. It was not able to lift its anchor [after dropping it] because it would cause too much noise."
The anchor still lies offshore in Caunayan, Jose said. "Local fishermen found it," he said.
The submarine, however, succeeded in unloading six tons of armaments. On board along with US forces were 15 specially trained commandos led by Lt. Jose Valera, who were sent to help local troops.
"These [armaments] had to be brought from the submarine by raft or by boat. Once they were ashore, they had to be brought into the mountains where the other guerrillas would receive and use [these] to fight the Japanese," Jose said.
The bolomen were the key in transporting the materiel from the shore to the mountains undetected, he said.
Aside from land mines, bazooka, Carbine rifles and bullets, the Americans also brought the latest Life magazine either to counter the Japanese propaganda or to indicate the date of the latest landings, Jose said.
"Other materials included communion wafers, Mass wines, and pamphlets just to boost the morale of Filipinos," he said.
Most dangerous
According to Jose, Pagudpud was considered the farthest and most dangerous landing that the 21 submarines made across the Philippines.
Unlike the other landing sites in the Visayas and Mindanao, Northern Luzon was risky because it was next to Taiwan, a strongly guarded Japanese territory, he said. "Most of the Japanese convoys would be sailing from Taiwan to Luzon and these straits were infested by Japanese ships," he said.
The war exploits of Filipino guerrillas in Northern Luzon are stories that have not been fully told.
"With the memorial, we will be recognizing the submariners, the Filipino guerrillas and the landing forces for the role they played in liberating the country," Jose said.