#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Philippine Forum >  >  Blast from the past - Corregidor day trip

## katie23

Hi all, I went on a day trip to Corregidor island during the holidays. The island played an important role during World War II. 

From Wikipedia:
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of Manila Bay and Manila from attacks by enemy warships in the event of war. Located 48 kilometres (30 mi) inland, Manila has been the largest city and the most important seaport in the Philippines for centuries, from the colonial rule of Spain, Japan and the United States, to the establishment of the Republic of the Philippines in 1946.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregidor

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## katie23

Still from wikipedia:

Corregidor (called Fort Mills by the Americans) is the largest of the islands that formed the harbor defenses of Manila Bay together with El Fraile Island (Fort Drum), Caballo Island (Fort Hughes) and Carabao Island (Fort Frank), which were all fortified during the American liberation of the country. The island was also the site of a small military airfield, as part of the defense.

During World War II, Corregidor played an important role during the invasion and liberation of the Philippines from Japanese forces. Heavily bombarded in the latter part of the war, the ruins left on the island serve as a military memorial to American, Filipino and Japanese soldiers who served or lost their lives on the island. Corregidor is one of the important historic and tourist sites in the country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregidor 

-----

Katie's Note 1: the islands were given alternate names by the Americans, but to date, we use the old/Spanish names, like El Fraile (the friar), Caballo (horse) and Carabao island. 

Note 2: The Philippines was originally called "Las Islas Filipinas" by the Spaniards, named after Phillip II of Spain. After American colonization (1898), the name was changed to "The Philippine Islands" (shortened as PI). After the establishment of the Republic in 1946, the name was shortened to "The Philippines/Philippines". 

Native inhabitants are called Filipinos/Filipinas, depending on gender or collectively called Filipinos. (not "PHilippinos"!) 

Or in slang, Flippers. Not phlippers!  :Smile:

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## BaitongBoy

Thanks, Katie...(Flipper)...I wanna see 




> Carabao Island (Fort Frank)

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## katie23

To get to Corregidor, one must take a ferry from Seaside Esplanade ferry terminal in Pasay City. That's the new ferry terminal, the old one is at the CCP complex. The journey takes 1h 15 min. (Btw, the "g" in Corregidor is pronounced like an H, since it's from the Spanish name. But if you pronounce it with a hard "g" (e.g. Grover) sound, then you'll still be understood. Just don't use a soft "g" sound (e.g. George). 

(Difference between hard G & soft G sounds - G for Grover & G for George - I learned that from watching Sesame Street, a kids show. American influence on television from an early age. But I digress.)

Here's a map showing the island and Pasay City where the ferry terminal is located.

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## BaitongBoy

Not showing, Katie?...

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## katie23

^Ok, there, fixed.  :Smile:  Photobucket & connectivity issues.

Corregidor island belongs to the jurisdiction of Cavite province, which is located to its south. However, it is physically closer to the province of Bataan, which is to its north.

from wikipedia:
Corregidor and the other fortified islands of Manila Bay fall under the jurisdiction of the City of Cavite, Cavite province.[1][2] Corregidor, also known as "The Rock" for its rocky landscape and the heavy fortifications, along with Caballo Island, about 1.7 km (1.1 mi) south, divide the entrance of Manila Bay into the North and South Channel.

The tadpole-shaped island, with its tail running eastward, is about 6.5 km (4.0 mi) long, about 2.0 km (1.2 mi) wide at its widest with a total land area of about 900 hectares (2,200 acres). The highest elevation is at 180 m (590 ft) on the Topside. The island is divided into four sections: topside, middleside, bottomside and tailside.

When you tour the island, you'll explore the topside section first. Another map.

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## nidhogg

> During World War II, Corregidor played an important role during the invasion and liberation of the Philippines from Japanese forces.


True.  But the main significance of Corregidor was in the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese.  


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Corregidor

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## katie23

You'll have to get to Seaside Esplanade Ferry terminal. The terminal is at Pasay City, 5 min walk from SM Mall of Asia. Here's the terminal, with a few Santas to keep you company. It was Christmas season.  :Smile: 



You'll see some skyscrapers in the distance.

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## katie23

> Originally Posted by katie23
> 
> 
> During World War II, Corregidor played an important role during the invasion and liberation of the Philippines from Japanese forces. 
> 
> 
> True.  But the main significance of Corregidor was in the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese.  
> 
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Corregidor


Yes, in our history lessons, we were taught 2 dates: Fall of Bataan (April 9, 1942) and Fall of Corregidor (May 6, 1942). Corregidor was where Gen. MacArthur and Pres. Manuel Quezon (president of the Commonwealth Republic) hid - they hid in the tunnels - before the Philippines was turned over to the Japanese in 1942 by Gen. Wainwright.  This was months after the Pearl Harbor bombing (Dec. 7, 1941). 

It was good to be reminded of my history lessons.  :Smile:  I was quite good in history in my teens - joined contests, sometimes won, sometimes lost. All part of life. heh... 

I'll try to do this thread while the memories are still fresh and I'm not swamped with work yet!

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## katie23

To get to Corregidor, you'll have to book through Sun Cruises Tours. The package includes an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch. There are 2 types of tours: a walking tour (slightly cheaper) and a tram tour. I suggest taking the tram tour since you'll see more  places. 

Sun Cruises
Sun Cruises Philippines: Corregidor Islands

Inside the ferry


The crew perform a (surprise) short dance number prior to departure.

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## Jesus Jones

Off to the Philippines next month.   No time for sight seeing unfortunately!   Next time though, i hope.

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## katie23

The ferry leaves at 8am, check-in at 7am. If you haven't had breakfast due to the early hour (in my case), there's a 7/11 &  another coffee shop at the Ferry Terminal.

Lifejacket demonstration


During the ~1 hr journey, you can either sleep or watch historical documentaries about the place.


Approaching the island. Crew member doing his stuff...

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## katie23

The boat used is the MV Sun Cruiser II, owned by Magsaysay Shipping. It travels at 23 knots. (I took notes! lol). Ramon Magsaysay is a former Phil. president. His son became a Senator. Pres. Magsaysay was the 7th president and served from 1953-1957. He died from an accident - the plane crashed on Mt. Manunggal in Cebu island. No foul play was suspected - just bad weather, bad plane and bad luck. 

Accdg to my dad (he was a kid during Magsaysay's time) - Magsaysay was a beloved president, and the whole country mourned his passing. He was a rags-to-riches guy, and had a good heart. He also fought as a guerilla during WWII. Accdg to wiki, he was the first Philippine President born during the 20th century and the first to be born after Spanish colonial era.

Anyway, to continue... arrival at the island - ppl disembarking from the boat


At the check-in counter, you'll be assigned which bus to board. They called this open-air bus a "tramvia".

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## katie23

Some scenes upon arrival. I like boats.  :Smile: 


Crew members doing their thing


Welcome to Corregidor!

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## katie23

There are 3 docks used in the island. This is one of them, North Mine Wharf.


Lorcha Dock, which Gen. MacArthur used to leave on a submarine bound for Australia.


On a personal note, I'm sorry that I didn't know about this tour when my dad was still alive. If I did, I would've taken him to this tour (even if it's a bit pricey, for me) as I'm sure he would've appreciated it. He was born during the war; I was a late child. He had several stories about post-WWII, the Magsaysay era, his family's hardships, the Vietnam war, etc. But then, as a kid/teen, I really didn't listen to those things. Sigh.. but his spirit lives on...

My photobucket is acting up. To be continued...

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## BaitongBoy

> On a personal note, I'm sorry that I didn't know about this tour when my dad was still alive. If I did, I would've taken him to this tour (even if it's a bit pricey, for me) as I'm sure he would've appreciated it. He was born during the war; I was a late child. He had several stories about post-WWII, the Magsaysay era, his family's hardships, the Vietnam war, etc. But then, as a kid/teen, I really didn't listen to those things. Sigh.. but his spirit lives on...



This is beautiful and well worth repeating...My father had a brilliant mind for history...Luckily, I got the chance to spend some quality time with both my parents in their later years...Would supply them with books...

His father before him was in the navy and was sunk twice, once being pulled down with the stricken ship's suction because he couldn't swim far enough away as it descended...A huge burp of air saved him after being suspended for "minutes," like Christ on the cross holding a plank of wood over his head...

I miss them both...The wealth of knowledge...Wisdom...Peace...

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## Norton

> Mine Wharf


Oh dear. Scarey name for a place boats tie up.

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## Dead Metal

Thanks for sharing that with us Katie23, its good to have an "insiders" view .

Another for the bucket list.  :Smile:

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## Takeovers

Always enjoy your tour descriptions. Very much appreciated.

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## katie23

Thanks for all nice comments and the greens.  :Smile:  As with my previous PI threads, I try to include a map and some background about the place, to give an idea about the location, since there are 7,107 islands in the PI! 



(yay, the emoticon worked! I got that from neverna & norton)

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## katie23

This is a post WWII Liberation song. It was sung by the grandmother of a good friend. I watched the video of her grandma singing this song, and I transcribed the lyrics as best as I could (she sang with a thick accent). I've met her grandma; she's 90+ and still of sound mind and body. The song shows the sentiments of Filipinos post-WWII towards the Japanese - bad blood during those times. However, after 50+ years, sentiments have changed drastically, as the land of the rising sun is now considered as an ally.

WWII Liberation Song

We are the members of the 60th fleet
We are gladly celebrating with it
We are expecting MacArthur and his landing
The puppets and the pieces, and the Japs collaborator
With the Filipino traitor
Better change up their minds
Also tell the Japanese
Anytime, anywhere they please
For they will be in here and jump
Show them the Stetson, show them the chocolate bar
Show them the new life as free
The free Philippines!
With a taste of genuine Camel
and a pack of Lucky Strike! 

 :Smile: 

(To the non-seppos, Stetson is a type of hat usually worn by cowboys, Camel and Lucky Strike are cigarette brands).

 ::usaflag1::   :fire:   :Rocketwhore:

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## Norton

> Camel and Lucky Strike are cigarette brands


Used to get them in our C ration packs. How times have changed.  :Smile:

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## katie23

To continue with the tour, we boarded the bus/tramvia and passed by some Spanish style buildings - the Americans didn't tear down the buildings and kept the Spanish architechture. 



We also passed by the Corregidor Inn. It's where guests stay if on an overnight tour. However, at the moment overnight tours are not offered since the Inn is under renovation.  The 2D/1N tour includes a night-tour of the tunnels (creepy but good for those who like ghost hunting).

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## Davis Knowlton

It really is an excellent tour. I took it years ago, during my first posting here. A number of my Dad's West Point buddies died there, as well as on the Death March. None of his classmates, as he graduated in January '43, but several officers he knew.

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## katie23

> Used to get them in our C ration packs. How times have changed.


So the soldiers now don't get free cigs anymore?

I remember some ads of Camel & LS on television from my childhood. Now, it's only the Marlboro Man who has survived, I think.  :Smile:

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## Davis Knowlton

^Not since Vietnam. We used to get goodie packs with cartons of free smokes. Of course, they had always been plundered by the fags in the rear areas, and all of the Winstons, Marlboros and Kools were gone. Also used to come in little four-packs in C-rations. Lots of addicts created by Uncle Sam, myself included.

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## katie23

@davis - yes, it's a great tour. Even though I was a bit sleepy during the ferry ride to the island, I watched all the docus shown. Very nice docus they were - showed some of the veterans who came back and they recounted their experiences.  It also has a significance for me, since my dad was born during the war. 

My grandma married at a very early age to avoid being taken by the Japanese soldiers. It was a love match but I think the marriage was hastened by the war. Unmarried girls at that time were taken as sex slaves ("comfort women"), so my grandma got married fast. My dad said that according to story, when he was a baby, he was hid in a basket and just given food once in a while, since if he was found, he would have been "samuraid" by the Jap soldiers - they killed babies. 

However, towards the end of the war, when the Japs were losing, there was one Jap officer who was kind to him - gave him candies or food, etc. It was said that my dad reminded him of his kid back in Japan. Again, all these are stories from my dad, as told to him by his parents. 

Towards the end of the tour, in the tunnels, they played the national anthem - I became teary eyed at that time. I've only been teary-eyed for the anthem one other time - when I was living abroad, homesick, and attended a gathering organized by the embassy.

The tour is a bit pricey for ordinary working-class Pinoys, but for me, it was worth it. Most of the ppl in the tour were balikbayans - returnees or vacationers from abroad and visiting family for the holidays. There was also a large tour group from Washington state in the US.

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## katie23

> ^Not since Vietnam. We used to get goodie packs with cartons of free smokes. Of course, they had always been plundered by the fags in the rear areas, and all of the Winstons, Marlboros and Kools were gone. Also used to come in little four-packs in C-rations. Lots of addicts created by Uncle Sam, myself included.


Even my dad smoked when he was on the ship and employed by RMK-BRJ in Vietnam. I think he stopped smoking when they returned to PI and life was harder as they had to restart their lives. Also, my mom didn't like his smoking.  :Razz:  I never saw my dad smoke, but my grandpa was a smoker of Marlboros.

Btw, Davis, happy birthday! (I think it's your bday today?)

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## katie23

This was the baseball field and a nearby YMCA. (I remembered the Village People. Heh)



On with the tour. Another tramvia...

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## katie23

This was the first set of ruins on the tour - Middleside Barracks. If you guys remember from the map, the island is divided into four sections: topside, middleside, bottomside and tailside. So this is located in the middle portion of the island. This was the barracks for enlisted men. The officers and their families had separate quarters.



Many tourists that day; we filled up two buses. Mixture of Filipinos (mostly returnees from abroad) and Americans on a tour group.

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## katie23

It was a long set of ruins and you'll have to walk a bit


Another part of the Middleside Barracks

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## katie23

This was Mr. Eduard, our tour guide for the day. He was very knowledgeable and entertaining. Funny too, which is always a plus. He's been featured in several travel shows about the island.



I'll end here for now. To be continued...

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## Davis Knowlton

> Btw, Davis, happy birthday! (I think it's your bday today?)


It is.......and thanks!

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## fishlocker

Another informative well written thread. Thanks for the tour Katie, the closest I've been to Corregidor is a box set of DVDs called Battle of the South Pacific.  A lot of black and white footage along with commentary. Ineresting history. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

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## CalEden

Thanks Katie for posting. The town I grew up in, had many local Soldiers die in the Bataan Death March. The town had a Memorial for the Bataan Death March on the main drive through town. The park used to have a WWII Tank as a memorial and as a young boy that drew me to the Bataan Memorial Park.

  The prominent memorial on the corner reads:

"BATAAN PARK

This park is dedicated by
the City of Salinas
to the men who served with
Company C, 194th Tank Battalion,
California National Guard, during
World War II and were captured
on Bataan on April 9, 1942.
May time never tarnish the
memory of their sacrifice."

Excerpts from a history of the unit:
"The Salinas company was organized as Troop C, Cavalry, National Guard of California on August 5, 1895. It was the first guard unit formed in the Central Coast region.

...on February 18, 1941 Company C was inducted into the Army and entrained to Fort Lewis, Washington with 103 officers and men. The men were told that they would be in federal service for only a year until the regular Army had time to train and field an armored force. As it turned out, February 18 was the last time some of the boys would ever see Salinas.

...On September 26, 1941 they arrived in Manila and had the distinction of being the first U.S. Armored Force deployed overseas in what was to become World War II. The battalion of 410 men was loaded on trucks, minus the tank crews, and was taken to Fort Stotsenburg, 65 miles North of Manila. The tanks followed as soon as the turrets were reattached that had been removed in shipping.

...As it turned out the US and Philippine troops were doomed from the start of the war by the lack of air power, supplies and reinforcements. However, due to the heroic efforts of units like company C, the Japanese advance was critically slowed.
After the order to cease fire on, April 9, 1942, there was a 24-hour lull before the Japanese troops appeared. During this time Company C was ordered to destroy their weapons, equipment and records. More salient to the starving troops the Quartermaster Corp. distributed their remaining food supplies to any men fortunate to be in the vicinity. They were completely unaware that as prisoners of war they would not be humanely treated.

...The Japanese commander arrived on horseback, April 10th, and among other things was amazed to learn how few tanks had been opposing them. General Homma had estimated U.S, tank strength at 600 to 900 and afterwards acknowledged that the tanks and artillery were the primary reason that the Japanese offensive timetable was seriously delayed.

The rumor was that the Japanese would load the prisoners into trucks and travel north to a prison camp on Luzon. This proved to be an ugly deceit as the men were looted of their personal possessions and lined up in column of fours and marched north from Mariveles, which is at the southern tip of Bataan. Along the way the Japanese picked up U.S. and Filipino troops until by the time they reached Lamao April 11th, there were an estimated 55,000 Filipinos and 10,000 Americans in the column. The troops had not had any food or water since April 10th and weren't allowed anything to drink until the night of the 11th, in spite of the oppressive heat and humidity.

...Accurate figures of the death toll during the march are unobtainable but it is estimated that about 10,000 Filipinos and 600-1000 US soldiers died before the ordeal culminated at the railroad depot in San Fernando.

..The surviving members of Company C were scattered all over Japan, Korea and even Mukden, Manchuria ...
Upon the surrender of Japan and the liberation of the prisoners in August 1945 by U.S. and Russian armies, the men were gathered up and sent, in most cases, to the Philippines for preliminary examinations, medical treatment, new uniforms and an attempt to straighten out pay records. By various means they were sent home to an Army Hospital nearest their home town where they were eventually discharged.

...Company C, 194th Tank Battalion, was officially inactivated April 2, 1946 in the Philippines and thus the chapter closed on a heroic outfit.

...These deployments of the National Guard underline the critical importance of the citizen soldier available at any time for a call to arms and may we never forget that reality."

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## danno5

Once again, thanks for the trip report! I did the same tour 3 years ago, and it was one of the highlights of my trip to Manila. My only wish is that I did the 2D/1N trip since there was a lot of times I felt rushed to get back on the tram for the next stop. My only other comment (other than it was a great day) is that the ferry terminal is a little difficult to find - our taxi driver, and none of the others he tried to get directions from - knew where to do (we ended up getting off and wandering around and finally found it). 

The other visit I really enjoyed was the American Cemetery (I think Davis recommended this one) - not only beautiful and peaceful, but a great learning experience about the Pacific during WWII.

thanks again!

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## Davis Knowlton

> The other visit I really enjoyed was the American Cemetery (I think Davis recommended this one) - not only beautiful and peaceful, but a great learning experience about the Pacific during WWII.


It is a fabulous spot. I'm sure Kate has been there, but it should be a must do on a Manila stopover.

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## katie23

^Thnx for all the comments and replies. I'll add pix when I've got more time as I'm on my fone now & I have a day job. Lol.

@davis - I haven't been to the American Cemetery, though I've been to the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Phil cemetery for heroes) on a school trip. Though I think I didn't really appreciate it, since I was a stupid teenager then. Maybe I'll go to both in the near future and I'm sure I would appreciate it now, as an adult. Then end the day trip at SM Aura (a mall) for some window shopping. Win-win! Lol. I saw the only the exterior of SM.Aura sinxe it's near the S. Korean embassy & I applied for a visa there. Btw, I ended this Corregidor day trip with a visit to SM Mall of Asia. 555

@CalEden - thnx for coming out of the shadows to post. I've been to the WWII & Vietnam memorials in Washington DC. It was quite an experience, esp if you know of ppl who were involved in those wars, or whose lives were touched by those conflicts. My life was borh influenced by both wars. If interested, I have a thread abt my Vietnam visit in the Vn section. I might visit there again for touring & visiting relatives. Cheers!

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## Geezy

Nice - I'll be in the Philippines in less than 48 hours. 

Heading straight to the beaches, beers and babes.

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## katie23

^Enjoy your vacation...

Thanks for the comments and greens, will try to post some pics if my net cooperates.

The next part of the tour was to view some mortars. The first one was Battery Way, which was named named in honor of 2nd Lt. Henry N. Way, 4th U.S. Artillery, who died in service in the Philippines in 1900.  Battery Way was a battery of four 12-inch mortars (not referring to the dry cell/ lithium batteries).



These are the bunkers where they hid some of the supplies

Notice from the above pic that there are rail tracks - supplies were transported via rail.

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## katie23

These are the different mortars.


Notice the pockmarks on the concrete - these were due to the bombings. 
The ppl in the pic were Merkins from Washington state, USA. They were with us in the bus/tramvia.

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## katie23

Then it was off on the bus/tramvia to go to another site. This was Battery Hearn. From wiki: it was operated by the 59th Coast Artillery Regiment of the US Army. It was one of the batteries operated by the said regiment during the Philippines campaign (1941-1942). The regiment was organized from existing members of the Regular Army and National Guard. 

Battery Hearn and some Washington ppl


This was a bomb crater nearby

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## katie23

This was a spare battery

The ones seated are balikbayans/returnees from Canada.

Our groups was mixed; some Merkins, some young Chinese (independent travelers).

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## katie23

Bunkers


These ppl were from the other bus/tramvia

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## katie23

To get a sense of scale, the guy is probably 6 feet.


From the description of Battery Hearn (on the wall):
On May 6, 1942, the gun carriage was disabled by the crew before surrendering but the Japanese had American POW's place the battery back in service by replacing the mounted gun with the spare nearby and stripping parts from Battery Smith to rebuild the carriage.  In early January 1945, a large bomb dropped by an American B-24 bomber exploded beside the gun, putting it permanently out of action and a second bomb collapsed the under ground passageway behind the gun. 

That's all for now. To be continued...

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## katie23

^Battery Hearn was named after Brig. Gen. Clint C. Hearn who commanded the harbor defenses of Manila and Subic Bay in 1919. 

Will try to load a few pics while waiting, if my net holds...

The next destination was at the topside (head of the tadpole/island). We went to the Mile Long Barracks - name was because of its length. It served as the barracks for enlisted personnel. 



Barracks and the tramvia

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## katie23

Panorama shot of Mile Long Barracks. This was a long continuous building. It appears as two separate buildings now because it was destroyed by bombs during the war.

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## katie23

Near the barracks was the parade grounds


Across the parade grounds was the old cinema/theater.. pics taken from the tramvia

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## katie23

From the tram, I took this pic of the war memorial. The two soldiers represent an American and a Filipino; brothers-in-arms against the Japanese during WWII.


War Memorial from the side, pic taken from the moving tram

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## katie23

The tramvia stopped at a viewpoint where one could see the edge of the island (topside). From this side, the town of Mariveles in Bataan province could be seen.


Another panorama shot. The landmass in the distance is Bataan province.

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## katie23

This is the Eternal Flame of Peace (I think). It's a metal sculpture by a Greek-American artist. On the grass are some solar cells.  There are no transmission lines in the island. Electricity is from generators or photovoltaics. The street lamps also have PV cells attached to it (which was cool for me - first time that I've seen those in actual, and not in pics).



The dome of the memorial was just a few meters away. We walked towards it.

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## Norton

Any pics of Mindanao Garden of Peace?
Commenorates the death of Moro soldiers. Was all the talk when I was in PI late 60s.

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## katie23

The inscription on the Eternal Flame


Eternal Flame from afar. I was lucky to have clear blue skies that day. The days after this, they were grey, gloomy and rainy - wouldn't have made nice pics.

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## Headworx

All those years in 'da PI and I never made it to Corrigador, but should have got off my drunken arse and made the trip after seeing your photos K.T. 

Great travel thread, as always.

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## katie23

> Any pics of Mindanao Garden of Peace?
> Commenorates the death of Moro soldiers. Was all the talk when I was in PI late 60s.


Sorry, there's none. I think it wasn't included in the day tour, maybe it's in the 2D/1N tour. I remember that our guide said something about it, but I can't remember everything and I didn't record him. We went to a memorial dedicated to the various Filipino revolts, and to a Japanese Garden/Memorial, dedicated to the Japanese soldiers.  The Japanese memorial was made/designed/funded by the Jap gov't in the 90s (I think). The Phil gov't allowed it (enough time had elapsed for the emnity to pass) and they also exhumed so many bones of Japanese soldiers. They sent the bones to Japan. Most of the Jap soldiers on the island committed suicide (either by samurai, jumping on the cliffs or drowning on the beach) rather than surrender. There's a beach called "Suicide Beach" - pic of that later. 

Our guide also talked of Hiroo Onoda, the soldier who hid in the forests of Lubang Island for 29 years. He was ordered not to take his own life or to surrender, so he didn't. He only surrendered when his  his former commander traveled from Japan to personally issue orders relieving him from duty in 1974. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 91. (with help from wikipedia). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda

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## katie23

> All those years in 'da PI and I never made it to Corrigador, but should have got off my drunken arse and made the trip after seeing your photos K.T. Great travel thread, as always.


If only we had hindsight, no? (smiles ruefully) As stated before, my regret is that I didn't know about this tour when my dad was still alive. He would've loved this tour, esp. the statue of MacArthur. My mom wouldn't appreciate as much, since she didn't grow up here. Oh well... 

Thanks for the greet!

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## katie23

The Pacific War Memorial from afar


The walls were filled with descriptions about the Pacific War

This area reminded me of the WWII and Vietnam memorials in Washington DC.

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## katie23

There's an "altar" in the center
 

The inscription


That's all for now. To be continued...

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## Norton

> We went to a memorial dedicated to the various Filipino revolts, and to a Japanese Garden/Memorial, dedicated to the Japanese soldiers


The WW2 period and the following couple of decades was a rough time for the PI. Through it all you Filipinos have endured and done yourselves proud.

Again, thanks for the pics and comment.

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## callippo

the only Filipino tour I've ever taken where it approached western standards even the boat was the only ferry I've ever taken where it didn't feel like it could keel over at any moment. 

I heard that the seperate westerner and Japanese tour scripts have a markedly different slant. 

our guide was a ladyboy who suffered from the curious delusion that she was a direct descendant of Douglas McCarthur, which was kind of funny. 

I was looking out for it and there was no mention in the tour about the Jabidah massacre in the tour script or in any of the exhibits. But then, in all of the Kanchanaburi museums, you can shift through every sngle exhibit and display, and you will find no mention at all that Thailand declared war on the United States and Great Britain on the same day either.

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## Lancelot

> Originally Posted by katie23
> 
> Camel and Lucky Strike are cigarette brands
> 
> 
> Used to get them in our C ration packs. How times have changed.


Yep, four in a pack  :Smile:  Some of those C-ration meals were sorta old- the first few puffs of that aged tobacco would kick butt  :Smile:

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## Lancelot

Our Corregidor tour leader was a feisty little Filipina that didn't suffer fools lightly. She told us about some Japanese visitors that denied any Imperial Japanese military "misconduct" in the Philippines during WW2

She told them her frank opinion about that  :Smile:

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## LoveVisaLife

This is one place that I have really wanted to go. However, every time that I have been in the Philippines, my plans to visit have been overtaken by events. First time typhoon warnings and boat not running that day. Second time, Sun Cruises boat was in dry dock for repairs for on emonth. Other times it just didn't fit into the schedule. I had something else important like a wedding to my wife. lol  I will get there one of these times.  Thanks for the information.

LoveVisaLife

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