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ASSIGNMENT:WASHINGTONNor Even A Flag Now WavingOver Corregidor IslandBy Ed KoterbaWASHINGTON- The gentlemen came to Capitol Hill to plead the cause for a memorial on an island practically on the other side of the world.It stirred a vivid memory of what happened to this writer last December. The sky was as blue as the China Sea beyond. The helicopter which had churned out from Bataan Peninsula three miles away hesitated in midair over a jungle-tangled mass, and then swept down into a patch of weeds. Dry chaff scattered into the sweltering ainThe place: Corregidor. The writer had landed on The Bock at the mouth of Manila Bay to see how America had preserved its far Pacific' symbol of ultimate valor.What I saw on this hot, hilly, tadpole-shaded island was an ugly disgrace to the traditional patriotism of the folks back home. Here stood what is perhaps the most dramatic symbol of the courage in the history of our /ighting men.Yet, nowhere on the island was there a suggestion that our people were preserving it as a tribute to the heroism of Gen. Jonathan Wain-wright’s men.Instead of a monument to the fallen heroes and to the 12,000 soldiers who stuck it out in Malin-ta Tunnel, there was nothing but a trash heap—a forgottten. dirty, neglected hunk of real estate.Ironically, five years ago the island was officially designated a shrine. Still, not even a flag waved on Corregidor. Neither Philippine nor American.Now, back in the heart of our democracy. Emmet O’Neal was beseeching our congressmen for help in perpetuating the hallowed memory of Corregidor. Mr. O’Neal, former ambassador to the Philippines. is chairman of the Corregi-dor-Bataan Memorial Commission.The commission plans a $7.5 million monument, one that would rise 750 feet above the Philippine Sea. The shaft would be illuminated by night so it could be seen from ships far at sea and from as far away as Manila. The base would hold a library and auditorium.Last year, the House of Representatives passed the Monument Bill, but time ran out before the measure got to the Senate.The sum of $7.5 million is a big piece of money, but Mr. O’Neal’s point is that it’s cheap when you consider it would weld our parting relations with the Filipinos. The monument would be a symbol for the four million men who fought on our side in the Far East. Thus, it would be. a memorial to the Filipinos as well.Corregidor is vacant now except for a small army detachment of Filipinos clearing away for salvage the big rusted guns and several thousand warheads still stacked in piles in the hills.The gaping shells of old barracks remain as they were 17 years ago, except that the jungle grows through the middle of them.Only improvement to the island’s wartime landmarks is a string of electric lights affixedhaphazardly through the main partof the 1,400-tunnel in the heart of MaJinta Hill. Ribald phrases have been scrawled on the walls.So, now. finally, 17 years after the island fell, Corregidor is inspiring patriotic action.The little man, looking from the sidelines, would be moved to suggest quietly that a gesture of truepariotism could be accomplishedsimply, effectively, inexpensively.Such as raising the colors over Corregidor.
Newspaper Details
Redlands Daily Facts
Redlands, California, US
Mon, Mar 23, 1959
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
University O.
NM, USA 07 Aug 2018
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