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0-12W *.V.'' ' * V V» N*| *.'.*1 «•M MI • 4 »k 1 I I • lt;• lt;'.lt;i^ri' /1-^ 'j' V ^. i. v*'^i:;#I:-SrTi^'V ♦ V ♦ ^ X/ •«»* ^^5^;;NEGLECTED AfE^IORlAL; Visitors examine tlie remains of a 12-inch fun that helped Corregidor hold out under Japanese attack for four months in the early days of WorldWar n in the Pacific. Plans are under way to restore the three square mile Wand in Manila Bay as a memorial to tl^e American and Fill* pino soldiers who died there.:;:^l:The AlbiKtu#fqu# Tribtiff#laorWill Be MemorialBy CABL ZIMMEBMANCORRSGIPOR, f^pplnes — After 17 years of ne gleci, something ia at last being done to turn Corregidor into a memorial to the American and Filipino soldiers who made U famous during Woiid War II.Corregidor, a three square mile island of rock .within ea^ reach of both shores oi Manila Bay, held out for four months in the face of fierce,H\e guns, rusted br the weather and twisted by Japanese shells, sit silent in a series of batteries built of thick concrete. The concrete itself is pock marked with thousands of bullet holes.There are skeletons of large concrete barracks one a mile long—that housed. American and Filipino troops, and the remeins of MacArthut's headquarters.Finally, there is the Malintathe proposed memorial. Ta* steed Bell propoicd a ^*mor« modest but no Ksh approprl-atw meroorlallzatlon of the individuals and principles tested at Bataan and Corregidor.*' The gist of the new plant Clean up iha island; turn the jungle into a park^ restore the historic instenations; build sufficient roads and provide transportsiion and olher facilities for visitors. Forget about a fancy monument.point-blank Japanese bom-|TunneU which made the longbardment before iinally surrendering May 6, 1942.Il was ihe last stand of American forces in tl^e Philippines, but it was a glorious one. Said Gen. Douglas Mac-Arthur, who escaped from Corregidor to Australia;‘Through the bloody haze of its last reverberating si)ot, I shall always soem to see a vision of grim, gaunt, ghastly men, still unafraid.Today's visitor needs little Imagination to conjure up thedesperate days of 1942. The physical evidence of war is everywhere. The only difference is a jungle of small trees, seeded from the air after liberation to cover up Corregidor's scars.resistance possible. Here Cor regidor's defenders hid under a mountain oi rock while the Japanese pounded the Island: Sixteen thousand Japanese sheUe fell en Corregidor in one day alone.THE BIG GUNS that keptthe Japanese at bay and supported the beleaguered forces at Bataan are still there, some of them still in the last firing positions fixed by their American crews before thesurrender.THE TUNNEL, like toe other installatbns, has hard ly been touched since the war ended.The record of attempts to restore Corregidor is a story In itself.For n\ony years, stertmg in 1953. bills were presented to the U.S. Congress to appropriate 7.5 milljun dollars for a Corregidor memorial. A design for a large, elaborate memorial was approved by an American commission.But nothing happened. The hills never got through Congress.Then last March, Under Secretary of State George Ball told the Philippine government the State Department had given up hope forTHE RESPONSE here was mixed. The Philippine government's National Shrines Commission drafted a plan for Corregidor that generally corresponds to Ball's suggestions — but decided to go it alone, at least for the time being.Work has already started at clearing Corregidor's jungle brush. The commi^lon hag approved a plan calling for expenditure of a little more than one million dollars to cover the basic work of restoring the island.AU of thl.^ money wouldStpipiTtClt;R'feacECatS(nsiflhlt;tvcome from the Philippine gov-emmeal and private contributions. The program would go on regardless oi whether the U.S. government offered to help *- or whether such an offer was accepted by the Philippines.
Newspaper Details
Albuquerque Tribune
Albuquerque, New Mexico, US
Thu, Sep 27, 1962
Page 23
Full Page
Clipped by
University O.
NM, USA 01 Aug 2018
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