02.06.08
Corregidor Island
I took hundreds of pictures while in the Philippines, thanks to digital cameras! But alas there’s just too many to put up on my blog. Instead, I’ll share some, which I think will help to give an idea of the things one might see while visiting the Philippines.
We (Andrew and I) really enjoyed this trip. Part of the fun was how different things were, which really helped in regards to amusement. But I think I’ll write about that at another time. For now, I want to write about the first site we visited, Corregidor.
Corregidor is a small island off of Manila Bay. It took a one hour and 15 minute boat ride to get there from Manila. The entire tour took approximately 5 hours long. The main reason Corregidor is a popular tourist spot is because of it’s history during WWII. This small island was the headquarters of the Allied Forces during WWII, and was also the seat of the Philippine Commonwealth Government. Thus there were fierce battles on Corregidor between the Filipinos and Americans against the Japanese. A quick google online shows that there were 23 batteries installed on Corregidor, but I seem to recall the tour guide stating a higher number like 35 batteries. . . hmmmm. At any rate, each battery consisted of about 4 guns. And I mean “GUNS.” 
Here’s a pic of me standing next to one of the “smaller” guns in one battery, Battery Way. They had larger guns with longer barrels as part of other batteries like Battery Hearn and Battery Crocket. But the larger, longer barrels wore out faster, thus were only able to fire about 350 rounds, as opposed to the smaller guns like I’m standing next to of about 1,500 rounds. The reason for this is because the longer barrels, although they can reach a farther distance, wears out faster with each discharge. That is, each time the gun is fired, the riveting gets worn down a little until there’s not enough riveting to put a spin on the projectile. The rounds have to have a spin so they can travel in a straight, forward direction. When the riveting is worn down, it no longer gives the projectile a spin and, the barrels have to be replaced with another barrel with fresh riveting. The gun in the above picture was capable of firing shells to a distance of 14,610 yards, or approximately just over 8 miles. The larger guns could fire to approx 16 or 17 miles. Now this was in the 1930s and 40s. Compare that to now. . . Here in 2008 there are rail guns which are placed on battleships which are electromagnetic and fire at a distance of 200 miles! Holy mackerel! The older guns needed more knowledge in trigonometry to project trajectory, but now, I think the guns are likely programed for trajectory. My, have times changed!
Below is a picture of what remains of General MacArthur’s headquarters on Topside. From what I’ve heard, the story goes that they knew that there was a “leak” or an “informant” in their midst, so MacArthur evacuated in time before his headquarter was bombed. Apparently they made a direct hit. Beyond the rubble is parts of Mile-Long-Barracks on Topside.
There are many more ruins such.
Since it wasn’t raining, and the roads weren’t muddy, our tour guide gave us a little bonus ride to see the hospital. He was a funny tour guide, typical of a Filipino because we love to laugh. He said that the hospital was built in the shape of a cross viewed from the air. That way the pilots would know they were not to bomb this building. Well, our tour guide said that regardless of it’s markings, the hospital was bombed every day, ha! Or every other day. One day they’d drop a bomb on the hospital, then the next day they would apologize for bombing the hospital, then the next day they would drop another bomb, then the following day another apology, and on and on, ha ha! Okay, I shouldn’t laugh at that, but now that it’s in the past, it’s easier to poke fun. I was on the wrong side of the tram, so this shot isn’t the greatest and only shows a glimpse of the hospital.
Here’s a view or Corregidor from the top of the lighthouse.
I’m always amazed at beautiful, peaceful scenes like this when I think that once upon a time there was the roar of battle going on on this very spot with hundreds of lives lost. I had that same feeling touring at Lone Pine in Gallipoli, Turkey and Gettysberg in Pennsylvania.
Here’s a pic of Andrew, my mom, and me at the War Memorial statue of an American GI helping a Filipino soldier. I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to “touch” the statues, but our tour guide told me, “Sure, go and hug the soldier’s leg. He won’t harm you.” Ha ha ha! The gray building off to the left of the picture is a small museum with other war artifacts.
Here’s a picture of the entrance to the Pacific War Memorial. Beyond us, the white structure is in the design of a military helmet. Underneath that is an alter which is fully lit one time in the year through a hole at the top of the helmet. Beyond that is a pathway to the eternal fire sculpture overlooking the water. Along the pathway are stone plaques with the various wars that took place in the Pacific and dates carved in them.
As part of this tour, we also visited the Malinta Tunnel. This tunnel was located below 400ft of solid rock. This tunnel protected many soldiers because the bombs just could not penetrate the tunnel that far below ground, although I’m sure the soldiers could hear and feel the bombs dropping all around them as the earth quaked from the force of explosions. The dust made it hard to breathe. It was hard to get a good shot inside the tunnel because it was so dark, but this is what part of the tunnel looked like. It branched off to the sides as well, and I believe the tunnels covered about 3 miles.
The tunnel was basically the end of the tour, so we headed back to Manila. From Corregidor, one can see a view of Bataan, where the famous Bataan Death March took place. A few days later we visited Bataan and the memorial that was erected for that part of WWII history.
Welp, best get to bed. Have an early start tomorrow morning. . .
Marlakins
