The Ambassador's Residence in Baguio City, Philippines

Besides our trip to Leyte, which we wrote about in our last blog, two of our tourists opted for an extension to Baguio.  We contacted the U.S. Embassy, and staff members arranged for the four of us to tour the Ambassador’s Residence in Camp John Hay.

Ken Hemmelgarn served in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at Clark Air Force Base in Angeles City during the Korean War.  During that time, he visited Baguio, Lingayen Gulf, and Manila.  He wanted to see those places again.

Ken is president of Norwood Medical of Dayton, Ohio.  He told us that he has quite a number of Filipino employees who warned him to expect major changes.  All during our trip he kept saying how much things have changed, which is certainly true since the Philippine population has quintupled since he was last here more than sixty years ago.  He kept saying, “None of this was here, none of this was here,” wherever we went, especially at Clark and Baguio, although areas of the Kennon Road and the Marcos Highway looked familiar to him. We spotted sections of old bridges, which had been part of the roadway in those days.

Inside the residence we saw the room and the table made famous because of the formal surrender of General Yamashita Tomoyuki on September 3, 1945, the day after Japan surrendered in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II.

U.S. Embassy symbol over the entrance

The Ambassador's Residence pamphlet cover

U.S. Embassy Residence, Baguio
As you can see, the driveway is wet - a passing shower occurred while we were inside the building, and had ended by the time we came back outdoors

Flagpole in front of Embassy Residence

Landscaping near main entrance

 Ken, Jane, and Marcia at the entrance with our guide, Tess

Tess and Marcia in the entryway

Living room: portraits of Thomas Jefferson (center) and General Jonathan Wainwright (far right)

Wainwright portrait

Photo of the General Yamashita surrender (Wainwright sits at the table on far left,
and Yamishita second from bottom and just right of center)

Steve, Marcia, Ken, and Jane with surrender painting between them, Embassy living room

Famous surrender table, which is now located in the dining room

General Douglas MacArthur portrait located in the dining room

Closeup of the General

Ken, Jane, Marcia and Steve with the General

Tess climbing the spiral staircase

Bedroom at the top of the stairs said to have been used by General Yamashita

Hallway leading to other upstairs bedrooms

Spiral staircase as seen from above

Marcia and Tess as we said goodbye