We made the
trip back to the United States with few problems. On Wednesday we left Corregidor and went to
stay for a couple of nights with our friends, Ray and Esther Ong. They also provided us several delicious meals and a driver while we accomplished last-minute business.
Dinner with Esther and Ray
On Thursday we closed our last bank account and had lunch with our
friend Leslie Murray of the American Chamber of Commerce in the
Philippines. After lunch we stopped at
the AmCham office, where director Ebb Hinchcliffe and Leslie surprised and
honored us with a silver plate inscribed as follows:
Presented to
Marcia and Steve
Kwiecinski
With great
appreciation for their dedication and tireless support
in the active
preservation of the
history of Corregidor, Bataan and other WWII sites
in the Philippines,
and for furthering the appreciation of this history
as 1st
class tour leaders, bloggers, and historians
in line with the
objectives of FAME
Given this historical
day, May 6, 2015
The Filipino-American
Memorial Endowment, Inc.
Affiliate of the
American Chamber of
Commerce of the Philippines, Inc.
Ebb Hinchcliffe
Executive Director
Ebb, Marcia, Leslie, and Steve at the AmCham Office
On Friday morning the Ong’s driver took us to the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport in Manila.
Our flight to Guangzhou, China, was delayed about an hour and a half,
but that didn’t matter for us because we had a scheduled seven-hour layover. Our flight to Los Angeles was delayed for over
three hours, so it was a good thing that we had almost a five-hour scheduled
layover in LA.
While we were waiting in Guangzhou we were able to find a
couple of electric receptacles to plug in our PC and Kindle Fire. Fortunately for everyone else, we had two
extension cords, so we were able allow others to plug into our cords; most
people were looking to charge their I-phones or whatever you call those phones
that look and act like tiny computers but you can also talk into them and take
pictures. The world has sure changed in
the six and a half years that we spent mostly on Corregidor.
Our flight to the U.S. was long but we were able to catch
some much-needed sleep, except for whenever the man seated next to Marcia
sneezed loud enough to wake the deaf.
Never looked our way or apologized for waking us up on numerous
occasions.
The plane from LA to Minneapolis left the terminal on time
but then had to return because one of the sensors was acting up. Thankfully it was reset and we were on our
way.
We spent the day with Marcia’s brother Wally, who picked us
up at the airport, and his wife Bonnie, then went to Steve’s sister Paula’s
late on Saturday afternoon. Sunday
started with a Mother’s Day meal at Steve’s other sister Della’s, with Steve,
Della, and Paula’s mother Mary Anne in attendance. Then we went to the Fort Snelling National
Cemetery to visit Walter’s grave. Walter
and his experiences on Corregidor are why we became “Steve and Marcia on the
Rock.”
Steve, Paula, Mary Anne, Della, and Marcia
Walter's grave, Fort Snelling National Cemetery
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