STEVE and MARCIA on THE ROCK

Another important anniversary

2012-02-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

We received two timely emails this week that we would like to share. The first is from Richard Adams, who, as you may recall, visited Corregidor with his family just last month.

To those who returned to Corregidor sixty-seven years ago today and the Air Force and Navy units which supported them, God bless, "May the wind be always at your back." Also, thank you to the men and women who do so much to keep the history of Corregidor alive.

Richard Adams, Hq Co 3rd Bn 503 PIR

Sitting on this peaceful island, it is hard to imagine the tremendous amount of fighting and killing that took place here 67 years ago. This is the fourth consecutive time that we have been part of a typically simple flag-raising ceremony held at Topside on February 16 to commemorate the 1945 American Armed Forces initial assault that led to the retaking of The Rock.

Actually, this year there were two ceremonies. At 8:00 A.M. several of us, including our Australian friend Paul Whitman, gathered to hoist a 48-star flag – a gift from the MacArthur Memorial Museum in Norfolk, VA. – on the Spanish Flagpole. At 11 o’clock, the Corregidor Foundation, Inc., sponsored a wreath-laying ceremony at the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team marker. Paul, whose father served on MacArthur’s staff, and Steve, whose father fought here in 1942, presented the wreath. Then Steve spoke briefly about the daring raid, which first consisted of 1000 paratroopers landing on or near Topside, taking the Japanese by surprise. He told about a company of soldiers who were blown off course and landed near the Japanese Commander, Capt. Akira Itagaki, running into him by happenstance, and killing him very early in the fighting. He also told how some of the soldiers quickly disabled the central communications center on Topside. Between these two events, the Japanese were immediately and heavily disadvantaged, with no intra-island communication system, and their leader killed. Within two weeks, the island was deemed “safe” for General MacArthur to return, which he did on March 2nd. In the two weeks following his visit another 118 Japanese soldiers were discovered and killed.

The first American flag to be flown on Corregidor on February 16, 1945, was actually hoisted on a telephone pole a couple hundred yards west of the old Spanish flagpole. We hope someday to have a plaque at its location which might read something like this suggestion from Paul Whitman: “The American flag flew from a pole at this spot for the first time in 2 1/2 years courtesy of the 503rd PRCT “THE ROCK REGIMENT”, placed there by Pfc. Clyde I. Bates and T/5 Frank Guy Arrigo, under fire, on 16 February, 1945. Lest We Forget.” We include a photo of Bates and Arrigo on the telephone pole.

The second email we include came from another Australian friend, Bill Borg.

Steve and Marcia,

Today, the 15th of February, marks the 70th anniversary of the 'Fall of Singapore' - as significant to British and Commonwealth Forces (especially the surrender of the Australian 8th Division) as the surrender of Corregidor is to Americans and Filipinos.

Bill Borg

Thanks to Bill for reminding us that the British and Commonwealth forces were heavily involved in the Pacific Theatre and that these men suffered the same cruelties that the American and Filipino forces did.

Our thanks go out to Richard and Bill for sharing their heartfelt thoughts with us.

Steve and Marcia on the Rock

Basketball finals; more on breadfruit

2012-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Corregidor Basketball League tournament originally began later than we had hoped due to Typhoon Pedring, which caused the uniforms to be delayed by a week. This proved to be a major setback, since we then had fewer days to get the tournament completed before the Christmas/New Year’s holidays. In mid-December we suspended the league with the semifinals one game from completion. We asked the captains to let us know when they had enough players on-island to compete. The captains never could agree on a resumption date – one team would have at least five available players, but their opponents would not – and the tournament committee finally decided that we would begin again on January 31, no matter what.

At 5:00, Battery Way had only three players and only expected one more at best. We agreed to wait until 5:30, at which time Captain Roy Baludbod agreed to play with only four players. No one expected the game to be competitive given this handicap, but everyone was wrong. The game was close all the way, with Way holding a 17-16 lead after a quarter and leading by as many as five in the second. Battery Geary had six players, so they not only had one more on the court, but could also substitute to give a player time to rest. Baludbod, who finished with 47 points, had another great game, and Kris Atadora Geary’s big man, was unstoppable inside and scored 41 points. Way’s shot to tie the score at the final buzzer was off target, and Geary came away with a 91-89 thriller.

In the second game, the Battery Grubbs Captain, Wilson Jurado, and Jasper Labinghisa each scored 21 points in a 59-54 win over Battery Hearn in another close match. Hearn’s more balanced attack, led by Jon Perez’s 14 points, was just not enough. This set up the best-of-three final match of Grubbs vs. Geary, and the third-place “do-or-die” game between Way and Hearn.

The first championship game was a letdown, with Grubbs captain Jurado missing the game because he was on guard duty. Geary had no trouble in a 91-71 final that was not as close as the score might seem to indicate. Geary was led by captain Jerry Constantino’s 39 points, with Atadora adding 24. Grubbs was led by center Joseph Barrion’s 28.

In Thursday’s first game, Way and Hearn played for third place. Once again, Way only had four players against seven for Hearn. Although Way got off to a fast start, and led by as many as 11, they began to show fatigue late in the first half, and eventually Hearn, with its rested players, was just too much for Way, claiming a 96-88 win. Baludbod led the scoring with 45 for the losing team. Dariel Isla had 24 to lead Hearn in points scored.

The second game, a must-win for regular season champion Grubbs to force a third game, turned out to be another thriller. Geary jumped out to a fast start, but then Grubbs went into a stingy zone defense and started to challenge Constantino and Atadora every time they drove to the basket. Grubbs went up by three, then five, and it started to look like they just wanted the game more. With a couple of minutes to play, Geary fought back and took a one-point lead. Grubbs, led from the bench by their unofficial player-coach, Ed Roxas, fouled every chance they got, continuing to put Geary players on the free throw line. This strategy would have worked since Geary missed most of its free throws, but Grubbs had a hard time making baskets on the other end of the court, thanks to strong defensive by Geary players. There were times when only two seconds went off the clock before the each whistle, and the last 30 seconds seemed to take forever. Geary finally came away with a 58-56 squeaker, totally worthy of a championship game.

The awards ceremony was held after the final game. Hearn was awarded the “Second-Placer” (equivalent to second runner-up) trophy, Grubbs the First-Placer trophy, and Geary the Championship trophy. Five players, one from each team, were name as the “Corregidor Basketball League First Team.” In addition, Atadora was named Rookie of the Year, Constantino the playoffs MVP, and Baludbod the tournament MVP. The trophies were generously donated by Sun Cruises, Inc., which operates the ferry, the Corregidor Inn, and day tours of Corregidor Island.

It was, overall, a great tournament, much enjoyed by players and spectators. We especially want to thank each of you who donated money to make the tournament possible.

Our story about “Big Red” and the jackfruit resulted in a number of responses. Several of our readers thought that jackfruit and breadfruit were synonymous. Others equated it with other fruits such as the rancid-smelling durion. Our friend Philip gave us the scholarly email that follows.

Dear Marcia and Steve,

Your latest newsletter, featuring jackfruits (Artocarpus heterophyllus), reminded me of the closely related breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) that are planted all over Latin America and the Pacific islands, and that bear similar-looking fruit. Although I’ve seen a number of them there in the Philippines, they were especially common at our previous posting, El Salvador. In Central America, they were planted mainly as an ornamental landscape plant; they’re handsome trees with leaves that look vaguely like giant glossy-green oak leaves.

Many people I met in El Salvador were actually unaware that the pineapple-sized breadfruit (smaller than those of jackfruit) are both edible and nutritious. Mostly just as an experiment, I picked a few fruits at their peak of ripeness, sliced them, and sauteed them in butter, and then topped them off with a little honey or syrup – like pancakes.

I suppose it’s not surprising that the surface of the rough-skinned green fruit resembles that of the North American “horse-apple”/Bois-d’Arc/Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera), since “horse-apple” trees also belong to the Mulberry Family/(Moraceae). It almost makes one wonder whether the two could be hybridized to create either a winter-hardy jackfruit or breadfruit, or perhaps an edible “horse-apple.”

By the way, as you be aware, England’s desire to introduce the Polynesian-food-staple breadfruit into cultivation in the Caribbean Basin area was the purpose for the ill-fated voyage of the HMS Bounty. All for now; take care. Philip

The Michigan connection

2012-01-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

As you may know, we spent over 28 years living in the Lansing, Michigan area, most of the years that our children were in school. Just next door is East Lansing, home to Michigan State University, known nationally as “State” or “MSU.” (In the Philippines, MSU is Mindanao State University.) Because of our proximity, and since most of our friends had attended State, we naturally became fans. Green and White were good, and all things related to the University of Michigan’s Maize (golden yellow) and Blue were evil, mean and nasty.

So, who should contact us and ask to spend some time here on Corregidor but Tom and Susie, who attended U of M and MSU respectively. It wasn’t too difficult to spot them as they came off the boat, since they were wearing their school colors. Actually, Steve met Tom a couple of years ago, a chance meeting when Tom was assigned to one of Steve’s tours. For some reason, Tom had taken an interest in Battery Way, and he had been wearing a cap that he’d had made for himself. When he realized how important Battery Way was to Steve, he promised to have a cap made for him as well, and on this, his fifth trip to the Rock, he presented Steve with it. Although Steve is most grateful, he joked that it would have looked a lot better in Green and White than, that’s right, Blue and Gold.

Tom had emailed weeks in advance and said that, since he had been on the regular Sun Cruises tour a number of times, he would prefer that he and Susie simply spend the time with us hiking in the more remote places that most of the island’s guests never get to see. We were more than happy to oblige. On the afternoon of their arrival, we took them to Kindley Field, which, among other things, is the Omaha Beach of Corregidor as far as the Japanese are concerned, but is usually not seen by guests due to time constraints limiting the regular tour. Then we walked with them up Malinta Hill to see the observation area and searchlight position. They treated us to lunch at MacArthur Café. In the afternoon, we took them out to the westernmost part of the island, visiting the Batteries Smith and Hannah areas. As you can see in the photo, Susie literally walked the soles off her shoes! They treated us to dinner in the Corregidor Inn. The following morning we all walked around at Topside, spent some time in the museum, and wrapped up our time together with another lunch at MacArthur’s before they boarded the ferry to return to Manila.

Again, we encourage people who have been here before as day-tourists and want to see more of the island to consider doing what Tom and Susie did: come to Corregidor and spend a night or two, and take the time to explore more of the island’s historic and natural attractions. We assure you that the Sun Cruises standard tour packs in a lot in a few short hours, and we always encourage people to see the island in that way for their first time.

It is jackfruit time again, and that means daily visits by our furry neighbors. Actually, they usually stop by once or twice a day to see if we’ve discarded banana or citrus peels, but this time of year they are on the prowl for jackfruit. We have one tree only a few yards from the house that produces more and more fruit every year. For those of you unfamiliar with it, jackfruit is a very large fruit that grows on trees. By large, we are saying that some approach the size of large watermelons, close to 18 inches in length and 8-12 inches in diameter. When the fruits are green, they can substitute for potatoes, vegetables, or beans in soups. When they ripen, the fruit is extremely sweet, sometimes used in the popular dessert halo-halo. The monkeys have not let one ripen on the tree since our first year here, either eating them while sitting in the tree, or chewing through the stems to drop the fruits to the ground.

The monkeys usually come through the yard as a tribe, and we have come to learn that they are selfish individuals. One large male that we see all the time we’ve nicknamed “Big Red,” since he seems to have a red rather than grey-brown pelt. If Big Red is the first one here, the others are usually out of luck. Due to its size, jackfruit time is the exception, since there is enough fruit to share.

What usually happens is something like this. We are in our dirty kitchen out back when we hear rustling leaves indicating activity in the jackfruit tree. Sometimes we’ve already spotted the monkeys, especially if they run across our bodega roof, which is tin and noisy. Other times they can approach stealthily through the trees or across the grass. In any case, the next thing we hear is a loud “thunk” as another jackfruit hits the ground. And right away a monkey is sitting by the jackfruit and starting to tear it apart. Sometimes several of the younger monkeys will eat together, but there is an apparent ranking that usually determines who eats first, second, and so on. The squabbles when someone ‘cuts in line’ can be very loud, sounding a lot like a mixture of dogs and cats fighting. Eventually, after enough of the fruit is gone, a monkey will drag the remainder a little further away, we assume because they know we are watching them and they feel guilty for once again eating the fruit before we get our turn.

We welcome back the Adams Family

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

For the second straight year, we were honored to help host the Richard (Dick) Adams Family here on Corregidor. You may recall that Dick was a member of the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team, which began the liberation of Corregidor on February 16, 1945. As of now Dick is the last WW II veteran and last liberator associated with Corregidor to return here. The last defenders (1941-1942) were Everett Reamer and Chuck Towne, who returned in January 2006. The oldest returning veteran so far has been Oscar Leonard, who served on the island before the war. He also holds the record for the oldest veteran (and possibly oldest, period) to climb Malinta Hill, at the age of 91 years, 11 months, and 12 days. Dick is a mere 89 and a half.

Last year Dick and Nancy’s daughter, Kim, was not able to come with them, but this year she joined them and her younger sister, Alyson, currently on leave from the U.S. Air Force. Corregidor Foundation Inc. Executive Director, Colonel Artemio Matibag, arranged for a wreath-laying ceremony on their first day here. This was held at Topside at the 503rd Marker, which is adjacent to Topside Parade Grounds. Alyson donned her USAF uniform, and Dick, who until arrival did not know that the family had secretly brought it for the occasion, donned his U.S. Army uniform that shows his rank – six stripes – after years of continued service.

Although Dick does not see himself as a hero or even anyone special but as just another soldier who did his duty, he looked great in uniform, and later said he appreciated the special attention that the island visitors bestowed upon him. Dick took the time to talk to some of the interested guests, as well as go into the museum, which features a photo of MacArthur riding in a jeep with Dick amidst a group of men in the background.

Joining us for part or all of the Adams’ stay were friends John Moffitt, Paul Whitman, Karl Welteke, and Peter Parsons. At any given time, we were all available to assist them in seeing the island. We also joined them for lunches and dinners at MacArthur’s Café, and extend sincere thanks to Edit and Orly for their help with providing vegetarian meals for Kim – and all of us – to enjoy. Overnight and breakfast accommodations for Dick and family were at the Corregidor Inn, with many thanks to staff and management.

One of the highlights was a trip up Malinta Hill, where Dick was positioned on sentry duty with about six other soldiers when thousands of Japanese died in the tunnel beneath the hill in a massive suicide explosion. At the top is an observation post/gun position, which interestingly has camouflage under the roof but not on top, indicating that when the installations on Corregidor were designed and installed, aerial warfare was not considered as a risk, only attacks from the water below. We include a photo of John and Peter taken there.

On their last full day on Corregidor, Steve drove the family to Topside where they spent several hours by themselves, looking at places that Dick remembers from his time on the Rock. Later in the day, we took them for a drive, since Kim had still not been to some of the important sites. We drove around Tailside, taking in the vistas at the beach resort and Kindley Field. We finished up with Topside, overlooking the hillside where Dick landed, short of his golf course landing zone, on February 16, 1945. Finally, we watched a beautiful sunset from Battery Grubbs.

On Monday, after four days here, we bid adieu to the Adams family at the North Dock. They were planning to spend another three days touring historic spots and staying at beach resorts in Bagac and Subic Bay before flying back home to Michigan. For the past few months, Sun Cruises has been offering its guests ferry service to Mariveles, Bataan, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It departs soon after the delivering the Day Tour guests on Corregidor at approximately 9:30. Dick, Nancy, Kim and Alyson took advantage of this new feature. The boat returns from Mariveles to Corregidor at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, boards the day-tourists, and heads back to Manila. So, we want you to know that if it is more convenient for you to come to the island from Bataan, and you plan to spend at least one night on Corregidor – highly recommended – we encourage you to check out this new option from Sun Cruises.

Because the Adams family members – except for Kim – were here last January, much of what we could have written regarding this visit would have been repetitious, so we encourage you to visit our website, steveandmarciaontherock.blogspot.com and read the relevant newsletter from January 2011.

For the past week or so, crews for “The Bourne Legacy” have been filming in Manila. We heard that certain streets are closed to traffic to facilitate the filming, and that the normally heavy traffic in these areas is even worse as a result. Later, other locales in the Philippines will be used for film locations. We will find it very interesting to watch the completed movie and look for spots we recognize. We certainly hope that the Philippines gets repaid in positive publicity for the hassles that it is undergoing in order to comply with the filmmaker’s wishes.

The basketball tournament will resume soon. We had to postpone games over Christmas and New Years. Vacations for key individuals delayed it further. We are hoping to wrap it up this month.

Steve and Marcia on the Rock

The treasure hunt

2012-01-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, Larry Atkinson, director of the American Cemetery in Manila, and his assistant, Bert Caloud, brought Darrell Dorgan to Corregidor. Darrell, from Bismarck, North Dakota, is an acquaintance of Fred Saefke, who was in the 4th Marine Regiment on Corregidor when it surrendered on May 6, 1942.

Private Saefke was in the Government Ravine area when the order to surrender was given. The men were told to get rid of all of their valuables, which otherwise would have to be given over to their Japanese captors. Saefke claims to have hidden a ring and a locket in Government Ravine, and was hoping that Darrell could find them. We had been aware of this story for several years, but figured that the chance of finding the items was next to nil. Nonetheless, we gladly agreed to accompany the men on their little treasure hunt. Our good friend, John Moffitt, who is very familiar with the area, agreed to be accompany us.

We began by walking along the south beach toward the bottom of Government Ravine. At first, the shore was sandy and easy to traverse, but soon we were walking on medium to large sized stones, and the going was a bit treacherous, since a slip could easily mean a broken arm or leg. Government Ravine is much further from the south beach than Saefke’s map indicated, making us wonder if he meant Ramsey Ravine, which we walked past first. He mentioned several landmarks, some of which seemed to be in one ravine and some in the other, making matters more confusing.

Hoping that he had stated the correct ravine, we proceeded up Government Ravine from the shoreline. We soon came to a concrete trench that zigzags a hundred yards or so up from the beach. The Saefke map shows a straight trench, more indicative of Ramsey Ravine. Soon we came to an old water-pumping house, and then began our ascent. Saefke indicated that there was a very large tree 21 paces (he was 21 at the time of surrender) from the hiding place. We knew that we would never find this most important landmark, since 70 years have passed, and trees spring up and grow much more quickly here than in the northern United States, essentially blending in around the old tree, should it still exist, which is highly unlikely. One must also realize the changes wrought to the island in the 1945 liberation assault, as well as 70 years of rains, typhoons, and earthquakes.

Eventually we decided that we were not going to find what we were looking for, and followed an old roadbed trail back to Bottomside, where we had hotdogs, hamburgers, and San Miguel Pale Pilsens at MacArthur’s Café. After lunch, Steve gave Darrell a one-hour whirlwind ride around Corregidor, showing him the main gun batteries and barracks, along with a walk through the Pacific War Museum on Topside.

Since this is his treasure, and we do not want others going off in search of it, we do not feel that it would be prudent to describe in detail the major clues as to where Saefke hid the items. Suffice it to say that we had other clues that should have helped us locate the items if the area still looked the same now as it did to Saefke, but we sincerely doubt that he would recognize much of anything should he have come back here himself. In fact we never found anything like we were looking for, so our search turned out to be fruitless. Nevertheless, it was a fun three hours out in the jungle.

A few months ago, we spent some time with a man named Christopher. He recently sent the following email in appreciation:

Dear Steve,

I do apologize about the delay. I just wanted to thank you and your wife Marcia for sharing a wonderful experience on Corregidor Island. It was one of my goals to visit Corregidor Island. I spent a month in the Philippines in Cavite city where I stayed with family and friends. I am a former Marine my wife is a Filipino and also a former Marine. While I was in the Philippines I took a tour to Corregidor Island along with a retired Vietnam vet and a Filipino friend named Don. It was our first time to the island. We took the tour package that is offered thru Sun Cruises which is based out of Manila. It takes about one hour and a half to reach Corregidor Island by ferry. When we got there we loaded on to our tour bus and off we went. Our tour bus guide Armando was everything you could ask for in a tour guide. He was knowledgeable about the history of the island and also very funny. The only thing that was disappointing was that it was too short and not a lot of time to explore the island itself. So when we were done with the tour I asked our tour guide Armando about coming back to the island again and he suggested that if I do come back he would help me get in contact with an a American couple that resides on the island. Man I couldn't wait to come back. So the next week me and Don went back for three days and two nights. When we re-visited we met the American couple that lives in Corregidor Island, Steve and Marcia Kwiecinski. Then for the next three days, mainly Steven, gave us a tour of the island that you wouldn't see on the tour itself. He showed us military sites, gun emplacements, defensive positions, buildings and went through caves/tunnels. Steve also gave an underlying history of the island, the battles, and the Bataan death march adjacent the bay. I would like to thank Steve and Marcia for being humble and generous hosts and I am greatly appreciative of their knowledge of Corregidor Island. I would recommend anybody that’s highly interested in WWII history and want to fully-experience Corregidor Island. Corregidor Island is becoming a forgotten historical landmark in American & Filipino history & without the Kwiecinski's I wouldn't have been able to FULLY appreciate the sacrifice the people of the Philippines and the Americans suffered.
I would greatly appreciate keeping in contact with you and your wife. I apologize for the delay. I've been very busy since my return home but this letter has been a priority of mine since my arrival.

Sincerely,
Christopher S.

Chris, it was our pleasure having you and Don here, and we hope you can return soon.

Steve and Marcia on the Rock

Children's Christmas Party

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

As this newsletter goes out, it is 8:00 A.M. on New Year’s Day, with a gentle breeze blowing off Manila Bay. We expect sunny skies and a high of around 88 degrees. A beautiful start to welcome in the New Year on Corregidor!

We received an email from Steve’s sister Della saying that the temperatures in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota) were in the 30’s and 40’s lately so there was no snow on the ground for Christmas. None here either, although it got so cool Christmas Eve night that we were almost tempted to put a second sheet over us…but had no need to close the windows. It was so windy that no small bancas ran between Bataan and Corregidor, and so despite making plans, for the third year in a row we missed Christmas Mass.

Once again, we spent Christmas with island manager Ronilo Benadero. We purchased two large chickens, which Ron and Gilbert took turns turning over charcoal. They stuffed the chickens with onions, lemon grass, and tamarind pods, and marinated it with patis, a type of salty vinegary sauce. The meal, as usual, was delicious. Marcia brought a cucumber and onion salad to have with the chicken.

Ron had arranged for the children to come to his house for a few gifts. We got a group photo of some of the children and a few mothers. Ron passed out a p20 note (about $1 U.S.) to each of the children. Earlier in the day, Steve and Marcia had put together little baggies with several different candies and a p20 note in each one. The children lined up, and we passed them out as well.

After the gift giving, the children were given further incentives to earn additional p20 notes. One of the contests for the older children was to see who could drink an 8 oz. bottle of soda the faster. Others included dancing to the music. Ron tried to make sure that the money got spread around.

Look at the photo entitled, “Marcia with Shanaica,” and you will see that Shanaica is a sweet, charming nine-year-old whose father, Budoy, works here on the island. Her right foot has been badly deformed since birth. Our guess is that it is something that might have been handled more easily when Shanaica was born, but that now it would require major intervention. She has of course learned to live with her condition, and walks with a minimal limp, something you might miss if you did not know to look for it. It certainly does not keep her from having fun with the other children.

Happy New Year from Steve and Marcia on the Rock

Steve and Marcia wish you a Maligayang Pasko

2011-12-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Corregidor Basketball League playoffs got underway in earnest this Tuesday. In the first semifinal game, Battery Way eked out a 91-89 victory over Battery Geary in the 2nd/3rd bracket. It was neck and neck all the way through the game. Big man Chris Atadora led Geary with 49 points, but this was not enough, as the diminutive captain of Way, Roy Baludbod, scored an even more amazing 52 points! The combined teams’ points are 20 more than the next highest scoring game so far. Add it up, and Atadora and Baludbod accounted for 101 – over 56% – of the 180-point total score. If we had kept track of assists, Baludbod would have looked even more impressive, as he dished off plenty of passes to teammates for layups.

In the second game, fourth seeded Battery Hearn surprised regular season champion Battery Grubbs 67-64. Hearn played the game with only six players while Grubbs was able to stay fresher by substituting among 10 players. Hearn got off to a 6-0 lead and held through the first half. Weariness started to show early in the third quarter, and Hearn fell behind by nine points, and it looked to be all but over. Incredibly, they managed to whittle away and in the end pulled off the upset. Including the 4th/5th qualifier game last week which Hearn won 58-56, the first three playoff games were settled by differences of two, two, and three points. Talk about exciting basketball!

The second pair of games on Wednesday did not come close to Tuesday’s matches for excitement. Needing a win to stay alive, Hearn rushed out to an 18-3 lead and coasted to a 72-60 win that was never as close as the final score would seem to indicate. In the other contest, Geary drubbed Way 101-71 in another must-win game. Atadora was the high scorer, getting 44 for Geary. The only highlight for Way was Baludbod, who finished with 42. Atadora is one of the biggest and possibly the most athletic man in the tournament, and Way had no answer. On the other hand, Baludbod was, at five feet, three and a half inches (1.61 meters), the shortest but certainly the most exciting player on the court once again. The two men combined for half of the scoring in this game.

In addition to Atadora, Battery Geary has another great player, captain Jerry Constantino, the 2008 MVP. Constantino did not play for much of the first game between Geary and Way due to nagging injuries, which possibly figured in Geary’s loss. He is very much like Baludbod, small and fast, and a great strategist, scorer, and assist man. Teamed with big-man Atadora, we think they are the team to beat should both players remain healthy and available for the rest of the tournament. Second favorite is regular season champ Grubbs, with no single standout player, a more balanced team able to substitute at will and remain fresher than any of the other teams.

A quick rain during Thursday afternoon left enough water on the uncovered basketball court to force a postponement of the third and deciding games for all four teams. Since Christmas is near and many players – as well as faithful scorekeeper Resty – will be off-island for time with their families, it was decided to postpone the remainder of the tournament. Play will resume after Christmas.

A rare tropical storm (Sendong/Washi) moved through Mindanao this weekend. We say rare because such storm systems typically swing north before reaching the southern Philippines. Although the winds apparently never got high enough to be classified a typhoon, it dumped a typical month’s worth of rain in 12 hours. We are very sad to see news reports that 652 are reported dead and around 800 missing, mostly due to flooding, and mostly in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in the large southern island of Mindanao. Many of them were caught unaware while sleeping, due to suddenly rising floodwaters during the night. Storms such as this occur on average only once every 12 years in this part of the country.

The further north you are in the Philippines, the more likely you are to be in the path of a Pacific Cyclone. Batanes, a small island group situated halfway between Northern Luzon and Taiwan, seems to be in the path of almost every typhoon that hits the Philippines. Pictures of Batanes show treeless hills and stone buildings, making it appear more like Scotland than the rain-forested islands one sees elsewhere in the Philippines.

A quick geography lesson: Luzon is the main island of the northern Philippines. Luzon is the most populated of the islands, with Manila near its center. It comprises about 35% of the total land area of the country. Mindanao is the main island in the south, and comprises almost 32% of the land area. The remaining 7,000+ islands, mostly in the central Philippines (Visaysas Region) make up less than one third of the land mass. Our home state, Minnesota, is 10% larger than Luzon and Mindanao combined, but has about one-twentieth of the population.

By the way, some of you have asked about how we are doing. Corregidor is near Manila and hundreds of miles north of the storm, so we got some clouds and maybe a little rain, but without access to news we would not have know anything happened down south.

Christmas is now less than a week away, and as usual we plan to spend it here on The Rock with our friends. The annual all-island Christmas party was held last Monday evening, and we were glad that friends Bill and Midge were here to join the festivities. Good food and entertainment, an enjoyable evening! Having spent most of our lives in Minnesota and Michigan, it is still a little hard to think of Christmastime when the average high temperature is 85 and the average low 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

We have included a photo that was taken in front of Middleside Barracks where Steve’s father Walter resided before the war. It is only a few hundred meters from our house. The photo will be on the back cover of our book about Walter, Honor, Courage, Faith: A Corregidor Story, which we anticipate will be published and in Philippine bookstores early next year. We’ll keep you posted!

We wish all of our family and friends a truly Maligayang Pasko! Merry Christmas!

Steve and Marcia on the Rock

Pearl Harbor Day

2011-12-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Currently we are caught up in a “wind convergence” weather pattern that had made it impossible to complete the basketball tournament before the island Christmas party scheduled for December 12. We were able to hold games on ten successive days to finish the regular season last week. Since then, however, that until yesterday it had rained enough each day that play was impossible on the uncovered outdoor court.

Battery Grubbs was the regular season champion at 6-2. Having already clinched the number one seed, they lost their final game to Battery Way in what was a must-win for Way. Way finished tied for second with Battery Geary at 4-4, and the two will face each other in one of the semifinals. Batteries Crockett and Hearn, each finishing at 3-5, played last night for the privilege of meeting Grubbs in the other semifinal matchup. Hearn won an exciting 58-56 game, so Crockett’s season is over.

We are much more likely to see certain creatures while it is wet from the rains. Good examples are hermit crabs and frogs. Marcia was clearing leaves from the gutter – an eight-foot section of bamboo perfect for the purpose – and was surprised to discover a frog hiding out in it. As you can see from its feet, it would have no problem climbing up to the roof of our dirty kitchen, but it is not something we expected to find there.

Last week a number of U.S. Marines, who were on R&R from the USS Essex, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship (in essence a small aircraft carrier), spent the night on Corregidor. We hiked with them on several of the trails around the island and to the top of Malinta Hill. It was our honor and privilege to spend time with some of our service members. The oldest is 41, the youngest barely out of high school. These men, two of whom are helicopter pilots, put their lives on the line routinely for our continued freedom.

Today, December 8 already here in the Philippines, and the 7^th in the U.S., marks the 70^th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. We hope that your local newspapers and TV shows make mention of the fact. Exactly 70 years ago today, Steve’s father Walter was operating a searchlight just a few miles west of here, on the Bataan peninsula. Over the next day or two, he witnessed some of the Japanese bombing of American installations in Cavite across Manila Bay. Life was never the same for him and the tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers who would be fighting against the Japanese in the next few months. Most, like Walter, became prisoners of the Japanese.

Clearing trails and taking hikes

2011-11-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

If you like hot, humid weather, then you’d love Corregidor about now. It has been sunny most days, with the very occasional time when it will cloud up, then clear again. Watching basketball has been pleasant except that on a couple of windless evenings, there have been tiny black bugs – maybe a type of beetle – that don’t bite or anything, they just land on your skin and “bug” you.

We have also watched a few games where the players have had to consider the wind-factor for their longer shots. The regular season only has a few games remaining, and already Battery Grubbs has clinched first place. They will play the winner of the game between the fourth and fifth place teams next week. The games have mostly been exciting, with Battery Way losing two games this week in overtime. Battery Geary looks very strong, being the only team to beat Grubbs so far. We think these two teams have the best chance of meeting in the final, which will be a best-of-three event. One other note: Battery Crockett, one of the weaker teams, has a player who scored 45 points in their 71-69 overtime win against Way.

It is back to trail-clearing time now that rainy season is over. Last week, we took our friend Gilbert to help us clear the trail from Battery Way to Battery Hannah. We were hopeful that it would not require much clearing, and for the most part that was true. However, there were complete blockages due to 1) downed trees from Typhoon Pedring, 2) bamboo, and 3) rattan. Where the trees were large we left them alone and made paths around them or cleared for hikers to go over or under, hoping that someday we can get a chainsaw to complete the job. Bamboo is usually easy to clear if you don’t let it get too mature, since when it is young the shoots are soft as grass. Later of course, they harden and can take serious bolo (machete) work. The frustrating part is that, no matter how well you clear, the bamboo will grow back, sometimes rather quickly. The same is true of rattan, which has nasty, sharp little thorns on its fronds and vines. Even gloves do not always help. We got the trail cleared about two-thirds of the way, and then realized it was time to head down for lunch. From that point, we just slashed our way through to the trail’s end, knowing that we’ll have to go back or hire someone to finish clearing it.

You can also start hiking from Battery Way and choose go to James Ravine, so we decided to check out that trail from the three-way intersection to the ravine. Unlike the Way-Hannah trail, which was worse than we had hoped, this section wasn’t too bad between the intersection and the ravine. The worst part was near the bottom, where we ran into, you guessed it, bamboo and rattan. Steve used a bolo (machete) and Marcia used a sturdy garden shears, and we managed to get through with no problem, although we both got a few rattan “bites.” Just to make sure we got it well cleared, we returned the following day and walked it again. It definitely was an easier walk without having to hack our way through obstacles.

Along the way we took some photos that we will include and describe now.

1. As many times as we have walked the trail from Middleside to Battery James, this was the first time we noticed this staircase from the road up to what was once the trolley line. However, there it is, if you know what to look for.
2. Several years ago, there was an authorized project moving mature male-female monkey pairs from Corregidor to other Philippine islands. You may have heard that there are 3000 monkeys on Corregidor. Having learned that Philippine long-tailed Macaques live in colonies of 30-50, and since we have only been able to identify 6-10 colonies on the island, the numbers are probably more like 500, and certainly not more than 1000. In any case, if you want to see one badly enough, spend some time at with us at Middleside. Photo is of the abandoned monkey quarantine area.
3. A typical Corregidorian monkey.
4. There are hibiscus bushes all over the island, and they date back to pre-war landscaping. Here is one blossom along the trail, likely descended from that era. Sometimes they act as signs alerting us to ruins in the jungle.
5. One-hundred-year- old guardrail extends along the road near Battery James, both on the way to Middleside and down to James Ravine. Some broken sections are evident, and could be due either to war damage or falling trees.
6. We love the roots of some of the trees on this island. This is an example of one of our favorites, with Marcia standing alongside for scale. Absolutely huge.
7. This tree branch, about a yard/meter long, lay on the trail above the 1918 tunnel. Isn’t it beautiful?
8. There is a very large retaining wall at the three-way intersection. If you look closely you can see Marcia standing behind a bush at the top-left of the photo, and can get an idea of the size of the wall. We didn’t measure it but it’s probably close to 30 feet high at its maximum, tapering to follow the slope of the trail. In the photo, you can see several of the drainpipes placed in the wall to prevent it from water damage. A part of the wall is missing, almost certainly due to a bomb dropped by the Japanese in 1942 or an the Americans in 1945.
9. Vines, vines, everywhere vines. Some make hiking difficult, since you are constantly tripping over them. Some are larger than Stone Cold Steve Austin’s forearm. Occasionally you come across two identical vines that decided to intertwine each other, as is the case here. Notice that Steve cannot encircle the vines with his long fingers.

We saw many fruit bats flying overhead. They were so quiet that we did not hear them, unlike their noisy behavior at night. However, their giant shadows caught our attention, and looking up into the trees, we were able to spot a few.

A much rarer sighting is the sulfur-crested cockatoo. Although we hear them often – their natural call is obnoxious, like loud ducks with sore throats GACK! GACK GACK! – they are extremely shy, and this is only the second time that Steve has seen them. After leaving the trail, we spotted a pair flying across the road at treetop level. Unfortunately we could not take a picture, as they were there and gone too quickly.

Brigada, basketball, birds, and butterflies

2011-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

GMA TV, a network here in the Philippines, sent a film crew to Corregidor for a couple of days this week. They were filming for a segment on one of their news shows, “Brigada.” In addition to interviews with Corregidor Foundation staff regarding the Philippine government funds recently allocated through the Department of Tourism for preservation of the “Cine Corregidor” ruins as well as several related Topside projects, they expressed interested in the story behind our stay on the island. The crew spent several hours with us, asking many questions about the motivation for our decision, about our life here and some of the ways we spend our time, and the efforts we make to support the Corregidor Foundation in its mission to protect, preserve, and promote the island as a War Memorial and tourist destination.

The segment will be one of three shown during a one-hour time slot, airing initially at 8:00 P.M. on Monday, November 21, on Channel 11 in the Manila area and throughout the country. It will also be aired internationally on GMA-LIVE and/or GMA-PINOY, so, if you have access to these channels, watch your scheduling information We cannot predict if we will be featured, since, as you know, hundreds of minutes of footage are shot for each minute that is actually aired. We will try to watch the show on Monday, probably at the Corregidor Inn. We rarely see live TV while on the island – some of Manny Pacquiao’s fights – so we would appreciate if someone could record this week’s Brigada episode for us “just in case.”

Due to holidays and other vacation days, the basketball league schedule was suspended for two weeks. This week the weather forced a postponement of Tuesday’s game and the suspension of a game on Thursday, rescheduled to be completed the following evening. In spite of the rains, the teams managed to complete another five games.

For the second time, the Battery Way team had to play with only five of its players, and they lost their second game. Battery Crockett finally gained their first win, beating Battery Hearn 55-50 in a very close game. The best game so far – the most exciting for the spectators – saw Battery Geary lose by 1 point in overtime to Battery Hearn. When competing teams have each had a good complement of players, the games have been quite close. For example, Battery Geary has lost its two games by a total of 3 points. We won’t even try to predict which team will win the tournament. Currently they are only half-way through the regular season, with players and fans enjoying the competition.

Going into the final ten preliminary games, the team records are as follows:
Grubbs 3-1
Hearn, Way and Geary 2-2
Crockett 1-3

Recently a bird flew into our glass front-door. It was a Hooded Pitta, pronounced PEE-tuh – similar to the Middle-Eastern pita bread. Before it regained its composure, Marcia was able to get some pictures. As you can see, it has a striking green on body and wings, a black head and neck, bright turquoise bands on its wings, and red-orange on the vent-area of its belly. We were very glad to see it fly away into a tree after a few minutes rest.

Several weeks back, Steve was able to photograph a member of the largest butterfly species we see on the island. It was lazily flying from plant to plant near the former butterfly garden. The body and the upper surface of the wings are mostly black, with a bold slash of orange-red on each wing. The undersides of the wings have larger areas of the orange-red, marked with black dots. As you can see, this one was not as shy as your typical butterfly, being attracted to Marcia’s brightly colored blouse. We do not know the name of this species, but trust that one of our readers will inform us.

Veterans Day 2011

2011-11-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

The American Women’s Club of the Philippines gathering went very well. We gave a 45-minute slideshow presentation, highlighting the flora and fauna of Corregidor as well as its history and our reasons for being here. Of course we encouraged them to come visit The Rock sometime in the future. Several of the attendees have already been to the island, so we suggested that they return to explore the island, maybe staying a night or two.

For the fourth consecutive year we attended the Veterans Day ceremonies at the American Cemetery in Manila. The ceremony was held on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, as usual, but this year is also the 11th year of the century. Lots of elevens!

We thought it best to include photos showing beautiful views of this peaceful and impeccably maintained final resting place for over 17,000 soldiers and a few of the civilians caught up in the war. We include one picture from the Walls of the Missing. Notice the name “Robert Beedle,” one of over 36,000 names listed. He was the brother of movie star William Holden

After the ceremony we were treated to lunch at the Big Buddha restaurant (excellent Chinese food in Greenbelt 3) by our friends Ely and Ging. You may recall Ely from an earlier newsletter. He is the man who takes the spectacular bird pictures using his gigantic Canon telephoto lens.

We finished out the day, and our stay in Manila, by touring Everest Academy in Taguig with our friend Fr. Eric Nielson, a member of the Legionnaires of Christ. The Academy, currently 1st through 6th grades and planning to eventually include all grades through high school, is the only Catholic School in this area, very close to many of the international schools and following the international calendar.

Steve and Marcia to speak at the AWCP this Wednesday

2011-11-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

The American Women’s Club of the Philippines has invited us to be guest speakers at their General Meeting to be held this coming Wednesday, November 9. The meeting is open to the public, runs from 9:30 to about 11:30, and includes breakfast. The cost is p500 for non-AWCP-members, p300 for members. The meeting will be held in the Palm Grove Room of the Rockwell Club, which is in the Amorsolo Building in Rockwell Center, Makati. The address is : # 23 Amorsolo Drive, Rockwell Center, Makati City.

Also, we will once again be attending the Veteran’s Day Ceremonies at the American Cemetery in Manila on Friday, November 11. Those who wish to attend are asked to arrive no later than 10:30 if coming by private car, since all vehicles entering the cemetery will have to be cleared by security. If you are dropped off outside the gate, you can walk or catch a short shuttle ride to the ceremony area. It is requested that all are seated by 10:45.

We hope that we can see some of you at one or the other of these events.

Steve and Marcia on the Rock

2011 Corregidor Basketball League

2011-10-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Corregidor Basketball League Tournament got underway this week. As is traditional, the teams lined up at the administration building and paraded to the basketball court. Then they were introduced in their new uniforms, some of which were not delivered until an hour before opening ceremonies. Another tradition is the team “muse.” Each team has a young lady in her ladies’ style uniform, and the muses perform individually for the audience. One muse presented an a capella vocal number, two did solo dances, and two performed partnered dances.

Then it was time for the ceremonial opening toss. Steve, the CBL commissioner – i.e., the one who raises the money to fund the tournament – was at center court with inn manager Ed, island manager Ron, and the captions of the first-game teams. By luck of the draw, the opening game pitted Battery Way, captained by our helper Roy, and Battery Geary, led by the 2008 tournament’s MVP Jerry. By the way, many Filipinos pronounce Geary more like JEER-ee, so that is why Jerry decided to go with Battery Geary for his team name.

The opening game was probably the most exciting of the first week, with Battery Way edging Battery Geary in “The Battle of Mortars” 60-58. Because it was opening day the players had asked to schedule two games, and in the second, Battery Grubbs beat Battery Crockett in “The Battle of Disappearing Guns” by 53-47. Steve worked out a five-team schedule so that no team would have to play two consecutive days if only one game per day was played. However, because of the two games held on opening day, Battery Way had to play again on day two, facing Battery Hearn – the lone “Long Gun.” On top of being scheduled on consecutive days, only five of their players were suited up at game time, versus all eleven players for Battery Hearn. This was partly due to men who had previously scheduled vacation and were off-island, an unavoidable challenge for every team. Battery Way fell behind early, with a sixth teammate not arriving until the 4th quarter. Battery Hearn won 70-62.

On the third evening, Battery Geary defeated Battery Crockett 64-52. On the next night, completing the first week’s schedule, Battery Grubbs beat Battery Hearn 68-54, having gained a 21-4 lead early in the game. Battery Hearn was never able to draw closer than ten points, and this left Battery Grubbs as the only team to be undefeated after playing two games. Next week includes Halloween, All-Saints Day and All-Souls Day, important days here in the Philippines, so it will be a short week for basketball. The five teams will ultimately play each other twice, followed by championship playoff games.

By the way, the uniforms look very nice, and each team has a slightly different style. Battery Way is a royal blue with white trim, Battery Geary is canary yellow with green, Battery Hearn is white with blue, Battery Grubbs is black with red and white, and Battery Crockett is dark green with white and black. The total cost – for fifty-six player uniforms, five muse uniforms, four committee shirts, and two referee shirts – was p37,200 (about $855). Compare that to a recent Michigan State University game in which Nike reportedly paid $200,000 (almost nine-million pesos) to outfit MSU with what some stated were the ugliest uniforms on the planet (one man called them “jammies”)…to be worn for one only game, against the University of Michigan, who also wore reputedly ugly one-game “throw-back” uniforms.

Hikers occasionally still discover pre-war relics. While our friend Karl was here he happened upon a large pitcher, the kind you often see with old-fashioned pitcher-and-basin sets. It is white enameled metal, and not in great shape – until you recall that it has lain in the jungle for about 70 years. It actually cleaned up fairly well, but has several holes and the handle is missing. The initials, “U. S. A.” and “M. D.” appear to be stamped on the bottom. Perhaps one of you readers can tell us what the “M. D.” stands for.

We wish to bring your attention to an artifact which is slowly disintegrating here on the island, and want to know your opinions on whether or not anything can and/or should be done about it. On February 16, 1945, the Americans landed on Corregidor to recapture the island from the Japanese. Members of the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team first landed at Topside. We have learned that the first American flag raised that day was not at the historic Spanish Flagpole, the site of the ceremonial flag raising upon MacArthur’s return on March 2nd, which stands at the southeast corner of the Topside Parade Ground. It occurred on a flagpole that stood near the Post Improvement Building, down the hill and across the trolley line which ran west of the Parade Grounds.

Several of our explorer/history-nut friends are certain that they have located that flagpole. Or at least what little remains of it. As you can see from the picture, it now consists of several pieces of wood in the concrete-lined 14-inch hole which formed the flagpole base. Our friend Karl is standing next to it. It appears to have been burned down to around two-feet high. Assuming that this is in fact the actual base of this less-known but very historic flagpole, should something be done to preserve what is left of the pole? One suggestion would be to remove the few pieces of wood that are left and exhibit them, maybe in the museum or near the Spanish Flagpole. We also wonder if folks with ties to the 503rd PRCT might wish to sponsor a permanent marker to be placed in or beside the actual flagpole base.

Finally, about the pastry gift we received from Hitomi: Father John Nariai said, “The Japanese goody in the photo that you ate is ‘Shun no nama Yatsuhashi’ that is ‘dry cookie made of sweet potato, pumpkin and Japanese chestnut.’ It is baked only in spring and autumn.” Juan M. wrote, “My Japanese colleague here at work tells me it’s a type of Japanese ‘Hopia’ called Manju in Nihonggo.”

Various things and another passing

2011-10-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

Over the years we have made a number of Japanese friends. These are people who feel that there should be more emphasis on informing the Japanese public about what really happened in WWII, rather than to ignore that part of their history. On occasion one or more will visit the Philippines, often asking Steve to show them around Corregidor. Recently we were contacted by a young student by the name of Hitomi, referred to us by mutual acquaintances in Japan.

It just so happened that we were returning from a quick trip to Manila on the same day that Hitomi was coming to Corregidor. All we knew was that she was young and female, and Japanese. Going on that information, we looked for her on the uncrowded Sun Cruises ferry. By coincidence the first two young ladies that Steve approached were not Hitomi, but he soon found her. The other two decided to also join Steve’s bus. Hitomi was prepared to hear about some of the Japanese atrocities associated with Corregidor and Bataan, but Steve had no idea about the other two women, so he spent a couple of minutes addressing the three of them, assuring them and the other guests that the material he would present over the next few hours was no reflection on them or the present-day Japanese people, but was intrinsic to the story of Corregidor.

Joining the three of them for lunch, Steve discovered that, indeed, the other two young women were somewhat surprised, but were also very open to hearing the truth. They parted as friends, thankful for the opportunity to learn about Japan’s WW II role in this area of the Philippines. As is customary among many Asians, Hitomi gave us a popular Japanese treat. We are including a picture of the ornate box cover. Inside were three each of three different kinds of sweet, paste-filled pastries. The outer layer was similar to the wrappers used in making wontons and egg-rolls. Maybe someone can tell us what we were eating. They were very unlike any of the pastries we are accustomed to eating in the US. One filling was like confections made here in the Philippines using the purple sweet potato called “ube” (Tagalog for the color purple.) Another was chocolate, and the third was a yellow-orange color with a flavor similar to mango or apricot.

On Sunday Steve was asked to escort a family from Manila around the island. He knew that the group included at least one VIP, having been told that there would be a congressman from Bataan. In actuality the person in reference was Congresswoman Tricia Bonoan David, who represents the 4th Congressional District in Manila. Her district includes Santo Tomas University, a place with its own very significant WW II story.

Steve had lunch with Tricia and her mother Zany (ZAH-nee). Zany’s husband, who passed away about eighteen months ago, had served preceded his daughter in Congress. Tricia is the sixth of their twelve children, and Zany also has over 40 grandchildren! Steve asked Tricia to send best wishes along to fellow congressman and world-great boxer Manny Pacquiao. Tricia complimented Steve on his “excellent” presentation, and who knows, maybe one day Steve can also show “Pacman” around the “Rock.”

Our friends and fellow island-lovers Paul and Karl came again to explore Corregidor for a few days. Since Steve had never been to the ruins of the NCO (Non-Commissioned Officers) Club, Paul offered to take him there. They started at Battery Hearn, but had a difficult time finding the road that leads from there to the club ruins. The problem may very well have been that Battery Hearn had come under intense bombing by the Japanese, so finding the road level was more difficult than it is in the less-bombed-out areas. They ended up going too far down the hill. The good thing is that if you are lost here you can usually find your way out by heading uphill, the idea being that you if you are familiar with the island, you should know the high points. So they headed up the hill. Quite by accident they ran smack dab into one corner of the NCO Club. The building mostly consists now of one long wall, with the old roadway right above it. They spent a few minutes taking in the sheer size of the building. They found one of the largest collections of mostly-broken beer bottles on what used to be the bottom floor. Imagine, soldiers who liked to drink cold beer! From the club they worked their way to the radio room and out to Topside Parade Grounds.

At one point during the trek, Steve and Paul found a hole in the ground – over a meter in diameter – of which they had been completely unaware. Lowering a flashlight down the hole, it is about 18-feet deep, unlined, and appears to have been there since war-time. Without going down, it is impossible to tell if the it goes anywhere but straight down, but if not, it doesn’t make a ‘hole’ lot of sense.

Just last newsletter we reported the passing of friend and Bataan Death March survivor Malcolm Amos. Believe it or not, we just received word that fellow BDM survivor Richard (Dick) Francies also passed away just days after Malcolm. Both were travelers with Steve on his initial Philippines tour in 2002, and they were both with us on the Hellships Memorial Dedication Tour of 2006. Dick was a gentle man who had many interesting stories to tell, and we are sad to hear of his parting.

As you may know, there are memorial markers every kilometer along the BDM route. KM 110 was dedicated to Malcolm Amos, and the very last one, KM 112, was dedicated to Dick Francies. We have included pictures of both of them. Notice that Malcolm’s marker is the modern type, while Dick’s is one of a small handful of the older style.

Should any of you wish to write up something about either or both of these recently departed veterans, please send it along to us. If you’d like, we can share some of your memories with our readers.

Typhoon clean-up

2011-10-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Last week we wrote about Typhoon Pedring. We hope that we did not leave you with the impression that Corregidor sustained such damage that travel here is not advisable. Just the opposite is true: we are coming out of rainy season, and the island is fully open for business. In fact, we’d encourage you to hop aboard a Sun Cruises ferry and visit the island, and to stay overnight if you can make the time. Just remember that if you want Steve to be your guide you must make arrangements ahead of time.

Despite all of the tree damage that we described, life pretty much went on as usual once cleanup was underway. The majority of the wind and rain occurred on Tuesday. There were Philippine Coast Guard storm signals out for Tuesday and Wednesday, which meant that Sun Cruises was not able to bring tourists here those days, not that they would have wanted to. Roadway clearing was beginning by early morning on Wednesday, with all major routes passable by nightfall. On Thursday, regular tourist trips were resumed and more widespread clean-up continued. We want to point out what an outstanding job was done by the workers, led by Corregidor’s Resident Manager Ron, and Building & Grounds Manager Tony.

We have included several before-and-after pictures. Again, we say that it is remarkable what one man with a chainsaw and several using only their bolos (Filipino version of machetes) and muscle power could accomplish in such a short time.

Sadly, one of the historic buildings sustained notable damage: Middleside Barracks, home of the 60th Coast Artillery (American Army) and 91st Philippine Scouts (Filipinos in American service). The northwest corner of the southern building had a single pillar that had stood unsupported for almost seventy years. Now it is lying on the ground, most likely a victim of the high winds. We have provided the best before picture we could find, along with one of what it looks like now. The pillar was on the left side of the near building.

Those of you familiar with Middleside Barracks will recall the bracing added to certain parts of the southern building under the direction of the National Historical Institute, hoping to preserve some of the structure for as long as possible. There were some who opposed this initiative, people who felt that nature and time ought to be allowed to take their toll. We understand the sentiment, but have a different perspective as history buffs. The supports, although unnatural, will allow future generations to come to Corregidor and be able to get some idea of the buildings that were in use before and during WW II. So we fully support maintenance/preservation projects of this type. Over time, we realize we will see more and more sections of buildings fall. Fortunately, the steel-reinforced concrete is in remarkably good shape in most gun batteries and in parts of the main barracks and hospital, so they should be around for many centuries to come.

This past April our Valor Tours group included Matt Payne, who writes a travel column for the Washington Times. Matt recently wrote an article about his trip. You can read it at: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/payne-full-living/2011/sep/27/letters-my-grandfather-world-war-ii-hero-corrigedo/ Matt, we thank you for remembering us in your column. Hope to see you here again!

On a sad note, we were just informed that Malcolm Amos, a Bataan Death March survivor, a regular visitor to the Philippines, and a dear friend, has passed away. We have attached a couple of pictures of Malcolm that his son-in-law John Shively sent out. We will surely miss Malcolm.

Weathering Typhoon Pedring

2011-09-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

With the exception of our off-island tours or vacations, we closed every window on our house for the very first time on Tuesday. The occasion? The arrival of Typhoon Pedring, internationally named Nesat. This is easily the strongest typhoon to hit Corregidor since we have lived here, with the possible exception of Basyang, which blew through while we were in the States in July, 2010. Pedring was a very large storm, causing high winds here for over 48 hours, with eight inches of rain measured in our backyard during a 24-hour period. Pretty amazing considering that the center of the storm was north of our area by a long shot. It was raining and blowing so hard that it reminded us of snow squalls at times. A young swallow even sought refuge under our over-hanging roof, clinging to the upper edge of our American flag.

The Corregidor “family” came through the storm unharmed. Because the 100-year-old drainage system is still functional, Corregidor can pretty much take all the rain a typhoon can dish out. Metro Manila, only 26 miles from here, is recovering from flood waters now, some of the worst along the Manila Bay beachfront in decades. We’ve been told that you can see some interesting footage of the waves shooting over Roxas Boulevard on YouTube. Try searching for “Manila” and “Pedring.” We also read that the American Embassy, which is along the bay, had some flooding.

It’s kind of strange spending a whole day indoors, but we really had no choice. The winds were so strong that if we left any windows open, things were blowing around inside the house, and rain blew in as well. Obviously one should not go outdoors during such storms, given the risk of being struck by flying objects or falling trees. Fortunately the house suffered no structural damage – it is quite sturdy – although we of course had damage to some trees and bushes. As usual the rains came in waves, super-heavy for awhile and then almost stopping briefly. We have encountered similar rain patterns in Michigan and Minnesota, but to our recollections they were always accompanied by lightning and didn’t last nearly so long. No lightening, no thunder with Pedring.

Normally when we lie in bed at night some of our bedroom windows are open, and we hear all kinds of sounds. Most of them are birds, frogs, lizards, and insects, especially crickets. Once in a while we will hear a branch fall, and sometimes we hear sounds that neither of us can identify. Almost never are these sounds scary. Recently Marcia awoke, hearing a scratchy sound at one of the bedroom window-screens. She had to drag Steve out of bed, and they walked toward the nearest open window, looking for what was making the sound. There, clinging to the outside of the screen, we spotted a land crab with maybe a 12-inch leg span, harmless but a little scary looking at four in the morning, especially having been startled from sleep.

Being inside in a totally closed house on the island is a different sensation entirely for us, the wind vacillating between near-calm and howling, and rain occasionally lashing the house as well. You feel kind of helpless, like there ought to be something you should be doing, but you just have to wait it out and trust that everything will be alright when you get up the next day.

On the second morning – Wednesday – Steve took a walk from our house on Middleside, following the road to Topside. Workers were already busy clearing the fallen trees that were on the road, but it was evident from all of the leaf debris that a lot of damage had been done. Most obvious was a large, old tree at Topside which is in front of the former Fort Mills Administration Building. This massive tree completely blocked the road and a crew of six men worked the whole morning to cut and clear it. This required skillful chainsaw work, since it is very easy to pinch the blade when a tree is not lying flat on the ground.

The road in front of the Ordnance Repair Shop was blocked, a tree having been torn from the ground by its roots. It’s kind of surprising to us that a tree here could have such shallow roots, since it can often go six or seven months without measurable rainfall, but with the ground saturated it was hard even for deeper roots to withstand the wind gusts. Steve observed many trees down on the road to Batteries Hearn and Grubbs on the western part of Topside. Three of our bougainvilleas out front are lying on their sides and will have to be cut back to the ground to await new growth. A few of our cili (hot pepper) plants are lying down as well, though still rooted.

As he was walking back down to Middleside, Steve was surprised by what he saw at Battery Geary. In the middle of the battery is a hole in the ground where the central powder magazine was originally located. It was blown to bits by the Japanese in 1942, leaving a deep crater behind. It is temporarily a pond, with so much storm water having accumulated that it apparently has not yet had enough time to seep into the ground.

Steve was also able to drive down the hill to access the Internet on Wednesday morning, after missing email since Sunday. At the south beach, the waves were occasionally coming up as high as the dock. It was very difficult to photograph because the spray from the waves was hitting the camera lens. Also, winds were so strong at times that it was difficult to stand up straight. You can really feel the power of nature while standing on a beach, even at the backside of a typhoon. And remember, we weren’t even that close to the center of the storm!

Because of rough sea conditions, boat traffic is – of course – restricted by the Philippine Coast Guard. This has stranded a number of the island’s regular workers in Cabcaben on Bataan. And of course it means the banceros who bring supplies are not able to make their daily runs. We try to keep a good supply of non-perishables – canned fish, corned beef, Spam, spaghetti, rice, beans, etc., on hand just in case we are cut off from the mainland for an extended period of time. At present there is another storm that could choose to head our way…we hope it will track north of here. If not, we could be in for more surprises. Ahhh, tropical adventures!

Steve and Marcia on the very wet Rock

Buying basketball uniforms

2011-09-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Excitement is growing as everyone on the island anticipates the upcoming basketball tournament. To say that some of the players “can’t wait” would be an understatement. Soon after the announcement was made, 56 players had registered, and the 5 captains held a draft. The teams will be named after the five most-visited gun batteries on the island, namely Batteries Way, Hearn, Grubbs, Crockett, and Geary.

On Tuesday, our helper Roy and I took the 10-kilometer banca ride to Cabcaben, the first leg of our journey to Orion to order team uniforms. Off to the northwest, the Bataan Mountains were bright and beautiful in the morning sun as we departed, and the sea was calm and blue. We hadn’t traveled very far before we could see the aftereffects of a landslide that occurred recently along the old, now unmaintained north access road. Just the other day Marcia and I had walked that route with fellow Corregidor-lover Julia, and we were shocked to see the huge gaping void that now leads down to the shoreline. The landslide covered such a large area that it was impossible to get a decent photograph. Fortunately the road is still partially in place, but it may not take very much more rain – maybe the next major typhoon – for 100 feet or so of the road to disappear completely.

In Cabcaben we picked up Jerry and Rowena, who have a home there but reside most of the time on Corregidor. Because Orion is on the old highway (where the Death March took place) we had to travel partway by bus and then switch to a jeepney. I made the mistake of getting in the front seat which was made for Filipino legs. I had to sit sideways, and my left knee kept bumping into the metal dashboard, or more specifically, into a thin piece of metal running horizontally along the dash. I could not see out the front, the top third of the windshield being covered with a “Lord Guide Us” banner. Needless to say, the driver, about 18-inches shorter than I, had no trouble seeing the road. It was interesting from one standpoint: in the past we have observed how a man collects money on the local bus trips, somehow keeping track of all of the passengers and knowing exactly how many pesos to charge each one. In this case the driver not only has to maneuver his jeepney through often wild traffic, he has to collect fares and make change all at the same time! I handed him a 100 peso note for our foursome, and he returned a twenty peso note and four one peso coins, so I guess the Jeepney fare from Lamao to Orion is 19 pesos, or about 45 cents, each. Not bad.

Orion is a small town with a typically crowded main street, one MSE (medium-small enterprise) after another. My fellow travelers knew where to get off, and we proceeded to the uniform-making shop. It is a small store with knock-off team jerseys hanging on the wall. One man was cutting out jerseys, and several others were sewing them together on very old machines, one a Singer, another a Juki, and some on which I couldn’t see names. They were all treadle machines with electric conversions. One, which I have included in a picture, was like something I’d never seen before. The photo may make it appear quite large, but in fact it is probably only 8 by 10 inches surface-area and six inches in height. Just looking at the photo, Marcia thinks it may be some sort of serger.

We spent a couple of hours there, working with the proprietress and making sure that she understood exactly how each team’s uniforms were to appear, since they offer many options. I am not into NBA teams like folks are here, but I guess that they could say, “I want this uniform to look like the Chicago Bulls uniform,” and they would make it. For Jerry and Roy – captains for two of the teams – it was almost like watching them dreaming about what Santa was going to bring them for Christmas.

I think that the uniforms are a big part of the excitement of the upcoming tournament. Only one team is going to win the trophy, and only one player will be named tournament MVP. But every participant is going to get his very own jersey with his name on the back and the player number of his choice. Once this tournament is over, these young men will sport their uniforms until they wear them out, getting many years of use out of them. They are a source of pride that we are happy to be able to furnish them, with generous help from a number of our readers.

Once we were done, we headed to Balanga for lunch. I gave them their choice of where to eat, and they decided on a restaurant called Inasal, which is Ilongo for “barbecue.” Inasal has meals for around p90 ($2.00) which include limitless white rice. There’s nothing liked unlimited white rice to get you excited. Me not so much, although I must say that the food – I had a barbecued chicken leg quarter – was very good. Unlike Filipinos I can’t get excited about plain white rice, but the meal included a small bowl of sinigang, a soup with a sour broth, and that made the rice quite tasty. I had one extra half scoop of rice, the others each had two more full scoops. I was glad that they enjoyed their meals, too.

We took a tricycle to the restaurant and another after lunch to the bus terminal. Since there were four of us, we decided that the other three would share the sidecar while I would ride on the back of the motorcycle. The sidecar makes it impossible to sit astride the bike, so I sat sideways behind the driver. Some of the pedestrians must have been able to spot me a ways off. A number of them looked curiously in our direction, no doubt spotting my long, gangly, whiter-than-a-Filipino’s legs appearing from behind the driver’s rear end, with my head hidden behind the driver’s under the canopy. They smiled and laughed with me when they realized what they were actually seeing. Although I do not have a picture of myself in this position, I have included one of Keith, a guest on this year’s April tour.

We took the bus back to Cabcaben. Unlike conditions in the morning, the water was now grey and choppy. In fact, we didn’t head straight for the north dock, but started out heading more west toward Mariveles on the southern tip of Bataan before turning toward the north dock. The bancero knew what he was doing, because once we changed direction the going got rough. Some of the swells may have approached five feet, and we got a good splash each time the outrigger dug into a wave. It wasn’t dangerous, what with experienced boatmen and their sturdy boat. It was actually kind of fun being out on the open sea and at the mercy of Mother Nature. As we approached, Corregidor acted as a breakwater, but then it began to rain. Luckily I had my rain-jacket…safely tucked away inside my backpack, so it stayed dry, but most of the rest of me arrived back on the Rock soaked to the skin.

I never get tired of taking this trip, knowing it is the same one that Gen. Jonathan Wainwright took many times in early 1942 to visit Gen. Douglas MacArthur on Corregidor – Mac only went in the other direction once to visit the troops, and that was in early January before the fighting in Bataan had gotten underway. I can only imagine, and not very well, I’m sure, what it must have been like to cross the North Channel, as Wainwright did more than once, with bombs falling and artillery shells flying overhead smashing into the Rock with such force that they are said to have reshaped the silhouette of the island. Can you imagine approaching Corregidor, seeing it under heavy siege, and then knowing you’d be spending the next few hours there? Kind of gives one a chill to even think about it.

Corregidor basketball league

2011-09-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

It’s still rainy season, and Steve has not conducted any tours since we returned, so there’s not much news to report. The book is in the editing process, with files going back and forth between us and the editorial staff.

We had a bit of excitement a few nights ago. Bear in mind that we have never heard of any spiders on Corregidor that are especially dangerous to humans, but this is the tropics and you can expect to run across the occasional spider. We were lying in bed, Marcia reading and Steve watching a video on his laptop, when Marcia spotted a rather large spider on the other side of the bedroom just below the ceiling. Marcia reached across to her bedside table for the flyswatter, which was, quite frankly, narrower than the spider’s leg-span. This guy could have straddled a deck of playing cards.

Being that the spider was high up on the wall, Marcia told Steve the kill was his job – ah, the benefits of height. Steve was standing at an angle off to one side when he took a mighty swing. Wham! This guy was too large to get smashed into the wall, so guess what happened? That’s right, it behaved according to Newton’s “equal and opposite reaction.” The spider came flying back off the wall and landed right at Steve’s feet! We both jumped toward the bedroom doorway to make sure that the spider would not hop up looking for revenge. When we saw that it was balled up and not moving much, Steve went over and smacked it a couple times for good measure.

We wonder how a spider that size could have gotten into our house. Marcia also wondered if “spider guts” is part of the recipe for Rugby Contact Cement, because the clean-up the next morning took some real “elbow grease.” We’ve included a photo of the same type of spider, one that we saw outdoors – where they belong, in our way of thinking. It was not as large as the one in the bedroom, but still plenty big.

As we wrote in late 2008, shortly after we moved here, the annual Corregidor basketball tournament was held. We used the tournament as an opportunity to get to know a number of the players, mostly men employed on the island. It was a good competition with an exciting final round and an underdog winner.

It has been our aim ever since to get the tournament started again, and to be honest, the men on the island have been hoping that we would sponsor another tournament. Since the last tournament a number of the players have had to be laid off due to a poor economy. Last Christmas we decided that we’ve waited long enough and took the leap of faith that the money would be there when we needed it.

Knowing that some of you are willing to support us, we have begun to organize the new league. Steve has been named Commissioner. Previously the teams were divided by work groups; hotel staff, security staff, etc. This time we will appoint four captains who will pick their players by draft, in hopes of creating four roughly even-strength teams. Instead of the teams being named for their work groups they will be named for four of the points of interest on the island, such as Battery Way, Topside Barracks, Corregidor Inn, or Malinta Tunnel.

Each player will receive a uniform consisting of matching shirt and shorts. We have found a business that can supply them for a mere p650/$15.25 per set, quite reasonable considering that the shirts will have names and numbers. Each player will be expected to contribute p200/$4.70. Be aware that this is about two-thirds of a day’s pay here, not an insignificant amount to these men. We expect that there will be about 24 games in total, and each one will require two referees paid p200/$4.70 per game. Adding in incidentals such as a basketball or two, nets, etc, it’s easy to see how it will take about 50,000 pesos (around $1200 American) for the tournament to take place, of which the players’ contributions will cover about 20 percent.

We cannot tell you how excited many of the men are to have another basketball tournament, and we are pleased to be able to help them make this happen. We have already received one generous donation that will cover about one-fourth of the costs, and another to cover the cost of one basketball. Some of you expressed an interest to help when we broached the subject before, and we are hoping that you will come through. It will take place in any case, but we are looking for anyone interested in furthering the tournament to step up and offer to help. We would be happy to name a team for your favorite Corregidor landmark for a significant contribution. However, no contribution is too small. If you are able to help with a non-tax-deductable gift please let us know soon and we will tell you how. We will make a full accounting to any contributor who asks, and should we exceed expenses we will bank the money for a future tournament.

We’ve included a few photos of the 2008 basketball tournament for your inspiration and amusement.

We relax in "rainy season"

2011-08-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Our flight from Detroit to Manila, via Chicago and Beijing, went well. We had been concerned about our scheduled two-hour layover in Beijing, since it had taken us two-and-a-half hours to get from one terminal to another on our initial trip, this without even having to transfer our luggage by hand. We were excited to hear the American Airlines pilot announce that he would get us to Beijing a half-hour early from Chicago, which might give us just enough time. The first thing after landing was an entry point consisting of approximately ten lines – at 11:30 P.M. When we finally reached the front of our line, we were directed to another line, which, had we only known – no signs indicated why we needed this different line, our guess was because we were only passing through – was very short. Passports and itinerary were thoroughly scrutinized, and then we were told to proceed.

This time we had to collect our four checked bags and board a shuttle-bus for a terminal transfer. Late at night they only run every half hour, and – wouldn’t you know it – we’d just missed the midnight bus. At 12:30 we were on our way in a typically overcrowded bus. Steve was seated next to a very friendly Chinese man who encouraged us to visit China one day. By the time we reached the terminal it was already boarding time for our Philippine Airlines flight. The lady at the check-in counter printed our boarding passes, but told us that it was too late to leave our bags with her, so we were directed to roll them to the oversized baggage crew who also function as the “late-night-baggage team.” Then we speed-walked to the gate – not the farthest one, but close enough – where we made it aboard with a good two minutes to spare. First priority once we stashed our carry-on bags was to beg permission to use the restrooms before take-off, since we did not dare ‘waste’ precious time during the airport processes! Then we settled into our seats. The crew served us an excellent dinner, not the breakfast that we expected considering the time was two in the morning. Upon arrival in Manila at 6 A.M. Saturday, we phoned for a ride from the driver of our wonderful friends, Ray and Esther, who had graciously offered us a place to stay until our Sunday morning return to Corregidor.

The transition between late June and late August on Corregidor is always a bit of a shock to us. We leave the Rock at the end of dry season and return in the heart of rainy season. When we left, there had been enough rain to begin to turn the dry grassy patches slightly green, but after two months of near-daily rain – they told us it was almost continuous rain during July – the island is now lush and almost glowing green everywhere when the sun is out, which hasn’t been too often. It has been so humid that the sides of the old concrete buildings are more black than gray. We got home on Sunday morning, and it was sunny until 1:30 P.M. Since then the sun has not been trying very hard to shine here, with one to six inches of rain every day.

Despite it being rainy, we are happy to be back. Our U.S. vacation was wonderful, and we are so very thankful to all of our family and friends who hosted, fed, and entertained us, but it always feels good to get home. While in the States, we enjoyed feasting on the American foods we do not get here, and now that we’ve returned, we are catching up on our favorite Filipino foods we missed while on vacation.

Because of the weather, this is the most relaxing time of the year for us. There are far fewer visitors, so Steve is seldom called upon to guide, and we tend to stay out of the jungle unless someone wants us to take them to a specific place. The trails are overgrown and slippery, so we stick to the main roads for our walks. We have been trying to walk every day, and the edges of the roads are covered in moss. There is also black “slime” that can be very slippery when it is wet, and it does not have the most pleasant odor. There are a number of trees that are blooming now, with most pleasant fragrances. So, as we walk along, the smells in the air often switch between the two.

This time of year you don’t want to go anywhere, even a short walk, without an umbrella. Rain can suddenly pop up, and then stop just as quickly. As Steve was initially writing this he was sitting outside in our dirty kitchen area, but had to move inside when a wave of heavy rain began blowing under the metal roof extension. It was the perfect time for our helper, Roy, to do his annual sidewalk-scrubbing to clear the slippery black slime. When the rain and wind calmed down, Steve took the laptop back outside – but was forced right back inside by the next wave of rain. This pattern is very typical when you are in the outer bands of a typhoon; five-to-ten minutes of strong wind and rain, fifteen-or-so minutes of respite, and then repeat the cycle indefinitely. When we lived in Michigan, we very occasionally were in the outer bands of a hurricane from the Gulf of Mexico, which gave us a tiny foretaste of this sort of weather pattern.

Next year is the 70th anniversary of the Fall of the Philippines in WWII. Because of that fact, we expect that some of you will join one of the two anniversary tours that we will lead for Valor Tours of San Francisco. Although the tours will have virtually identical itineraries, the one in early April will center on the April 9th Fall of Bataan, including the annual ceremony at Mt. Samat. The tour in early May will include a noontime ceremony on May 6 at the Pacific War Memorial on Topside, commemorating the Surrender of Corregidor and the rest of the Philippines. Although these tours originate in the States, Vicky Middagh of Valor Tours will gladly make arrangements for you should you wish to join one of the groups at Manila. If you have questions you can ask us, contact Vicky by email at valortours@yahoo.com, or visit her website at www.valortours.com.

Steve and Marcia in Michigan

2011-08-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

One of our plans for this summer was to get together with the Adams, who live near Detroit in Michigan, and with the Reamers, who live near Cincinnati, Ohio. As of now, Everett Reamer is the most recent American Defender of Corregidor to return, having been there with us in January, 2006. Dick Adams is the last liberator to return, having been there with his wife and one of their daughters this past January. He is planning to return with his family next January. We thought it would be great to meet with both couples, but timing was against us. The Reamers were going to be in Michigan while we were in Minnesota and in Minnesota after we returned to Michigan. However, the two couples were still interested in meeting one another, and on July 17 the meeting took place without us, which was way better than not having happened at all. The following is their report.

I'm sorry it's taken so long to send these to you. We couldn't find our camera when we left to meet with Everett and Bernice Reamer on July 17th, so we only had our phone with us to take pictures. It's taken us three weeks to find the cable to connect the phone to the computer in order to upload the photos. They're not great pictures, especially the one with me in it (both subject matter and fuzziness)! Sorry about the quality. - Nancy Adams

The Adams and The Reamers
Brunch on July 17, 2011

Once again, Steve and Marcia brought together distant participants in Corregidor’s history: Everett Reamer (from Ohio), a Defender of Corregidor who fought the Japanese in 1941, and Richard Adams (from Michigan), a paratrooper who returned to The Rock with the 503rd PIR on 16 February 1945. Both had their baptismal fire on this island in Manila Harbor. Both were in Japan, Everett as a POW and Richard as a member of the occupation force.

While Steve and Marcia were visiting family in Minnesota, Everett and his wife, Bernice, drove up to Michigan to visit their daughter. Steve heard about this upcoming trip, and suggested that the Reamers and the Adams get together. They met for brunch on July 17th as total strangers, but after several hours of sharing war stories, quickly became friends.

Technology is a wonderful thing. Prior to meeting the Reamers, Richard and Nancy Googled “Everett Reamer”, and found lots of interesting information about his experiences on The Rock and as a POW. He’s quite a character, both then and now! Much to Richard’s surprise, he found lots of information about his own January return to Corregidor by Googling “Richard Adams, Corregidor”. Google has turned the concept of “private person” upside down! – Dick Adams

Our return trip from Minnesota was more eventful than we had hoped. In June, epic flooding made it impossible for Amtrak’s trains to pass through North Dakota, meaning that the “Empire Builder,” which normally runs from Chicago to Seattle, had to end its run at Minneapolis/St. Paul. This was no inconvenience to us at the time, since that was our destination. On the night before our return trip, Steve checked the Amtrak website. It said that the train would leave the station at 7:52 A.M. Unknown to us, but known well to Amtrak, the train, although it can now pass through North Dakota, was approximately SIX HOURS LATE every day, having to inch through the flood-damaged area. So we sat in the stations for an extra six hours before our departure to Chicago.

Of course, we also missed our connection in Chicago, so we were forced, along with dozens of other people (every night until this nightmare is over for Amtrak) to take a van/bus which would drop us off at the closed station in Jackson, Michigan, at 3 A.M. The alternative was to stay overnight in Chicago. We opted for the overnight stay to allow our son to sleep the night rather than trying to guess our arrival time to meet us. To make a long story short, we barely made it onto our train the next morning, and finally got into Jackson 19 hours later than “planned.” Even though the Amtrak website is misleading and should be corrected until the situation is rectified – we were not the only ones who showed up six hours early – all of the Amtrak employees were very nice and hospitable, even the ones in Chicago’s Union Station, who have had to manage hundreds of stranded travelers every night since this situation occurred in June.

We spent a few days in our former home-town of Eaton Rapids, Michigan, with our friend Sandi. We visited with numerous friends, lunched with Marcia’s coworkers, met Anushka and Anish who are twins born to friends Chinmay and Harsha, and we completed our shopping. On Sunday Steve introduced a Polish/American polka band from Muskegon at the Great Lakes Folk Festival in East Lansing. Then he had the privilege of presenting a Michigan Heritage Award to Annie Klancnik, honoring her deceased husband, polka accordionist and band leader Gaylord Klancnik. Gaylord’s son Eddie and new band member Brian O’Boyle entertained the audience with a couple of polkas and waltzes. Other award recipients were Deborah Caryl, a life-long sheep shearer, and Calvin Cooke, a steel-guitarist in a Pentecostal church.

For the last few days we stayed with our son Nick, his wife Carrie, and our six grandchildren. We played lots of card games with the children, having plenty of fun. Another highlight was seeing flocks of Sandhill Cranes, very large birds indeed, which come to spend the night in a small pond near their house in south-central Michigan. The mosquitoes are unbelievable this summer – huge numbers and very aggressive. They make it no fun at all to be outdoors, so we were not able to take advantage of the beautiful weather.

Our plans are to fly back on Thursday via Detroit, Chicago, and Beijing. We are hopeful that our two hour layover is sufficient to make our final connection to Manila. We will either return to Corregidor on Sunday or Thursday, since Sun Cruises does not usually run ferry service to the island on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday during July and August.

As you know, Corregidor is only a few miles from the Bataan Peninsula, where the Bataan Death March began. A number of our readers have sent us links to assure that we are aware that the oldest U.S. march survivor recently passed away. Here is one of the links:

http://www.history.com/news/2011/08/16/albert-brown-oldest-u-s-survivor-of-bataan-march-dies-at-105/?cmpid=Social_Facebook_HistoryInTheHeadlines_08162011_3

Our Minnesota vacation

2011-07-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

As we mentioned in our last newsletter, we are now in the U.S. Although we’re writing mostly about our stay with Steve’s mother Mary Anne, those of you interested only in Corregidor and WWII in the Philippines can skip down toward the bottom for some items we hope you’ll find interesting.

The most economical way to fly this time was through Beijing. The airport was absolutely huge and modern, perhaps in part due to the recent Olympics. The area appeared to be ensconced in fog, although some of our fellow travelers told us it was pollution. Leaving Beijing, Marcia had a window seat, and we were disappointed that we couldn’t see the Great Wall. Soon afterward we saw the mountains, many of which were covered in giant windmills, no doubt generating electrical energy.

We flew pretty much over the North Pole, and were surprised to fly right over Lake Vermillion and Duluth in Northern Minnesota—in the area where Steve spent his growing-up years. Who would think that those places would be on a direct route from Beijing to Chicago? We flew on to Detroit where our son Nick met us. We were so happy to be able to spend some time with Nick and Carrie and our six fun and well-behaved grandchildren. Claire, who is six, wanted to play card games with us at every opportunity. She is almost unbeatable at “Go Fish.”

From there we traveled by Amtrak to Minnesota and spent a couple of days in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul with Steve’s sister Paula and her husband Terry. Then we drove to Virginia, Minnesota, to spend a month with Steve’s mother Mary Anne, who lives in her childhood home. One of the main reasons for arriving when we did was to attend the Krebs Family Reunion. It was a great get-together, the first in 11 years, and well attended. We were especially happy that Nick and his family could also attend.

Everyone enjoyed 4th of July festivities. As usual we attended the Gilbert parade on the night before the 4th. Since our grandkids were here, we went to Virginia’s Olcott Park for races and other kids’ activities. The park is 100 years old this year, and is certainly one of the city’s highlights. Later we had our traditional “day at the lake,” another family gathering at Ely Lake, where Mary Anne’s late-twin-brother Stanley lived. The weather was perfect—not too hot, as much of this summer has been for the locals. (Not for us!) Later we watched the grandkids enjoy sparklers in Mary Anne’s backyard, joined by her good friend Greta.

We did some hiking around the city, once taking a 14-mile round-trip walk to and from Gilbert. We often went to the local cemetery, located next to Olcott Park, to water flowers and trim the grass around family markers.

Marcia returned to the Twin Cities to attend a ‘sisters, cousins, nieces and aunts’ brunch at her cousin Michelle’s home. She spent a couple days with two of her sisters before being joined by Steve and Mary Anne. Steve’s sister Della took the three of us to a Minnesota Twins baseball game to celebrate Mary Anne’s birthday…the Twins kept it a close game until near the end, but were unable to win. It was one of the hottest days of the summer, but we had shaded seats, took frozen water bottles with us, and Mary Anne brought a couple fans to create a breeze when needed.

One day we drove to Island Lake for an overnight visit with Steve’s cousin Dave, his wife Deb and their granddaughter Hannah. Another day we took a trip to Duluth to visit retired dentist Bill Dols. He was part of the U.S. occupation forces in Japan, and wrote a letter to the newspaper editor which garnered our attention. His late wife was from Brainerd, MN, so Bill knows quite a bit about the 194th Tank Battalion and had known several Death March and POW survivors.

Speaking of Brainerd, we spent of couple days with our friend Wally McKay and his wife Margaret, their daughter Patty and son-in-law Tim. We were visited by Jim Knudsen, whose uncle, a part of the 194th, disappeared soon after the Bataan Death March. Since his name is not listed at Camps O’Donnell and Cabanatuan, it is thought that he may have died on one of the infamous work details which were even more deadly than the wretched prison camps. Thomas Clark and his friend Violet Halverson, both WWII veterans, joined us along with Tom’s daughter Ellen Nelson. The three of them, along with Ellen’s husband Bob, had been with us on our October, 2009 trip to Leyte, since Tom had landed there with the main wave of troops on MacArthur’s famous return to the Philippines.

Shortly before leaving Virginia, we walked to the “Mineview in the Sky,” which overlooks the city and also the retired Rouchleau Mine, one of the area’s deepest and richest iron ore mines. There are a few pieces of mining equipment displayed, and looking at the truck by which Steve is standing will give you some idea of the size. While there, we noticed a map of the world in which visitors could put a pin to mark home locations. Someone had already placed a pin for Manila, so Marcia added one for Corregidor.

Virginia boasts the Range War Memorial, a beautiful tribute to regional service men and women of World Wars I and II, and the Korean, Vietnam, and first Gulf Wars. To raise money, bricks were sold, and there are three that are of particular interest to us. Charles Snyder was with the 4th Marines, was captured on Corregidor, and later operated a local funeral home. Edward Pearsall was captured on Wake Island, and as you can see from the picture, was a POW for close to four years. We’ve been told that Charlie never talked about the war, while Ed seemed to make it his life’s mission to make sure people remembered. Steve’s dad Walter, a third POW of the Japanese who lived in Virginia for 20 years before he passed away, was somewhere in between, not wanting to talk about being a POW but not shying away from it either, especially after his life-changing experience of returning to Corregidor in 1980.

Finally, there is a row of international flags a couple of blocks from the War Memorial. We were excited to see the Philippine flag included at the very end of the row, making it stand out.

We will now head back to the Twin Cities for a few days, taking Amtrak back to mid-Michigan at the end of the week. We will spend a couple of weeks there before heading back to the Philippines on August 18. We hope to have a chance see some of you while we’re in Michigan. Send us an email if you would like to get together and we’ll see what we can do.

Congressmen and vines

2011-06-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Steve guided several interesting groups the past week. One day he had a bus full of graduate students in the writing program of the University of Iowa. They were accompanied by their professor and our friend, English professor and writer Robin Hemley, who brought them with his wife and family for a three week tour of the Philippines. The following day he received requests to guide for both a man high up in U.S. Special Forces (whom we choose not identify) and a group of children’s writers from the United States.

The following day Steve guided for five members of the United States House of Representatives who were on a working tour of the Philippines. They were Russ (and wife Debra) Carnahan of Missouri’s 3rd District, Jim Costa of California’s 20th District, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina’s 3rd District, Louie Gohmert (and wife Kathy) of Texas’s 1st District, and Judge Ted Poe of Texas’s 2nd District. It was a pleasure and a privilege for the two of us to spend time with these distinguished gentlemen. Debra Carnahan said that she had no idea what to expect and that the tour “far exceeded any expectations” that she had, and the she was “very glad that she came.” All we knew ahead of time was that California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher was supposed to be coming, so we read up on him. As it turned out he was scheduled for other meetings so he was the only congressman in the group who did not come.

Those of us who are frequently on Corregidor are aware that several vine species abound in certain areas. One such vine, suspected by some to be the infamous Kudzu, is actually Cadena de Amor (Chain of Love), also known as Coral Vine, or Mexican Creeper. As you can see from the accompanying photos, it is quite beautiful with its small pink flowers and heart-shaped leaves. It grows along the South Access Road and up the southwest face of Malinta Hill, up the northwest side of Malinta Hill, along the road near the old stockade area, and on the tail past Kindley Field. Small patches are evident in other parts of the island. It is commonly used as an ornamental plant for landscaping.

Another vine drapes the trees and hillside to your right-hand side as you go along the road from the PX toward the hospital. It has blue-to-purple, funnel-shaped, yellow throated flowers, again quite a beautiful plant. Its names include Thunbergia, Sky Flower, Bengal Clockvine, and Bengal Trumpet. Two of the photos show trees covered by Thunbergia. They almost look like monsters, appearing – with some imagination – to have heads, bodies and even arms.

We see drapes of vines we know as Morning Glories from our gardening years in the US, growing wild on the hillside between the CFI row houses and the contract employees’ barracks. It was a surprise for us, not a plant we expected to find here on Corregidor.

Another vine grows on the slope beside the road just downhill from the Youth for Peace sign, at the southward overlook clearing. It, too, has strikingly beautiful flowers, as well as unusual feathery-looking growth enclosing its buds and remaining at the base of the opened blossoms and its fruits. If you look closely at the photo showing two opened Morning Glories, you will also see this vine on the left side with closed flower buds. Since we did not know the name for the plant, we again asked our plant-loving friend Philip Thompson for help, receiving the following information.

The vine is some species of Passion Flower (Passiflora); there are hundreds of spp. and cultivated varieties, including one, Passiflora incarnata, native to the southeastern U.S. where I grew up -- where we call them Maypops. (That one you've found may be our native American species, perhaps, like so many other plants, established here in American colonial days as an ornamental plant -- and now long escaped from cultivation.) The various flower parts are believed to symbolize the crucifixion of Christ, hence the name (3 stigmas for the Trinity; 5 stamens for the wounds; 10 petals/sepals for the 10 faithful apostles, excluding Peter -- because of his denials -- and Judas Iscariot). Its fruit (passion fruit) is edible, and made into juice. Most spp. bear flowers in the blue to lavender to purple range, but I've seen a few tropical spp. in Central America with fire-engine-red flowers.

The Morning Glory Family (Convovulaceae) is really huge (1,000+ spp.?), and especially species-rich in the Tropics. Might be tough to identify the specific spp. native to here, which include the tasty and nutritious Swamp Cabbage or Water Spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) that Filipinos call Kangkong (which of course -- notwithstanding its English names -- is not related to either cabbage or spinach). In the U.S., the family includes some real beauties among flowers, plus of course the sweet potato (which is not related to true potatoes), as well as a few noxious, invasive weeds, including the white-flowered Field Bindweed. I used to grow three varieties of morning glories together in the same planting (Heavenly Blue, Pearly Gates, and a reddish-violet one named Scarlett O'Hara), and the mixture of flower colors looked so marvelous.

By the way, if you want to plant Morning Glory seeds, they have a hard, impenetrable black seed-coat that impedes germination; I suggest taking a fingernail file and filing a spot somewhere on the black seed-coat for a few seconds, just until a little white shows through; then they'll absorb water more easily and germinate almost instantly. Beware: if you over-fertilize Morning Glory with lots of rich nitrogen, they'll just grow like gangbusters without blooming.

Once again, many thanks to Philip.

This will be our last newsletter from the Philippines for a couple of months. We fly to Detroit on Saturday, spend a few days in Michigan, and then take Amtrak to Minnesota for five or six weeks. Some time will be spent in the Twin Cities, much of it on the Iron Range. We hope to fit in a visit with friends in Brainerd. Then back to Michigan in early August, where we will spend time with our children and grandchildren, and visit friends accumulated during the 25 years we lived there. One goal is a combined visit with Everett Reamer, the last American defender to visit Corregidor (2006), and Richard Adams, the last liberator to visit (January of this year). We depart Detroit on August 18.

Marcia's Heidi-Heidi-Ho, Jungle Girls Adventure

2011-06-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Steve usually writes the newsletters and then Marcia edits and reworks them, often spending at least as much time fixing them as it took Steve to write them. Marcia wrote today’s letter, which she calls “Heidi-Heidi-Ho, Jungle Girls Adventure.”

Each April we host a group from Valor Tours, timed to include the Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) ceremony on April 9th at Mt. Samat in Bataan. This year, as you read in April, we had one ex-POW, many family members of veterans, and a few “history buffs.” Our unusual tour guest was Heidi, neither a descendant of a veteran nor a history buff. She came with a unique story.

Several years ago, at a particularly rough point in her life, she began running. She participated in the “Bataan Death March Memorial Marathon” in White Sands, New Mexico. This is far more than a typical race, with numerous events and opportunities for the runners to meet surviving POW veterans, hear their stories, and learn about the Death March. Heidi was so moved by the veterans she met that she’s become a regular at the marathons, collecting the ex-POWs signatures on a special T-shirt, and she also began attending the annual American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) conventions. She developed close friendships with many of these men and stays in communication with them. Heidi credits “My Guys” with giving her a new focus and passion for her life at a time when she very much needed it.

There is an obvious risk in building relationships with WW II veterans – they are old now, well into their last years or months or, in some cases, days. Sharing affection and love with them opens the heart to the pain of each last farewell when the time comes for another veteran to “fade away.” Heidi embraces this fact, writing each departed vet’s name on a particular part of her shirt when she learns that he has died. She is able to be thankful for the precious time they had as friends, while saddened by the loss.

One of Heidi’s guys, David, wrote to her before his death, telling about his last hours during the fighting before the Fall of Corregidor on May 6, 1942. He described the Tailside areas through which he moved as one of the defenders while Japanese troops were landing near the airstrip and fighting their way toward Malinta Hill.

Heidi wanted to find the area where David’s foxhole had been. His letter gave enough information, including maps showing roadways and the old civilian cemetery, that I was confident I could get her close to the correct location. And so our adventure began.

Our second day on Corregidor no full-group events were scheduled after lunch. Steve was taking some on a longer trail hike, two of the men were looking for a specific spot on Tailside with guidance from island manager Ron, two of the ladies made plans to spend more time at the 92nd Garage Area where the POWs from Corregidor and the other fortified islands were held after the surrender, and others made their own activity or relaxation choices. Heidi and I set out on foot for Tailside.

We walked the South Access Road around Malinta Hill, enjoying the views and talking about how we came to be where we are in our lives. Heidi mentioned that she might also want to spend some time alone at the 92nd Garage Area after our foxhole hunt, so I pointed out the route she could take when we returned from Tailside. Just then we heard a large monkey. He was about 100 feet up the road, growling and barking at us in an attempt to convince us to turn back. As soon as we took a few steps closer he ran for the nearest tree and scooted up the trunk. We could hear him and his companions leaping from treetop to treetop away from us. At that point, Heidi decided we were sticking together, not wanting to face a monkey by herself even if it was only bluffing.

It was a hot day, and Heidi soon noticed that she’d forgotten drinking water. We were near the east entrance to Malinta Tunnel, so we detoured there to use the CR (restroom) and get water from the gift shop. After a short visit with a group of Girl Scouts participating in the day-tour, we resumed our trek. As we passed the Philippine Heroes Memorial, we spotted a spent shell from a 21-gun salute fired during a ceremony held there earlier that morning. Heidi decided to add it to her little memento bag.

When we reached the airstrip, we walked to its southeastern corner. Heidi pulled out David’s photo, a reminder of our purpose, and then we followed the passably-cleared trail that heads toward the tip of the tail. The vegetation is mostly tall coarse grass – cogon grass – which is very dry this time of year. There are lantana bushes, vines, and ipil-ipil trees, also very dry right now because the previous rainy season was less rainy than usual. We could see evidence of bolo-clearing, probably Ron and the men who had set out earlier than we had, and it looked like their goal was in the same general direction as ours. They had not, however, cleared just one pathway. There were off-shoots to left and right, so we had to take our best guess as to which path was going to continue in our desired direction. Sometimes we chose well, sometimes we had to back-track, sometimes we had to crawl through vines or over downed branches. Once I got a little spooked by something skittering over one of my feet, and of course my “YIKES” made Heidi jump, too. I never saw what it was – just as well, in my thinking – and as soon as heart-rates normalized we were once more underway.

Eventually we came to a particularly difficult spot – no obvious trail, a fallen tree, and very uneven terrain. I knew we were approaching the cemetery, so we had to be close to David’s foxhole, too. It was time for a rest and a good drink. Then I tried going around to the left of the obstacles. No way! Back again, and try to the right…no better. Finally I decided to push straight ahead, through the vines and branches right in front of us, with Heidi close behind me so we could help each other. We got through with only a few scratches each, and right in front of us was an apparently man-made depression beneath a small trees – almost certainly a foxhole that has partially filled with leaf debris and washed-in soil over the years.

We rested again. Suddenly Heidi said, “After how hard we had to work to get here, this feels like the right spot!” I agreed that it seemed a little like we’d been led here, being unable to go around to either side of the trail obstructions. Heidi pulled out the photocopy of David’s picture and his letter. She buried her mementos in the bottom of the depression, deciding to include the spent shell, and laid two sticks over the spot to form a cross. After several quiet minutes, Heidi decided she was ready to head back to the inn. We were hot and sweaty, tired and a little scratched-up, but very pleased to say, “Mission accomplished!”

Marcia on the Rock

Memorial Day at the American Cemetery in Manila

2011-05-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Recently we were honored to have our friend, author John Lukacs (pronounced “Lucas,”) spend a couple of days with us on Corregidor. You may remember that recently we recommended his book, Escape from Davao, which has recently been released in paperback. Although it has not hit the bestseller list, it can well be compared to the recent bestseller, Unbroken. Both are extremely thorough in research and documentation, and could appear to have been written by the same author if one didn’t know better. If you liked Unbroken, you should equally enjoy – if “enjoy” is the correct term for a book about the miseries of being a prisoner of the Japanese – Escape from Davao. John was interested to learn more about Steve’s father, Walter, and to read the plaque that we had placed for him four years ago at Battery Way. He wished us success with our upcoming book.

While we were touring the island with John we got word that the U.S.S. Carl Vinson was again passing Corregidor. Marcia thought that our best chance of seeing it up close would be at Battery James, and sure enough, we got a wonderful viewing opportunity. As it passed out of sight we drove the jeep down James Ravine and saw it exiting Manila Bay. The next morning as we were walking in the same area we happened to spot a monitor lizard. Monitors are easy enough to see here but extremely difficult to photograph, since they are very alert and run for cover as soon as they sense humans. This one didn’t go far, seeking cover in some fallen branches. It stood stock-still and we were able to get a halfway decent shot of it.

For the third straight year we attended the Memorial Day Ceremony at the Manila American Cemetery. It was well attended, and the honored guests included Jejomar Binay, Vice President of the Philippines. Guest speakers were U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas, General Gary North, head of the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific and stationed at Hickam Field in Honolulu, and General Eduardo Oban, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

There were about 20 wreaths on display; we have included a photo of the one donated jointly by the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines and the Filipino-American Memorial Endowment. FAME is responsible for many of the WW II monuments here, including the 138 markers along the Bataan Death March route.

It is always interesting to have a name to look up when going to the cemetery, and over the years we have found many, including the great uncle of our daughter-in-law Carolyn. This time we looked for Major Thomas Smothers Jr., a West Point graduate and father of Dick and Tommy Smothers, AKA “The Smothers Brothers.” Since he died aboard a “Hellship,” we assumed correctly that he would be listed on the Walls of the Missing.

We also visited a grave we had previously photographed. Our first Veterans Day here, November 11, 2008, we took a number of photographs of the cemetery and included them with our newsletter. Steve’s mother, Mary Anne, thought that a lady who writes human interest columns for the Mesabi Daily News would like to see the pictures. Linda Tyssen was so impressed that she asked Mary Anne if she could use some in the newspaper. We were more than happy to give our permission, so Linda ran a story and a picture or two about the cemetery here in Manila.

On the day that the story ran, Mary Anne received a phone call from a woman who lived nearby, the manager of the apartment building where one of Mary Anne’s best friends lives. Virginia is a very small city, and just about everybody knows everybody. She told Mary Anne that she thought that her husband’s brother, Reino Kallio, might be buried in the cemetery, but the family was not sure. We just so happened to be back in Manila at the time that Mary Anne sent an email asking if we could investigate.

Everyone who is buried in Manila or is on its Walls of the Missing is in an on-line database run by the American Battlefields Monument Commission, so it was easy to find Reino’s name and the exact grave where he was buried. We went right over to the cemetery, located the grave, and took a few pictures. The markers, mostly crosses but also a number of Stars of David, had names carved into them over 60 years ago, so it is very difficult to see the names unless you stand at just the right angle or the sun is in the perfect spot. For this reason, cemetery staff will take some wet sand and rub it into the name so that you can see it in a photograph. You can compare the two photographs included. One is from 2008, with the sand in place. The other is from this past Sunday. It also shows the American and Philippine flags in front of the markers. There are over 17,000 graves, and on the Saturday before Memorial Day each year a host of volunteers put the two flags in front of each marker. It is most impressive.

The upshot of the story is that Reino’s sister-in-law finally got the answer she had been seeking. In fact, she got more than that. Cemetery Assistant Director Bert Caloud was able to tell us that based upon his outfit, the 182nd Infantry, and the fact that he died on April 11, 1945, indicated that Reino died in the retaking of Cebu. The sad part of the story is that Mrs. Kallio’s husband, Reino’s brother, had passed away less than a month earlier, never knowing for sure where Reino had been killed or where he was laid to rest.

By the way, we were informed that approximately 39 percent of the men who were killed and whose bodies were recovered in MacArthur’s theatre of the war are buried in Manila. The vast majority of the rest were returned to their families in the States after the war. Believe or not, two bodies of unknowns are about to be exhumed and returned to their families in the near future, thanks to advances in forensic science.

U.S.S. Carl Vinson sails past Corregidor

2011-05-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

According to a recent newspaper article, the week of May 13 is historically the hottest of the year. This year is no exception, clearly the hottest week so far this year. Early last week Typhoon Bebeng passed nearby, resulting in a couple of cooler days and our first significant rain in months. As a result of the 2+ inches, things are starting to green up around here, and we can smell the fragrance from kalamansi and mock orange/orange jasmine blossoms…but of course it also increased the already-high humidity level. It’s kind of funny to us that on some days the distant views are crystal clear and we can actually see some of the Metro Manila high rises, while on other sunny days it is so hazy that you can’t even see across the few miles to Bataan.

On Monday, May 9, Sun Cruises had to cancel its tour because of high waves in Manila Bay. We stayed home and enjoyed the strong breeze. We noticed a long time ago that we have slide locks on both the inside and outside of our screen door, and that day showed us why. The wind blew strongly enough through the house to open the screen door despite having a Yale door-closer. So we locked the outside lock for the day, switching to the inside lock whenever we were indoors. Most of the time we totally ignore it.

Last year, Typhoon Basyang hit Corregidor on July 12. This year Bebeng passed by on May 9, meaning the first major typhoon of the year to hit the area came more than two months sooner. We wonder what else may be in store for us this year, whether this portends more typhoon activity for the season or not. Bebeng left 44 people dead in the country and caused over 30 million dollars (more than 1.3 billion pesos) in damages. It was a major enough storm that, following Philippine tradition, the name has been removed from the list for future “named storms,” meaning that Bebeng goes down in history by itself to avoid reawakening the negative memories that will now be associated with the name.

On Sunday, May 15, Ron sent us a text saying that an aircraft carrier was passing by Corregidor. We had heard that the USS Carl Vinson would be passing and had hoped to see it, but were afraid that it would pass us in the night. By the time we received the text and got to the north dock, it had already traveled well past the island, headed toward Manila. Unfortunately that meant that it was past the optimal photo position, and was now moving into the morning sun. Add to that the haze and we really didn’t get any good pictures, although our binoculars provided a decent view. The ship made the news when, two weeks ago, it was the recovery vessel for the SEAL team assigned to the Osama bin Laden raid, and provided his burial in the North Arabian Sea.

Between the heat and both of us recovering from colds, we’ve been lying low. We decided to take a short walk up to Battery Crockett to try to locate an emergency bunker that, according to our maps, is just a short distance up the hill from the east gun. It turned out to be very easy to find, in part because this is the best time of year vegetation-wise for exploration. It is easier to move through the jungle, and the ruins are much more exposed. Shortly, the vegetation will once again “explode,” as it takes advantage of the upcoming rainy season.

The bunker is particularly interesting because there is a large piece of concrete inside it, much too large to have been placed there by human hands. We are guessing that it is from the humongous explosion that occurred on the afternoon of May 2, 1942, when Japanese artillery crews were able to directly target the central powder magazine at Battery Geary, killing somewhere from 30 to 60 men instantly and sending chunks of concrete over much of the island. Steve’s father Walter, on the other side of Topside at Battery Way, was one of many who thought that a major earthquake had just taken place.

Today the ruins of Battery Geary remain, but only six of its original eight guns are present, and two of those are under the collapsed roof of one of the other two bunkers. One of those two can be seen sticking out below the fractured roof; the other is 20 feet to its right, inside the structure and not visible from a distance. These two guns appear to provide the only support still holding up the roof. As you approach the battery from the main road, you can see a piece of concrete stairway that had been thrown hundreds of feet by the explosion. It is shown in the lower left of one of the attached pictures.

Manila Bay cruise, 69th Anniversary

2011-05-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

We took the Sun Cruiser II to Manila on Wednesday afternoon, but instead of going straight to our hotel, we boarded the Spirit of Manila for a Manila Bay dinner cruise. The boat has an open upper deck as well as a closed, air-conditioned lower deck. Since it was still very hot and humid even late in the day, we opted to stay below, although many of the guests did go topside.

The boat cleared the breakwater and headed south at a leisurely speed toward MoA (the SM Mall of Asia). People who have not been to Manila in recent years would not recognize the bay front; Dewey Boulevard used to run for miles right next to the water. Now Roxas Boulevard – same road, new name – only runs right beside the bay in the area between the U.S. Embassy on the north and the Manila Yacht Club on the south, not much longer than a mile. Now, as you continue south, there is a lot of reclaimed land extending westward into Manila Bay, providing property for many of the nicest hotels, shopping centers, and even the Manila World Trade Center.

We turned around just south of MoA and headed north. About that time we were served our meal, which included chicken in a sauce with which we were unfamiliar, pork kaldereta, rice, corn, and some type of muffin with a sweet cheese topping. Throughout the cruise a young man and woman sang songs. After dinner Steve went on top for a different view. Because of the breeze he didn’t realize just how hot it was until he went back down into the aircon below. The cruise proceeded north until it got near Manila Ocean Park, just short of the Manila Hotel and Pier 15, formerly Pier 7. Then we turned around and headed for the pier. All in all, the cruise took about 75 minutes. We docked just before sunset. Next time we will try to go during the second trip, so that we can experience the sunset while on the water, and also see the buildings at night.

Since we both enjoy being out on the water and the food was good, we’d definitely say we enjoyed ourselves. About the only negative factor had nothing to do with the cruise; it is very difficult to hail a taxi at six o’clock in the evening anywhere near the pier. We had to walk toward our hotel for at least a mile, crossing Roxas Blvd. before finding an available cab. We’re sure that most people who take the dinner cruise would be coming from the city area or be returning from the Corregidor tour, and would have their rides arranged ahead of time. You can see the information online www.corregidorphilippines.com/packages.html.

The reason for our trip to Manila was to sign a book contract with Anvil Publishing. The book has been in the making since 2003. When we met with Karina a few weeks ago, she seemed eager to be able to recommend it to their review board. She told us that the only other book about World War II that they had published was last year’s “Jungle of No Mercy: Memoir of a Japanese Soldier,” by 89 year old Hiroyuki Mizuguchi, a Japanese man who grew up in the Philippines but served in the Japanese Army.

Although we have been calling the book “We Managed to Survive” for the past eight years, we are awaiting their title recommendations. The manuscript will now go into editing, and then we will have to decide which proposed changes should be made and which ones need further discussion. It’s exciting to finally have something happening! Since Anvil is a Philippine publisher, we have a few options for selling the book in the U.S., including finding a second publisher. But one step at a time... It should be available here in time for the yearly book fair in September.

We had to return to Corregidor on Friday morning, since it was May 6, the 69th Anniversary of the Fall of Corregidor, with the surrender of the Philippines to soon follow. Steve’s first such ceremony was in 2002, the 60th Anniversary, with five Corregidor and two Bataan Death March survivors present. We came to Corregidor together in 2003 but there was no formal ceremony. Starting in 2009, the first May after we moved to the island, there has been a ceremony each year. We are expecting that next year, being the 70th, will be the biggest in a while, and are hoping against hope that we can have at least one POW present for the ceremony, as well as many family members and friends of POWs. The problem is that those POWs we know are challenged by health issues, making it difficult or impossible for them to travel such a long distance.

As in the past two years, Steve was the featured speaker. He talked about the significance of that day in history, and also shared some of his father’s love of the island. As you may know, Walter was reluctant to talk about his war experiences with the exception of pre-surrender Corregidor. Speaking of being a POW of the Japanese, he once said, “I wouldn’t take $1,000,000 to go through that for one day!” We have both come to love Corregidor as much as Walter did, if that is possible, and it didn’t take us very long. Everyone who comes here is amazed by what they see, and by how well maintained the island is.

A final note: Walter passed away on Mother’s Day, May 8, 1988. So this Mother’s Day we again remember Walter, who has been gone an incredible 23 years. Walter suffered from the effects of the beriberi he acquired as a POW for the remainder of his life; the pain in his feet never stopped. He always slept with his feet uncovered, he shed his shoes and socks the moment he entered the house, and almost every photograph we have of him shows his bare feet.

4th Marines return to Corregidor

2011-04-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of trivia questions for you:

Who are the “China Marines”?

What was Marine Colonel Samuel Howard forced to do on Corregidor that no other U.S. Marine officer had ever done?

The 4th Marines had been in China so long (15 years) before the outbreak of WW II that they became known as the China Marines. In late November, 1941, only 10 days before the outbreak of WW II, most of the 4th Marine Regiment was shipped out of Shanghai and sent to the Philippines. They started in Olongapo, 750 of them, but were later strengthened to 1,600 men. Just before bombs began falling on Corregidor (December 29) the 4th Marines were moved to the island. They were assigned to quarters in Middleside Barracks, but were almost immediately deployed to their defensive positions. The 1st battalion was assigned to the tail of the island, while the 2nd and 3rd were positioned around the head of the island. Only the 1st, along with American Army and Filipino Scouts, were in position to take on the Japanese landing barges during the assault. It is said that members of the other Marine battalions were greatly upset to have missed the opportunity to kill any Japanese before the surrender.

Being Marines, they were resentful of being put directly under Army General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur would not allow General Sutherland to include the marines in a recommendation for a presidential citation, saying, “The marines had enough glory in World War I.” At the same time, MacArthur had no problem seeking glory for himself, nor had he been short-changed in receiving WW I glorification. According to biographer William Manchester, “Of the 142 communiqués dispatched by the General during the first three months of the war, 109 mentioned only one soldier, Douglas MacArthur.” Despite MacArthur’s objection, the 4th Marines were awarded a presidential unit citation.

Colonel Howard, upon receiving the command, “Execute Pontiac,” which was the code to surrender, he is quoted as saying, “My God, I had to be the first Marine officer ever to surrender a regiment.”

On Sunday Steve led a tour bus that included 16 U.S. Marines who were in the Philippines for a “balikatan” (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercise with Filipino soldiers. Throughout the entire trip one marine carried a long, thin canvas bag with him; he appeared to be on a mission. Steve eventually asked and was told, “I’m carrying the 4th Marine Colors. We believe that it will be the first time that they are unfurled on Corregidor since the war.” Certainly these men were but a few, and they were very proud, so we guess that makes them U.S. Marines.

On Friday we got up early and traveled by banca to Cabcaben, the first step of a short trek to Angeles City, home of Clark Air Force Base. We had been invited to stay the night at the Wild Orchid Resort, and then escort of number of Aussies through Bataan to Corregidor for a tour. Having never taken public ground-transportation by ourselves any further than Balanga in Bataan, we had to learn how to get to Angeles on our own. Within a minute of getting to the main highway a Bataan Transit bus, much nicer than the ones we are used to taking to Balanga, stopped for us. We asked if it was going to San Fernando, Pampanga, which is the largest city near Angeles. Being assured that it did, we hopped aboard. Our surprise came when we got to the station in San Fernando. We expected to simply transfer to another bus, but were told, “No buses to Angeles. Jeep only.” We took a short tricycle ride to the jeepney stop, and after waiting on board for about a half hour, until the jeepney was filled with passengers, we were on our way to Dau, which is near Angeles. Dave, the hotel manager, had a staff driver collect us and take us to the beautiful Wild Orchid.

We arrived by 10:30, so we had the rest of the day to ourselves. Being Good Friday, almost all of the businesses were closed, with the notable exception of most of the bars and clubs for which Angeles is famous. We spent most of the day beside the resort’s two impressive pools, reading, occasionally swimming a bit to stay cool, and enjoying a very good seafood lunch. In the evening we took a walk through the ‘neighborhood,’ finding it interesting to note which business establishments were closed for Good Friday, and which were not. After looking in vain for a Yellow-Cab Pizza place, our hands down favorite here, we stopped at a small street-side café for their Margarita pizza – i.e., cheese, no clue why that is its name – with added onions. It was pretty good except for barely-mediocre crust, but pizza nonetheless, something we can’t get on Corregidor.

On Saturday morning we met the Aussies, most of whom are active duty or retired Special Forces men. We split into two vans, and headed first for Mount Samat. We were very surprised at how busy the shrine was, being Black Saturday. After viewing the huge cross and the sculpture, photo and battle-line displays we drove on to Mariveles to the Bataan Death March memorial at Kilometer Zero, and then ate lunch at the neighboring Jollibee.

After lunch we back-tracked about 10 kilometers along the highway – which is also the first part of the Death March route – to the pier at Kamaya Point where we were met by El Cor I, a large banca, for our crossing to Corregidor. We did the usual island historical tour, then said our goodbyes before the group boarded El Cor I for the return trip to their vans at Kamaya, and their ride back to Angeles. It was nice to spend the day with a group that has a strong appreciation for this part of history. We hope to see some of them return to Corregidor for a day of hiking.

April 23, was the 70th anniversary of Steve’s father Walter arriving on Corregidor, having departed from San Francisco on midnight of March 31/April 1, 1941. After a 22-day ride on the Republic, he arrived in Manila on the 22nd and was sent almost immediately across to the island. Attached is a picture of Walter (tall one on left) with an unknown soldier taken on Corregidor in the summer of 1941.

Ghost Soldiers Tour 2011

2011-04-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

We are finally back “on the Rock.” On Wednesday we completed our fifth consecutive April “Ghost Soldiers” tour for Valor Tours of San Francisco. With twenty guests, this was our biggest and possibly best tour yet.

We have already told you a little about Oscar Leonard, his wife Mary, and their daughter Sarah. Oscar spent a few months on Corregidor before the war, transferring to Clark Field and then Mindanao before war broke out. Matt’s grandfather was captured on Corregidor. Morgan’s father was captured on Corregidor. Jim’s father, who is also Peter’s father-in-law, was also captured on Corregidor. Grace’s brother manned a gun on Fort Hughes (Caballo Island) and he spent his first two weeks as a POW on Corregidor. Are you seeing a pattern here? Charles, one of the “history buffs” in the group said, “You hit a home run on Corregidor, and it’s pretty hard to follow that up.” Nevertheless he, his brother Ted, and all of the others said that the entire tour was great and exceeded their expectations.

Oscar expressed one disappointment near the end when he said, “There’s nothing to see at Clark Field. I don’t recognize anything.” That is true. The area where our bombers were destroyed is now the home of the 5th Wing of the Philippine Air Force, and there is absolutely nothing to indicate the WW II devastation that occurred there. We hear the same thing about many other WWII sites around the world. For instance, we’ve been told that the landing beaches on Okinawa have been covered with strip malls. The man who was so impressed with Corregidor had been disappointed by what remains – what does not remain – at Normandy. So we are lucky that not only is Corregidor the best preserved battlefield of WWII, but that something remains of almost every major site we visit during our yearly nine-day tours.

This tour group included Keith, whose father and uncle were on the Bataan Death March, although he has no information as to where they were captured or how far they marched. Rose, a Filipina Guerilla, brought Cory and Chelsea, two of her grandchildren, to honor her husband, a Filipino ex-POW who died four years ago. Heidi came to show her deep respect for her friends among the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. Our other WW II veteran was Jack, who was in Manila after its liberation. He was able to attend three days of Yamishita’s trial held in what is now the Chick Parsons Room of the US Embassy. Jack immediately recognized the room when we walked into it during our embassy tour. Others in the group included Jim’s wife Jean, history buff Ron, and Guam residents Bill and Sugar.

Rather than go into detail about each day, we decided to let our pictures do most of the talking. These include:

1. Oscar gazing out at Corregidor from Sun Cruises ferry
2. Keith coming down Malinta Hill on Corregidor
3. Cory inside a bunker below Battery Hanna
4. Jack and Cory admiring one of Corregidor’s ravines during our banca tour around the fortified islands of Manila Bay
5. Oscar and Mary meeting VFP members in Mariveles, Bataan, at the Death March Kilometer Zero Memorial Park
6. Heidi and Sarah took our word and decided to try a tricycle ride between the General King surrender site and lunch at Max’s in Balanga, Bataan
7. U. S. Ambassador Harry K. Thomas and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III at Mt. Samat during the “Day of Valor” Ceremony on April 9
8. Sugar (born in Fukushima, raised near Tokyo, and currently a resident of Guam) meets outgoing Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura after the ceremony
9. Matt, Sarah, Keith and Oscar walking the last kilometer of the Death March route, leading into the Capas National Shrine at the location of Camp O’Donnell
10. Kamana Sanctuary Resort and Spa, a brand new hotel where we stayed in Subic Bay
11. Grace gazing toward the Subic Bay resting place of the Oryoku Maru, which contains the remains of her brother Robert Worthington and 200-300 other POWs
12. Grace sits beside her brother’s name (highlighted) at the American Cemetery in Manila
13. Jack stands at the grave of his distant cousin John Laughlin at the cemetery
14. Some of our group after meeting with Ambassador Thomas
15. Oscar, the oldest veteran to scale Malinta Hill at almost 92, with Shelby, the youngest girl to walk around the base of Malinta Hill when she was 5 years old

Thanks to Heidi for pictures 1, 2, 4 and 8 and to Matt for pictures 5 and 7.

Next year will be the 70th Anniversary of the Fall of Bataan, Corregidor, and all of the Philippine Islands. For this reason, Valor Tours will be offering two tours, one centered around the fall of Bataan on April 9, and a second tour featuring the surrender of Corregidor on May 6. We suggest that interested individuals and groups start thinking about which tour you might like to attend. Information will be available by contacting Valor Tours at valortours@yahoo.com or by checking out their website at valortours.com. As usual we are excited about hosting both tours.

Steve and Marcia on the Rock

Another amazing veteran

2011-04-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

In 2008, Corregidor defender and former Japanese prisoner of war Courtney Krueger, approximately 85 years old at the time, made the climb to the top of Malinta Hill, having to stop only occasionally to rest for brief periods. In January of this year, former Corregidor liberator Dick Adams made the climb at age 88, and didn’t slow the gang down one bit. We thought that his record might last a long time. Sorry, Dick, but “records are meant to be broken.” We are amazed to announce that Oscar Leonard has, at the age of 91 years, 11 months, and 12 days, made it to the top. And back!

Oscar, his wife Mary, and their daughter Sarah are three of our 20 guests who are currently participating in the Ghost Soldiers of Bataan tour given by Valor Tours of San Francisco. Oscar served on Corregidor for several months before being transferred to Mindanao, where he was part of the surrender of the Philippines. He spent most of the war as a slave laborer in Japan. He is, to our knowledge, the oldest returning American veteran, and it is exciting for us to be able to spend time with him and his family.

The following is Steve’s account of our days on Corregidor.

The first day I led the group on the tranvia tour of Corregidor. In the afternoon, Marcia and I led seven guests, including the very willing and insistent Oscar, up Malinta Hill. Oscar, who still chops wood, made it to the top without breathing hard, something not all teenagers can accomplish. After dinner several of us had Pulang Kabayo (Red Horse) beer at MacArthur’s Café.

Doris Ho of Sun Cruises had asked me to come up with an alternative to their standard Corregidor tour. It would be intended for those who want to take a somewhat aggressive hike, and is it hoped that people who have already taken the standard tour might return to experience the out-of-the-way trails that lead to some of the remote gun batteries and tunnels located on the island.

I already had a route in mind. The perfect opportunity presented itself with our tour group, since we had a second full day on the island. We took a magnificent three-hour banca trip around the four fortified islands of Manila Bay in the morning, Following an early lunch, nine members of our group joined me and George, one of the Corregidor Inn staff, for a short ride up to Battery Grubbs where we began the hike. Oscar volunteered to be one of the “guinea pigs” for the experiment. I was hesitant, but since Sarah was going to accompany him, and he had proven to be such a strong hiker, I decided he was up to the challenge. The route I had chosen goes into the jungle, emerges at Topside, and then goes back into the jungle, giving hikers the chance to opt out should they get too tired or hot.

The ferry typically arrives at 9:30 in the morning and boards at 2:15 in the afternoon. With luck you could start the hike at 9:45 and be picked up at 2 o’clock. That would leave just under four hours to hike and sightsee with a half-hour lunch. So the goal was to complete our mission in no more than three hours and forty-five minutes. To be able to approximate the time between places of interest, I planned to take pictures at several points, since the camera time-stamps the photos. So off we went.

From Grubbs we proceeded downhill and went through a tunnel/bunker. After a few minutes of exploring, we emerged at Battery Smith. From there we continued west and downhill until we reached Battery Hannah. Several of our guests went down into the tunnel, while others, including Oscar and Sarah, stayed above ground and enjoyed the beautiful view of Conchita Island and the South China Sea.

From there we proceeded to take a rather long walk down to a dry river bed which is halfway to Battery Cheney. At present there is no good way to get across the gorge, so it took longer than usual to get to the other side. We were all up to the challenge, but I told George that a bridge will have to be constructed here before the project proceeds. From there we began our first serious ascent, since it is almost all uphill to Cheney. By the time we reached Cheney we had used up half of our allotted time. After again allowing for some exploring, we headed up past the so-called suicide cliff and to Battery Wheeler. Since the plan is to provide a lunch along the way, Wheeler might turn out to be the place. It would be reached a little after two hours into the hike and is convenient for a vehicle to do the delivery.

At this point, Sarah and Oscar, along with two other hikers, decided that although they could probably go on, it might be best to call it a day. I called for a ride while George took the remaining five guests into the remarkable Wheeler Tunnel. When the tranvia arrived I rejoined the group, and we walked along the paved road from the old Spanish flagpole down to Battery Geary. From there we walked the Geary-to-Ramsey trail, passing the “wall of caves.” When we finally reached Ramsey we found that we had taken exactly three hours and forty-four minutes, just what I was hoping for. We did not wait for a ride, but walked down the hill to the Corregidor Inn. Along the way the remaining five were telling me how much they had enjoyed the hike.

There are some logistical issues that will need to be worked out, but all things considered I think that it is possible to offer this as a viable alternative to the traditional tranvia tour, and one that some tourists will find more to their liking.

A true Corregidorian

2011-04-02T00:00:00.003-07:00

Corregidorians are people who have had the privilege of calling Corregidor their home. This week we were visited by Harriette (Muffy) Marshall Olson, a Corregidorian who lived here from 1929-31. A little family history is in order. Richard Jaquelin Marshall, brought his wife Nell, son Richard Jr. (Dickie) and daughter Muffy to the island when he was assigned here. In 1941 Richard returned as Deputy Chief of Staff to General Douglas MacArthur, and went with him to Australia in March, 1942. For one year he was Mac’s Chief of Staff in Japan before becoming Superintendent at his alma mater, Virginia Military Institute. Later, Muffy married John E. Olson, an officer with the 57th Philippine Scouts, and a survivor of the Bataan Death March. Accompanying Muffy were her son Randy and family friend/“son” Ifeanyi Njoku. Both men are filmmakers and plan to use the footage of Muffy shot during this trip as part of a movie.

General Charles Kilbourne brought Richard Marshall to Corregidor in 1929, wanting to complete the stalled Malinta Tunnel project. Muffy says that the family temporarily stayed with the Kilbournes upon their arrival. There was an exceptionally large house on the eastern endof the senior officers quarters, and Muffy pointed that direction, indicating where she thought the Kilbournes lived.

We were curious regarding her nickname. She explained that when she was very young, maybe two, the family had a cat named Muffy. Little Harriette used to curl up by the fireplace and purr, imitating the cat. Someone in the family started calling her Muffy and the name stuck. On Corregidor their pet was Joe the monkey, but after the cook teased Joe, the only person who could hold him was her father.

Muffy made a brief visit to Corregidor with her husband in 1979, but that trip was almost entirely devoted to John’s Bataan and Death March remembrances. For the first time in 80 years that she was able to seek out these especially memorable places from her youth. Her family left soon after her eighth birthday, so she has some very vivid memories. There were specific areas that she particularly wanted to revisit, and for the most part we were able to accommodate her. In a few cases, such as the Officers Club near the swimming pool, wartime destruction and subsequent degeneration have left only ruins virtually swallowed by the jungle.

Muffy said that her father was busy with his job and her mother Nell loved bridge and “played all the time,” leaving Muffy and Dickie in the care of their Amah. “We had the run of the whole island.” She recalled the two of them playing at Batteries Way and Crockett, and we asked Muffy if they had encountered many soldiers. She answered, “We rarely ran into soldiers. They were only here once in a while – they had other duties. We climbed up and down the stairs, and all over the guns and concrete.” She added, “It was beautiful then, not like now,” referring to the condition of the batteries. “The place was just sitting here waiting for a war.”

She and her brother would also go out into the jungle. They sometimes looked for tarantulas, which Dickie would stick into glass jars, bring home, and “drive our father nuts.” It didn’t matter where they went; she always wore a dress and a big ribbon in her hair. She can quickly spot herself in photographs from those years because of the bows.

When we went by the old Fort Mills Hospital, she told us about jumping from a dock into the ocean. She landed in a school of jellyfish, which can be virtually invisible. Her legs were covered with stings which had to be treated at the hospital, but she was not kept overnight.

Muffy was uncertain which house along the row of senior officers quarters on Topside was the one in which her family lived. Six two-story units are west of the flagpole along a straight road, overlooking Topside Parade Ground and Barracks. Eastward from the flagpole are two one-story houses followed by nine two-story structures along a slight curve. There is a picture of Muffy at age seven standing in front of the houses. The curve in the road is evident, so if this was taken in front of their house then they were on the eastern side, downhill from the lighthouse. She thinks that they could walk down the hill from their house to the Officers Club and swimming pool, which would also indicate a house on the east side. Interestingly, she has no recollection of the lighthouse, so the exact location remains a mystery.

Muffy told about learning to ride her bicycle on the veranda of their second-floor dwelling, where the children played during rainy season. The veranda wrapped around three sides and could be enclosed with sliding windows. She remembers their home as very large, including bedrooms for her parents, her brother, and herself, plus quarters for their Amah, cook, and houseboy. She recalls hiding with Dickie under the external stairway to avoid neighbor boys’ BB guns. The Officers Row houses are mirror-image paired, and she believes their stairway was on the west side of the house.

Muffy recalls Topside as “the busy part of the island.” Although she does not remember the old Spanish flagpole, she clearly recalls the movie house, “Cine Corregidor.” She doesn’t think she ever saw a movie there, only attending stage shows presented for the children.

One time Muffy was walking outdoors carrying her doll Bess, named after Mrs. Kilbourne who had given it to Muffy. She was going to visit a friend, looking around and telling Bess about the wonderful things she was seeing. All of a sudden she fell into an open manhole! She says that the only thing that kept her from falling completely through was the large doll with her arm wrapped around it, which caught at one side of the hole. She yelled for help but no one answered. She wiggled around, got one foot against the opposite side, and pushed herself and Bess forward until she could set Bess down and creep out of the hole. Muffy says she grabbed Bess, ran home, and never again walked around without watching where she was stepping. That is still excellent advice when on Corregidor.

At the edge of the swimming pool, Muffy told another story. Here and at several other settings, her first comment was, “Wow! Oh, wow!” at seeing something that she could clearly remember from 80 years ago. Once she added, “A hunk of history comes back.” Today the pool is surrounded by jungle, although the area is cleared to be visible from the road, and the edges of the pool are evident. General Kilbourne was responsible for the installation of this large, saltwater swimming pool by the officers club. At the grand opening there was a beauty contest for the little girls. Since General Kilbourne was “her good friend,” and he and his wife were like grandparents to Muffy and Dickie, she said, “I just knew that I was a lock to be the winner.” Muffy showed how she’d strutted her stuff along with the other contestants. When Kilbourne announced the winner, a tiny two-year old girl, Muffy ran home in great distress. Later he explained to her that the committee couldn’t decide on a winner so they opted for the youngest contestant. Muffy was okay with it then.

She talked about General MacArthur, saying, “The first time I met Mac, he and Jean (his wife) came to our house for a cocktail party. I went over to talk to him – he didn’t waste any words, but he was nice. She was very nice – Jean was a love. They had a good partnership; she was the love of his life. I talked more with Mrs. MacArthur – he was always busy with the men. He was a very official man, had a strict way of doing things.” She told us that her father, who spent 1939-46 at Mac’s side, never had a bad thing to say about him. “Dad was often the peacemaker behind [Gen. Richard] Sutherland and MacArthur who had to be tough.”

Muffy says that during their days on Corregidor, Dickie enjoyed spending time with the local fishermen. They would give him lead sinkers, which he stashed. When they were packing to leave in 1931 he put the sinkers in his suitcase. When their father picked up the suitcase he said, “This feels like it’s full of lead!” When they arrived in the U.S., the two children melted all of the lead and made toy soldiers. Twelve years later, Dickie, who was a year and a half older than she, died onboard the U.S.A.T. Dorchester after it was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1943. While walking near their Topside home, Muffy told Marcia what a blessing it was to have spent so much time with Dickie when they were young.

Muffy seems to have caught “the Corregidor bug,” and we would not be surprised to see this Corregidorian return with her sons in the not so distant future.

Steve flys over Corregidor

2011-03-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to fulfill a longtime dream when I was invited to fly over Corregidor on Monday. Peter Parsons and his one-time college roommate John Jenkins, came to the island for a private tour. Marcia and I accompanied them around the island. It just so happened that another of Peter’s friends, pilot Curt Perry, was on his way from Palawan to Subic Bay and stopped to join us all for lunch. When Peter and John boarded the Sun Cruises ferry for Manila, Curt took me up for a spin in his two-liter, turbo-diesel prop plane, using the mostly grass runway known as Kindley Field, which is located on the tail of the island.

Flying in a small plane is about as much like flying in a 747 as driving a motorcycle is like driving a Greyhound bus. I have no fear of flying, and Curt is as experienced a pilot as you could get, but I developed a bit of nausea during the flight. The reason is that I would spot something I wanted to see and Curt would turn the plane sharply to get us in position. At one point I mentioned the mild nausea to Curt and he said, “I forget that not everyone enjoys acrobatics.” It really wasn’t a matter of enjoying it so much as that he would turn hard right and my stomach would keep going forward for a few seconds. It probably did not help that we had just consumed a large lunch of fried chicken and pancit (noodles). You can be sure I found it well worth the minor discomfort.

Having seen many pictures taken from airplanes, I knew more or less what to expect as far as the basic tadpole shape of the island. As we approached the head of the island I spotted Geary Point, and was surprised that it appeared to have been reshaped in a rectangular fashion. Take a look at the photo to see what I’m talking about. I suspected that certain batteries would be easy to spot, and I was correct. The big disappearing gun batteries of Crockett, Wheeler, and Cheney, which are lined up along the southern edge of the island’s head, are even more impressive from the air, and the purpose of their positioning obvious: to keep big enemy ships out of Manila Bay. Likewise, the western batteries of Hearn, Smith, and Grubbs stand out clearly from the air, and spotting Topside and Middleside Barracks and the Ft. Mills Hospital were a snap.

As I suspected, spotting Battery Way from the air, my primary goal, proved much more difficult. The problem is that the trees not only grow right up to the edge of the battery, but they also almost cover the road leading to and from it. So we had to take an educated guess and fly over it several times to get any decent kind of pictures. The afternoon sun angle made it impossible to get a great shot, since shade covered part of the battery. This would be one reason to hope for clouds: less contrast on the ground. Nevertheless I was happy to spot my dad’s battery, and also could understand why the Japanese did not know of its existence until late in their barrage on Corregidor. (It was actually Way’s guns opening fire toward Bataan in late April that revealed its position. After that the battery came under heavy fire for the remaining week of American resistance on Corregidor.)

One interesting building as seen from the air is the YMCA, or Enlisted Men’s Recreation Center at Middleside, very near our house. Most visitors probably never realize what a large building it was, since they don’t leave the road. But walking into its ruins reveals that it is at least double the size that it appears when viewed from the road.

I wanted to get pictures of our house and was somewhat successful. Unfortunately we approached it from the wrong angle. The next time I get up I will ask the pilot to approach from the other side, which will also make Battery Way easier to spot and photograph. Also, I realize now that I did not get any pictures of Battery Geary, the battery that was “blown to smithereens” less than four days before the Japanese assault. The fact that it is mostly grass now, instead of concrete, and that trees grow close by are probably factors, but next time I will make it a priority.

After a few passes of the island, Curt asked me if there was anything else I’d like to see so I asked him to take me over Ft. Drum, the old “concrete battleship.” It is impressive enough from the water, and I have even had the privilege of being on board, but flying over gives a whole new perspective. It is indeed an impressive structure, and moreover, the only one of its kind in the world. Usually it can be seen from Corregidor, but often it just looks like a large, black rectangle that could be mistaken for a passing ship. This battleship was built on an island and isn’t going anywhere, but its presence certainly must have made the Japanese think twice about trying to get past it and the other three fortified islands of Manila Bay, because they never gave it a try.

On the way back to Kindley Field we flew past the northern side of Caballo Island. Since it is still a Philippine Navy arsenal, Curt chose not to fly directly over it. Most impressive are the steep cliffs, and one battery in particular. Filipino Coast Defense scholar and friend Tony Feredo clarified what I photographed: “That is Battery Gillespie, a 14-inch gun on a disappearing carriage. Together with Battery Woodruff (on the lower part of Caballo), these two may be the only remaining 14-inch DC guns (US) in the world. Notice how the gun wells were already filled with concrete. There was a plan to use the battery as a launch platform for the AFP’s rocket experiment in the 70s.” I include a picture from Tony showing him at Gillespie.

We flew over the extreme east end of Corregidor’s tail and swung around to land from the west. As we did so, we passed over the Sun Cruiser II, carrying our friends Peter and John back to Manila. The final approach was easy enough, although Curt mentioned that some maintenance needs to be done to cut the encroaching ipil-ipil trees away from the concrete landing pad. I thanked Curt, and he went on his way back to Subic Bay.

Some suggestions for you

2011-03-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Steve guided a group which included Mark Howard, a leader in the Latter Day Saints Church in Manila. Mark has brought several Mormon groups out and always asks for Steve. Mark’s son Scott and daughter-in-law Sarah are visiting and decided to do the Corregidor tour. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami are still on everyone’s mind, and it directly affected the younger Howards. They were on final approach into Tokyo’s Narita Airport when the major quake struck, and were diverted to another airport farther south. They eventually got to Osaka, but not before having to spend considerable time in airports. Their carrier said that since it was an act of nature they were not in any way responsible for food or lodging, but fortunately they were able to cope in a strange land. They said that the plane before them had just touched down and the passengers had to spend several hours on the plane as the terminal was locked down during the major aftershocks.

One of our friends who was spending time in Tokyo doing research had this to say on Thursday:

Due to the great uncertainty here in Tokyo, my wife and I have decided to cut our stay here short and will be returning to Manila on March 21.

We thought things would return to normal in Tokyo this week, but things have remained unsettled and very uncertain. Some of the major train lines are not running, and those that are are doing so in reduced numbers. The library in Sophia University (where we are staying) has been closed until further notice, and the National Diet Library where I have been doing research has limited its service hours. Many department stores have closed or limited service hours, and many employees are advised to stay at home. The convenience stores and supermarkets now have many empty shelves, among them shelves for milk, water, bread, instant noodles, etc. There are long queues for gasoline everywhere. And of course there is the uncertainty of the nuclear power plant - it's around 250 kilometers from here but there were increased levels of radiation detected even here (although very slight, and of no danger to people). Last night there was a strong earthquake - not an aftershock - in Shizuoka, west of Tokyo. Since there isn't much we can do here, we decided that going home early is the most sensible decision.

We have heard from our friends in Japan and all is well with them. Of course, many of them are concerned with friends and relatives who are from the affected regions and are still awaiting word. Our thoughts and prayers remain with them.

As co-founder of the Coast Defense Study Group, Glen Williford has been to Corregidor many times. His brother Steve (this could get confusing) spent the final years of the Vietnam War at the Subic Bay Naval Station, but never had been to The Rock. Both came here last weekend to spend a few days. On Sunday Steve – of Steve and Marcia on the Rock fame – spent time with the Williford brothers exploring some of the locations on the island.

They first went to Battery Cheney to search for a 155mm gun emplacement that Glen had seen years ago. It is southwest of the westernmost gun at Cheney, and in dense jungle. Since island manager Ron had been there before he offered to help them find it. Nilo went along as bolo man. After much searching they were able to find the rounded piece of concrete that was the gun shelter.

On Topside the Willifords wanted to spend time in the central area of Topside Barracks trying to determine where certain rooms had been. It was easy to locate the swimming pool, which resembles a modern day pool, except that it has no water and trees are now growing in it. The gymnasium on the second floor was also obvious. However, such things as the bowling alley and library were impossible to determine with certainty. Later, the guys went to Infantry Point on Tailside to look at Battery Kysor and to explore the medium-size tunnel which faces north.

Glen is the author of several books on coastal defense. His latest, Racing the Sunrise, is the account of the preparations that were underway to take on the Japanese, especially in the final three months before Pearl Harbor, as well as the early blockade-runner missions that ultimately led to the retaking of the western Pacific. It is a heavily researched book that took him five years to write. While not for everybody, if you are interested in the fine details of this subject, then you want to consider it.

Another book which came out last year, garnering lots of attention among Pacific War buffs, is Escape from Davao by John D. Lukacs. Despite being a Notre Dame graduate we still consider John a friend (just kidding, John), having made his acquaintance almost ten years ago. The book is subtitled, “The forgotten story of the most daring prison break of the Pacific War.” The escapees were for the most part survivors of Bataan and Corregidor and had been in the Davao Penal Colony for almost a year before making their escape. Another well-researched book, it should appeal to anyone interested in what occurred here in the first year of the war.

While we’re on the subject of recommendations, we encourage you to see the HBO Movie Taking Chance. It is based upon the true story of a U.S. Marine officer, shiningly played by Kevin Bacon, who accompanies the body of a young enlisted Marine to his home out west. The dignity and respect that both the living and dead marines are shown along the way made us proud. Although a very sad movie, if you appreciate the U.S. Armed Forces, it will make you feel good.

The following is from reader Minter Dial. You may recall that we wrote about his grandfather’s lost and found and then lost again academy ring a while back.

I am wondering if you might support (or even write up?) my social experiment around my grandfather's Facebook fan page. I am trying to garner some support to build up the community in a novel way. I'd love to have to your opinion as well on this initiative.

Here it is explained on my blog:
minterdial.com/2011/03/minter-dial-100th-anniversary-celebration/
We invite you to check out the website, and help Minter if you are so inclined.

The tsunami

2011-03-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Due to a Tsunami Warning issued after an extremely strong earthquake in/near Japan yesterday, the Philippines went on alert. We are sending this to assure our family and friends that we are safe and sound on Corregidor, and the only tsunami affect noted in the Philippines was minor wave increases along eastern coastlines.

Corregidor is at the mouth of Manila Bay, and Manila is in the northeast area of the 30-mile diameter bay. Mainland Luzon geographically sheltered us from the tsunami, which originated in the north. As you can see from the map, only a tsunami coming from the southwest could possibly affect Corregidor and Manila, unless of course it originates in Manila Bay.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan, especially to those who have become our friends in the past five years.

The little girl who lost her shoe

2011-03-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Steve recently guided a group of Filipino students. While they were off taking pictures at Battery Way, he met an older American balikbayan (a native Filipino who is returning for a visit) from another group who was standing off by himself. When Steve told his father’s story of being the last sergeant on the last mortar at the battery, the man introduced himself as Jose Liberato, age 75. He said that he was born on Corregidor in 1935 while his father was serving here in the U.S. Army. He lived here for the first six years of his life, until the military dependants were evacuated from the island as war approached. He said that this is the first time he has returned to The Rock since that time.

On another tour Steve had a mix of guests from all over the world. One little girl was with her Filipino family on top of the Spanish Lighthouse when one of her shoes fell off, dropping onto the lower roof. When her mother told Steve about it he could see that the girl was quite upset, so he promised to get someone to retrieve the shoe before the end of the tour. The mother wisely bought her daughter a pair of flip-flops at a lighthouse gift shop which relieved the distress. After lunch Steve was able to return the shoe to the girl, thanks to two men from the hotel staff. Later she and a Korean girl of about the same age posed with Steve at the Japanese memorial. At the end of the tour, the tiny Filipina came up to Steve and boldly proclaimed, “Thank you!” Steve asked, “What’s your name?” “Allysa Noel!” “You lost one of your front teeth.” “That’s when I was little!” Steve smiled because he knew that the tooth had to have fallen out quite recently, and he couldn’t imagine her much littler. When Steve asked the other little girl (the Korean) her name, she held up five fingers. When he asked her mother, she had no idea what she was being asked. It did not occur to him at the time to try to ask her name in Tagalog, but in all likelihood it would have invoked the same response. We hope that they enjoyed the tour despite the language barrier.

On another occasion when Steve was guiding a group of Filipino high school students, he struck up a conversation with a man in the buffet lunch line. It turned out that he was from Iowa, and so he was very interested to talk with Steve, who grew up in the neighboring state of Minnesota. Frank Morgan invited him to join him and his fellow traveler for lunch. As it turned out, they were with the Kiwanis, and his travel mate was none other than Sylvester Neal, the International President of the Kiwanis. The three had an interesting conversation, with Frank especially picking Steve’s brain about his knowledge of the war on Corregidor. They met up again later at Pacific War Museum on Topside, where Steve and Sylvester posed under the photos of Steve’s father Walter which are on display.

The remains of a three-million gallon concrete water reservoir are very near our house. Since tour buses often stop to explain its significance, we occasionally have our helper Roy sweep its surface. The acacia (monkey pod) leaves had really begun to accumulate, so we asked Roy to clear them. Before he began, we heard him working on something behind the bodega. After a while we noticed a scraping sound, and we wondered if Roy had come up with a device to make his work easier. Sure enough, he had put together something closely resembling a snow shovel, using extra roofing metal for a blade. When we asked him if he had gotten the idea from watching movies with snow scenes, he just kind of laughed and said, “No.” Very inventive, very effective.

Finally, one of our devoted readers sent the following about the composition of the rock and ash wall we described in our last newsletter:

Not being there and seeing [the wall] first hand, I am making a guess from the picture. It is an old ash flow. The army cut through it to make a road. When a volcano blows, tons of this ash comes down like hot cinders with rocks and blobs of lava mixed in, it can flow in a way similar to lava. When it compacts over millennia it is like a soft stone with all the bits of rocks built in. This happens on more than one occasion, and layers can be very thin or thick. The mix of rocks/lava/ash differs for each blow. Some are more ash, some more chunks of rock. This creates distinct layers. The layer in the middle of the picture looks like a mostly ash layer that was softer than the layers above and below, due to lack of stabilizing rocks. It has eroded by wind and rain more than the other layers. It is not from scaring due to equipment running alongside.

Volcanoes (like Mount St. Helens) can blow the entire top off, and then the expelled lava/ash/rock creates a void and the center collapses down forming a bowl. You see better from the air, where you see a circular ridge, the caldera of an old volcano. Looking at the size of the caldera that left the ridge islands of Corregidor and Caballo, it was a huge ancient volcano. You are seeing firsthand the old volcanic action that created this ancient Caldera rim. The top was blown off, probably many times. The rocks hurled up along with the hot ash fell back and compressed into the concrete like substance you see. When the US Army cut through it to make a road it was left open to fall away bit by bit depending on each layer's hardness, leaving a structure that looks like a retaining wall.

We thank the reader for her response. We are still hoping for someone who can tell us the types of equipment that were used to form the wall and road that we talked about and that are shown in the attached picture.

Brealwater Point

2011-03-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

When we head out to explore parts of Corregidor Island unfamiliar to us, we rely on copies of old, declassified army maps. More often than not, these maps – made over 75 years ago – can be used to find old road and rail beds, and to locate buildings, bunkers, and gun emplacements. The key is to follow the old roads to an approximate location, and then start searching. Major turns, ravines, and intersections help to pinpoint your present location. Best bets for finding ruins are high spots and points, where they would logically be located, since the fortification of The Rock was done to prevent assault from the sea.

One recent morning, we decided to hike the road that leads downhill from Battery Ramsey, which is just across Middleside Parade Ground from our house. When this route, Government Road, is well cleared it takes about 15 minutes to get from Ramsey to the road junction (not in the map photo) for the turnoff to Battery Geary. Government Road continues basically southward, heading farther down the hill. It eventually comes to a spot – Road Junction # 61 on the map – where you can hook back and to the northeast (a tight left) toward Bottomside, a trail we have hiked a couple of times, or you can go southwest (an easy right) along a route that originally went above four of Corregidor’s searchlight locations. Beyond RJ #61 the road southwest essentially disappears, and you must work your way through and past trees and vines, keeping between the decline to the left and incline to the right.

The purpose of our expedition was twofold: to look for structures on Breakwater Point, and to see how far the trail would take us toward the searchlight positions. Breakwater Point, so named because it rises above a breakwater, actually has three mini-points. The northern one has what we have referred to as a “bathtub bunker” for want of a more specific term. It is a small, in-ground stone and concrete-walled bunker that was used as a machine gun location. It is marked as VI-M-2, which stands for Sector 6, Machine Gun # 2. Just south of it, there is another point which has a larger, three-walled structure, its fourth side open and facing away from the sea. It shows no sign of having been roofed. The seaward end of the structure shows evidence of a direct hit. It is labeled as VI-S-2, indicating Siege Gun # 2. On the southern point we could see four three-foot high walls, five to ten feet long, spread out near the cliff edge. The map calls this area VI-F-4, indicating Field Gun # 4. The map indicates other structures in this area, but they are more difficult to locate because this particular point is totally covered in tall grass, vines, and a few lantana bushes. There are almost no trees, strikingly different from the surrounding jungle. We were not able to locate Siege Gun # 1 or Machine Gun # 5. Another project, for another day.

We had hoped to follow this trail much farther, since as we said, the road shown on the map continues at least a mile and leads to four searchlight positions. However, we were only able to go another 100 yards at most before the road disappeared. It appears that the road was destroyed at that point. Instead of a flat road, we encountered a steep, overgrown hill. It’s likely that artillery shells from the south hit the cliff above the road, causing enough of a collapse that it left only rubble, and at a very steep angle. The vegetation is thick again here, obscuring whatever path might still exist. It is obvious no one has passed this way in a long time. We may plan a return trip with an experienced bolo man and see if we can go farther. Steve’s father was originally assigned to the searchlight division of the 60th Coast Artillery Corps when he arrived on Corregidor in 1941, so we’re motivated to extend the trail if possible. Currently, access to these searchlight positions is gained from the shoreline, hiring a banca to get close, and then wading ashore to climb the steep hills up to the sites, so gaining access from above would be great if possible.

On our homeward trek, just after passing Road Junction # 61 we paid closer attention to a wall along the trail’s west side. At first glance it appears to be made of concrete embedded with stones, essentially a 10-25 foot high retaining wall. In reality it is a crosscut of the ground which makes up the island itself. What looks like cement is in fact semi-solid, can easily be scraped away with a stick, and in some places is soft enough to scratch with a finger. Our guess is that it is ancient volcanic ash mixed with small-to-large stones and compressed over the millennia. We can only imagine the machinery that must have been required to slice into the side of the hill to create the wall and roadbed. If you look closely at the picture of Marcia standing by the wall, you can see that the equipment left a fairly smooth horizontal groove at about her shoulder height, roughly four and a half feet, and above the groove you see rougher cut wall. We’d be interested to hear from anyone knowledgeable about such equipment and the techniques that would have been used 100 years ago to create such a wall. We saw no evidence that any part of the wall has collapsed, indicating that no large bombs ever fell in the area. Given the soft composition of the wall, it would have crumbled, leaving the road covered in rubble such as we encountered beyond Breakwater Point.

March 2nd marked the 66th anniversary of General Douglas MacArthur fulfilling his pledge to return to The Rock. We joined Corregidor Island Manager Ronilo Benadero and four of the security men from Ground Zero for an early morning flag-raising to commemorate that event. The 48-star flag was donated to the Corregidor Foundation, Inc. by James Zobel, curator of the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. It flew proudly above the island for the day.

The beautiful birds of Corregidor

2011-02-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

We recently had a visit from five Japanese, including our friends Yuka and Naoko. They were joined by Yumiko, Kotaro, and Shino. They are all focused on educating the Japanese people about what actually occurred during World War II. Their projects have included video interviews with hundreds of American and Filipino POWs and Japanese soldiers from the period, in hopes of helping to bridge the gap between the groups. They were grateful to Steve for serving as their tour guide, telling the story from the point of view of a son of an American POW.

Since there were only five in their group, and because they all speak and understand at least some English, they joined us on an English-speaking bus which, by happenstance turned out to have a very international group. Included on this particular bus were “Steve and Marcia on the Rock” readers Edna (Filipina),and her husband Boone (Indonesian), who live in Holland, as well as guests from Australia, the United States, Canada, India, and of course the Philippines, plus a man who splits his time each year between the Philippines and his wife’s homeland of Spain.

The Japanese guests spent the night at the hotel, treating us to “MacArthur chicken” and other fine dishes at the MacArthur Café. The following day we escorted them to the Japanese Memorial Garden on Tailside. They were able to provide us with translations of the information on all of the markers there, something that we’d wanted for quite some time. There were no great surprises, and we even learned how to recognize “Corregidor” in the Japanese phonetic character set, which is used when there is no Kanji equivalent.

A couple nights ago we decided to have dinner at Mac’s Café. Instead of eating by ourselves, we encountered overnight visitors Hakan, Jan, and Cora, an interesting trio to say the least. Hakan, a native of Sweden, lived for years in Lebanon, and currently splits his time between, of all places, Cambodia and Bulgaria. His close friend Jan, a Danish citizen, is married to Cora, a Filipina. Jan and Cora live in Metro Manila and are involved with an organization called “Manila Street Kids.” The beer and conversation were flowing, and we all had a great time. The party expanded with the addition of another Swedish overnight guest named Rolf (who coincidentally stayed overnight as Hakan, whom he had never met), Corregidor Inn manager Ed, island manager Ron, and Nilo who also works on Corregidor. More beer, more talk, some pancit, and a bit of videoke.

At one point, Hakan commented that Jan used to play an instrument in an orchestra which performed in Denmark and Sweden. Steve asked the obvious, “What instrument did you play?” figuring that it was a string, reed, or brass instrument. Before Jan could answer, Hakan started moving his fists alternately together and apart and going, “BOOM! . . . . . . . . . . BOOM! . . . . . . . . . . BOOM! . . . . . . . . . . BOOM!” Yes, Jan played bass drum in a symphony orchestra! And Hakan was not going to let his best friend forget it. Every time that a new song came on the videoke machine, Hakan would repeat the “BOOM! . . . . . . . . . . BOOM! . . . . . . . . . . BOOM! . . . . . . . . . . BOOM!” and Jan would roll his eyes, and say, “It’s a lot tougher than it looks!” (He actually played multiple instruments in the percussion section.) Maybe you had to be there, but every time Hakan repeated, “BOOM! BOOM!” we all cracked up.

On Tuesday we were delighted to finally meet Doris Magsaysay Ho, the owner of Sun Cruises, Inc., the company that brings most of the visitors to the island. They run the day tours and the Corregidor Inn. Doris invited us to join her group for lunch at the inn. She has lots of plans for updating services and making inn renovations, and was looking for input from her staff, a renovations consultant, and the two of us. We liked what we heard, and hope that she will be able to implement many of the suggestions that were discussed. We believe that Sun Cruises already does a good job but also appreciate Doris’s vision for improving the facilities, as well as offering a wider variety of activity choices, such as walking tours of the off-the-beaten-path areas of the island. She mentioned that she has a personal interest in seeing Corregidor developed as a bird sanctuary, something of interest to us as well, which would entail habitat evaluations, planting of specific food-source trees, and possibly establishing feeder stations for some bird species.

On that topic, we mentioned in a January newsletter that bird watchers had identified 33 species of birds on Corregidor in less than three hours, while walking only along the main roads. Here is the list sent to us by Alex T. after his partner Marites put it together for an article in their birders’ newsletter. We assume that the number following each name indicates how many were spotted, with “x” being ‘too many to count’ and “HO” indicating ‘Heard Only.’

1. Eastern Reef-Egret - 1 (dark)
2. Brahminy Kite - 25
3. Chinese Goshawk - 1 (perched)
4. Red Jungle Fowl - 5 (3m, 2f)
5. Pink-necked Green-Pigeon - 12
6. White-eared Brown-Dove - 2
7. Amethyst Brown-Dove - HO
8. Green-Pigeon sp. - 1
9. Zebra Dove - x
10. Common Emerald-Dove - 30+
11. Philippine Coucal - 1 (heard more)
12. Island Swiftlet - x
13. Glossy Swiftlet - x
14. Pygmy Swiftlet - x
15. Collared Kingfisher - 40+
16. Pacific Swallow - x
17. Barn Swallow - x
18. Pied Triller - 4
19. Yellow-vented Bulbul - x
20. Philippine Bulbul - 10+
21. Black-naped Oriole - 11
22. Blue Rock Thrush - 2 (male)
23. Golden-bellied Flyeater - 1
24. Arctic Warbler - 3
25. Tawny Grassbird - 2 (heard more)
26. Grey-streaked Flycatcher - 5
27. Mangrove Blue-Flycatcher - HO
28. Pied Fantail - 4
29. Black-naped Monarch – HO
30. Brown Shrike - 8
31. Asian Glossy Starling - x
32. Olive-backed Sunbird - 6
33. Lowland White-eye – 30

There are a few species we have seen which are not on the list: Tabon Scrubfowl; White-throated Kingfisher; and Large-billed Crow. We don’t know about you, but we were really impressed with what they spotted, and hope that this will inspire many more bird watchers to come to Corregidor for a day or two. Our little pocket guide was great to help us get started, but we have reached the point where we’re ready for the more comprehensive bird book that Alex T. recommended, “A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines” by Kennedy, Gonzales, Dickinson, Miranda, and Fisher.

Here are some links:

http://www.birdingphilippines.com/
and
http://www.birdwatchphilippines.ph

About a month ago, amateur bird photographer Ely Teehankee came to Corregidor with his giant Canon 800mm fixed telephoto lens. He stopped by to introduce himself, much to our delight. All attached bird photos were taken by him over a two-day period. More of Ely’s pictures can be viewed at http://birdphotoph.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=photo&action=display&thread=7094

On February 24th we quietly and gratefully celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary. On that snowy day in 1973, who would have dreamed that the year 2011 would find us living on a tropical island in the Philippines, still very happy together?

Hugh Ambrose Tour

2011-02-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

We recently spent some time with Hugh Ambrose, son of the late historian Stephen Ambrose. Stephen was instrumental in the very popular miniseries Band of Brothers, on which Hugh also worked. Hugh spent years as the historical consultant for the more recent miniseries, The Pacific, and also wrote a companion book of the same name, which covers the same subject matter and much more about the war in the Pacific, including battles on Bataan and Corregidor.

We were asked to represent Valor Tours by joining the final three days of their tour led by Hugh through several of the islands that saw heavy action in WWII. The group started in Guadalcanal, and visited other islands such as Tinian, Pelelu, and Palau. Several of the group members were instrumental in the founding and expansion of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, including President and CEO Gordon “Nick” Mueller. The group also included Richard Greer, a WWII veteran who speaks at the beginning of many of The Pacific’s episodes. He was among the first troops to land at Guadalcanal, and after recovering from a leg wound, also fought at Cape Glouchester.

Another of the members was the son of the man who started McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, traveling with his wife – the only female in the group – whose father served in the Pacific theater. Yet another was a lawyer who had once represented such stars as Bing Crosby, Alan Ladd, William Holden, and Marlon Brando. The group also included Pete Wilson.

Pete’s name will no doubt ring a bell for many of you. After three years in the Marine Corp and then graduating from law school, Pete went into politics, first serving in the California Assembly, then as mayor of San Diego, a United States Senator, and finally as Governor of California. Even at 77 Pete stays active, consulting to help businesses comply with the growing number of federal and state regulations. Over the course of the three days we spent time talking to Pete about life in the public spotlight.

Our role in their tour started with meeting their private jet at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport early on Saturday afternoon. We proceeded to the American Cemetery in Manila, where the group presented a wreath in honor of the almost 17,000 American war dead buried there, and the over 36,000 names on the Walls of the Missing. We then went to the old walled city, Intramuros, the oldest part of Manila. We checked into the nearby Manila Hotel, touring the MacArthur suite on the top floor of the old section of the hotel. After Nick’s presentation on the status, goals, and planned expansion of the National WW II Museum, we had dinner and were off to sleep. The hotel has undergone massive rehabilitation. The rooms are spacious and comfortable, with the bathrooms having undergone the biggest changes. In addition, their breakfast buffet, which used to be very small for a top-rated hotel, has been expanded to include nine food stations and a much larger seating area. It is unrecognizable to anyone who may have eaten there before. They are doing their best to rise to the competition from the many newer five-star hotels in Metro Manila.

Sunday belonged to our home island of Corregidor. After the 80-minute trip on the Sun Cruises ferry, Steve led the group on a private five-hour tour of the island. This island was far different from the other islands that they had toured, since the other islands were only scenes of Americans taking them from the dug-in Japanese. There were few buildings, mostly “pill boxes,” and almost no guns to see. In contrast, Corregidor had been an established pre-war American fortress with massive guns and barracks, site of Japanese invasion and capture followed by the American retaking nearly three years later. There were a few similarities, most notably the tunnels in which the Japanese fought and sought shelter.

On Monday we boarded El Corregidor II, a large banca, and took the seven-mile ride to Mariveles, Bataan. We began at the KM0 (kilometer zero) memorial, the traditional start of the Bataan Death March. We proceeded to the top of Mount Samat, “the last line of defense,” then to the Balanga Elementary School, where General King surrendered about 76,000 American and Filipino troops in the biggest capitulation in American history. We went to Camp O’Donnell to visit the Capas National Shrine, with most of the guests walking the final kilometer of the Death March route. Finally we went to Subic Bay, making brief stops at the Hellships Memorial, Subic International Hotel for showers and fresh clothing, The Lighthouse Marina Resort for supper, and finally delivering Hugh and his group to Subic International Airport where their jet was waiting to take them to Honolulu and then home. Then we had a three hour bus ride to our hotel in Pasay, Manila. It was Valentine’s Day, so late-night traffic in Metro Manila was as bad as is typical at 6 P.M. due to the many couples celebrating the day. By the time we got to bed, we realized that we needed an additional day just to recover from the extremely long days and early mornings we’d had.

We returned to Corregidor on Wednesday morning. We had heard that the USS Blue Ridge, an American Navy command and control ship, was in Manila Harbor for a few days. As it turned out, 32 sailors and marines were on the Sun Cruises ferry with us, and Steve was assigned to provide their tour of the island. It is always a pleasure to guide for Americans, and a particularly special honor when it is for the men and women of our armed forces. It just so happened that it was February 16, the 66th anniversary of the parachute drop and barge landing that marked the beginning of the liberation of Corregidor from the Japanese. There was a short flag-raising ceremony at the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team marker at Topside, attended by well over 100 tour guests and island staff. Three of the USS Blue Ridge servicemen were selected to present a wreath, followed by brief remarks from Steve.

While Steve was talking with two of the sailors, he mentioned that it was his father Walter’s 31st birthday on the day that the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, effectively ending the war and saving his life. Steve was stunned when Petty Office Second Class Travis Ellis of Portland, Oregon, said, “Today is my 31st birthday.” Steve looked at him and said, “It’s hard to imagine my father being exactly your age on the day he could have been killed.” He then went on to explain that Walter was in a POW camp in the city of Kokura in northern Kyushu on that day, August 9, 1945. This city was the primary target for the second atomic bomb. The crew could not see the ground due to clouds and smoke and thus flew on to their secondary site of Nagasaki.

Interestingly, the crew is stationed 50 miles from Tokyo, and a few are married to Japanese women. It is truly a different and better world than it was 66 years ago.

P.S. Consider visiting the museum the next time you are in the New Orleans area. You can visit the National WWII Museum Website at www.nationalww2museum.org

Steve's trip to Balanga

2011-02-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

6:00 A.M. Fill backpack with bottles of water, carrying bags for groceries, and rain jacket (just in case.) Marcia has decided to attack the heap of laundry this morning, rather than both of us going shopping.

6:55 Board banca with helper Roy and boatmen Menard and Freddie.

7:02 Get underway following several attempts by Menard to start the engine. Could have gone with Edmund but his engine seems to be more reliable, taking some of the suspense out the trip. Freddie gives me an umbrella to lay in front of my legs in an attempt to keep me from getting soaked with spray from the high waves.

7:10 Menard stops banca so Freddie can remove plastic bags that are wrapped around the propeller. Wind is from the north, right into our faces, and front of banca is cutting through. Grateful for umbrella.

7:35 Enjoying ride, seeing several speed fishing bancas heading the other way. They seem to have jet engines compared to the progress we are making.

7:56 Pull into Cabcaben after 54 minute ride.

8:00 Board tricycle for ride to bus stop.

8:05 Arrive at highway simultaneously with bus, quickly give tricycle driver extra money but no time to collect change, get aboard bus with Roy as it is pulling away. Go to back of the bus, the only seat where anyone over 5’6” can fit, me being 6’5”. My legs are in the center aisle. Bus is already fairly full, wonder how many more will board along the way. Also notice that more and more of the windows are being closed. This is the first time that I have ridden in one of these buses when all of the windows were not open. Then again, it is February, and the temperature is probably no more that 72 Fahrenheit right now.

8:08 First stop. Several students, probably college age (16-20 in the Philippines) board. Things are getting crowded. I am sitting in the back row, my legs between the two seats in front of me on either side. Two of the students crowd past my legs and sit to my left. The bus is designed so that three small people (typical Filipinos) can sit on the left and two on the right of the aisle. See that no one is getting off. Wonder again how many more will board along the way.

8:20 Have made several more quick stops, bus is now full. It appears that I am correct – these are college students who will not get off until the outskirts of Balanga. By now one more has squeezed to my left, and two to my right. I can’t feel the right half of my butt, but must still have some feeling in my right leg, as I can sense the leg of the student crammed next to me.

8:24 A few more get on, one gets off. The bus attendant has now inserted a bridge seat directly in front of me, and I must find another place to put my legs. Somehow I find some space, but now my entire butt’s numb.

8:37 More get on. More bridge seats are in place, blocking the whole aisle. Others are standing in the aisle, and the doorway in the middle of the bus is crammed with standing riders, at least one hanging partway out the bus. Wonder if it is possible to get any more riders on board without stacking people horizontally. Can’t take picture with camera phone because all I’d get is someone’s back.

8:52 Mercifully a few riders get off at a school called “Bataan Heroes Memorial College.” Some relief, at least the windows aren’t bulging anymore. Realize that I am the only passenger older than Roy’s 22, and that I am the only one without jet-black hair.

8:59 Don’t know what college we’re at now, but most of the passengers depart. Yeah!!

9:02 Get off at the Balanga bus terminal, get in line for one of the tricycles to take us into town. A cute, very young boy is sitting on the motorcycle driver’s lap. He looks over at me and I try several times to take his picture with my cell phone.

9:13 Arrive at Mercury Drug. Get a slightly better picture of the young boy. Pay the driver and give the boy a little extra money. Approach the drugstore window and say to the pharmacist, “I would like 50 pieces of Robitussin.” Pronounce it roe-bit-TUSS-en as we would in America. The pharmacist asks me to spell it. I try again, pronouncing it like I’ve heard Menard do when I’ve asked him to buy some for me. “Fifty pieces roe-BEET-uh-seen.” I can see the light go on, and he gets my order.

10:35 Checking out of Elizabeth’s Bodega after filling the shopping cart with everything on the shopping list. Probably bought more sweets than Marcia would approve, but it sure looked good on the shelves.

11:01 Back at the bus terminal and on board in my favorite (and only) seat. To my right I’ve placed the backpack and bags of groceries, and it looks like I will have plenty of room. Now a small cargo door opens on my right – I was completely unaware of it, as each bus is different – and I move my bags as a man plops in two 50-kilo bags of fertilizer. Still appears I will have enough room. A few minutes later we are underway.

11:14 Back by the college area, but only a few students board. I must look friendly because now the space left of me is taken by a man and his son and two women with their daughters. So the row now has six people, four shopping bags, and 100 kilos of fertilizer. Still no problem, my knees are in the aisle.

11:16 A rather heavy woman takes the open half of the seat in front of me. Temporarily her left butt is resting on my right knee. Might be okay for her, but I decide she’s going to have to find some other way to stay balanced on her seat, so I relocate my knee (where, I still can’t figure out). Lady almost falls into aisle, jams herself against passenger on her right.

11:30 Lady exits, is replaced by smaller (typical sized) passenger, I get a chance to restore feeling in my legs.

12:00 P.M. Roy and I depart the bus with our groceries and catch a tricycle to the pier. Always thought tricycles were crowded until today.

12:56 Back on Corregidor after a 36-minute return ride. Rode with the wind and waves, had two ocean freighters pass in front of us, adding to the thrill of the ride. Both times we hit their wakes, Menard yelled, “Ye-Haw!!!”

1:15 Groceries aboard our jeep and heading up the hill, run out of fuel on the steepest part. Have to coast backward about a quarter of a mile on the steep, winding road with the cliff on one side and drainage ditch on the other. And live to tell about it. “Ye-Haw!!!”

P.S. We received the following self-explanatory request. We encourage readers who qualify to participate if interested. S & M

Good day! We're students from UP Diliman and we're currently working on our thesis regarding the motivations of repeat visitors of Corregidor. We chose the island for our study because of its uniqueness. We're looking for people who have been to the island at least twice. Maybe, you could help us with this matter. We would really appreciate it.

You may contact us at this email address:
shiela.javier@gmail.com

Trip to Iloilo part 2

2011-02-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Continuing the account of our trip to Iloilo, you may recall that Gilbert came to visit Ron and us on Friday. On Saturday we accompanied Gilbert on his return trip to his home island of Guimaras. It began with a half-hour bus trip to Iloilo. The bus fare was only 20 pesos (a bit over 40 cents) apiece. From the bus terminal we took a taxi to the central Jaro district of Iloilo, cost p120, including tip. There we marveled at Jaro Cathedral, also known as Our Lady of Candles, one of the oldest and largest Spanish-Catholic churches in the country. Iloilo is known for many such historic structures, as well as considering itself the cockfighting capital of the world. Resisting the urge to go to the cockfights at 8:00 A.M., we ate breakfast, and then hopped a jeepney to the pier, cost p7 each.

Guimaras, known for growing the world’s best mangoes, is an island just a 15 minute banca ride across the straight. The bancas, which run as soon as 50 or so passengers are on board – as often as every five minutes – cost p13 each. Gilbert lives in a remote village, Morubuan, so we climbed into a tricycle, with Gilbert riding behind the driver. The driver agreed to provide round-trip service, including waiting while we visited, for p150 each way, and we were happy to get it. We still find ourselves surprised by the availability and affordability of public transportation in the Philippines. Total cost to get the three of us to the village including bus, taxi, jeepney, banca, and tricycle, was p390, less than $9.00, for three people traveling for over two hours.

Gilbert’s village is along the coast, and there is a daily 10 A.M. banca direct from Iloilo. However, transportation from his village to the main banca port is by motorcycle only. This is why we came via the high-traffic banca, and also why Gilbert arranged for the tricycle driver to wait for us. Also, Morubuan has no pier and its scenic white-sand beach is very gently sloped, meaning that banca passengers either walk to shore in a couple feet of water, or are carried by banceros if they wish to stay dry.

We took a tour of the village. It’s hard to say how many people live there – certainly hundreds at least – densely-packed into a few hectares. Somewhat to our surprise, the houses do not have running water. There are three water supply points, spring water piped fresh from the mountain. Houses have individual septic systems. Several of the houses contain sari sari stores. Gilbert and his wife operate one from the front room of their house. We met Gilbert’s wife and father, several uncles, aunts, and cousins and other relatives in the two-hour plus stay.

On our tour through the village we stopped at the school, where Gilbert’s son is the youngest first grader. We arrived during their one-and-a-half-hour English session, and the teachers were pleased to have us stop in and say hello in response to a chorus of, “Good morning, visitors.” School begins before eight and runs until five. Later we talked with the principle, who told us that there are many very poor children from outlying areas. They come to school hungry most days, and are fed government-supplied rice supplemented with vegetables from the school garden to fill their bellies, while children who live in the village go home for lunch. Considering its location and age, the school seems quite well run, and the children well-cared for.

Our return trip to Pototan was uneventful. That evening we went to Ron’s one last time for dinner. His parents seemed genuinely sad to see us leave, as you can see in the picture. Pastor, who up until now had always had a big smile on his face, said, “I’m so happy that you come” while crying at the same time. We could not have felt more included in the family for the past four days, and are very glad that we took the initiative to visit them.

When we first were discussing our trip to Iloilo, a few people encouraged us to fly down and “RORO” back. This involves taking a bus the entire distance. Since the Philippine islands are an archipelago, the bus has to be ferried from one island to the next, “Roll On, Roll Off.” We were told that it was a good way to see more of the country. So we purchased one-way plane tickets a couple of months ago in anticipation of returning by bus and ferry.

The RORO station is less than a kilometer from the hostel where we were staying in Pototan, so it was easy to purchase tickets ahead of time. We were told that the bus would arrive around 7:00 and depart by 7:30 A.M. and arrive in Manila around midnight. We got to the station way too early, as the bus was over an hour late arriving. The stationmaster had reserved the front right seats for us, so we had a wonderful view out the front of the bus.

Panay is a beautiful island. We passed through many small towns and villages. There were usually mountains off in the distance, rice fields in abundance, a few corn fields, and cattle pastured on terraced slopes. It took us about five hours to reach northern Panay, finally arriving at the port town of Caticlan. Passengers walk aboard the ferry while the buses, other vehicles, and cargo are loaded. We were on the ferry about six hours, although the first 90 minutes was spent waiting for all of the vehicles to be loaded. Near the end we watched a beautiful sunset over the island of Mindoro while a ferry passed in the other direction. We arrived in Roxas just after dark.

All we could see as we crossed Mindoro Island was the roads, which are undergoing major repair. We boarded our second ferry at Calapan, crossing to Batangas, which is on Luzon, the same island as Manila. The final bus leg was quicker since there are good expressways in Luzon. However, every once in a while we had to depart the major roads and head into a bus stop in a smaller town. When we finally reached our destination at Pasay it was 3:00 A.M. The roads in Manila are less deserted than you would think at that hour, but we still managed to reach our hostel in decent time. We were extremely exhausted, of course.

Looking back, RORO was an interesting experience but one that we aren’t likely to repeat. The bus stopped on several occasions for food and restrooms. The restrooms were inadequate and not well maintained, and the food was precooked and generally cold. Since we’d gotten our plane tickets on sale, it actually cost us more to take the bus, not to mention the much longer travel time. We enjoyed seeing Panay, and would have liked to see Mindoro but it was too dark by the time we drove through it.

Before we reached Luzon, all of the roads were two-lane and for the most part they had no shoulders. The roads are shared by cars, trucks, bicycles, and even pedestrians. We had the same bus driver for the entire trip. His shift started before we boarded and the bus was still not at its final destination, so he must have been on duty for close to 24 straight hours. Of course he got breaks on the ferries. Nonetheless, he did an outstanding job driving for so many hours in such challenging conditions.

Despite having lived on Corregidor for over two years, it was still an adventure for us to go to Iloilo on our own. We are not conversant in the language, are of a different culture, and were completely dependent upon the hospitality of our hosts and the kindness of complete strangers to get us through our return trip on RORO. At times we really didn’t know what the heck we were doing, where to eat, find a toilet, or whatever. But we made it just fine, met many interesting and friendly fellow-travelers, and will not hesitate to see other parts of the country when the opportunities arise. But we’ll certainly try to plan ahead and fly whenever possible.

One other thought: taking RORO gave us a much better understanding of the Philippines as a nation that is physically divided. In the continental United States you can drive to just about anywhere; even many of the outer islands are connected by bridges and roadways. Here, customs and languages vary from region to region and, in some cases, island to island. In many ways, two entirely different worlds.

Trip to Iloilo part 1

2011-01-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

Ronilo Benadero, CFI on-island manager, goes to his home every January. Ron’s family has been in Barangay Lay-Ahan, one of 50 barangays of Pototan, for over 60 years. Pototan is in Iloilo Province on the island of Panay in the Visayas, which make up the central region of the Philippines. The biggest city on Panay is Iloilo. Got all that? Thus endeth your geography lesson for today. All nine children (eight sons following the firstborn daughter) were born there, and four of the now-grown men still live and farm the land. Ron invited us to visit during his vacation, which coincides with their annual barangay festival. We decided to do so this year.

Our flight to the Iloilo Airport left Manila at 5:15 Wednesday. A.M. In the morning! Who in their right mind schedules flights at that hour? With the rule that you are supposed to be in the airport two hours before a domestic flight, that meant that we needed to get up at 2:00. Of course we went right through the pre-flight check-in and security check, leaving us about an hour and a half to wait. The flight itself was one of the best we have ever been on, leaving and arriving early. Upon arrival we found a van driver who was willing to take us the half-hour drive to Pototan. We texted Ron, and he met us at the drop-off point. While we were waiting for Ron, we noticed that the local school buses were actually tricycles, motorcycles, and whatever else could haul as many children as possible. We all took a jammed-packed tricycle to Ron’s for breakfast, came back to Pototan to get a hostel room, and then went back to Ron’s for the rest of the day.

We were pleased to see Ron’s wife Marivel again, and his parents, who live next door in the family compound, seemed very happy to meet us. Over the course of the first day we met many of Ron’s relatives who live very nearby. There was a constant parade of ducks, turkeys, chickens, goats, and dogs. We went out back to see a catfish farm run by one of Ron’s brothers. Throughout the day, customers came to buy catfish. Ron’s father Pastor (name, not religious title), and mother Milagros, both close to 80, worked drying and bagging recently harvested rice. This area is sometimes called “The Rice Granary of the Visayas,” due to the many hectares of level land perfect for rice paddies. Later in the day other family members arrived, including one of Ron’s daughters. We ended the day by eating turkey adobo, and catfish soup.

The day before the festival, in this case Thursday, is mainly spent preparing food. This means butchering the pigs, turkeys, goats, etc., so that they can be ready for the big day. The men are very involved in the preparation of the various meats. Later in the day we stayed at Ron’s family complex, greeting visitors who travel from house to house. Filipino tradition ensures that there is plenty of food and drink to be shared with all visitors, and the Benaderos hold up their end of the responsibility. Ron has many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews, as well as many friends. The barangay captains’ president (head of the 50 barangay captains) stopped in for a visit. Ron’s brother Renan was recently re-elected Lay-Ahan barangay captain.

On Friday we waited for our friend Gilbert, who used to be one of the photographers on Corregidor. He has moved back to his home on Guimaras, and he and his wife run a small sari sari (convenience) store. When he arrived in Pototan we all got into the tricycle owned and driven by Jose “Kalbo” Benadero, one of Ron’s many cousins, and headed back to Ron’s, arriving before noon. (Kalbo is Filipino for bald. Ironically, Kalbo has lots of hair, contrary to Ron and many of Ron’s brothers and other cousins.)

We were immediately served about a half-dozen food choices. They included: lumpia (spring roll); valenciana (sticky rice with chopped pork liver and seasonings); estofado (fried pork with cooking banana, potato, and pineapple); pabu (Filipino for turkey – pabu-pabu sounds like gobble-gobble); dinoguan (pork blood with finely chopped inner organs, onion, garlic, ginger and other seasonings); sisig (pork organs, brains, and ears, well chopped and heavily spiced); lechon (young pig grilled by constantly turning on a bamboo spit over hot charcoal); and achara (a sweet-pickled salad made with shredded green papaya, carrots, and red bell pepper. This version included green beans; others we’ve eaten had raisins). Spellings and ingredients for these dishes vary by region and by what is available. We both think that Ilongo food, which shows strong influence from the hundreds of years under Spain, is the best Filipino food we’ve had the privilege to eat.

The weather was unseasonably cold. We had each packed one pair of blue jeans, “just in case.” As it turned out, we pretty much were in jeans the whole time. Due no doubt to man-made global warming, it has been so cold during January that the local freshwater fish, tilapia and bangus (milk fish) are lethargic, not wanting to eat or mate, and therefore having an effect on the fish supply. Gilbert says it got down to 15 Celsius in Guimaras, or 59 Fahrenheit. That is downright cold for this part of the world. While we were in Panay the skies were generally cloudy with occasional rain showers, and all unpaved roads became worse and worse each day with mud. Very appropriately, Kalbo was wearing a sweatshirt with a snowman on the front.

We never made it to the actual barangay festival. Starting around noon, we could easily hear the pounding of the sound system bass. We were still at Ron’s house, a good two miles away. Ron and Steve took a motorcycle ride to the basketball court where the music was pounding and where the dance was to be held, and Steve decided that the speakers, which would not have fit into a small boxcar, were just too loud for us to enjoy ourselves. We both have sensitive ears, and dislike loud noise. A few children were standing in front of the speakers holding their ears, and the bass notes literally were hitting Steve much like cannon fire at Civil War reenactments. Since we are also not much for late night activities, we bowed out as gracefully as possible. Our main objective had been met: spending time with Ron’s family and seeing this part of the country.

To be continued…

Snakes and caps

2011-01-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

We got these comments in response to our last newsletter:

Thank you so much for this narration of your visit with my family! I'm … the daughter that was unable to come to Corregidor for this visit. I have been getting emails from my parents and sister telling me about how wonderful their trip has been. And the pictures of my Dad here and on my sister's page brings tears to my eyes. He looks SO HAPPY! I'm sure this was an emotional trip for him and it breaks my heart that I couldn't be there. But I will do my best to join them next year, and the year after that, and the year after that! My dad will be around for a long long time and I know he can't wait to join you again! Thanks so much for taking such wonderful care of my family!
Kimberly Adams C.

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Dear Steve and Marcia, thank you so much for all your wonderful and amazing works there at the Rock. I greatly appreciate what you are doing there. I want to tell you that I am so move by the articles, stories and reports that I am receiving from your postings. Often, my tears would roll down before I notice it. This recent article created the most. While reading it, my heart kept on saying thank you defenders, do not know you personally, but I am so indebted to all of you for the freedom that we received.
Michael Z.

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Somewhat overlapping the stay of the Adams Family, whom we talked about in the last newsletter, was a group of four from California, all of whom are WWII history buffs. They joined us on the banca ride to the fortified islands of Manila Bay and the trip up Malinta Hill where Dick Adams identified his 10-day bivouac area. Later on the three men in the group, who can be seen standing under the trunk of a tree in an accompanying photo, joined Steve for several island hikes, looking for out-of-the-way tunnels and gun installations. Melissa decided Malinta Hill had been enough for her knees, and opted to spend her time relaxing and making use of the massage certificate included in their booking package.

One of the most memorable moments for the trio came just after the Malinta Hill hike, which begins and ends at the intersection of the two roads that wrap around the hill, known as Road Junction Forty-three, or RJ43. A tunnel not on the old maps, indicating that it was probably dug in haste by American soldiers at the outset of the war, is found just downhill from RJ43. Since it was so handy, Steve took the guys into the tunnel.

They had not planned to go into any tunnels, so most of the men had smaller than usual flashlights. In Steve’s case, he borrowed a small gizmo that consists of three small lights, clipping onto the brim of a cap. It throws just enough light that you won’t trip over anything. Steve led the way into the 50-yard deep tunnel, not expecting to come across anything too nasty. Suddenly Steve stepped on something that made a crackling/crunching sound, as if he had stepped on a thin drinking glass. At that very instant, the man right behind Steve let out a “holy s—t” scream at least two octaves higher than any grown man should be able to produce. Steve jumped about six feet in the air, landed and ran a few feet forward to get away from whatever it was that had caused the shriek, assuming that it was whatever he had stepped on. When he turned around, several men had their flashlights pointed at a snake that Steve had just passed within inches of. He then realized that the crunch was actually caused by his stepping on a hermit crab at exactly the same time as the man behind him had seen the snake.

The snake itself was calmer than any one of the guys. It lay coiled on an abandoned railroad tie that was about eight inches across. It was coiled a full four times. Based upon this we estimate that the snake was eight to ten feet long. Since cobras don’t exceed six feet here, and the fact that the snake did not act the least bit threatened or threatening, we think that it was a type of python. Accompanying the group was John M. who, like Steve, has been in just about every major tunnel on the island multiple times. John and Steve had only ever seen one snake each in all of their previous explorations of the Corregidor tunnels, so it was indeed a rare event.
Something similar happened a day later, as Steve was leading the men along the Geary to Ramsey trail. When they were passing through a patch of bamboo, Steve’s hat must have brushed up against something hanging overhead. The same man was again right behind Steve. This time the same words came out, but in the more normal vocal range for a man, though loud enough to send Steve another six feet into the air. This time it was just a poor helpless bat, thrashing on the ground trying to get away. Later when Steve offered to take the men into Middleside Tunnel, AKA “Bat Cave,” that particular gentleman decided to photograph the nearby barracks instead. By the way, the Bat Cave once again lived up to its reputation.

One of the members of the group, having read about Steve’s love for Michigan State sports, brought him a Spartan cap and t-shirt. Steve thought this was really nice of him. The cap is made of stretchy mesh and for that reason is literally the coolest cap he has.

After those guests left the island, Marcia and Steve decided to go back into the RJ43 Tunnel a couple of days later hoping to find the snake and take even better pictures of it in order to positively identify it. That’s right: Marcia accompanied Steve on a snake-hunting expedition. Does this sound like the Marcia you know and love? Those who knew her growing up may remember her catching garter snakes on the farm. Anyway, we saw many hermit crabs, a nice land crab and a frog, but no snake. So we have to be satisfied with the picture we have.

Our friend Tom A. stopped by our house this week. Tom is another man who knows and loves Corregidor. He brought us two Texas university caps. Texas Aggies were responsible for a lot of the early construction that was done on the island 100 years ago, and a number held Aggie Musters here before and after the war. Our daughter is at the University of Texas in Austin. Caps from rival schools to add to our collection.

Currently we are in Manila in anticipation of a four-day excursion to Ilo Ilo and Pototan on the island of Panay in the Visayas (Central Philippines.)

Paratrooper Dick Adams returns

2011-01-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

We love to welcome returning friends, and to make new ones, on our adopted home of Corregidor. Of course, it is especially exciting to us when we encounter people who come from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, where we grew up and spent most of our lives. But our greatest thrill, one that is happening less and less frequently, is to host a returning Bataan or Corregidor war veteran.

To our knowledge, the last American defenders were Chuck Towne and Everett Reamer. They were serving here on Corregidor in 1942 and subsequently had to survive over three years in Japanese prison camps. Chuck and Everett, along with Bataan Death March survivors Malcolm Amos and Richard Francies, were here as part of a contingent that came for the 2006 inauguration of the Hellships Memorial in Subic Bay. Chuck, a corpsman (only females were called nurses) passed away less than a week after returning to his home in Washington State. Everett, who manned a machine gun at Battery Cheney, is still with us, but dealing with health issues that prohibit extensive travel. We often wonder if we will ever see another American defender back on The Rock.

But there is another group of veterans, those who were part of the liberation of Corregidor in February and March of 1945. They did not suffer the years of starvation, disease, and brutality in the prison camps, and on average were a few years younger than the defenders. To our great delight, Richard (Dick) Adams of the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team, part of the fabled “Rock Force,” returned last week with his wife and one of their daughters. We had been anticipating their visit since having lunch with Dick and Nancy last summer in Michigan. The daughter had come for a day-trip early last year, and was excited to accompany them on this trip.

Marcia spotted the trio on the upper deck of the ferry as it pulled into the north harbor. Each tried to see as much of Corregidor as possible while the boat turned around and pulled alongside the dock. We greeted them as they walked down the ramp, and introduced them to island and hotel managers while security men provided a low-key honor guard. Multiple photos were snapped. Dick’s initial reaction was, “Things sure look different now!” They climbed aboard the tranvia, accompanied by other visitors, a small film crew, a few fellow Corregidor lovers who had come to meet and assist a returning veteran, Marcia, and Steve as guide.

Dick, a somewhat reticent gentleman, wanted to minimize the “hoopla” while here. There was a very simple but moving ceremony at the 503rd PRCT marker at Topside, attended by some of the other tourists as well as our group, with solemn raising of Philippine and American flags followed by presentation of a floral arrangement. Dick seemed a little surprised by the number of tourists who approached to shake his hand and request photos with him.

His main goal was trying to find the areas he remembers from his time on the island in 1945: the golf course landing zone; the hillside cliff where the wind brought him down; the building which held the aid-station where he brought injured fellow paratroopers; the officers’ quarters building near which he lost – and later found – his Miraculous Medal; the huge water tanks between which he spent two nights as perimeter guard, sleeping in shifts with a buddy; and the area on Malinta Hill’s north side where he and five other men bivouacked for ten days and nights.

Having been told that Dick was coming, two of the premier Corregidor explorers, Karl Welteke and John Moffitt, were able to join us as we tried to locate the spots that Dick particularly wished to find. We started by climbing the lighthouse, from which Dick hoped to spot the golf course area near his landing site. As we had warned him, trees block any possible view, but it did help him to orient himself to the Topside area.

Next we went to the easiest place of all to locate, the water towers which are just yards from the foot of the light house. Dick was satisfied that he’d found the sleeping spot. We proceeded to the senior officers’ housing area nearby. We could not be sure of the exact location, but we knew we were in the area where he lost and found his Miraculous Medal, and the stairs he used to get up to the aid station. From there it was only a short walk to the swimming pool, roughly across the road from where Dick had landed on the cliff face. Of course the area is overgrown with jungle, but we could at least make a reasonable guess as to the area.

The following day began with a banca trip around the fortified islands of Manila Bay. It is not an exaggeration to say that the wind was calmer and the sea smoother than they had been since at least the first day of November. It was a marvelous trip, and we were joined by four other Americans whose visit overlapped with the Adams’. Later we all walked up Malinta Hill, and Dick was pretty sure he found the spot where the six men ‘hung out’ for about 10 days. By the way, Dick, who is 88 and in great shape, didn’t slow us down on a hike that includes a few short, steep ascents.

The following day was just the opposite weather-wise. It was easily the windiest and waviest day since the first of November. We can usually say that tomorrow’s weather will be about the same as today, but this was the most marked day-to-day change we’ve seen except for when typhoons affect Corregidor.

We joined the Adams family for lunch and dinner each day, and have to say that we were already missing them as we said our goodbyes at the pier.

Will this mark the last return of an American liberator to Corregidor? Not if Dick has anything to say about it! He and his family had such a wonderful time that they are seriously thinking of returning next year, when their other daughter may be able to join them. We sincerely hope that this will happen, and want to encourage any other defenders or liberators of the Rock to return as well.

You can read more about Dick’s adventures here 66 years ago, including the Miraculous Medal story at: http://steveandmarciaontherock.blogspot.com/2010/03/bats-flies-and-parachutes.html

Spending time with Corregidor regulars Bill and Midge

2011-01-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

From reader Galo Calizo regarding comments in last newsletter:

Happy New Year! Thank you for making us feel at home, vicariously!

I get so happy reading your ‘blog’ every now and then. Thank you for touching the lives of the poor Filipinos there and thank you for embracing our culture and making it seem like it is such a wonderful paradise. Yes, we are happy people despite all the insurmountable odds that come our daily way and we are proud of that.

Thank you! I hope to meet you soon!
Thank you, Galo, for your encouraging email. We continue to be amazed by the Filipino people, many of whom work hard to make it from day to day, but keep on smiling.

Our friends Bill and Midge Kirwan were here for their semi-annual “Corregidor retreat.” Both retired and living on Chesapeake Bay, they spend part of each year in Southeast Asia. Bill teaches psychology and they both offer counseling. On days when Steve was not guiding tours, he and Bill hit the jungle trails, and Marcia and Midge walked along the paved roads while catching up with each other’s lives.

One day the guys took the recently-cleared trail from Battery Ramsey to Battery Geary. It passes by the old crematory, going downhill to the point where heavy bamboo, now cleared, had kept Julia, Jill and the two of us from passing a month ago. Along the way there is a noble stand of bamboo which would be great for many things including banca outriggers, but it is so deep in the jungle that it would be nearly impossible to haul out.

A little further along the trail is an area that has been nicknamed “the wall of caves” for good reason. There are multiple cave entrances attributed to the U.S. Marines along the base of the rock wall, many of which reportedly connect, but which are small enough that we have not chosen to go inside to find out for ourselves. Just opposite a section of that wall is a point of land providing one of the best views overlooking Caballo Island and the Province of Cavite.

Now that this trail has been cleared, the most difficult part of the hike is right at the end, just below Battery Geary. In the past the trail continued straight ahead, running parallel and below the main road toward Topside, but a landslide, probably from a WWII bomb,– makes it nearly impossible to proceed, the path being covered with loose stones and steeply angled. So the alternative is to ascend about 40 feet at a near-45 degree incline to a ridge just above the battery. We’ve tied a rope to the base of a tree at the top and knotted it every two feet, so it’s not too difficult as long as your hands don’t slip and you watch your footholds. It is definitely easier to climb up than to go down. Bill is a former John Hopkins lacrosse player who swims 3,000 yards a day when he is home, so with his upper-body strength he had no trouble, despite arthritic knees and a fast-approaching 73rd birthday. Steve has comparatively stronger legs but weaker arms, finding the climb slightly more difficult for him than Bill.

Another time Steve and Bill walked from the power plant at Bottomside to a Japanese anti-aircraft gun emplacement above the plant. There are four other AA guns that were moved from their original locations to the Japanese Memorial on Tailside. Writing on these guns indicates that they were manufactured in Hiroshima during the war.

On Wednesday Steve guided a Sun Cruises tour group, which was a mixed bunch from places as far away as California, USA, and Germany. Three of the tourists were avid bird watchers. Paul, another of the men on the tour, originates from Liverpool, England, but now resides in Angeles City near the former Clark Air Force Base. He was here with his girlfriend, Marnie. All of these people stayed overnight, and Steve was able to introduce Marcia to them at the sunset viewing. The following day, Steve led Bill, Paul, and Marnie up Malinta Hill. Paul was so impressed with the island and Steve’s love for Corregidor that he intends to return with a couple friends and spend a few days exploring the jungle trails.

After the hike, Steve stopped at the Corregidor Inn to pick up Marcia, who had again been visiting with Midge. We decided on a light lunch at MacArthur Café, and there were the bird watchers. They were very pleased with how many birds are here on Corregidor, having identified 33 species of birds within about two hours of walking the main roads. It was helpful for us to talk with them and look through their bird book to clarify some of the birds we’ve seen and heard, since we only have a small and very limited pocket guide and are still unfamiliar with many of the bird calls and songs.

During their days here, we joined Bill and Midge for several sunset viewings from Battery Grubbs, but one of our favorite sunsets was seen from the north beach near MacArthur’s Café where we were going to eat dinner. Although we didn’t see the sun itself, since it was behind Topside (left of picture) from where we were standing, the effect over the Mariveles Mountains (center) was beautiful. We hope the panoramic photo does it justice.

On Saturday Steve and Bill took the old trails from Battery James to Battery Smith. Bill was especially interested in the James Ravine area, having recently read a book by General E. M. Flanagan, Jr., entitled Corregidor: The Rock Force Assault. The book describes in great detail the brutal action that took place in that area in February of 1945, when the Americans rooted out the seemingly fearless and obstinate Japanese from the caves and tunnels in the ravine. Later, the four of us joined Ronilo at his house for bulalo (a traditional Filipino beef knee/shank soup) and, of course, rice and beer.

Bill and Midge left on Sunday, but not before Steve and Bill went looking for a storage building near Battery Wheeler where dozens of Japanese had holed up and were ultimately killed by American artillery. Marcia and Midge spent their last ‘girl time’ while the guys were exploring. Finally it was time to bid the Kirwans goodbye until we meet again, probably next January.

We are so thankful for email, which enables us to stay in contact with them and many other friends and family members.

Christmas Eve to New Years Eve

2010-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, after a beautiful sunny day with a high in the mid-80s, we went to Ronilo’s house for dinner. Earlier in the day we had given two large chickens, about three pounds apiece, to Ron for roasting. Later when we arrived, Jhun was slowly turning the chickens over hot embers. The spit is a use-once-and-throw-away bamboo pole (see picture). The birds were stuffed with lemongrass and tamarind, and had been coated with patis, a clear, salty/vinegary concoction that is commonly used for seasoning here. Ron had wanted us to bring our computer so that we could watch an action movie, and we wanted to watch something with a Christmas theme, so we settled on “Die Hard,” a shoot-em-up thriller that takes place during a Christmas party. Ho ho ho.

Our dinner started with talakitok [tah-lah-KEY-toke] soup, which includes whole chunks of fish and camote (sweet potato) leaves, along with the ubiquitous serving of rice. Then came the delicious chicken, and plenty of Red Horse beer, the beer with a kick.

We thought that we would be going straight home after the dinner and movie, but Ron had something else in mind. The four of us went down to the contract workers barracks, or “barrio,” where many of the island workers reside. Because of the holidays, many of the families are reunited for a few days, wives and children usually coming to join their husbands and fathers, who live here away from home to work and support their families. By American standards these are financially very poor families. Despite the very simple lifestyle, the children seem happy, a phenomenon that we witness whenever we travel through the Philippines.

These children cannot look forward to the kinds of gifts common to our childhoods. Ron’s idea was to go to the barrio and give each of the children at least something. When we arrived, plates of food were placed on the table in front of us, and despite already being stuffed we politely ate a bit of each offering. The next thing we knew, more Red Horse arrived.

Ron began to ask the children for Christmas kisses, and as they came up and kissed him on his cheek he gave each one a 20 peso (P20) note, worth around 45 cents apiece. Then the children danced to music, with Ron handing out additional P20 notes and joining occasionally in their dancing. Taken by surprise, we had no camera with us, and since it was dark and the cell phone camera has no flash, it was not up to the job. Nonetheless, we are including a couple of fuzzy pictures of the children just so that you can get some kind of impression.

On Christmas morning, we woke to a surprisingly chilly-feeling 79 degrees, according to our very unofficial thermometer from the school-supplies section of National Bookstore. We continue to be amazed that we, who grew up in Minnesota and spent most of our lives living in northern states, can find this temperature cool enough to make us get out warmer clothing.

We’ve mentioned how Steve has run into a number of people who are from our home states of Minnesota and Michigan. Only once has he seen any apparel from Michigan, when a man from Grand Rapids was wearing a University of Michigan baseball cap. Steve’s been longing to see something from Michigan State University, and this week it finally happened. A young lady in one of his “walk-in” tour groups was wearing a white hat with a green “S” on the front, and sure enough, on the side it said, “Spartans.” (“Walk-in” is the term for a tourist who arrives on Corregidor via banca rather than Sun Cruises’ ferry.) Steve said to her, “That’s my school, the Michigan State Spartans,” only to be met with a blank look. The lady was in a group of Ilocanos from Baguio, the city in northern Luzon known as “naturally air conditioned” due to altitude. Unsurprisingly, no one in the group of 30 had ever heard of the school, but, again not surprisingly, they all knew of Magic Johnson. Magic, of course, led the Spartans to their 1979 NCAA National Basketball Championship before leaving college early to join the Los Angeles Lakers and lead them to a few NBA titles. In the Philippines, MSU stands for Mindanao State University, a far cry from Michigan State, fondly known in mid-Michigan as “MSU” or simply “State.”

The next day, Steve struck up a conversation with a man in his Sun Cruises tour group who appeared to be an American. Steve asked, “Where are you from?” “California” was the response, but with a slight drawl. Steve said, “You certainly didn’t grow up there,” and the man replied, surprisingly, “No, Michigan.” “Where in Michigan?” It turns out that he grew up in Lansing, where we lived for most of the last 30 years. DeVone said that his brother Daniel is head-coach for football and track and field at Lansing Sexton High School. DeVone is visiting the country with his Filipina wife Nerissa, son Caleb, and daughter Imani. DeVone is the first Lansing native we’ve met here on Corregidor.

Another family on the same bus had three young children. The mother is Chinese and the father is from Germany. They said that their children are becoming fluent in English, Mandarin, and German. What an advantage to be able to master multiple languages as children, when they soak it up like sponges.

Filipinos love to use anagrams, nicknames, and abbreviations. The previous president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, was almost always referred to as GMA. Her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was “Erap.” Current President Aquino is “Noy,” Noy-Noy,” or “P-Noy.” Headlines in the paper are often abbreviated to the point of being indecipherable. An example from the Dec. 29 Philippine Star: “NCRPO chief inspects LRT, MRT”. Fortunately the first paragraph read, “To prevent the spillover of the Sulu violence in Metro Manila, National Capitol Region Chief Director Nicanor Bartolome inspected yesterday the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) platforms and stations to ensure the safety of the riding public.” A Dec. 26 Star headline read: “Cayetano lauds DOLE for resolving PAL-FASAP row”. Huh? The Star writers do spell out the names for almost every anagrams used within an article, but that doesn’t seem to be policy in all publications, greatly frustrating the non-daily reader.

Our New Years Eve celebration was pretty quiet, with just Ron, Rex - the new island radio operator, and the two of us. Dinner was again a two course meal, beginning with a radish salad we brought and fish soup, sapsap in a wonderful lemongrass broth. Ron brought out several small tangerines and an apple, reminding us of the Philippine custom of inviting prosperity in the New Year by displaying round-shaped fruits in the home. We progressed to grilled chicken, manually rotisserie-cooked by Rex and Marcia, and then began watching the first Terminator movie on the laptop. It started to sprinkle, not good for the computer, so decided it was time to head home.

With that we leave you with the following headline: “SMR wish you HNY!”

2010-12-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

from

Steve and Marcia on the Rock

The confession; Chistmas party

2010-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Kathy S. was Steve’s last manager as an employee at the State of Michigan. Recently Kathy sent us an email saying that she is retiring before the end of the year. This sparked Steve’s memories of the three years he worked for Kathy, and in particular, one incident which he has shared with no one except Marcia.

When he first worked for Kathy, Steve’s job was installing new servers at the three Lansing-area computer centers. They would arrive in large boxes from Dell and HP. He would unbox them, place them into preassigned racks, and hook up all of the wiring necessary to prepare them for the computer techs who loaded the software and put them online. The majority of the installations were done at one site, so Steve was given a computer and space to more-or-less set up an office in a room across the hall from his delivery storage room.

To understand “the rest of the story,” it will help to have some background. At the time we were very familiar with the Jerry Seinfeld Show. We’d seen the reruns often enough that, when talking with other Seinfeld fans, we could make one another laugh simply by mentioning an incident from one of the episodes, such as “calzones,” “serenity now,” or “toothbrush in the toilet.” Some of you readers know exactly what we’re talking about.

There was one particular episode in which Jerry had a man install new cabinets in his apartment. As it turned out, Jerry hated them and had them ripped out. However, George Costanza was inspired to have the handyman come to his office in Yankee stadium, where he was an executive – that in itself is laughable if you know George – and he had the man build a bed underneath (basically into) his desk. George spent his days sleeping right in his own office, and whenever anyone came to the office and didn’t find him there, would assumed he was hard at work someplace else. Eventually George was discovered in his hideout by the grandchildren of Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, but the kids kept their mouths shut and he did not get caught.

One day, after seeing this episode, Steve was in his tiny converted storeroom “office” and the thought occurred to him: would it be possible to set up a sleeping area right there? He was sitting at a desk like those that have become so popular, the ones where modular walls and cabinets and drawers and desks are set up in huge office spaces, creating mazes of virtually identical boring cubicles. However, in Steve’s case he had just enough pieces to hold up a desk with a cabinet above it, but not enough for an actual cubicle. To the left as he sat at the desk was the door, and beyond that another desk, also of modular design. The space under the second desk was empty except for the carpet. Because of all the trash created each time computer servers were unboxed, a large rolling trash box was also kept in the room. It was as tall as the desktop and slightly shorter.

So the idea hit him: if I could get under the desk and manage to pull the box up next to myself, I would have a perfect little hiding place. Now before we go any further, Steve just wants to assure Kathy and his fellow State workers that he had no intention of actually using this as a place to shirk his duties and take naps, but he just had to see if it would work – must have been that voice in everyone’s head that says, “Go ahead, see if you can do it.” So that’s what he did. It was winter, so Steve was wearing his cowboy boots and had his winter coat with him. He kept his boots on, since if someone came in and saw them ‘unoccupied’ he would know Steve must be very nearby. He took the coat, rolled it into a pillow, and crawled under the desk. He was able to roll the trash bin into place, and for a couple of minutes he lay there in semi-darkness just kind of laughing to himself, thinking that indeed this might work.

Moments later, just as he was about to get up, Steve heard Joe C., the computer room manager. Joe was talking in his usual loud voice, and he was obviously with someone. Steve could hear him say, “We’ll get Steve to help you.” Steve froze, thinking, “Oh, crap, now what?” Sure enough the door opened – Joe was one of the very few who had a key – and in walked Joe with someone whose voice Steve did not recognize. He thought, “What am I going to do if they spot me under the desk?” The box was a good foot shorter than the desk space, so his cowboy boots were visible past the end of the box. He couldn’t curl himself more tightly because any movement might have given him away. Fortunately his boots were against the far wall and Joe had no reason to go that far into the room. Steve could actually see Joe through a slit between the desk and the box. Steve held his breath as Joe said, “I just can’t understand it, Steve is usually here.” Then they left the room to look for him elsewhere in the data center. Steve quickly scrambled up, went quietly out of the room, and walked in the opposite direction from the one which they had taken, managing to soon be found by Joe and companion.

As you can imagine, Steve never again crawled under that desk. But it still makes him smile to think of himself hiding under there, hoping that Joe would not spot him, and wondering what he would have said if Joe had.

At least here on Corregidor, if Steve needs to hide from Marcia there are hundreds of caves where she’d never find him…but who knows what else might be hiding there?

We wish Kathy S. a very happy time in retirement, and hope that we can visit with her and some of the gang next summer. Our best wishes also to Al S., Steve’s good friend and co-worker, who also recently took advantage of a State of Michigan early-retirement offer.

In answer to last week’s question of how a beam of sunlight that passes through a round hole could project an apple-shape, two of our readers got the right answer. The wall on which the light fell is not smooth, but seamed and curved. If you look at the enclosed picture, “Parachute Dome,” you can see the exterior ribbing on the dome. Indented seams on the inside correspond with these ribs. Looking at the interior, each panel has a recessed spine which splits into curves going right and left at its lower portion. Thus the light has to travel further into the spine, and this causes the apple-shaped distortion in “Sunspot one.” In “Sunspot two” the sunlight is centered near one of the indented seams, so the sunspot shape is elongated at the top as it covers the curves of the two panels, resembling a shield in shape. So far, no one has proposed a better word for the projected sunlight which we called a sunspot.

Finally, last night was the annual all-island Christmas party. School is out, so many of the staff-members’ children are here. A good time was had by all, with plenty to eat and drink as well as games, music, and dancing, with some dances led by a professional instructor from Metro-Manila who came with our friend Beth. We’ve included a few pictures from the festivities.

More exploring and tour guiding

2010-12-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday Julia Holz, about whom we wrote in our last newsletter, returned with her friend Jill for one last 2010 trek on Corregidor. We had met Jill briefly last year, and she is another Corregidor hiker of many years’ experience. Since they planned to walk a familiar section of trail, one we had never explored, they invited us to join them. The plan was to walk the path which starts just before the War Memorial Zone archway and heads around the southern end of the “head” of the island. Since they were not planning to stay overnight, the decision about which upcoming fork in the road to take would be determined by our progress.

They wanted to start their day with a pancake breakfast, so we met Julia and Jill at the Corregidor Inn at 10:30. That left us more than three hours to hike, plenty on a warm, very humid day in early December. At first the trail was through an area of heavy vines that remotely resemble kudzu. This type of vine is taking over parts of the island, climbing up into nearby trees and completely draping some places. Since we were on the south side of the island, wherever the trail was open to sun it was overgrown with vines, tall grass, or small trees, but in shaded spots there was almost no growth at ground level. Just past an old pump house, we had to very carefully climb down from an old bridge and up the other side of a ravine. It took some hacking with the bolo to once again find the trail. Then we had mostly clear sailing along an old trail that had been cut into the side of the steep hill. Quite often pre-war sidewalk was partially visible.

We went past a trail that led down toward several of the old searchlight positions. Maybe someday when we are again looking for adventure we will try to see if it is possible to follow it. Eventually we came to a sharp turn back up the hill. When we got to the fork in the trail that would either take us to Battery Ramsey or Battery Geary, we decided to take the shorter path to Ramsey. Soon we ran into a massive growth of bamboo. We were not exactly sure where the trail was, all traces having been obscured. Steve hacked at the bamboo for a while, got completely tuckered out, and decided to try to crawl through it instead. After working his way maybe 50 feet, he still couldn’t pick up the trail. In the meantime, the ladies were all trying to find an alternate way through or around the bamboo thicket.

Steve crawled back out – but not before taking one wrong turn and getting really entangled. At this point we decided to try the trail up toward Geary. We walked a few hundred feet and gave up, having encountered another area of heavy overgrowth. We decided that we had best turn around and retrace our original path to make sure that Julia and Jill could make it back on time for the ferry. Since they were under time constraint and we were not, and since Steve was pretty exhausted from all the bolo work, Julia and Jill went on ahead while we took our time. It was frustrating. We knew that we had been close to picking up the trail, from which point we would have had a relatively short, uphill walk to Battery Ramsey, which is only across Middleside Parade Ground from our house.

Soon Julia and Jill were beyond hearing range, and the two of us meandered along the trail. We were happy to hear that they’d gotten back with enough time to shower before getting onto the boat. By the time we reached Bottomside, drenched in sweat, the ferry was preparing to pull away from the dock. We stopped at Mac’s Café for a late lunch/early dinner, especially enjoying some cold Coca Cola. In spite of the frustration, it was an enjoyable day, good time spent with friends, an introduction to a new-to-us section of trail, and well-earned rest at the end.

On Tuesday Steve led an alumni tour for the 1956 class of Ateneo High School, at that time a boy’s college-prep school in Manila. Our friend Ray Ong was a member of that class. He said that class-members gather as often as four times a year, sometimes in the Philippines and other times in the States. A total of eight classmates came for the tour, as did one spouse.

Then on Wednesday Steve guided for recently commissioned 2nd Lieutenants from the Philippine Marines. We included a few pictures taken during their tour. He really enjoys guiding for groups like the Ateneo alums and the Marines who have a special interest and appreciate his love of the war-time history.

While at topside during a recent tour, Steve was showing how the sun casts a sunspot – just what is the opposite of a sun shadow, anyway? – through the opening at the top of the parachute dome. (The word for such an opening at the top of a dome is “oculus” for those of you who, like we do, enjoy unusual words.) He was telling the guests that the dome is designed for the sunspot to fully illuminate the surface of the circular altar beneath the dome at noon on May 6 every year to commemorate the anniversary of the Fall of Corregidor. Usually when you are under the dome on a sunny day you can see the spot somewhere. The hole is circular, and the sunspot on the ground is oval in shape except when the sun is directly overhead. But on this day and time, the spot was higher, on the parachute structure itself. To Steve’s amazement it was neither circular nor oval, but shaped like an apple, so he photographed it with his phone and the picture is included here as an attachment. It took a minute for the group to figure out why the spot had such an unusual shape. There is a logical explanation. Can you guess what it is?