Corregidor

Finally, David gets to see his Corregidor!  We were here last year but because we were late arriving and the waters were rough, the tour was cancelled. 

Corregidor is an island famous for its battle during WWII where Americans and Philippines joined forces against a Japanese conquest for control the Philippine Islands. Corregidor was the last bastion of the U.S   The “Bataan Death March” occurred here where 20,000 out of 75,000 captured U.S. and Filipino troops died during a week long sweltering 60 mile march to their encampment.  No food.  No water. Torture reigned.

We walked through the Malinta Tunnel which is now rebuilt as part of this memorial.  Douglas McArthur and 3000 soldiers and nurses were forced to live in this tunnel to avoid the ceaseless Japanese bombings. His famous “I Shall Return” quote was about returning to Corregidor to finish his fight for the freedom and democracy of the Philippines.  It is humbling and sad to when you pass by these buildings and think about the men and women who lived and died through this harrowing nightmare.  I could almost feel their presence. 


We took a 90 minutes boat ride to reach this island fortress protecting Manila Bay.  Once on the island, we boarded open sided buses accompanied by our armed guards.  We had a weak lunch, at best,  then toured this uninhabited war memorial island full of carved out caves, networks of tunnels and left over bombed out buildings once guaranteed to be bomb proof now almost covered by trees and forest.  Nothing further will be done with this island. It is to be kept as is and continue to decay as it has until the end of time. 




Middleside Barracks




Battery Way