Our visit to the American Cemetery
I visited the vast American Military Cemetery and Memorial last week together with my lovely wife, Edith which I have always admired for the beauty of its scenery. We just wanted to engross ourselves on the importance of this cemetery by remembering the heroes who died in World War II for the sake of our freedom. It is located in Mckinley road at Global City in Fort Bonifacio.
We live just about 3 kilometers from our residence in Makati and it was not really difficult for us to reach the place by enjoying the walk throughout the park. It has a vast area of more than 60 hectares of land with an impressive Chapel and the two large Hemicycles at the center built on a slightly raised plateau visible at a distance. At the entrance to the cemetery at the North side, a Security Guard will ask for your ID or a passport if you are a foreigner and sign in at their visitors' log.
There is a Visitors' Building at the right side where visitors can park their cars and obtain informations from an attending staff. The imposing view of the memorial from the plaza is enhanced by a beautiful line of mahogany trees from both sides of a big wide mall. It contains the graves of 17,202 servicemen that include 570 filiipinos who were killed in action in New Guinea and the Philippines.
Edith and I were so absorbed by the serene, quiet, peaceful, clean and all the things that you would expect on a cemetery. Long clean lines of white crosses dominated the plots from left to right of the grounds with manicured grass brought from the US. At the center of the American Memorial is a tall Chapel with two hemicycles stretched in a semi circle.
The two hemicycles contain 24 pairs of tablets. On each tablet is inscribed the names and particulars of 36,282 of the missings who gave lives for their country in the last World War. There were many filipinos inscribed on these tablets. We were in fact finding some familiar names or relatives that we might discover as we pored through all these long marble tablets.
I found out that Filipino servicemen who joined the US forces in World War II were assigned mostly in the lowest rung of ranks in the service. They were sailors or soldiers doing menial works as cooks, musicians, carpenters, mess boys, barbers, etc.
EDITH AT THE HEMICYCLE TABLETS AND AT THE MALL
It is really a nice experience for those who are interested in the history of World War II. At the walls in both of the hemicycles were Map rooms designed in tinted concretes with brilliantly colored aggregates. The data are expressed by mosaic or ceramics inserts depicting the many battles in the Pacific Islands and the Philippines.
If you are interested to visit the place, the American Cemetery can be accessible from Edsa through the Mckinley Road by passing the Forbes Park. From the Market Market near C5, it is just 1 kilometer away to the south.
