Thursday, November 29, 2012

Corregidor (part 2)

The Island of Corregidor-Shaped like a tadpole
  As I reviewed the pictures that I had taken on Corregidor I realized that I took over 300 of them. That wasn't the issue...the issue is which ones to share on this blog! So my task is not to bore people, to the best of my ability.

Corregidor is a tadpole shaped island. Different structures, emplacements or just areas were identified by their geographical location ie: Topside and middleside. The barracks in the pictures on the left are the Topside barracks. They are also nicknamed the Mile long barracks because if you were to walk the length of the floor from end to end and then walk the three or four stories that it was made of you would be very close to a mile in length.

Topside Barracks



Topside (Mile Long) Barracks

























Eternal Flame






The picture on the right is the eternal flame that is located on the top of the island. It is where the museum is and also the monument that has been build to honor those who fought during the siege that took place there shortly after Pearl Harbor.







Parachute shaped monument


This picture, above,  is the monument built to honor those who were parachuted in to begin the battle to retake Corregidor at the end of WWII. The Japanese were expecting the Americans and the Filipinos to attack via a ship landing on the lower part of the island. They were taken by surprise as paratroopers were dropped from planes on the upper part of the island. It was a challenge and with high risk. The expectation was that 30-40% of the men who were dropped would become a casualty of some type. Fortunately that didn't happen. The monument is in the form of a parachute with a hole at the top of it as seen below.
Top of the monument 

It took the Japanese several months longer than anticipated to capture Corregidor. The defenders of this small island finally, on May 5, 1942, surrendered to the invading forces. Each year on May 5th there is a small ceremony on Corregidor, and a larger one in Bataan, remembering what had occurred those many decades ago. On May 5th the sunlight is directly over the monument and shines down on the platform that is in the middle of the monument.

Hopefully, and prayerfully, nations will remember what happened here and elsewhere. Sadly, the natural man doesn't remember much past yesterday...
Inside the monument 

jsf





Sun shining through the hole from the top. On May 5th it
shines directly on to the platform/alter in the middle.
 







Honoring those who fought and died.



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