BUDDA MARY and 1 of over 200 Japanese Caves

A gift from the Japenese to the war memorial on Corregidor. It is a melding of the Buddha and the Virgin Mary.

While the Japenese occupied the island they dug hundreds of tunnels around the island, Here is an opening to a tunnels that was exposed when a typhoon hit the island.

Malinta Tunnel

Built by the Americans over 10 years from 1922 to 1932, Malinta tunnel served as the main headquarters during the seige of Corregidor. It housed both American and Filipino soldiers, Gen.Douglas MacArthur, and President Quezon, as wells as a 1000 bed hospital. Many of the lateral tunnels were secret and even the workers who built them were taken to and from the tunnels blindfolded. Many lateral tunnels were damaged during the war, some are still yet to be escavated. After the surrender of Corregidor, The Japanese took over the tunnel. They occupied the island for 3 years until it was recovered in Jan. 1945. We had a chance to explore some of the tunnels with only a flashllight, you can still see the scars of war on the inside walls of the tunnel. When the Amercan retook the tunnel they trapped the Japenese inside and poured napalm down the airshafts, nyone trying to flee out the exits were met with the machine guns Shirley is standing behind. The walls of the deep shafts of Malinta still have black residue from the fires.

Pacific War Memorial and Gen. Douglas MacArthur

Shown here is the dock from which Gen Macarthur reluctantly left the Island. He was told by president Roosevelt 3 times to leave before he fianlly did. This is also the place where he made his famous "I shall return" speech and promise.

This dome at the Pacific War Memorial has a hole cut at the top and a large circular altar beneath. On the altar is written: Sleep, my sons, your duty done, for freedom’s light has come. Sleep in the silent depths of the sea or in your hallowed bed of sod until you hear at dawn the low clear reveille of God." The sun through the hole in the dome falls directly on the circular altar only one day out of the year – May 6, the day Corregidor fell.




>

Spanish Light House

Batteries and Barracks

These barrack at the time where the longest barracks ever built. Stretching slightly over a mile long, these barracks housed over 2000 US officials.
These barrack have obviously seen better days, but we still had the chance to go up and explore. I was on the third story when i realized that there was a decent sized hole in the stairs i had chosen to go down.

This is Battery Way, one of 20 batteries throughout the island. These were all set up by the American and all made from Bethlehem Steel , all the way from Bethlehem PA. The guns shown here are either 12 or 14 inch mortars and have a range of around 17 miles. The last photo shown is of a close call from a Japanese mortar, you can see the impact ans spray from the shrapnel. These shraplen holes are all over the island and remind you of what happened, much more real that seeing something in a museum.

For more great pictures (not ours) go here. http://216.117.214.84/Corregidor/Corregidor.html

Corregidor: the tadpole-shaped island

Corregidor is divided into 4 major sections, Topside, Middleside, Bottomside, and Tailside. when the US retook the island, Paratroopers jumped from planes flying as low as 400 feet and and landed on topside. The drop zone was so small that only 8 jumpers could land at a time. In picture 2, we are on Topside facing the tail which curves towards Manila Bay.

Victoria

Beautiful British Columbia

Family

Dirty South...Alabama

Bellevue, WA

Calgary

Taal Volcano in Tagaytay