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[My schedule is all out of wack with these physical therapy sessions. It’ll take me some time to adapt, so please bear with me.]
I’m a political scientist, dontcha know–I’ve got the papers to prove it. I also belong to a generation that was raised on World War II movies, quite a few of which featured Allied prisoners trying to escape from German POW camps… usually by means of a tunnel.
Which brings me to an understanding that can be expressed in these terms:
Liberals are people who tunnel into prison camps.
Don’t be misled by their sponsorship of assorted sexual freedoms. Those are the only freedoms that they mean for you to have. Everything else comes down from the top.
We’re going to need a lot of tunnels if Democrats cheat their way to victory this year.
“Liberals are people who tunnel into prison camps.”
That is profoundly true.
I watched a lot of movies, news reports, etc on WW2, radio programs, and all that interested
me because my dad and his 3 brothers all served, and a lot of my other relatives.
My father and my uncle, too.
Here is a bit about WWII in the Philippines. This occurred the first time I came to the Philippines to meet my future wife. This information is now part of my book “7,000 Miles of Life Perspectives.” You might want to read the book, there is good information about the Philippines. I don’t need a review, just a short blurb would be appreciated. I can provide a PDF to anyone interested.
Intramuros
While we were in Manila, we visited Intramuros. Maribeth didn’t know anything about the place. There were large walls, gates, a museum, and several buildings. I didn’t think it was that interesting. However, months later, while watching a World War II movie about the Battle of Manila, I recognized those buildings and walls. I know that place, where did I see it? Then it dawned on me. I was there just months before. If I had only known its remarkable history, how fascinating it would have been.
Intramuros was a Spanish fortress, a religious and educational center of the Spanish East Indies, and the seat of power during the Spanish era. Construction of the original walled city began in the late 16th century as protection from foreign invasions. Today, it’s a 0.26 sq mi historic area surrounded by fortifications, which at the time of the Spanish Empire were considered the entire City of Manila. Here you’ll find Fort Santiago, the oldest Spanish stone fortress in the country, as well as San Agustin Church. Built in 1587, San Agustin is considered the oldest building in Manila.
The Battle of Manila* in 1945 nearly flattened Intramuros. It’s here the occupying Imperial Japanese Army made their last stand against Allied and Filipino troops. Heavy artillery and aerial bombardment destroyed all but one of its churches (San Agustin survived!), universities, government buildings, and countless other structures that had stood for centuries. Though many original landmarks were lost, reconstruction efforts began immediately after the war and are still being carried out today.
In January of 1945, General Tomoyuki Yamashita ordered a complete withdrawal of Japanese forces from Manila. Believing the city could not be defended, he withdrew his forces to the rural mountains of Luzon. However, this order was ignored by Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, who commanded 12,500 sailors and 4,500 soldiers. Iwabuchi retreated into Intramuros with about 100,000 hostages. Many of these noncombatants were used as human shields to protect Japanese positions; those who survived the bombardments were murdered in the horrific aftermath known as the Manila Massacre (also called the Rape of Manila), when an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 innocents were executed by Japanese forces. As the Allied troops advanced into the city, the Japanese soldiery took their frustration out on the helpless civilians. The level of violence was unspeakable: mutilations, rapes, and massacres occurred in convents, schools, and hospitals. More depredations were committed as Japanese forces sought to clear northern Manila of Filipino guerrillas. With demonic efficiency, more than 54,000 civilians, including pregnant women and hundreds of children, were killed by the heartless enemy. Any who tried to flee were summarily executed.
The Battle of Manila in February 1945 was unlike any other in the Pacific War. It was bloody urban combat, fought block by block, house by house, and even room by room. It transformed the city—once known as the Pearl of the Orient, with its elegant neoclassical buildings, spacious parks, manicured golf courses, and luxury swimming pools—to piles of rubble and smoking ruins. General Yamashita and his chief of staff, Akira Mutō were ultimately held accountable for the carnage they wrought; each was convicted of multiple war crimes and sentenced to death by hanging.
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*For an appalling, horrific, and gripping account, read James M. Scott’s story, The Battle of Manila. http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-battle-of-manila-wwii
My father served in the Philippines in WWII, in the Navy.
In “The Golden Skull,” a “Rick Brant science adventure” novel by John G. Blaine (aka Hal Goodwin), there’s an exciting scene set in the Intramuros. The book was written in the early 50s and they hadn’t yet been able to clear away most of the wreckage.
P.S.–Mike, I would love to provide you with a blurb, but I have to tell you up front, right now my schedule is too disorganized to allow me to take on new projects. I still have half a book to write, etc.
Nevertheless, should you decide to read it, it’s not a full length novel of 50,000 or more words, just a meager 42,592 words, about a half hour of reading time.