Dear Friends,
I have just returned from a trip to Southeast Asia with members of the Intelligence Committee. I got a lot out of it as far as my work on the committee is concerned. But one of the real highlights of the trip for me was unexpected.
I've never been to Manila -- the capitol of the Philippines. You can stand on the back porch of the American Embassy where the trials of Japanese war criminals took place and look out over Manila bay into the mist where the island of Corregidor is in the distance and the Bataan peninsula arcs off to the north and west.
On our first afternoon there we went to the National Cemetery located on a beautiful knoll that used to be the U.S. Army post of Fort McKinley. In the middle of a courtyard of the memorial there is a beautiful acacia tree and the lawns are kept like putting greens. We laid a wreath in front of the chapel to remember those buried there, so far from home. Most of them died defending the Philippines against the Japanese invasion in 1941-42 or in the battle to re-take the islands in 1944.
On December 8, 1941 -- the day after Pearl Harbor -- the Japanese attacked Clark Field in the Philippines. The air defense unit protecting the field was the 200th Coastal Defense Artillery of the New Mexico National Guard. The 515th, broken off from the 200th, was also a New Mexico guard unit in the Philippines. Victory for the Japanese did not come as quickly as they expected because the Americans wouldn't quit. They withdrew to the Bataan peninsula and kept fighting for months until they were out of food and ammunition, becoming known as the "Battling Bastards of Bataan".
Those who survived this epic battle became prisoners of war and endured the infamous Bataan death march.
There are over 500 New Mexicans buried or remembered at the Manila National Cemetery. That's probably more New Mexicans than any other memorial outside of America. Just the names of the missing Americans memorialized at Manila number over 56,000. Another 17,000 are buried there in marked graves.
Through the embassy, I had arranged to stay at the cemetery after our whole group laid a wreath honoring all our war dead. Bert Caloud, a retired marine who now serves as Assistant Superintendent at the cemetery, spent some time with me.
Bert grew up in a small town in Iowa. His Dad served in the war and one of his Dad's best friends is buried in Manila. He told me families still send flowers from the states to mark graves on special days. He and his staff make sure everything is taken care of properly. It is not uncommon for one of them to place flowers and sing "Happy Birthday" at the request of the families of young men who did not have the chance to grow old.
We laid a wreath at the grave of a New Mexican who seemed to represent the suffering and service of all the rest. His name was Staff Sergeant Jimmie Lujan and he enlisted in the 200th from Taos County. Like many in the Guard, he was older when he was mobilized -- 33 and married. Sergeant Lujan survived the initial attack of the Japanese, endured the Bataan death march, was a prisoner of war and died in captivity the day before the Japanese finally surrendered.
The final resting place of our New Mexicans in the Philippines is a beautiful place, well cared for by people respectful of the sacrifice of those who are buried there and their families so far away. It was an honor to place a wreath there on behalf of all New Mexicans.
Wish you were here,