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Post by tomcatpc on Feb 26, 2017 23:11:53 GMT -8
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2017 6:45:51 GMT -8
As a kid I lived in the Philippines at Sangley Point Naval Air Station in the 60's. I could see Corregidor from there. I dove it a couple of times and we would look for the pesos and also spearfish. I found one silver peso at what was called the concrete pier. Never knew if it was one of the dumped pesos or just a random one that went overboard or was tossed in by a sailor or soldier. Most of the coins were dumped in a place we called Horse Bay. My father had it set into the lid of a wooden cigarette box and it was a neat souvenir. I have no idea where that box went but I have not seen it since the 70's. I wish I had kept better track of it as it was a neat relic.
In those days the island was left basically as it was when the war ended. There were literally hundreds of tons of explosives on the island. As a kid we camped there as boy scouts for days at a time and would explore the hills and it was amazing to see all the items left there just as it must have been in 1945. I remember going into small caves dug into the hills and finding Japanese enamel ware plates and cups marked with the Emperor's Chrysanthemum emblem that looked as if their meal had just been interrupted.
I had a ton of relics that I brought back to the states. I had old rusted Colt.38 revolvers and Doughboy style helmets left from the first fall of Corregidor. We found relic 1911 Colts and the newer pot helmets that were later used that were left from the recapture of Corregidor. We had backpacks full of ordinance such as mortar rounds. I had a Japanese knee mortar that I later traded to another kid for something else. It is hard to believe the stuff littering that island. There were a handful of locals living on the on that island but it was basically untouched since the war.
Now tourist boats pull up daily to take tourists around but back then there was nothing like that back then. When I was a boy scout the navy would provide us with a ride on a landing craft and drop us off on Corregidor and then pick us up 3 days later. We camped on the beach and during the day we explored the hills and picked up relics. We found about anything you could expect to find but we never found any Japanese guns or helmets. I suspect the G.I.s carried those away in the 40's.
I am pretty sure the coxswain running the landing craft that picked us up never realized there was as much ordinance riding on his boat as would be carried by a bunch of jar heads hitting the beach. Looking back I am amazed that no one got blown up messing with some of the stuff we fooled with.
Thanks for posting that video. It brings back a lot of great memories!
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Post by tomcatpc on Mar 2, 2017 7:21:40 GMT -8
Thanks for sharing... I have never been to the P.I., but hope to change that sooner or later. I'm on a Facebook page that is about the War in the P.I. and the impression I get is that things have been picked over by now. However I have a Facebook friend from Bamban area on Luzon who goes out and investigates former Japanese positions and occasisionally find items.
My Dad's Squadron flew some strikes over Mindanao and his ship (USS Monterey CVL-26) was in the central P.I. I think he went ashore on Leyte and/or Cebu? Also my very first Girlfriend was first gen. Pinoy-American, plus the stories I heard in the Service about the P.I., I just took an interest in the place, plus I'd love to dive there as well...
I have a Japanese sword and a few 7.7mm ctgs my Dad picked out of a shot-down Zero on Guam are the extent of WWII Japanese relics I have from the War.
Mark
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Post by nikeajax on Mar 2, 2017 9:54:26 GMT -8
I got a little more than seven minutes into it, I'll finish it tonight, as my wife's gone on business  I'm really liking seeing people's body language, and the host's pronunciation on some of his words: kinda like watching old sci-fi movies and they say rowbutt, not the more standardized robot, or someone will say cuh-feh, as opposed to café (ka-fey). It's also cool seeing things not so polished and edited down to a quick montage to get the idea across. I especially like seeing real people, warts and all, as they say, and not glammed out just for the camera. It's little things like this that help give you a glimpse into the past that's a little truer than what's presented in feature films of the time! Hmmmmm? I can't help but wonder if this was where they got the idea for "The American Sportsman"? JB |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2017 18:27:32 GMT -8
Yeah, I would like to get back to the P.I. one day. The folks there are great. My grandfather moved there in the 1920's. He was a pioneer aviator and worked for Curtiss Airplane. He taught the first Filipino to fly. His name was Alfred John Croft and he ran a flight school on the Corregidor where they flew bi-wing float planes such as the Curtiss Seagull. For land based airplanes they flew the venerable Jenny.
Unfortunately for my Dads' family they got captured by the Japanese when Manila surrendered. They spent years as POWs and barely survived due to the kindness of the Filipinos that helped them with food. They were all close to starvation and were weak and ill from such diseases such as beri-beri when they were liberated.
The Japanese had planned to execute them as McArthur's forces got close to the camp they were in which was Los Banos. Filipino guerillas and Army Rangers attacked the camp as airborne troops parachuted in on the day the Japanese were planning on killing them all. The raid was successful and no prisoners were killed in the raid.
My family owed a lot to the Filipinos that helped them.
I have an aunt that is still alive that lived through that. She still is going strong and zips around Oklahoma City in a Jaguar with POW plates on her car. Whenever the police stop the old gal they ask her if her husband was a POW. She tells them that she was a POW of the Japanese and they just ask her nicely to please slow down.
I need to do some research about the sea plane school. If I ever get back to Corregidor I would like to dive that location.
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Post by tomcatpc on Mar 6, 2017 11:29:23 GMT -8
I am slightly familiar with the sage of Los Banos. I have heard so many accounts of Filipinos risking their lives to help rescue, feed, assist, etc. US Captives. I also am aware of the POW Rescue at Cabanutuan (misspelled). My Dad almost became a POW of the Japanese in the Summer of 1945, but that incident took place when his Avenger got shot down after a strike on Atusugi in Tokyo Bay. The whole crew of three made it aboard a US Submarine (USS Gabilan) in time to avoid Japanese captivity. If you are on Facebook at all, and are interested, I'm sure a few people here would love to hear about your Dad's family's experience on this group www.facebook.com/groups/WW2Philippines/ I am a member there and it seems to be a great group of people. Thanks Mark |
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Post by nikeajax on Mar 6, 2017 13:19:57 GMT -8
I have an aunt that is still alive that lived through that. She still is going strong and zips around Oklahoma City in a Jaguar with POW plates on her car. Whenever the police stop the old gal they ask her if her husband was a POW. She tells them that she was a POW of the Japanese and they just ask her nicely to please slow down. While my wife and I were out this weekend I saw a car with a POW-plate on it. I could see the woman's face in the rear view mirror; she looked to be in her 70's? It took me a while to sync things up, but I couldn't help but believe that she might have been a nurse in Vietnam... I try never to assume anything when it comes to people, and ass-uming that only men can be combat vets is always presumptuous, especially in today's day and age: they may have been in combat conditions if not in actual combat... I used to have a friend who was a ball-turret gunner in a B-24. One of the things he told me was about the myth that the Swiss were neutral during WW-II: he watched on more that one occasion Swiss fighter aircraft intercept and shoot down Allied bombers. He said on one flight the fuel to weight ratio wasn't calculated correctly for his plane, they had to ditch over Switzerland. He spent time in a POW-camp. He and I think eleven others escaped, but not all of them made it back. This was shortly before he died, which is very common with combat vets: it hurts way too much to talk about but they need to let someone know so they wait until the very end of their lives. I've been helping our friend John Ratliff with his book which a good chunk talks about his tour of duty during Vietnam; all too often people forget what happens to humans in war and the terrible tole it takes on them and everyone around them. I'm looking forward to John's finished work because it's from a unique perspective of trying to save lives and not end them  JB |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 17:32:33 GMT -8
I am slightly familiar with the sage of Los Banos. I have heard so many accounts of Filipinos risking their lives to help rescue, feed, assist, etc. US Captives. I also am aware of the POW Rescue at Cabanutuan (misspelled). My Dad almost became a POW of the Japanese in the Summer of 1945, but that incident took place when his Avenger got shot down after a strike on Atusugi in Tokyo Bay. The whole crew of three made it aboard a US Submarine (USS Gabilan) in time to avoid Japanese captivity. If you are on Facebook at all, and are interested, I'm sure a few people here would love to hear about your Dad's family's experience on this group www.facebook.com/groups/WW2Philippines/ I am a member there and it seems to be a great group of people. Thanks Mark I just checked out the FB page, That is very interesting. Thanks for the link. Here is a link about an American flag my grandmother smuggled into the POW camp and which was flown over the camp. This is a story from the Oklahoma State magazine: www.distinctlyoklahoma.com/editorial/48 |
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