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On my recent trip to the Philippines, I paid my respects to members of the armed forces buried in the American National Cemetery in Manila. It was a moving and humbling experience.

The American National Cemetery and Memorial are located in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig, just outside Manila proper, within the boundaries of the former Fort William McKinley.

We drove from Batangas with the sole purpose of seeing the cemetery and then I had lunch with an old friend afterward at Shangrila-La Hotel. It could be an easy drive if we went through Ayala Avenue in Makati and followed the direction on their website. But coming from the other direction, we made several turns and could not find the entrance. There were too many one-way streets and no left turns. Their website showed that if we went from Ayala Avenue in Makati, we could reach it via Epifaño de los Santos Ave (EDSA) to McKinley Road, then to McKinley Parkway inside Bonifacio Global City.

The American National Cemetery and Memorial, enclosed by a big fancy metal gate and a fence encasing lush, green, well-kept grounds, occupies 152 acres on a prominent plateau with the backdrop of Manila skyscrapers. It was established in 1948, designed by Gardner A. Dailey, and donated by the Philippines. It honors the American and allied servicemen who died fighting the Japanese in World War II. It contains the largest number of graves of our military personnel killed during World War II, a total of 17,206 lives lost in New Guinea, during the Battle of the Philippines from 1941 to 1942, and the Allied recapture of the Philippines. The cemetery has only one Commonwealth War Dead burial in World War I.

The headstones are made of marble and are aligned in 11 plots forming a circular pattern, set among a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery. The design for the cemetery and memorial was prepared by American artists and architects, and executed by local builders under the supervision of the American Battle Monuments Commission which maintains it.

The entrance to the cemetery is at the far east side of the large, grassed circle just beyond the military sentinel’s post which is at the junction of Rizal Drive and Eight Avenue.

As soon as we entered the checkpoint at the gate, the guard told us we were entering American territory. We were asked if we were American citizens and if it was our first time. My brother and I both said yes but our driver said no. There was no entrance fee. It was entirely free which we did not even know. The guard took the driver’s name and the license plate of his van and then let us read the ground rules. After we handed him back the plastic-enclosed board, he lifted the stop barrier and let us in.

Stretching from the guard’s post to the memorial was a long driveway bisected by a vast expanse of well-manicured green space. To the left and the right of the driveway were pleached mahogany trees, Swietenia macrophylla, lining up the driveway and borders rows and rows of graves with white crosses in military precision, a uniform distance from each other. Circular roads leading eastward and westward through the graves area join the straight road along the edges of the central mall.

We drove halfway around the place and parked the van in front of the Museum. Seeing those white crosses gave me a feeling of awe and a deep respect for those laid down on this sacred ground. I got goosebumps.

Here are a few shots I took inside the museum which is at the lower level of the building.

After going through the exhibit, we started walking to the memorial which is at the end of the long driveway at the center part of the cemetery and memorial.

We walked up the few steps to a wide terrace where two large hemicycles to the right and left nearly joined to form a perfect circle.

We walked around the hemicycles. At the end of each hemicycle are map rooms showing important battles from the war in the Pacific. There are twenty-five large maps in four rooms, taking up the whole wall, are to scale and carefully constructed with mosaic tiles. They recall the achievements of the United States Armed Forces in the Pacific, China, India, and Burma.

I read some information on the battle which I found educational. I wished we had more time to do it. The Philippines, because of its location, played a very strategic and important role in WWII at the Pacific theater.

The walls of the two large hemicycle’s walls hold the names of service men and women that are missing in action. On rectangular Trani limestone piers within the hemicycles, are inscribed the Tablets of the Missing containing 36,286 names from WWII (whose remains were not identified or recovered or who were lost or buried at sea). Most of them gave their lives in defense or liberation of the Philippines, or the regions northward from Australia to Japan.

Twenty-nine names are in gold to signify that they had earned a medal of honor and others had rosettes near their names to indicate that they were no longer missing but recovered and identified. Also honored are the five Sullivan Brothers who perished when the light cruiser USS Juneau was sunk in Nov. 1942 and Ernest E. Evans for his action commanding USS Johnston in the Battle of Samar.

Looking at the sheer volume of names of U.S. and Philippine soldiers that paid the ultimate sacrifice during the Pacific War solicited strong emotion.

Engraved into the floors are large seals of the American states and their territories.

Here is one for South Carolina:

The hemicycles flank a tall monument with a large sculpture on the front of St. George, representing the American fighting warrior, fighting his enemy, the dragon. Above them are the ideals for which he fought: liberty, justice, country, and Columbia with child symbolizing the future.

The tall monument, a white masonry building enriched with sculpture and mosaic near the center of the cemetery, houses a small chapel with a beautiful mosaic of the Virgin Mary rising to the sky. Natural light shines through a dozen sets of stone grillworks flanking the altar on each side. I stood in front of the image of the Virgin Mary admiring its beauty and said a silent prayer. Then, I signed the guest register with my name and address in the United States.

We went outside and looked around where we saw rows and rows of white crosses as far as the eye could see. It was overwhelming to realize the sheer volume of lives lost during the conflict and these were just in the Pacific Theater.

The view was beautiful, serene, and worthy of the sacrifice these warriors made for freedom. It put tears in my eyes seeing the immensity of the fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice.

From the memorial and other points within the cemetery, there are impressive views over the lowlands to Laguna de Bay and towards the distant mountains.

Note: All the above photos are taken by the author.

Aerial view of Manila American Cemetery

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

On this Memorial Day weekend 2023,

Let us remember those who gave their ultimate sacrifice to make us free.