Historic Corregidor

My highschool friend and I visited Corregidor last June 9. It was a first visit for both of us. I always wanted to visit Corregidor but was not able to because of lack of resources and time. But now I'm glad that I was finally able to visit. It was a great experience going to such a historical place. It's sad to think of the tragedy that befell such a scenic island and the thousands of lives lost, Filipino, American and Japanese. While touring the island, you can see the relics of the past, the once beautiful American base that was one of the last bastions of the Allies to fall during the Japanese invasion in 1941.

We took a packaged tour so when we docked at Corregidor port, there were tour buses waiting for us. The buses were a surprise because the sides were open and the armrest was the only thing that kept me in my seat when the driver took the curves a little too fast. I think the buses look like the cable cars in San Francisco that I see on tv. The buses even had bells instead of horns.

We saw the bombed structures, the artillery relics, the memorial parks, the museum and other tourist spots around the island. We also joined the light and sound show in the Malinta Tunnel. The show was not very long and the effects were not really that great but listening to the reconstruction of the last days of Filipino and American soldiers, the nurses, doctors and those others who took refuge in the tunnel during the invasion of the Japanese forces was very affecting. It was history brought alive, and not history as just factual statement of facts in history books. Hearing the voices of President Quezon, Gen. Douglas McArthur, the Filipino soldier who declared the surrender of Corregidor to the Japanese soldiers, etc., moved me deeply. It felt funny hearing Pres. Quezon's voice. It's not what I expected him to sound like. I'm not sure how I thought he would sound like but his voice surprised me. Maybe at the back of my mind he'd had have deep, midnight voice, like a deejay maybe, but I can no longer describe his voice since more than six months have passed since my visit to Corregidor. What I can only remember now, was my surprise.

There were moments during the diorama that I was moved to tears. Just hearing the sound of the bombs dropping, the sounds that the sick and injured made, the conversations between the nurses and soldiers as they tried to snatch a little bit of happiness during such a horrendous nightmare, these are the things that history books don't mention. These things make you realize that these were real people with real emotions, fears and hopes, and not just statistics indicated as casualties of war. These are the things that I, who has not experienced a war, forget or do not completely comprehend. It was ironic that the tunnel which became the tomb of Filipino and American soldiers during the Japanese invasion, became the tomb also of the Japanese soldiers during the retaking of the island by the Americans.

Now, after such a bloody history, Corregidor has been developed as a tourist spot that serves as a reminder of the atrocities of war, a memorial for the brave soldiers, Filipino, American and Japanese, who were victims of some men's hunger for power and world domination.