Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

On the flight here, I finally had the time to read "Unbroken."  It had been recommended to me by many and gifted to me by my sis-in-law for my Kindle.  I had been "saving" it for what I knew would be a lengthy flight.   It did not disappoint.  It's the true story of an American track star who finds himself a Japanese POW during WWII.  (One thing...Perhaps it wasn't so wise to read it on the leg to Tokyo, because when we landed the foremost thought in my mind was, "You people are crazy like a fox."  Don't worry, it quickly was replaced by more positive thinking.)  I won't say anything more because I don't want to ruin it for those who might read it later, but it was so good.  I was already interested in visiting the American Cemetery in Manila, but after reading "Unbroken,"  I knew that we would go there early in our stay here, and we will probably go again.  This morning we covered World War Two for home school (as much as you can explain a world war to a 7 year old) and then took an afternoon field trip to the cemetery. 

It was very moving.  The remains of 17,202 American and Filipino soldiers are interred here, and a "Wall of Missing" is dedicated to 36,286 soldiers who are classified as missing in action.  It's a truly beautiful monument to those who sacrificed during WWII.  The crosses seemed to go on forever- the monument is 152 acres. 

The picture below shows that if a soldier listed on the "Wall of Missing" was found it was marked with a special bolt.  Notice on this whole wall there was only one soldier found later.  Most walls had zero or one, and only a few walls had more then 5 or 6.) 

This is the chapel.  The sculpture represents St. George fighting the dragon.  Above him are the ideals he fought for: Liberty, Justice, Country, and Columbia.

Each state has a seal in the monument.

Looking out of the Wall of Missing towards Fort Bonifacio.

Each one of these walls is engraved on both sides with the names of missing soldiers.  The walls make a circle with the entrance to the monument on one side and the chapel on the other side.

Kate and Kiki

It was an emotional place for me, partly because the story told in "Unbroken" was so fresh in my mind, but also because looking out at acres and acres of white crosses and stars of David, each representing a mother's son, made my heart hurt.  It was a peaceful and beautiful place.

Full disclosure:  My children whined basically the whole entire time we were there.  The significance was completely lost on them despite my efforts to educate them.

 "Kate, these people all died for our country.  Would you die for our country?"

Her reply, "I'm dying for an ice cream!"