Tuesday, July 21, 2009

My World#32 Mt. Samat, Bataan

The Mt. Samat of Bataan and the island fortress Corregidor were the sites of the most vicious battles in the Philippines during WWII which unfortunately led to the infamous Bataan March in 1942. Both sites are now mute witnesses to the war that led to thousands of dead American and Filipino soldiers.

This is the Shrine of Valor (Dambana ng Kagitingan) of Mt. Samat in Bataan. The memorial site houses a lot of war memoribilias. The cross is called Bataan Cross which rises 92 meters in height. Inside the top of the cross are pictures and memoribilias of the war. It also commands a 360 degree breathtaking view of the place.

Me and my friends went there on a month of April a few days after the commemoration day of the infamous Bataan March. It was summer and the sun was unrelentingly hot. As we did not have our own car in getting there, we had to do some walking to and fro the memorial site (actually, it was more like hiking/climbing). We imagined how it was back then for the soldiers during the march. Tired, hungry and defeated from the battles, they endured the 61 mile walk to the prison camps. It must have been hell.

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Posted by Marites at 3:14 PM  

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8 comments:

Sylvia K July 21, 2009 at 5:37 PM  

A very interesting post and marvelous photos! Thanks for the tour!

Carver July 21, 2009 at 5:45 PM  

Great shots of a moving memorial. It is sobering to think of what people were enduring during the forced marches.

janice July 21, 2009 at 5:59 PM  

What a beautiful site!

The photo from the base of the cross really shows us the enormity of it.

Looks like you had great weather for capturing scenic pictures.

Louise July 21, 2009 at 6:19 PM  

Great pictures and interesting post. I like what you said about trying to imagine what it was like for those on the Bataan march. We probably cannot begin to understand what they went through.

I'm sorry if I missed it, but I could not find a link to the My World Tuesday site. (The badge wasn't linked.) Please be so kind to link the badge or add text and link.

Thanks so much for your participation. This is a very good post.

Anonymous July 21, 2009 at 8:02 PM  

I have heard the story of the march, but did not know about the memorial.

Thank you for sharing this part of your world, and for the photos. A very moving post.

Amila Salgado July 21, 2009 at 9:23 PM  

Wars are bad and should be avoided as much as possible. Thank you for sharing this piece of history and visting my blog.

Swarna July 21, 2009 at 9:26 PM  

Nice that you spared a thought to those soldiers, who had to 'do and die'

Pyatshaw July 21, 2009 at 11:52 PM  

That must have been a very poignant trip. Thanks for sharing. So different to my world!

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