Over 36,000 names cover the Walls of the Missing at Manila ABMC Cemetery. The men unaccounted for during World War 2 all over the southwestern Pacific. Most serving on ships sunk at sea or planes never coming home. There are plenty of others, bodies never found in the jungles of the Solomons, New Guinea, the Philippines, Burma or other locations.
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Surrounded by skyscraping condominium towers on the former site of the Fort McKinley, grass fields festooned with thousands of white granite crosses mark the largest American military cemetery outside of the United States. The Manila American Battle Monuments Commission – ABMC – Cemetery holds the remains of 17.097 men who died mostly in the World War 2 fighting in New Guinea and the Philippines. The names of another 36,286 men whose remains never discovered inscribed on The Tablets of the Missing place on limestone piers within two hemicycles separated by a small chapel atop a small hill. The quiet is out of place in the frenetic world of Bonifacio Global City outside of the cemetery walls.
Continue readingThe Centenary of World War One has come and gone. A few books published, but mostly, no special remembrances occurred that garnered much attention here in the U.S. compared to Europe. Of course, the First World War affected Europe much harsher and for a much longer period than the United States. The war dragged on for a little over four long years Over There with America only involved for a little more than the last year and a half. One American who did stand out was Ulysses G. McAlexander, nicknamed “Rock of the Marne” for his leadership in one of the earliest battles American forces did fight.
The post cemetery for Vancouver Barracks became established in 1857. The Army maintained the cemetery until recently. In 2020, the cemetery became part of the National Cemetery Administration – Department of Veterans Affairs – renamed the Vancouver Barracks National Cemetery.
Fort Vancouver was built in 1824 to serve as a central hub of business for the Hudson Bay Company in the Oregon Country. The company had its way in the region until the late 1830’s when American settlers began to arrive. Attempts by the company to meet this influx with colonists of their own came to naught and the Oregon Treaty of 1846 set the border far to the north at the 49th parallel. The fort, left deep in American territory though the company continued its operations. However, those operations became more unprofitable and difficult as more and more settlers came into the picture.
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The cemetery was established soon after Lieutenant Edward Steptoe organized the first Fort Walla Walla, a few miles east of downtown, in 1856. The fort moved two times in the immediate years following and the cemetery ended up presently just to the west of the last fort, the present-day Veterans Administration Medical Center. The cemetery holds graves from the different eras of the fort’s existence, 1856-1910. Civilian graves are separated from the soldiers by about thirty yards. Three monuments reflect some of the major battles during the 1877-1878 Nez Perce War in which soldiers who spent some time in Fort Walla Walla lost their lives.
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The Spanish-American war, forgotten mostly today, was a very popularly received event among the American public. The ongoing rebellion in Cuba was recurrent front-page news. Newspapers ever eager to entice readers with lurid tales of Spanish atrocities. Forgotten by most now, the Spanish-American War is remembered by numerous monuments spread around the country. Like the war they memorialize, those monuments tend to be overlooked and passed by today without much notice.
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European nations were holding their breath as relations between Spain and the United States worsened in 1898. While much of the attention centered on Cuba and the Caribbean, the Philippines also gathered some thought. Several of the nations had ongoing commercial relationships within the Philippines. To officially protect their nationals living and working in the Spanish Manila naval ships were sent. One of those nations with more than a casual interest in events in the Philippines included Germany.
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The men of the Second Oregon waited for a month and a half in Cavite, Philippines. July went on and the 1st California and 14th US were moved out of Cavite into the field taking positions to the south of Manila. Other units from later arriving forces did the same. The Oregonians were not excited about being left behind to drill back at Cavite while the others were out on the firing lines.
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The Spanish-American War enjoyed ramped up emotions across the United States. Oregon was by no means immune in the enthusiasm to teach Spain a lesson. The state’s National Guard – a part-time militia more trained in strike-breaking than actual warfare – consisted of a brigade of two regiments. President William McKinley requested the State to furnish the Army with one regiment in the war with Spain, so a little selecting had to be done initially. And with the distance involved between Oregon and Cuba, there was little chance of Oregon troops being involved in the main war there. Dewey’s 1 May victory at Manila Bay, however, gave the men from the Beaver State another opportunity, but instead of going transcontinental, the Second Oregon would need to go trans-Pacific to participate off to the Philippines.
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You can tell important seminal moments in many American cities by some memorials and parks found within the city. Philadelphia has the Liberty Bell. San Antonio has the Alamo. Indianapolis has the massive Soldiers and Sailors Monument from the Civil War. Portland has a leafy park across from the Federal Courthouse and the former Multnomah Courthouse where a statue stands proudly in the middle of the park. At first glance, someone might think the Civil War is being remembered in some way. But the rest of the monument has nothing to do with the Civil War. It is a monument honoring the dead of the Second Oregon Volunteers who fought in the Spanish-American War. Surrounding the monument, a series of marble stumps resemble artillery shells. The battle names inscribed have nothing to do with Oregon in Cuba or Spain, but everything to do with the Philippines.
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