We have just finished lunch on the Corregidor tour. This has been
fascinating! The tour started at a dock in Manila and an hour and fifteen
minute boat ride. The boat was neither memorable nor exciting. The island
tour, however is very well organized and very interesting. Being here makes
the defense and fall of the island fortress seem very real. We always
prepare to fight the last war, in this case, to fight WW1.

The tour is by bus with a knowledgeable tour guide (and ours is excellent).
Being driven around on this hot, sultry day is delightful. The island was
very strategic at the time to control all the shipping into and out of
Manila. Today, the island is a memorial and in the age of airpower, has no
strategic importance.

The gun batteries are impressive. The Malinta Tunnel is very sobering and
gives deeper meaning to the feeling of being completely hopeless. The final
stop was the Japanese cemetery. What is interesting is that this cemetery
was lost to memory for about forty years until an old photograph surfaced
in Portland, Oregon and allowed the location of the then completely
overgrown cemetery to be determined. The bones were exhumed, cremated, and
returned to Japan and a memorial built. It was a fitting end of the tour.

We’re now headed back to the boat. I took a lot of pictures and hope to be
able to upload a few when I get home.
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