Manila American Cemetery

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Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
American Battle Monuments Commission
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.jpg
Manila American Cemetery headstones with memorial building behind.
Used for those deceased 1941–1945
Established1948
Location 14°32′28″N121°03′00″E / 14.541°N 121.050°E / 14.541; 121.050
Taguig, Philippines
Designed byGardener A. Dailey
Total burials17,206
Unknowns
3,744
Burials by nation
* United States: 16,636
Burials by war
* World War II: 17,206
Statistics source: American Battle Monuments Commission
Graves in the cemetery American Cemetery and Memorial Manila.jpg
Graves in the cemetery
Aerial view of the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Aerial view of the Manila American Cemetery.JPG
Aerial view of the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Manila American Cemetery main building Manila American Cemetery Aerial View.JPG
Manila American Cemetery main building

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is a military cemetery located in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. It can be reached most easily from the city via EDSA to McKinley Road, then to McKinley Parkway inside the Bonifacio Global City. The Lawton Avenue, formerly the Nichols Field Road, is the easiest access from Ninoy Aquino International Airport to the cemetery. [1] It falls under the jurisdiction of Barangay Fort Bonifacio, [2] having been previously part of Barangay Ususan prior to Fort Bonifacio's creation in 2008. [3] Makati also claimed jurisdiction of the cemetery as part of Barangay Post Proper Southside, which was later transferred to Taguig as part of the 2021 Supreme Court decision on the boundary dispute.

Contents

The cemetery, 152 acres or 620,000 square meters in area, is located on a prominent plateau, visible at a distance from the east, south and west. [1] With a total of 17,206 graves, it has the largest number of graves of any cemetery for U.S. personnel killed during World War II and holds war dead from the Philippines and other allied nations. [1] Many of the personnel whose remains are interred or represented were killed in New Guinea, or during the 1941–42 Battle of the Philippines or the Allied recapture of the islands. [1] The headstones are made of marble which are aligned in eleven plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery. [1] The Memorial is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PHT except December 25 and January 1. [1]

The cemetery also contains one Commonwealth War Dead burial from World War I. [4]

General layout

The entrance to the cemetery is at the far (east) side of the large, grassed circle, which is just beyond the military sentinel's post and intersects with 8th Avenue, 21st Drive, and Old Lawton Avenue. Immediately beyond the gate is the plaza with its circular fountain; at the right is the Visitors' Building. Stretching from the plaza to the memorial is the central mall, which is lined with mahogany trees ( Swietenia macrophylla ). Circular roads leading eastward and westward through the graves area join the straight roads along the edges of the mall.

The memorial

Twenty-five large mosaic maps in four rooms recall the actions of the United States Armed Forces in the Pacific, China, India and Burma. [1] Carved in the floors are the seals of the American states and its territories. [1]

Notable burials and memorials

Twenty-nine Medal of Honor recipients are buried or memorialized at the Manila cemetery. Also honored are the five Sullivan Brothers, who perished when the light cruiser USS Juneau was sunk in Nov. 1942. A. Peter Dewey (1916–1945), an OSS officer killed in Saigon shortly after World War II ended, is listed on the Tablets of the Missing. [5] The Camp O'Donnell Memorial is dedicated to the memory of the "Battling Bastards of Bataan".

Medal of Honor recipients

Other notable people

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Manila American Cemetery and Memorial". The American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  2. ↑ Lim, Michael (2018). "Mayor Lani joins US Memorial Day Ceremony". Metro News Central. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  3. ↑ G.R. No. 168781 (September 14, 2007), City of Makati vs. The Hon. Judge Briccio C. Ygaã‘a, and Municipality of Taguig , retrieved November 19, 2023
  4. ↑ "American Military Cemetery, Fort Bonifacio, Manila | Cemetery Details | CWGC".
  5. ↑ American Battle Monuments Commission Archived October 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine .

Bibliography

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