I spent a morning wandering the hauntingly beautiful Manila American Cemetery recently. Located on 152 acres in Taguig in Manila, on the edge of Bonifacio Global City (BGC), the perfectly kept grounds contain the graves of 17,206 war dead from the Pacific Theatre in World War Two, the largest number of American graves of any war cemetery anywhere in the world, as well as war dead from the Philippines and other Allied countries.
It’s impossible to visit such a place and not be moved by the sheer insanity of war. The museum that is housed on the site gives an incredibly detailed insight into the war in the Philippines as well as the Pacific Theatre overall.
The names of the dead are inscribed on the huge marble walls that sweep around the memorial at the head of the cemetery.
In stopping by some of the graves to remember the sacrifice of the person buried there it was striking just how many lost their lives in the final days of the terrible conflict.
Sobering, beautiful and a reality check on whatever “problems” that I might have been having that day.
Lest We Forget.
