Manila American Cemetery

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
American Battle Monuments Commission

Manila American Cemetery headstones with memorial building behind.
Used for those deceased 1941–1945
Established 1948
Location 14°32′28″N 121°03′00″E / 14.541°N 121.050°E / 14.541; 121.050Coordinates: 14°32′28″N 121°03′00″E / 14.541°N 121.050°E / 14.541; 121.050
Designed by Gardener A. Dailey
Total burials 17,206
Unknown burials 3,744
Burials by nation
Burials by war
Statistics source: American Battle Monuments Commission
Graves in the cemetery
Aerial view of the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Manila American Cemetery main building
Aerial View Headstones

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is located in Fort Bonifacio, Metro Manila, within the boundaries of the former Fort William McKinley. It can be reached most easily from the city via Epifano de los Santos Ave. (EDSA) to McKinley Road, then to McKinley Parkway inside the Bonifacio Global City. The Nichols Field Road is the easiest access from Manila International Airport to the cemetery.[1]

The cemetery, 152 acres (62 ha) or 615,000 square metres 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 Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) 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. except December 25 and January 1.[1]

Otherwise, this cemetery has only one Commonwealth War Dead burial in World War I.[2]

General layout

The entrance to the cemetery is at the far (east) side of the large grassed circle just beyond the military sentinel's post which is at the junction of Rizal Drive and Eighth 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-three 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 (CL-52) was sunk in June 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.[3] The Camp O'Donnell Memorial is dedicated to the memory of the "Battling Bastards of Bataan".[4]

Medal of Honor recipients

Other notable people

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Manila American Cemetery and Memorial". The American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  2. ↑ CWGC: AMERICAN MILITARY CEMETERY, FORT BONIFACIO, MANILA
  3. ↑ American Battle Monuments Commission.
  4. ↑ Camp O'Donnell Memorial at Find a Grave

Bibliography

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