corregidor
the
treasure island of wwii
Edward
Michaud © 1999
AUTHOR'S DISCLAIMER: The history of
Corregidor has many facets, and one of them has been its use as the transit point
for the evacuation of the Philippine Treasury and U.S. funds in the face of the invading
Japanese Army. Ever since, when the lamps have been lit and the beer chilled,
there have been tales of magnificent treasures that could not be evacuated in time and had
to be buried, or dumped - and never recovered. Some are true. Most are
not. Stories always get better as the memories get worse.
As a collector of
rumors I have run to ground many of these tall tales over the years. The "real"
treasures have long ago been located and disposed of. As a professional salvage
diver I have visited the wrecks off Corregidor's coast and have recovered silver pesos
sufficient to pay only my trip expenses. On Corregidor itself, I have
found the real treasure of the island - it is a place of quiet and violent history that calls me
back to enjoy its charm. The following article was originally penned in 1989, one
year after I had visited the Rock. It was accurate then, but it has remained
unpublished until this time, and the opportunities of which it spoke are no longer
available to us today. Times have changed, and what was once there is no
longer - except echoes of Corregidor's history.
After a little editing it was
decided to submit this work to "Corregidor: Then and Now" for the purpose of adding a bit of
‘accuracy’ to an aspect of the island’s history that, for the most part,
has been plagued by liars, thieves and grafters. Perhaps the following accounts can
help fill in some real history and at the same time provide a bit of informed story
telling.
Corregidor Island was indeed
at one time a temporary depository of fabulous wealth, but those days are long gone and
the reader should enjoy the following stories for what they are – STORIES. The
author can be contacted by Veterans and persons with first person experience via his
site at Trident Productions for donations of stories of what once was, but won't
tolerate time wasters and space cadets who believe their fortune is but a shovel or a
rented scuba tank away.
The
contents of this page are copyright because the author and publishers want to
ensure that no part of these articles should be reproduced without the full text of a disclaimer. Many a historic site is despoiled due to
comments or extracts which are printed out of context. Whilst we desire to ensure
historical accuracy, we make no apologies for changing certain pertinent
information
contained herein.
Don't bother asking which ones, we love Corregidor too much to tell you.
NOW READ ON..../2
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