◄          View towards Battery Point           ►

January1975

The hydrofoil withdraws from North Dock on its return to Manila.  Battery Point is in the background as Bataan is enshrouded in the haze.

"Serving on the island of Corregidor was idyllic. We were now knowledgeable U.S. Army soldiers, we thought. Our everyday existence was pleasant for my friend and I. We had refrained from the temptation of weekend leaves to Manila for the simple reason that a weekend in Manila cost money! Money we had little of. Our pay was thirty dollars per month. From my thirty dollars, the allotment to my parents was ten dollars. Necessities such as shaving supplies, a monthly trip to Bottomside for my hamburger steak and eggs (with catsup for my hamburger), and various other minor costs that seemed to crop up, such as trips to Middleside Theater and duckpin bowling at the Middleside Enlisted Men’s Club quickly defrayed the remaining twenty dollars.  "

 

 

extract from Al McGrew's AMID TH' ENCIRCLING GLOOM

 

 

 

photo © Paul F.Whitman 1978