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From Manila
our group went to Corregidor, checked into the hotel and began an extended
tour of the buildings and batteries. In addition to the affairs of our
people, I became involved in polishing the program for the 16th,
working with an American and Philippine committee.
The actual program for the 16th
was truly impressive. Normal crowds of tourists on Corregidor probably do
not exceed a couple of hundred people. February 16th brought
several thousands. The Philippine Navy, for example, used there LST’s to
shuttle people, busses and equipment back and forth from the mainland. The
people involved were also truly impressive. From the Philippines the crowd
began with President Ramos, Secretary of National Defense Renato DeVilla,
Chief of Staff of the Philippines, General Arturo Enrile, General Magno
and other Cabinet members. The United States contingency began with
Secretary of the Negroponte and Four Star General Wayne Downing, Commander
in Chief of the U.S Operations Command. Many other important individuals
were also present.
General Downing impressed our people
were favorably. He was friendly and low key. He was willing to talk with
anyone and shook hands with and had his picture taken with a lot of people.
Kodak will probably raise its dividends. I like to tell this little story:
Since my name tag had a large "DON" on it, Downing called me by my name
several times. I took a hint from that and called him by his first name:
"GENERAL". Four starts have always impressed me.
The ceremonies began with the laying of
wreaths at the Pacific War Memorial, followed by a reenactment of the 1945
jump, including Philippine and U.S. Special Forces and Philippine Airborne
troops. These jumps gladdened our hearts. We have always been a bit
ashamed of the fact we put people over the cliff, and into trees and
buildings. Of course we were jumping under battle conditions. This time
the jumpers had practiced the day before, had a weather station on the
ground and, most important, no one shooting at them. I never did get a
count of the number of people who jumped this time but there must have
been at least a hundred. Probably thirty of them went into trees or
buildings. We, probably, didn’t have many more than that out of about
2,000 jumpers.
Following
the re-enactment there was a series of special activities including one I
thought was impressive and meaningful. It began with me passing an American
Flag to General Downing, who in turn passed it on to three members of the
current generation of the 503rd who had come from Korea where
they are now stationed. They, with the help of two of our veterans, raised
the flag while a U.S Navy band played "To the Colors" and or National
Anthem. Them our flag was lowered while Taps (with echo) were played. The
Philippine National flag was then raised and the Philippine National Anthem
played by a Philippine Navy Band.
 A number of
speeches were made including the featured one by President Ramos. As
mentioned earlier, Ramos was trained an airborne jumper. When I met him in
1987 he wore Master Parachute Wings which means he had a substantial number
of jumps. At that time I asked him how many and he responded that he did not
remember exactly, but that the last time he had looked he had about 740. In
his speech the President vividly recalled his training: Get Ready! Stand Up!
Hook Up! Check Equipment! Sound Off For Equipment! Check! Stand In The Door!
Go! One Thousand Tow Thousand! Wham! The President placed great emphasis on
the importance of recapture of Corregidor by the503rd. It does not hurt
one’s ego to be praised as heroes by someone with the stature of President
Ramos. He also stressed the friendship which has and does exist between the
Philippine and American people.
The ceremony
on Corregidor was the "HIGHEST OF HIGH POINTS".
 From the time we first arrived in Manila
officers from JUSMAG (Joint Military Advisory Group) in the US Embassy had
been working on me to change our itinerary to do some things they had
included in their plans but failed to tell us about. One was a memorial
service at the American Cemetery outside of manila on the 17th. I was
adamant that we could not change our itinerary to the extent it would mean
canceling hotel reservations on Corregidor and making new ones in Manila.
Somewhat facetiously I said "Of course if you could find a couple of
helicopters to fly us over and back in the same afternoon I might be able
to find some takers." To my surprise I was contacted by the Commodore of a
US Navy flotilla which was visiting Manila. He had scheduled two Navy H46
helicopters from one of the ships to handle the transportation for us.
Thirty of our group took the opportunity and participated in a wreath
laying ceremony. Ambassador Negroponte was the featured speaker.
That was
another "HIGH POINT".
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