Bataan Day!
Worked on my speech up to 12:00 PM last night then slept at the boat (777) at about 2:00 AM. Woke up at about 7:00 AM this morning with a tummy ache due to the chicos I ate last night (too many).
Motored up Mt. Samat after docking at the Esso pier at 9:10 AM. Sunny day—by slightly hazy.
The altar and cross were impressive. And the turnout was the biggest in years. Buses from the provinces—more than a hundred of them brought in pilgrims to the shrine in droves.
Amb. [Henry] Byroade spoke of American favoring the self-reliant defense posture of the Philippines.
Saw the cross. And were back at the 777 at 2:20 PM.
Then went to Corregidor to show the island to Russ Volckman and Don Blackburn who had not seen it.
Bataan is an indictment of the present generation. I could hear the “Voices” clear and loud.
It teaches us the lesson never to depend on others for our security.
True to their pledge, they died on this spot almost to a man. Thus this mountain top has been honored as the site of this shrine, The Dambana Ng Kagitingan.
From the OP at the top, we could see through our telescope the Luneta and Dewey Boulevard at 4:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon where the sun was behind us and struck Manila.
Official Gazette for April 9, 1972: PRESIDENT MARCOS led a national pilgrimage to Mt. Samat in commemoration of the Fall of Bataan.
The President, assisted by U.S. Ambassador Henry Byroade and Rizalino P. Lacuna, national commander of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, raised the Philippine flag over the site during the ceremonies.
In his speech, the President declared that “never again should our country depend on others for its security.”
The President said that the Philippines has faith and trust in its allies arid friends, and it can depend on them. “But we can best trust ourselves and depend on our own capabilities,” he said. (See pp. 3131-3135 for full text of the President’s speech.)
The President had a brief rest upon arrival in Malacañang in the afternoon, and then went over urgent official papers.
And the view would make us sick at heart.
But more than war, man had denuded the mountain of the lush jungle we knew during the fighting.