We had such a wonderful day in the Bataan Peninsular with Carol that I am going to send several emails about it.  Carol and I took lots of photos of the sites, of each other;  and of there are several of all of us taken by passers bye or with her tripod.  Carol is the CFO of Wyeth Philippines and her company provides her with a car and driver, not only for work, but for all of her excursions.  Sunday morning, at 7:30 on the dot, we met Carol and her driver in the lobby of the SBYC.  Then it was off to Mount Samat.  I had seen the cross from a distance on our Mariveles outing with Nick and Zaida.  When I read about it afterwards, I learned that you could ride an elevator to the cross arms for the view.  I had also read that the complex had a museum dedicated to the Bataan Death March and other World War 2 history.  When Carol was in Subic over Easter we had made a plan to visit Mt. Samat, something of interest to her, also.  Family ties to Bataan  was another reason for Carol wanted to make the trip.

It was a pleasant drive; not so much traffic and an experience driver who knew the area.  For this trip Carol had left her Volvo at the SBYC and we had a Toyota SUV instead, very roomy and comfortable.  It took a little over an hour.  When Carol had told the head of security for Wyeth Philippines she was going to hike up Mt. Samat he suggested we drive.  There are poisonous snakes and things….in the jungle area up the mountain.  I must admit I was a tad disappointed, until I got there.  It was dense jungle, not a path in visible, and straight up.  Now, one could have walked up the road, but driving was more sensible as well as safe.  I’m not sure I would have even liked driving up the steep, winding road unless I absolutely trusted the car to keep going up.  It was quite pretty; like parkway pretty.  You’ll see in the photos.

Some facts about the Mt. Samat Shrine:

It is a memorial to the soldiers, American and Philippine, who were forced to surrender to the Japanese on April 9th, 1942 and then forced to participate in the Death March through the Bataan Peninsular.

It is Pilar, Bataan, Philippines

Inaugurated 1970

The Cross:

The Memorial Cross is 555 meters above sea level made of reinforced concrete and steel.

The height of the cross is 92 meters from the base.

The height of the arms is 74 meters from the base

The length of the entire arm is 30 meters

The viewing gallery 18 ft wide and 90 ft long and about 7 ft high

The first 11 meters of the base is capped with sculptural slabs and bas reliefs of battles and historical events, above the base it “chipped granolithic marble.”

The Colonnade:  (Most of it was blocked off in preparation for President Arroyo’s visit Wednesday.  April 9th is the official holiday to remember the surrender of Major General Edward P. King, Jr. senior American officer to the Japanese and the beginning of the Death March.)  Because we could only enter the Colonnade from the back and see only a small exhibit in the basement, I am just copying what the guide book says with no comment. 

   “The Colonnade is a marble-capped structure with an altar, esplanade and a museum.  There are several historical depictions on the Colonnade which include the following:

Stained Glass Mural behind the altar

19 Scriptural Marble Reliefs and Parapet

18 Bronze Insignias of USAFFE Division Units

2 bronze urns symbolic of the eternal flame

18 flag poles with colors of USAFFE Divisions/Units and Inscriptions of the Battle of Bataan

I have to admit that 56 year after the event, most visitors were far from somber or sad.  It was a beautiful sunny day with a cooling breeze. 

The C.C. after a photo indicates that Carol took the photo.  Anonymous means a kind passerby took the photo.

Beautiful valley visible below. C.C.

  You can see some of the bas relief at the base.  Anonymous

  Carol’s photo of me gives a sense of the height.   Just over my head is Jose Rizal being executed, shot in the back by the Spanish.  C.C.

  The back side of the base.  The top right relief is a cameraman, but the guide book doesn’t tell what all of the sculptures are.   C.C.

Randal buys hats!  Randal wanted a hat to keep the sun off his ears.  We all got new hats.  C.C.

Carol and I wait for our turn up the elevator.  We are both wearing our new hats.  Anonymous

The clouds moving rapidly past the top of the cross made it look as if it were pitching forward!  Very disconcerting!!  The elevator up to the top was small and crowded.  We couldn’t see out of the windows.  The relief at the bottom, just over the door into the cross is Lapu Lapu.  C. C.  

“Lapu-Lapu was a native chieftain on Mactan , he was known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spanish colonization. He is now regarded as the first National hero of the Philippines.”  from Wikipedia.