|
Post by Registrar on Oct 13, 2014 19:45:40 GMT 8
Give it time, Fortman. Recently, there are fewer people on the island looking after its security, because CFI incomes are down, and there are cutbacks. Trails aren't being maintained as they once were. The last remaining steel rails on the island, in the open, well known to many of us, totally rusted away in a single night!
|
|
|
Post by Registrar on Oct 13, 2014 9:08:36 GMT 8
Today I had to come up with $110 to renew my hosting of corregidor.org and the numerous sites that have grown from it. That's not the cost of the domains, that's the cost of the data storage. It got me to thinking about people who are People join us for lots of reasons. I like to think they are real people who are joining us so that they can make a contribution of their knowledge or insight, and that we can all benefit from this. Even if they only give a worthwhile post the "thumbs up" for a job well done, then they will have fulfilled a purpose. Some of our members have given a tremendous number of hours and effort into obtaining, and sharing their knowledge with us. A "thumbs-up" is a pat on the back to these good people. It costs nothing. As much as I welcome our membership, I dislike sleepers. These are people (well, they might be people) who join us, and then go promptly to sleep, and make no contributions. Not a word. Not a post. You'd be surprised how many folk have joined and we've never heard from them ever again. Ever! The problem with these members is that they are indistinguishable from phantom members, and spam bots. Who's to say they aren't bots in the first place? Soon, I will go through the members roll and delete the members who have not made a post within the first several months of their membership. I will also delete members who haven't made a post in the last couple of years. As they have done a creditable imitation of being deadweight, I will consider them surplus to our membership, and cast them overboard.
|
|
|
Post by Registrar on Oct 12, 2014 15:04:59 GMT 8
I just had a lazy weekend reading PURE GRIT, the story of how American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific. It tells the important but little-known story of the more than 100 heroic women who served in the Philippines during WWII. Initially a posting of adventure and romance (in the classic sense), the Japanese invasion soon enough placed them under fire, necessitating their retreat into the field hospitals of Bataan, where common sense soon enough told them that they were bit players in a dire disaster. I recommend it as one of the "MUST HAVE's" for students of the American experience of WWII in the Philippines. I have reviewed it at corregidor.org/heritage_battalion/book_review_7.htmlThe author Mary Cronk Farrell is a member of the Society and of this board.
|
|
|
Post by Registrar on Oct 6, 2014 19:24:34 GMT 8
Karl covers the news pretty well.
I have known for a while that CFI gave Steve & Marcia Kwiecinski a notice that they are to vacate as of 1 January, but have kept it under my hat for a while. The news eventually had to come out in due course, which is now. My surmise was not that there is any bad blood between CFI and the Kwiecinski's (who have done a wonderful job publicizing Corregidor against great odds) but that the cessation of their role might be an indication that CFI's powers of control will be terminated effectively as of that day. They're not being drummed off the island, they just have to vacate their residence. If they can find accommodation elsewhere, they may stay a while. Obviously, there are people wondering why this might be. For those who haven't been around for long, I have written about this in the past, and the short version is that I believe that it is the result of factors that Steve & Marcia have absolutely nothing to do with. Years before they even arrived there was a court case between the government and CFI concerning the former's powers to control the latter. CFI argued that they were the ultimate authority concerning Corregidor, and CFI lost in the Court of Appeal. I am a lawyer, I read the judgment, and I did form the view that CFI were playing a bad hand, and were playing for time. The government held all the aces. Subsequently, CFI were audited. One can only read between the lines, but my surmise is that the government has just arrived at the last step of a long, involved and contested process, and is about to appoint a new authority over the island.
I must emphasize, though, that I have no information whatsoever whether or not CFI is being run out of Dodge. I have been reading the goat's entrails. What CFI's position is to be next year, is a complete mystery to me.
I have long argued that Corregidor, by virtue of its unique environment and historical character, should have been declared a National Park. I repeat, I haven't the foggiest idea what is around the corner, these sorts of things happen behind closed doors. That's just the way it is. One hopes that because Corregidor has been a major tourist earner, and one which is of particular sensitivity to the United States (it is still the burial place of numerous MIA's and KIA's, that there will be an enlightened era about to dawn upon us. Why this step must be accomplished by giving Steve and Marcia a DCJ Notice, does seem to be counter-intuitive. But things are different this side of the dateline.
I have heard nothing about the status of the Inn. Magsaysay Lines have a lot more political clout than the CFI because they make a lot more money than CFI, so I expect that they will be more in control next year than now. The Inn sure could do with a reinvention and refurbishment. The island-trained staff have been wonderful people throughout the years, and its these guys and gals who remain their finest assets.
|
|
|
Post by Registrar on Oct 5, 2014 6:36:30 GMT 8
Welcome to new member Matt Underwood, 11th AB
My name is Rev. Matt Underwood of Mt. Washington, KY, and I am the senior national Editor of the 11th Airborne Division Association's newspaper "Voice of the Angels". The 503rd became part of the 11th in 1951, and many of their unit members are also in the 11th. I am interested in all things WWII Pacific, particularly Airborne, Filipino Guerrillas, U.S. Tank units, and other U.S. Army units, as well as all early U.S. Airborne subjects, up to and including the 11th Airborne's final deactivation and re-flagging as the 1st Cav in 1965. I am currently producing biographies of WWII U.S. Airborne pioneers, and am seeking relatives of Frank Robert Duke, Sr., one of the first 15 officers of the original 501st Parachute Battalion, 1940, whose name appears on the MILEY MUG. I am desperately seeking a photo of Frank for our paper. Also seeking more data on Charles Maxwell Tannehill of MS & LA, and John Belton O'Connell of AL, two more of the first 15 officers on the MILEY MUG. Thanks, Fellas!
|
|
|
Post by Registrar on Sept 28, 2014 17:38:44 GMT 8
Façadomy
An Architectural sham much relied upon by developers desiring to "rescue" a building that they have deliberately neglected for years - a device to justify the separation of a building's physical form from the history and heritage to which it has borne witness, and from the setting in which it occurs. It occurs predominantly when the business interests of private developers or Foundations are held superior to national or international heritage interests and is usually associated with the corruption of a culture in which there is no or no adequate process to safeguard a townscape. It is considered inherently dishonest. I have heard the word in association with Corregidor, yes.
|
|
|
Post by Registrar on Sept 20, 2014 8:00:56 GMT 8
I did a long reply to this, and am annoyed at myself that I managed to lose it. So this reply will be brief.
The Philippines is a wonderful place, but it tends to operate via chismis (gossip), all the more the further you get from Manila. Being known to have had a WWII BAR (even an inoperable one, even temporarily) can be awkward if there is someone who doesn't like you. Nor can the PNP be relied upon to operate in accordance with what we might understand as the rule of law. Thus it can be wise to have positive proof of a negative fact - that you DON't have such things any more, they being properly disposed of to a proper place, namely a museum.
In this regard, Bob was very wise.
Besides, it is good practice for a museum to have an audit trail for donations, for if it doesn't, it's being neglectful.
Many donations to the Corregidor museum do not appear to have been put on display. This might be because they don't have the funds to create displays. Irrespective, stuff we've donated has never been seen again.
|
|
|
Post by Registrar on Aug 18, 2014 12:14:41 GMT 8
There are 3,734 unknowns buried at Manila American Cemetery. If John Eakin is right, that number will soon be reduced by ten. By way of background, one of our extended circle (John Eakin) has been involved in litigation against the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) concerning - amongst other issues - their constructive non-involvement in identifying unknowns interred at the Manila American Cemetery. Throughout the course of the litigation, the attitude of officialdom has been the denial that a problem existed, it being cheaper to use litigation to delay the fixing of the problem, than to fix actually move to fix the problem itself. The problem never goes away, but the pay is good, and you can make a career of non-accomplishment. Such is the way of bureaucracies, which would rather waste hundreds of millions of dollars pretending to be useful, than actually being it.
This week, Dr. Thomas D. Holland, Scientific Director & Deputy to the Commander for Central Identification Laboratory Operations, announced that he has been dismissed effective January 1, 2015. Sources said that Holland’s subordinates, Dr. John Byrd, Director of JPAC’s Central Identification Laboratory and his deputy Dr. William Belcher, were also being dismissed. It is widely expected that Maj. Gen. Kelly K. McKeague, JPAC Commander and Mr. Johnie E. Webb, Deputy to the Commander for External Relations and Legislative Affairs will also be removed along with others being held responsible for failing to recover the remains of missing American Servicemembers. While it appears that Holland was given the opportunity to go quietly, he appears intent on totally disgracing himself by forcing the Department of Defense to publicly reveal the details of a major investigation conducted by the DoD Inspector General. In spite of instructions not to do so, Holland pseudo tearfully announced his firing to several hundred Korean War MIA families gathered in Washington for briefings on the progress of efforts to recover their missing family members. Holland has also encouraged his subordinates to organize a letter writing campaign directed at Secretary of Defense Hagel and members of Congress. These letters all appear to have used the same script and praise Holland’s many awards, but fail to note that he has squandered hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and has few identifications to show for it. Last year his lab identified only fifty-five MIA’s and so far this year only twenty-five. Nor do the letter writers note that the CIL has nearly two-thousand sets of remains backlogged in their warehouse. Along with Holland, most observers also credit Johnie Webb with the abject failure of the Department of Defense to recover the remains of the fallen from America’s wars. Webb, is a retired U.S. Army officer who has been continuously associated with JPAC and the predecessor agencies since 1975[/quote] .
|
|
|
Post by Registrar on Aug 11, 2014 11:07:11 GMT 8
Proboards free storage of user-supplied images is no longer available to us, as the quota has long ago been filled. Essentially I am reluctant to delete the contents of the free-storage because it will leave a lot of threads and posts without their images. Instead, users are encouraged to learn to use a free hosting service, or to acquire some subscription storage.
It seems to me that a good number of our members seem to prefer photobucket, but I have subscription storage and don't know the ins and outs of the free hosting providers.
|
|
|
Post by Registrar on Aug 4, 2014 9:06:38 GMT 8
Condolence to our colleague and fellow scholar, Dr. Rico Trota-José, former chairman of the History Department of the University of the Philippines College of Social Sciences & Philosophy, whose wife, Dr. Lydia Yu-José, passed away yesterday. Dr. Yu-José 's remains lie in state at the Premium Chapel A, Loyola Memorial Chapel and Crematorium, Marikina City.
|
|