Post by Karl Welteke on Jan 22, 2018 16:19:02 GMT 8
THE BELLS OF BALANGIGA, AN ESSAY
6th Segment.
Other bells were returned, history says!
It is a most interesting story that is why I like to present it here.
It was written by RADM. Dan McKinnon USN Ret. I admire him; he is an Officer who cares. I believe he was one the MAIN Players who helped convince Congress to accept the responsibility for the Clark Veterans Cemetery!
You should be able to download the essay with this URL:
img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/056f62b8-1401-4d48-adf3-2756236c1904/downloads/1bt3q8mbj_135384.pdf
I just copied some pictures, the descriptions and parts of a few paragraphs from the essay and present them here to raise your interest!.
The Bells of Balangiga are not the first religious bells taken in conflict and brought to the United States and returned later.
Za577 The Naval Academy duplicate of the original bell returned to Japan by the U. S. Navy. From the essay, page 41.
Perhaps the most notable of bells brought to the U.S. as a product of war were those taken from Japan. The first was by Commodore Perry brought back from his Japan Expedition in 1854, a large bell made in 1456 that was displayed on the United States Naval Academy campus and for over a century has been rung to celebrate important Midshipmen athletic victories. In 1987 it was returned to the Prefecture of Okinawa as “a gesture of goodwill” and an identical substitute given to the Academy by Japan. Like the original it is now in place in front of Bancroft Hall and struck heartedly to celebrate athletic victory. The 1456 bell was considered important for cultural and historical reasons by this late enemy and was personally presented to Okinawa’s Shuri Historical Museum by U.S. Marine Corps officer, Vietnam veteran, then Secretary of the Navy, and later Senator, James Webb. From the essay, page 40.
Za578. Bells being taken from Holland to be smelted down in Germany to make weapons for World War II.
Bells being taken from Holland to be smelted down in Germany to make weapons for World War
II. The “Monuments Men” made sure that after the war any that were left went home to their
churches. Russian treatment of Nazi bells did not match the honor of American soldiers.
Japan and Russia are not the only adversaries that have benefited from an American ethos. From the essay, page 42.
Za579. The “San Pedro Bell”, a campana, displayed at the Most Holy
Trinity Chapel at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
The “San Pedro Bell”, a campana, displayed at the Most Holy
Trinity Chapel at the United States Military Academy at West Point. It was
taken from the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, founded in 1587 in Bauang,
La Union, Republic of the Philippines, during the Philippine American War
and sent to West Point in 1915 by Thomas Barry, the 27th Superintendent.
Like the bell from the U.S. Naval Academy returned to Japan, the San Pedro
Bell was returned by West Point to its church in La Union by the U.S.
Military Academy. Its history is almost identical to the two campana in
Wyoming. From the essay, page 45
Za580. The U.S. Naval Academy diorama, “Ripley at the Bridge”, the Dong Ha Bridge 1972.
The U.S. Naval Academy diorama, “Ripley at the Bridge”, displaying heroism of a Marine responsible for returning religious bells to Japan. More like him are needed.
When reviewing the history of bells going home to Japan, again one man’s name stands out, John Ripley. A 1962 graduate of the Naval Academy, as a Colonel he became its Senior Marine and Director of English and History. He later commanded the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) NROTC program. This is the same John Ripley that blew up “The Bridge at Dong Ha”; is honored by a Naval Academy diorama “Ripley at the Bridge” as a center of Marine Corps history and heritage; who shares with one other Marine the distinction of having more combat experience than any other active Marine with 26 major operations at the rifle company and battalion level; is widely mentioned in books on combat; who earned both the Navy Cross and Silver Star along with two Bronze Stars and two Legions of Merit, the Purple Heart, and other personal decorations; and was the first Marine to receive the Naval Academy’s Distinguished Graduate Award. He was the only Marine to be inducted in the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame. He held the “Quad Body” distinction for having made it through four of the toughest military training programs in the world; the Army Rangers, Marine Reconnaissance, Army Airborne, and Britain’s Royal Marines.
Colonel John Ripley was the one individual most responsible for returning VMI’s and the Naval Academy bells to Japan; a country arguably the most vicious enemy the United States has experienced in two centuries. From the essay pages 46 to 48.
Note from Karl: I served in Viet Nam at that time, my 3rd time!
Za581. Painting by Bataan Death March survivor Ben Steele showing a Filipino family giving rice to Americans.
Painting by Bataan Death March survivor Ben Steele showing a Filipino family giving rice to
Americans; courage and generosity that often resulted in the bayoneting of women and children.
Courtesy of Mrs. Ben (Shirley) Steele. From the essay page 43.
Note from Karl: this last image is a reminder that the Philippines were maybe our closest allied nation on our side and stood by us from 1941 to 1946.
6th Segment.
Other bells were returned, history says!
It is a most interesting story that is why I like to present it here.
It was written by RADM. Dan McKinnon USN Ret. I admire him; he is an Officer who cares. I believe he was one the MAIN Players who helped convince Congress to accept the responsibility for the Clark Veterans Cemetery!
You should be able to download the essay with this URL:
img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/056f62b8-1401-4d48-adf3-2756236c1904/downloads/1bt3q8mbj_135384.pdf
I just copied some pictures, the descriptions and parts of a few paragraphs from the essay and present them here to raise your interest!.
The Bells of Balangiga are not the first religious bells taken in conflict and brought to the United States and returned later.
Za577 The Naval Academy duplicate of the original bell returned to Japan by the U. S. Navy. From the essay, page 41.
Perhaps the most notable of bells brought to the U.S. as a product of war were those taken from Japan. The first was by Commodore Perry brought back from his Japan Expedition in 1854, a large bell made in 1456 that was displayed on the United States Naval Academy campus and for over a century has been rung to celebrate important Midshipmen athletic victories. In 1987 it was returned to the Prefecture of Okinawa as “a gesture of goodwill” and an identical substitute given to the Academy by Japan. Like the original it is now in place in front of Bancroft Hall and struck heartedly to celebrate athletic victory. The 1456 bell was considered important for cultural and historical reasons by this late enemy and was personally presented to Okinawa’s Shuri Historical Museum by U.S. Marine Corps officer, Vietnam veteran, then Secretary of the Navy, and later Senator, James Webb. From the essay, page 40.
Za578. Bells being taken from Holland to be smelted down in Germany to make weapons for World War II.
Bells being taken from Holland to be smelted down in Germany to make weapons for World War
II. The “Monuments Men” made sure that after the war any that were left went home to their
churches. Russian treatment of Nazi bells did not match the honor of American soldiers.
Japan and Russia are not the only adversaries that have benefited from an American ethos. From the essay, page 42.
Za579. The “San Pedro Bell”, a campana, displayed at the Most Holy
Trinity Chapel at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
The “San Pedro Bell”, a campana, displayed at the Most Holy
Trinity Chapel at the United States Military Academy at West Point. It was
taken from the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, founded in 1587 in Bauang,
La Union, Republic of the Philippines, during the Philippine American War
and sent to West Point in 1915 by Thomas Barry, the 27th Superintendent.
Like the bell from the U.S. Naval Academy returned to Japan, the San Pedro
Bell was returned by West Point to its church in La Union by the U.S.
Military Academy. Its history is almost identical to the two campana in
Wyoming. From the essay, page 45
Za580. The U.S. Naval Academy diorama, “Ripley at the Bridge”, the Dong Ha Bridge 1972.
The U.S. Naval Academy diorama, “Ripley at the Bridge”, displaying heroism of a Marine responsible for returning religious bells to Japan. More like him are needed.
When reviewing the history of bells going home to Japan, again one man’s name stands out, John Ripley. A 1962 graduate of the Naval Academy, as a Colonel he became its Senior Marine and Director of English and History. He later commanded the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) NROTC program. This is the same John Ripley that blew up “The Bridge at Dong Ha”; is honored by a Naval Academy diorama “Ripley at the Bridge” as a center of Marine Corps history and heritage; who shares with one other Marine the distinction of having more combat experience than any other active Marine with 26 major operations at the rifle company and battalion level; is widely mentioned in books on combat; who earned both the Navy Cross and Silver Star along with two Bronze Stars and two Legions of Merit, the Purple Heart, and other personal decorations; and was the first Marine to receive the Naval Academy’s Distinguished Graduate Award. He was the only Marine to be inducted in the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame. He held the “Quad Body” distinction for having made it through four of the toughest military training programs in the world; the Army Rangers, Marine Reconnaissance, Army Airborne, and Britain’s Royal Marines.
Colonel John Ripley was the one individual most responsible for returning VMI’s and the Naval Academy bells to Japan; a country arguably the most vicious enemy the United States has experienced in two centuries. From the essay pages 46 to 48.
Note from Karl: I served in Viet Nam at that time, my 3rd time!
Za581. Painting by Bataan Death March survivor Ben Steele showing a Filipino family giving rice to Americans.
Painting by Bataan Death March survivor Ben Steele showing a Filipino family giving rice to
Americans; courage and generosity that often resulted in the bayoneting of women and children.
Courtesy of Mrs. Ben (Shirley) Steele. From the essay page 43.
Note from Karl: this last image is a reminder that the Philippines were maybe our closest allied nation on our side and stood by us from 1941 to 1946.