Martes, Agosto 30, 2011

Clark Veteran's Cemetery (Angeles City, Pampanga)


Yesterday, I accompanied a special someone to Bruno’s – the more masculine version of our usual and traditional salon. He had a his hair cut, hair color, facial, massage and who knows what else; it took two hours before his stylist let him go.

Gone were the days where the guys would only go to the salon for a haircut and that’s it, guys now are even more vein than us girls. And before I forget, he had a pedicure earlier courtesy of whoelsebutme. I was so nervous doing that, I don’t actually trust myself when it comes to having my own nails done, let alone doing it for someone else. But to my credit, I only heard him say “Ouch!” twice.

Yeah, he is more vain than I am and I adore him more for that. He looks so cute with a steamer in his head. I actually wanted to take his picture. But I’m not sure if he’ll let me. But anyways, while I was waiting for him, I happened to browse on some architectural magazine that features some old cemeteries in the Philippines, most of them on the southern part of the country.

I am always fascinated with cemeteries. I remember as a young girl, I used to visit one in particular, bring some flowers for the graves of people I don’t know. I would often wonder about the story of the person buried in that plot.

I find cemeteries interesting, mysterious and peaceful even. One can just imagine how many lessons, stories and anecdotes the “permanent residents” can tell us – if only the dead can talk.

So I decided to do some research. So where to start? Since I am in Angeles, I decided to google some of the city’s well-known “resting places” and one in particular caught my attention: The Clark Veterans’ Cemetery. According to a website on the park’s restoration commission, this particular cemetery is not state funded so the people behind it is finding ways to have it restored and taken care of. Which I think is just the right thing to do, given the fact that most soldiers who were interred there were taken away from their families and loved ones from the states, were shipped here in the Philippines and met their untimely death here. Most of them probably were not seen again by their loved ones.

So I checked on the interment section of the site and look for the people who were buried there and this have caught my attention.

Ralph Waldo Corliss Jr. – dependent of Ralph W. Corliss USAF
Infant son of Preciolita V. Corliss and Ralph W. Corliss who was then stationed in Clark field and died of a tragic accident in 1957. He died just outside Clark’s main gate when his jeep was struck by an on-coming train. His wife tried to sue the Manila Railroad Company but the lower court ruled the accident as a miscalculation on the Soldier’s part. Ralph’s body was flown back to the US and later that year, his wife gave birth to the son, who also died and was buried at Clark Veteran’s Cemetery.

I find this story tragic and disturbing. The couple married in 1957 when he was 21 and she was 19. At the time of Ralph’s death, Preciolita was pregrant with their son. What caused of the son’s death is unknown but loosing a husband and a child in a matter of months is unimaginable.

Aside from the tragic stories of the soldiers that were buried in Clark’s Veteran’s Cemetery, the Cemetery itself may face a tragic fate without the help of concerned groups.

Clark Veterans Cemetery was consigned to oblivion in 1991, when Mount Pinatubo's gigantic eruption forced the U.S. to abandon the sprawling air base surrounding it. Most of the grave markers have been half-buried for 20 years, and there is little hope that the volcanic ash obscuring names, dates and epitaphs will be cleared any time soon.

As Vietnam War veteran and ex-Navy officer Robert Chesko said, “It’s the veteran’s cemetery that America forgot”

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