As mentioned in an earlier story, my father was in the Army Air Corp, as top sergeant in charge of his light bomber squadron's armorers....keeping the machine guns working/loaded, as well as the bombs fused and etc.

After we'd invaded and retaken parts of the Philippines his unit was one of earliest air units sent there. Their main plane was the A-20 Havoc bomber, which was well suited to close ground support. Dad was able to get a weekend pass in Manilla. As I recall, Dad said it'd been a long time since his unit had been somewhere there was a place to visit.

So, Dad is seeing the sights of Manilla. As you may know, the retaking of Manilla from the Japanese was done street by street. So, much damage was done to the city.

Dad's story.

"I'm walking down the city streets and each block was the same. Walls of building missing, bullets holes everywhere, I'd seldom see a window with its glass intact, rubble everywhere. Then I came to an intersection with an MP on the corner and turned to walk down it. Much to my surprise, not a single building on the block had any damage of any kind that I could see. When I got to end of the block, there was another MP on its corner. On this corner I could look any direction but the street I'd just walked down and see destruction. I had paused and looked in all directions and was looking back down the untouched street when the MP said to me, kinda strange isn't it. Yea, I replied, every where I've been in Manilla its been shot to hell. Why not here? The MP smiled and said, some guy named General Douglas MacArthur owns a couple of building on this block and for some reason no fighting took place here.....now you know why me and the other MP are on duty on this block."

I think you've got to take some war stories with a grain of salt. My uncle, who was a Brandenburger, those guys who hung around Otto Skzorzenny, no doubt about that, he's listed in the regimental history. He told my brother, on a visit to Germany, that he was one of a party who infiltrated into England, ahead of the planned invasion to gather intelligence.


Grizz