The Americans were rapidly pushing inland. On January 29, 1945, elements of the 8th Army under General Eichelberger landed at San Antonio, Zambales to push towards Bataan. On January 31, 1945, the rest of the 8 th Army landed at Nasugbu, Batangas and raced towards Manila, reaching the city on February 3 where they faced fierce and desperate resistance from an enemy determined to stand and hold - or die. An orgy of murder, looting and rape ensued: buildings were burned and destroyed by the Japanese and the savage barrage of American artillery earning Manila the distinction of being the 2nd most devastated city of WWII , next only to Stalingrad.
Corregidor was recaptured on March 20. Baguio was taken on April 27. When Manila was finally liberated on June 28, 1945 retribution followed. Known collaborators were bludgeoned to death with hammer blows to the head; blood flowed on the streets - pent up hate and repressed emotion released after an orgy of violence. Military police were called in to put a stop to the beast inherent in man.
The communications facility and motor pool were no longer needed in Calaocan and were transferred to the main facility n Bonuan, Dagupan. Warren visited the family before he left for his new assignment, gifting them with boxes of M & M's, woolen blankets and a fluffy pillow for Muriel. He draped an arm around Gorio's shoulder and boarded his service jeep. They watched the jeep as it disappeared in a cloud of dust. That was the last they saw of him, yet they always treasured memories of his blue eyes and infectious smile.
On August 6, 1945 , an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima which killed close to a hundred thousand people. Another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, three days later, again killing nearly a hundred thousand people - an unimagined hell which lent visions of Armageddon. To romantics who glorified war, there is no better argument than these monstrous examples of mass destruction. John Donne wrote: " Any man's death diminishes me for I am involved in mankind ... ". How would he describe man's inhumanity to man?
The Japanese finally surrendered on August 15, 1945 and signed formal surrender documents aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri on September 2, 1945.
On July 4, 1946, the Philippines was granted independence by the United States.
She sat on a rattan chair on a verandah, her hands clutching the hugeness of her belly, looking inside the sala where Bernabe lay on his back bouncing the little girl on the arch of his feet while the two boys chorused : " Seesaw ... up and down. Seesaw ... up and down." She smiled, closed her eyes and let out a deep contented smile. A steady rain was falling, soaking the earth, awakening the hearts of little seeds and washing away the grime of a long, hot summer. The long, uncertain journey into the darkness was over. The baby inside her stirred.
Finis
Ernesto A. Aquino
@ To my mother, Flora Ante Aquino, a kind and generous woman. She loved children.
