Everywhere: Articles: Corregidor; echoes of War In the Pacific.

The saga of America's defending, losing, then re-taking the island of Corregidor, a place where the lasting bond between Filipino freedom fighters and the GI was forged.

Corregidor: Paradise Lost by Merlin Peck

With its lush green vegetation, beaches, and blue waters, Corregidor hints of a tropical paradise. A closer look reveals it's violent past.

The name, “Corregidor” derives from the Spanish era when the island was used as a “correctional” facility, or prison. The American presence began with the defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American war.

I was amazed at the extent of the old military base. It was the size of a medium-sized city with paved streets, barracks, administration buildings, and nearly a score of batteries, big-gun emplacemnts, all of which, however, now lay in complete and utter ruin. On every hand we saw the skeletal remains of concrete halls and barracks with partially standing, battered walls, twisted re-bar, collapsed roofs and floor slabs. The mangled remains of our big guns was especially awe inspiring.

Now, the name, “Corregidor” not only conjures up images of rubble and mangled guns.