Lanier (APA 125) - Naval Cruise Book

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Fleet landing, Manila Village street, Paferos, Philippine ls. Chinese cemetery, Manila Native dwellings, Bambang, 10 mi. SE of Manila O O I X some MW ,mea HOSE last days at Bataan and Corregidor run the gauntlet of imagination as one views the two spots from topside, one on the port hand, the other on the starboard. lnto one's mind spring scenes of trying days, horrible waiting and bombs-scenes of imagina- tion which may or may not have been surpassed in actuality. Only those who survived will know. ' As the LANIER entered the great harbor at Manila, ships were visible almost as far as the eye could see. Hundreds 'and hundreds of ships, some half-submerged but still visible at rakish angles, filled the harbor in all directions. Ships were limited in their inner-harbor maneuvering because of the clutter of abandoned, sunken Japanese hulls and masts which 'protruded from the water's surface. Navy planes accounted for a great number of ships sunk. Arriving from Japan, the LANIER dropped its hook in the Manila harbor on l October, 1945. The first day after arrival Captain Cloud addressed all hands'on liberty in Manila, a talk which was taken in the right spirit and used advantageously., ' Manila gives every evidence of having been second to no large city of comparable size in pre-war mag- nificence. lts modern, air-cooled buildings, of which there are many pictures and descriptions, are indicative of a prosperity which may take many years to regain. Manila boasts one of the earliest Universities, in its Santo Tomas, built in lol l, as well as a culture founded on efforts of early Catholic missionaries. Catholicism is the dominant religion. Wreckage in Manila compares with some in Japan, except that the intrinsic value of the properties de- stroyed in Manila is much greater. The tall downtown buildings, which lie spilled over sidewalks, may con- tain the entombed bodies of hundreds of victims. On a still day the stench of some sections lingers. The ancient Walled City, remnants of which are represented on these pages in pictures, was damaged most heavily by American artillery fire. The Japanese selected the natural fortifications as one of their last defensive positions in Manila. The walls of the city vary between four and six feet in thickness, making anything but di- rect hitsgineffective.

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OCCUPATION OF NAGASAKI-Continued The atomic bomb, said to have exploded about l,8O0 feetfrom the ground, seared off surrounding hills and tore leaves, branches and all, from the several trees still standing. Many of the trees showed absolutely no signs of burning, but rather resembled results of some super-human monster with an urge to whittle. Atop this one end of the valley one can see the best results, or the worst, de- pending upon one's classification as a realist or humanitarian. In the main, the homes' debris revealed the sector was probably a wealthy one, as evidenced by the site itself, which overlooked the valley and the bay, and by the finding of a great number of electrical appliances such as clocks, motors, fans, sew- ing machines, flashlights, meters, etc., as well as sinks, stoves, fireplaces, chinaware and tile. From these heights, looking down on the devastation, the scene resembled a huge city dump, level with tin cans and rubbish. One could walk in any direction without being hindered in his roaming by brick walls, rem- nants of collapsed homes or anything similar. A pitiful scene confronted the sight-seers on the hill overlooking atomic valley. A cluster of ll Japanese had cultivated a small plot of ground around a shack built of scrap metal, tin street signs and miscellaneous boards. In this squalor the Japanese lived. Even as the pictorial story unfolded results of this-the most revolutionary weapon of all time-the group could not help but wonder what a future war would involve, whether it could reduce whole cities as this one area had been reduced-completely, swiftly, ter- ribly. Assorted iunkf flashlight, Singer sewing machine, gas meter dial, electric fan, clock

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The impression of war-time Manila is one of busi- ness, confusion, sailors and soldiers. But farther out, away from the vast stretch of territory known as Manila, a more genteel population dwells. Here still is found many Filipino schedules barely touched by war. Quaint villages but lO miles away from Manila reveal a large proportion' of its people as essentially home-loving, industrious and tillers of the soil. Rice fields make geometric patterns in the landscape. One characteristic of many native villages is an abundance History-making spot, Corregiclor Corregidor Japanese vessel, Manila harbor lntramuros, Manila Carabao-boys Pagoda, Chinese cemetery 1-,ssh llllll lllllll lil!!!