Impressions of Manila - 1945

Manila April 10, 1945

From David Whittlesey's Logbook

Nearly all the outfit went into the city of Manila today.  We got there about 8 am.  It was the first modern city I’ve seen that has been flattened by bombing and shelling.

 After going ashore a large group of us wandered around the southwest side not knowing where to go.  We lost most of the gang here – only three left in my party.  We decided to get a look at the famous walled city in the south side of town.  After crossing bridges, tramping for many miles we found the place and another gang of our boys.  One joined us.  We were turned away from the entrance to the walled city by an M.P. who told us it was off limits.  Many soldiers & sailors had been getting killed there by booby traps.

 The four of us then stared off for the main part of town.  On the way we were joined by a 2nd Lt. of the Filipino Scouts.  He wore his bar on the inside of his cap for he wasn’t very happy about being an officer.  He stayed with us until about 2pm when we headed back for the boat.

I would have liked to have seen Manila before the war.  It must have been a nice spot.  Many years from now it might be again built up but now there just aren’t very many buildings standing and in good condition.

To the children everyone in the U.S. Army is named Joe.  It’s “Hello Joe” from morning till night, from the sough-side to the north-side.  Many of the children can speak enough English to do business and a good percentage of the adults know the English language.

Manila will soon be our base so we’ll have a chance to see first hand the attempts to rebuild the city.