Appreciating History in Manila American Cemetery

Marble crosses standing silently amidst a well-manicured lawn greeted me upon entering a solemn gate east of Manila. Away from the annoying noise of the urban jungle, this place had become a shrine that reflected the deep historical ties that the Philippines and the United States share.

Having visited Metro Manila for many times now, I wonder if there are still known places I’ve never been to and it turned out that there are still places that ordinary vagabonds wouldn’t probably do: visiting memorials and cemeteries.

Located in Fort Bonifacio, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial resonates with solemnity. It is the largest cemetery site administered by the United States Government judging by the number of graves and of those missing whose names are recorded in the walls of the memorial.




I can still remember my first plane ride to Manila when I saw neatly-lined rows of crosses as viewed from the plane’s window. All my life, I really thought that it is the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

But I was wrong.

The 62-hectare Manila American Cemetery and Memorial has 17,206 graves dedicated to the American Soldiers during World War II who got killed in the line of duty and to those who went missing. It also holds the remains of war victims from the Philippines and from other nations. The headstones are made of marble which are aligned in eleven plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery. 11 burial plots are arranged in concentric rings around the Memorial and the Mall. The majority of the white marble headstones were quarried and fabricated in Italy. A small quantity came from Romblon, Philippines.

Aside from headstones, it also has a circular Wall of the Missing with engraved tablets that honor 36, 286 Missing in Action who gave their lives in the service of their country, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients. The Memorial consists of the tower containing the small devotional chapel, and two hemicycles in front which embrace the Memorial Court. The Chapel’s sculpture represents a young American warrior symbolized by St. George, fighting his enemy which is a dragon. Above them are the ideals for which he fought: liberty, justice, country and Columbia with a child symbolizing the future.


When I’ll be back in Manila, I would surely take time visiting other cemeteries there, including the Libingan ng mga Bayani and the Paco Cemetery, where Rizal was buried. Places like this make you contemplate and appreciate history.

 Louie.