 The United States Army presents The Big Picture, an official report produced for the armed forces and the American people. When you're in the Army, you get a chance to do a lot of traveling, see a lot of sites, and meet all kinds of interesting people. For me, some of the most interesting have been right here in our own country. My name's Sergeant Stuart Queen, host for The Big Picture. A good percentage of ideas for The Big Picture is taken right out of our history books. Other stories feature current Army activities of interest to the nation. But once in a while, something unusual comes along, tying in the present with the past, and we come up with a warm, human-interest story. In my work, I get around the country quite a bit. It's part of my job, and whenever I'm in this particular vicinity, along this stretch of road, I stop by a faint little restaurant called Charlie's Harbor Inn. Because it was here at Charlie's, this story happened some months ago. It was right here I discovered for myself that truth can be stranger than fiction. It was the kind of incident you read about in a novel, or see in a great B movie. But if anyone told you it was a true story, well, nobody believed it in a thousand years, and I wouldn't blame them. But this story really did happen. I know. Because I was there when it did, and I saw it all. Hello, Officer. Is this your car? Yeah, why? That's why. So help me, Officer. I didn't even know it was there. Let me see your license. Look, Officer, I've only been here about ten minutes. Yeah, I know. I was just making an important phone call. Don't I know you from somewhere? Now look here, Officer. I'm an honest, law-abiding citizen. I've never been in trouble with a police or anybody else. Why, I never even... Hey, okay, forget it. You ever been in the service? Yeah, but what's that got to do with it? Never mind that. Just answer the question. When did you serve? World War II, in the Army. Where? What part of the world? The Pacific. Say, what is this, an inquisition all the day was? Take it easy, buddy. Take it easy. Where in the Pacific? It started in Australia. Then New Guinea, Britain, the Admiralty's. And let's see, the Philippines. The Philippines? Where in the Philippines? Mostly, Lady in Lausanne. Aha, Lausanne! We hid Linge and Gulf, then right down to Manila. You were in the Battle of Manila? From the kickoff to the final whistle. Santo Tomas. Mean anything to you? I rode the back of the first tank in. I thought I recognized you. Me? From where? From Santo Tomas. You see, I was one of the civilian prisoners there on Manila that you and your outfit liberated. No kidding. Yeah. Well, if this don't beat... Well, if this ain't the... Look, you got a minute? Sure. Let me buy you a cup of coffee. Yeah, sure. Well, who ever thought this? Well, I didn't ever believe it. I know that. After all these years. Here was a veteran of World War II. And here was a man he helped liberate. Both meeting for the first time since that historic Battle of Manila in 1945. Thank you, sir. Peg, will you get us a couple of cups of coffee? Two cups of coffee? As I said before, a true story, stranger than fiction, taking place right before my eyes. You vatted a few pounds here and there. Food's better over here. And the wife's a good cook. Say, don't I remember your wife at Santo Tomas kind of frail? That's right. After you arrived, we had to take her out on a stretcher. How is she now? Couldn't be better. Matter of fact, we got four kids. Four? Yeah. That's great. My wife and I often talk about those days. We never did get much of a chance to thank you and your outfit for liberating us. I'll never forget the first day you arrived at Santo Tomas. How'd your outfit get there so soon? Well, it was all part of the stepped up liberation of the Philippines. As I recall, you really want to hear about it? Yeah, I sure would. Well, as I recall, the GIs had taken Lady and landed on Mindoro, the island directly south of Luzon. So my outfit and a lot of others were ready for the main event. We hit the beach at Lingayan Gulf about 100 miles north of Manila. We thought we'd be moving right into the teeth of Jap resistance, but we were wrong. That was to come later. We pushed on down the valley toward Manila, cleaning out little pockets of resistance where we found them. But ahead of us, Air Force and Navy planes were softening up the way, wondering what had happened to the enemy. And for a while there, it looked like we were tourists having ourselves a real ball. Along the way, one of the GIs picked up an innocent looking piece of paper which turned out to be a Japanese field order. The GIs stated, all Filipinos found on the field of battle were subject to immediate execution. This applied to all Filipinos in Manila. Filipino guerrillas brought in reports that American and Allied prisoners were starving and being mistreated in the city. So we stepped up the pace in the outskirts of Manila and finally established contact with the enemy. But we soon lost it, and we realized that the Japs were withdrawing to the heart of the city. At Grace Park, where the monument stands, snipers took pot-shot status and slowed down our advance somewhat. And the only satisfaction I recall here was that my outfit was the first to enter Manila proper. Both suddenly developed in, of all places, Rizal Stadium, Manila's baseball park. The enemy had dug himself in under the stands and we slugged it out with him with no cover. No game today. We raced into the University of Santo Tomas and liberated along with you hundreds of American and Allied internees. It had been three years since this pathetic group of prisoners had seen a free American or a square meal. Everyone in Santo Tomas was fortunate that there had been U.S. Army and Navy nurses who had been captured on Corregidor to care for you during those dark years. After we arrived, wires were sent home by the internees and many replies came back in a few hours, affecting some noticeably. But for everyone, the liberation was a big celebration party. Kids who'd had no toys for three years now had giant-sized ones. And all of us were discussing how wonderful it was that the nightmare was over. At last, the nightmare wasn't all over. The enemy started shelling us at Santo Tomas. We saw internees who'd survived the three years as prisoners killed by the incoming fire. I'll never forget how the shelling of this non-military target continued for several days while we evacuated the seriously ill and injured. Finally, the shelling of Santo Tomas led up. The Japs needed their artillery fire more urgently elsewhere. Then the internees were evacuated to the states, most of them by plane. But I guess you'd remember more about that evacuation than I would. I'll never forget it. If you'd been a few more days rescuing us, I don't think my wife could have held out. But she made it okay, thanks to you and your buddies. That's the way the ball bounces. You never know when you can help the next guy. Yeah. I remember when I left Luzon, the battle in Manila seemed to be getting worse. Yeah, it sure was. What were the excitement of going back to the states after being a prisoner for three years? I never did get the dope straight on how the final stages of the battle went. It's all kind of fuzzy in my mind. All I know is we won, but it was quite a scrap, wasn't it? It was rough. Yeah. I know. How'd you make it after I left? Well, we got ourselves a good taste of street fighting. Being jungle GIs up till then, we found we had a lot to learn about fighting in city streets and big office buildings. But we learned fast. Combat is one thing for sure, a good teacher. How'd you come out? Oh, me personally, okay, but not so for some of the others. The deeper we got into Manila, the more fanatical the Jap resistance became. They couldn't escape and they wouldn't surrender, so they fought till they died, most of them anyway. Our casualties were heavy. And the more we moved into the heart of the city, the more the enemy took advantage of the huge government buildings for defensive positions. Some of the buildings had to be ripped apart stone by stone before we could continue our advance. The enemy defensive plan soon became apparent. He was fighting delaying actions to allow his troops to cross the Pusig River which cuts Manila east and west right through the middle. We pressed forward as fast as we could through fantastic tangles of broken buildings. Jap unit crossed the Pusig River, a bridge was destroyed, leaving one less for us when we reached the river. Our troops found out the hard way just about all there is to know about street to street building to building combat. And the more we learned, the faster we moved, denying the enemy the advantage of a leisurely withdrawal. Those Japs who couldn't pull back dug in and fought till they died. Many Filipinos braved front-line fire, handing out cigars or candy to show their gratitude to us. Hold Manila or burn it. The torch was put to those parts of Manila the Japs could no longer hold. One end of Manila to the other. And through all of the inferno, the GIs kept up the initiative, carrying the attack forward toward the Pusig River. Equipment which had survived the street fighting was used, but it was hardly worth the effort. Fire gained momentum, burning city blocks at a time, consuming everything in its path that would burn. And it seemed to reach its peak of destruction at night. Battle of Manila had reached a decisive phase. We were north of the Pusig River, and the Japs were south and moving into the famed old walled city called Intramurals. We kept the enemy pinned down with our fire while we brought up troops to prepare for a boat crossing of the Pusig. Sometimes we saw General MacArthur supervising the direction of battle. At one moment he gazed out across Manila Harbor at an island of rock called Corregidor. No doubt he recalled how the Japanese had attacked the Philippines in December 1941. Warmed over Corregidor. No doubt, too, the General had many times pondered the fate of his troops who were outnumbered, out of ammunition, food and medical supplies, and thus compelled to surrender. The tide of hope had reached its lowest ebb for Americans when General Jonathan Wainwright sat at the surrender table. And the American flag was lowered on Corregidor. One thing General MacArthur wanted more information about. The condition of the prisoners taken on Corregidor and elsewhere in the Philippines. The word had gotten around about the death march. The forced march of the American prisoners by the Japanese which caused many to die. These were the troops the General had in mind when he returned to the Philippines. The General had all of those depressing memories of 1942 to consider while he directed the battle in Manila three years later during February 1945. An isolated pocket of Jap resistance developed in Manila's city prison called Bilibit. Filipinos brought in word that American prisoners, many captured on Corregidor, were being held in Bilibit. We stepped up the attack and raced toward the city prison. Inside Bilibit, we wiped out the Japs and found the GI prisoners starved, abused, old beyond their years. But, possessing an undaunted spirit, they lined up for Chow with a three-year appetite. These were young fighting men on Corregidor. Now they were no longer young, but they were alive. While the battle raged on, preparations were made for an aerial invasion of Corregidor. But Manila could not be secure without Corregidor in our hands. A parachute jump would be coordinated with an amphibious landing on the island fortress. Air Force and Navy pounded the rock while the troop carriers flew in the parachutists. And when the drop zone on Corregidor was lined up, there was nothing left to do but jump. Seized their objectives on top of the island, an amphibious task force hit the beaches. The drop of supplies. For at first, everything was delivered by parachute. Corregidor was lightly defended. Every jab there fought a fanatical battle. While the island fighting continued, the battle in Manila was going into the final phases. All of the enemy forces alive had withdrawn into the walled city south of the Pesee River. Now the jabs literally had their backs to the wall. They couldn't escape and wouldn't surrender. So we got set for the final round. The plan roughly was to concentrate our artillery, mortar and small arms fire on the enemy while we crossed the Pesee. Wire communications were strung to assure the closest coordination of overhead fire. Finally when everything was all set, the order was given to commence firing. We lined up assault boats and amphibious tracked vehicles and then made the first river crossing attempt. We had no way of knowing how successful our concentration of fire had been on the enemy in the walled city. But we found that they apparently were effective since the only incoming fire on us was small arms. We started firing across the river, getting established on the south side and moving toward the closest wall of the walled city. All of us knew by now that the toughest barrier of Manila was directly ahead. The 14 foot thick wall of Intramurals. While we approached our objective, our artillery and tracked vehicles gave us direct fire support. Between the river and the walled city was an open park area. And as we moved over it, we realized that this was the first open spot we had crossed since the battle of Manila had begun. The closer we got to the walled city, the more we saw the effectiveness of our artillery and mortar fire in softening up the enemy positions. Filipinos willingly pointed out prepared defensive positions of the enemy. The outside wall took a great deal of probing to find the proper place to make the assault. For breaching this fortress was no easy matter regardless of how much artillery we had poured into it. But we finally cracked it. Once inside Intramurals, the city within the walls, the battle was suddenly over. Only the rubble and chaos of combat remained. And among the debris we found human wreckage. Many of the Filipinos who had lived in Intramurals were dead. Those who somehow miraculously survived started a great mass exodus across the river to go anywhere. Anywhere away from the horrors of the walled city. Although the fighting in Manila was over, there still was one more military action to be taken. A general had said he would return. He had. Now, with a flag raising ceremony on Corregidor, the Battle of Manila was officially over. And that's how the Battle of Manila went. It was a rough one, gruesome at times. And I thank my lucky stars I got out of it okayed. Some of my best friends didn't. Maybe you'll understand how indebted I feel towards them. Yeah, I guess so. Look, you gotta come out to the house and see the wife. I can't tell you how happy she'll be to meet you again. Why don't you come out some night for dinner? Soon. Whatever you say. Good. Looks like we've got some unfinished business here. Yeah, it sure does. Well, there's one way to finish it. But good. That's just the way it happened. And a good finish it was for a true story. In an important sense, the incident has meaning for all of us. For it brings into sharp focus the great sacrifices and courage which typify our armed forces. It is this type of unsung action that gives depth and meaning and purpose to military history. And to a country's heritage. Oh yes, one more thing I'm sure about. It'll be a long time before I can forget Charlie's place. It will always remind me of a certain careless motorist and a good-natured forgiving cop. The Big Picture is an official report for the armed forces and the American people. Produced by the Army Pictorial Center. Presented by the Department of the Army in cooperation with this station.