View source for Manila American Cemetery

{{Short description|Overseas military cemetery in Philippines}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox military memorial
|name             = Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
|body             = [[American Battle Monuments Commission]]
|image            = [[File:Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.jpg|300px|Manila American Cemetery and Memorial]]
|caption          = Manila American Cemetery headstones with memorial building behind.
|use_dates        = 1941–1945
|established      = 1948
|designer         = Gardener A. Dailey
|coordinates      = {{coord|14.541|121.050|type:landmark_region:PH-00|display=inline,title}}
|location         = [[Taguig]], [[Philippines]]
|total_burials    = 17,206
|unknowns         = 3,744
|by_country       =
* [[United States]]: 16,636
* [[Philippines]]: 570
|by_war           =
* [[World War II]]: 17,206
|source=[http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/ml.php American Battle Monuments Commission]
}}
[[File:American Cemetery and Memorial Manila.jpg|thumb|Graves in the cemetery]]
[[File:Aerial view of the Manila American Cemetery.JPG|thumb|Aerial view of the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial]]
[[File:Manila American Cemetery Aerial View.JPG|thumb|Manila American Cemetery main building]]The '''Manila American Cemetery and Memorial''' is a military cemetery located in [[Fort Bonifacio]], [[Taguig]]. It can be reached most easily from the city via EDSA to McKinley Road, then to McKinley Parkway inside the [[Bonifacio Global City]]. The [[Lawton Avenue]], formerly the Nichols Field Road, is the easiest access from [[Ninoy Aquino International Airport]] to the cemetery.<ref name=ABMC>{{cite web|title=Manila American Cemetery and Memorial|url=http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/pacific/manila-american-cemetery|publisher=The American Battle Monuments Commission|access-date=February 18, 2013}}</ref> It falls under the jurisdiction of Barangay [[Fort Bonifacio (barangay)|Fort Bonifacio]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://metronewscentral.net/taguig/metro-cities/mayor-lani-joins-us-memorial-day-ceremony|title=Mayor Lani joins US Memorial Day Ceremony|first=Michael|last=Lim|accessdate=February 16, 2024|website=Metro News Central|date=2018}}</ref> having been previously part of Barangay [[Ususan]] prior to Fort Bonifacio's creation in 2008.<ref>{{cite PH act|url=https://lawlibrary.chanrobles.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50148:gr-168781-2007&catid=1496&Itemid=566|chamber=GR|number=168781|date=September 14, 2007|title=City of Makati vs. The Hon. Judge Briccio C. Ygaã‘a, and Municipality of Taguig|accessdate=November 19, 2023}}</ref> [[Makati]] also claimed jurisdiction of the cemetery as part of Barangay [[Post Proper Southside]], which was later transferred to Taguig as part of the 2021 [[Supreme Court of the Philippines|Supreme Court]] decision on the [[Makati–Taguig boundary dispute|boundary dispute]].

The cemetery, {{convert|152|acre|sqm|sp=us|disp=or}} in area, is located on a prominent plateau, visible at a distance from the east, south and west.<ref name=ABMC /> With a total of 17,206 graves, it has the largest number of graves of any cemetery for U.S. personnel killed during [[World War II]] and holds war dead from the Philippines and other allied nations.<ref name=ABMC />  Many of the personnel whose remains are interred or represented were killed in [[New Guinea campaign|New Guinea]], or during the [[Philippines campaign (1941–1942)|1941–42 Battle of the Philippines]] or the [[Philippines campaign (1944–1945)|Allied recapture of the islands]].<ref name=ABMC />  The headstones are made of marble which are aligned in eleven plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery.<ref name=ABMC /> The Memorial is maintained by the [[American Battle Monuments Commission]].

The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00&nbsp;a.m. to 5:00&nbsp;p.m. [[Philippine Standard Time|PHT]] except December 25 and January 1.<ref name=ABMC />

The cemetery also contains one [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] War Dead burial from [[World War I]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/49434/AMERICAN%20MILITARY%20CEMETERY,%20FORT%20BONIFACIO,%20MANILA|title=American Military Cemetery, Fort Bonifacio, Manila &#124; Cemetery Details &#124; CWGC}}</ref>

==General layout==
The entrance to the cemetery is at the far (east) side of the large, grassed circle, which is just beyond the military sentinel's post and intersects with 8th Avenue, 21st Drive, and Old Lawton Avenue. Immediately beyond the gate is the plaza with its circular fountain; at the right is the Visitors' Building. Stretching from the plaza to the memorial is the central mall, which is lined with mahogany trees (''[[Swietenia macrophylla]]''). Circular roads leading eastward and westward through the graves area join the straight roads along the edges of the mall.

==The memorial==
Twenty-five large mosaic maps in four rooms recall the actions of the [[United States Armed Forces]] in the Pacific, China, India and Burma.<ref name=ABMC /> Carved in the floors are the seals of the American states and its territories.<ref name=ABMC />

==Notable burials and memorials==
Twenty-nine [[Medal of Honor]] recipients are buried or memorialized at the Manila cemetery. Also honored are the five [[Sullivan Brothers]], who perished when the light cruiser {{USS|Juneau|CL-52|6}} was sunk in Nov. 1942.  [[A. Peter Dewey]] (1916–1945), an [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]] officer killed in Saigon shortly after World War II ended, is listed on the Tablets of the Missing.<ref>[http://www.abmc.gov/search-abmc-burials-and-memorializations/detail/WWII_104277#.VD_osIvF8Q4 American Battle Monuments Commission] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022005513/http://www.abmc.gov/search-abmc-burials-and-memorializations/detail/WWII_104277 |date=October 22, 2014 }}.</ref> The [[Camp O'Donnell]] Memorial is dedicated to the memory of the "Battling Bastards of Bataan".

===Medal of Honor recipients===
{{Category see also|Burials at the Manila American Cemetery}}
* Burials
** [[Dale E. Christensen]] (1920–1944), for action in New Guinea in July 1944
** [[Leroy Johnson (Medal of Honor)|Leroy Johnson]] (1919–1944), for action at Leyte, Philippines
** [[Charles E. Mower]] (1924–1944), for action at Leyte, Philippines
** [[Robert A. Owens]] (1920–1943), for action at Bougainville
** [[Charles H. Roan]] (1923–1944), for action at Peleliu Island, Palau
** [[William H. Thomas (Medal of Honor)|William H. Thomas]] (1923–1945), for action in the Zambales Mountains, Luzon, Philippines
** [[Louis J. Van Schaick]] (1875–1945), for action against Philippine insurgents in 1901
*  [[Cenotaph]]s and memorial listings
** [[Lewis K. Bausell|Lewis Kenneth Bausell]] (1924–1944), for action at Peleliu
** [[Daniel J. Callaghan]] (1890–1942), for action as commanding officer in the Battle of Guadalcanal
** [[George F. Davis]] (1911–1945), for action in the invasion of Lingayen Gulf
** [[Samuel D. Dealey]] (1906–1944), for action off of Luzon
** [[Ernest E. Evans]] (1908–1944), for action commanding USS ''Johnston'' in the Battle off Samar
** [[Elmer E. Fryar]] (1914–1944), for action at Leyte, Philippines
** [[Howard W. Gilmore]] (1902–1943), for action in the Southwest Pacific
** [[Robert M. Hanson]] (1920–1944), for action at Bougainville and New Britain Islands
** [[Alexander R. Nininger Jr.]] (1918–1942), for action at Bataan
** [[Harl Pease Jr.]] (1917–1942), for action over New Guinea
** [[Oscar V. Peterson]] (1899–1942), for action aboard USS ''Neosho''
** [[Milton E. Ricketts]] (1913–1942), for action aboard USS ''Yorktown'' in the Battle of the Coral Sea
** [[Albert H. Rooks]] (1891–1942), for action commanding USS ''Houston''
** [[Norman Scott (Medal of Honor)|Norman Scott]] (1889–1942), for action as second in command in the Battle of Guadalcanal
** [[Kenneth N. Walker]] (1898–1943), for actions commanding the USAAF 5th Bomber Command in the South Pacific Theater
** [[George Watson (Medal of Honor)|George Watson]] (1915–1943), for action near New Guinea
** [[Raymond H. Wilkins]] (1917–1943), for action at Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, New Britain
** [[Cassin Young]] (1894–1942), for action commanding USS ''Vestal'' during the attack on Pearl Harbor

===Other notable people===
* Rear Admiral [[Theodore E. Chandler]] (1894–1945), U.S. Navy, [[Navy Cross]] for action aboard USS {{USS|Louisville|CA-28|2}} in the [[Invasion of Lingayen Gulf]]
* Major General [[Edwin D. Patrick]] (1894–1945), U.S. Army, [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] for action in the Philippines.  Killed in Action.
* Brigadier General [[James Dalton II]] (1910–1945), U.S. Army, [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] for action in the [[New Guinea campaign]]. (Dalton was killed in action at the [[Dalton Pass#Battle of Balete Pass|Battle of Balete Pass]] in Luzon, Philippines.)
* Lieutenant Commander [[Hilan Ebert]] (1903–1942), U.S. Navy, [[Navy Cross]] for action aboard USS ''Northampton'' in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last=Sledge |first=Michael |title=Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen |year=2005 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780231509374 |pages=209–10|oclc= 60527603 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131016062019/http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/ml_pict.pdf Manila American Cemetery and Memorial]

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/pacific/manila-american-cemetery Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Official Website] from the [[American Battle Monuments Commission]] including a video and several photos, some in the public domain.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130627035723/http://www.99boomerangs.com/2013/05/27/i-shall-return/ Manila American Cemetery and Memorial: Many Photographs and Information about the Cemetery and Memorial].
* {{Find a Grave cemetery|1976551|Manila American Cemetery and Memorial}}

{{American Battle Monuments Commission}}
{{Manila cemeteries}}
{{Manila landmarks}}
{{Bonifacio Global City}}
{{Taguig}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1948 establishments in the Philippines]]
[[Category:American Battle Monuments Commission]]
[[Category:Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Metro Manila]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in Metro Manila]]
[[Category:Landmarks in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Metro Manila]]
[[Category:Bonifacio Global City]]
[[Category:World War II memorials]]
[[Category:World War II cemeteries]]
[[Category:Military cemeteries in the Philippines]]