As we remember the end of World War II on the 70th anniversary of the surrender of the Empire of Japan, a new website has been launched to help remember the soldiers who made that victory possible. The Americal Legacy Foundation is a new non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the soldiers who served in the U.S. Army’s Americal Division during World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. A new website supporting the Foundation just launched this week, and can be found at: http://americalfoundation.org.
The Americal Legacy Foundation seeks to preserve the division’s legacy through monuments, public media, museum displays and scholarship programs. The Foundation will also provide a central point for the purchase of the division’s history of World War II, Under the Southern Cross. The monument program is in full swing, with a number of accomplishments to show. There is a monument at the National Infantry Museum, outside Fort Benning. As written about on this site, a monument at the site of the Japanese surrender on Cebu at the end of World War II was dedicated in March 2015 (read that story here). A future monument to honor Americal Artillery units is in the works, to be located at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Another Monument is envisioned at Fort Sam Houston, Texas to honor Americal medics, doctors and nurses.
Looking forward into the future, the preservation of the legacy of the Americal Division depends on the families and descendants of those who served. I encourage any and all to contact the Americal Legacy Foundation, make a donation, and inquire about other ways to help this important cause.
Monument near the site where Japanese forces on Cebu surrendered to the Americal Division at the end of World War II. Source: Dave Colamaria.
Despite formal capitulation from Toyko, Japanese forces on Cebu continued to hold out for several days. This flyer was dropped all over the island in an attempt to convince the thousands of remaining Japanese soldiers to give up. Source: National Archives.
Japanese and American soldiers discuss plans for surrender of Japanese forces on Cebu in August 1945. Source: Under the Southern Cross.
Old sign marker along the road at the location of the Japanese surrender on Cebu at the end of World War II. Source: Dave Colamaria.
Panorama of the Japanese surrender site on Cebu. Japanese forces marched out of the hills north of Ilihan (at right in this photo) into the field. The well where they stacked their weapons is in the trees straight ahead. Source: Dave Colamaria.
Terry Davenport of VFW Post 12130 speaks at the dedication of the Japanese surrender monument on Cebu, 27 March 2015. Source: Dave Colamaria.
Members of the Americal Division Veterans Association and VFW Post 12130, and Mrs. Eusebia Ycot pose with the new Japanese surrender site monument near Ilihan, Cebu. Source: Dave Colamaria.
(Note: for a detailed introduction to the Americal Division Veterans Association’s 2015 trip to Cebu, along with links to other stories from the trip, read our introductory story Cebu 2015: The Ghosts of World War II, 70 Years Later. Learn more about the World War II battle for Cebu here.)
As World War II came to an end in August 1945, the island of Cebu was still divided. American forces had recaptured the central portions of the long thing island, including Cebu City. Japanese forces had retreated, consolidating in the north. Following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Emperor Hirohito ordered the surrender of all Japanese military forces. Unfortunately, the remaining Japanese troops on Cebu were living primitively on the island, and did not have a working radio. Flyers were air dropped over their positions, indicating that the war was over (see Photo #2). A series of notes was exchanged, pinned to a tree, but the Japanese were skeptical. Finally, they were able to get in contact with their superiors, and confirm that the war was over. Arrangements were made for a formal surrender (see Photo #3). On 28 August, 2600 Japanese soldiers marched out of the hills to an open field near Ilihan. General Tadasu Kataoka presented his sword to Major General William Arnold. The Japanese piled their weapons on the ground, and the war on Cebu was effectively over. Over the next few days, thousands more surrendered. They were rapidly moved to the coast for travel back to Japan, under the watchful eye of Americal Division troops. This wasn’t so much for fear of Japanese treachery, but rather, to protect them from Cebuanos, angry at their brutal treatment during 3 years of occupation.
In March 2015, our group from the Americal Division Veterans Association spent a week on the island. On our last day, we traveled to the far north, to attend the dedication of a new monument near the spot of the Japanese surrender. This monument was the brainchild of members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12130 – retired American servicemen living on Cebu. With assistance from the Americal Division Veterans Association, they steered the project from idea through completion.
On the morning of 27 March 2015, we arrived at Ilihan under gloomy, rainy skies. The gleaming black monument is erected by the side of the main road, on a raised platform (see Photo #1). The owner of the land, Mrs. Eusebia Ycot, greeted us on the morning of the dedication. She was a young girl when the surrender happened, and she remembers it well. She graciously donated the street frontage area for the monument. Previously, only a small, lonely, rusted sign marked this historic spot (see Photo #4).
Tables and chairs were arranged for the day’s ceremony, with a feast to close the event. We started with a tour of the nearby field where the surrender took place. It is an open field, with a few small buildings in the vicinity. Lush mountains can be seen in the distance. A well sits off to one side, under some trees. We were told that the Japanese soldiers neatly stacked their weapons around this well. To the north, we could see the hills where the enemy troops had marched down in formation. It is a quiet, peaceful spot (see Photo #5).
The dedication ceremony began with a blessing from a local Catholic priest. The prayer was followed by remarks by the precinct mayor, representatives and leadership of the VFW (see Photo #6), and Roger Gilmore, President of the Americal Legacy Foundation. Sam Arnold, great grandson of General Arnold, also spoke. With the monument formally dedicated, we all gathered around tables for a feast, featuring a roasted pig, or “lechon,” a local delicacy.
As the crowd enjoyed the meal, I took the opportunity to slip off to the quiet surrender field just 50 yards away. I reflected on my grandfather Ed Monahan‘s service in the 182nd Infantry. He was drafted in early 1941, and served with the unit until he was rotated home in May 1945. He survived the combat campaigns on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Leyte, and Cebu. But he was sent home just a few months before final victory was achieved. In the months leading up to the trip, I’d begun to think of my attendance at the dedication as symbolic closure for him. I’m not a spiritual person, but as I stood alone in that peaceful, grassy field on that morning, I felt a powerful connection to him – a version of him that was finally at peace.
The monument dedication was our last stop as a group (see Photo #7). Our week long trip had been an eye opener, a connection to the men of the Americal Division who fought in World War II. We said our goodbyes and headed off to the hotel and the airport, back to our lives in the United States. Before returning home, I made a brief stop in Manila to visit men from Company G buried at the Manila American Cemetery (read that story here). My time in the Philippines had been brief, but I will never forget the history or the gracious people of Cebu.
(NOTE: You can see a brief comparison of the surrender site in 1945 vs. 2015 here.)
Tracked amphibious landing vehicles (LVT) make their way ashore. In the distance, Talisay Beach is masked in thick smoke. The larger craft at center is an LCI, the type of ship Company G landed in. Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, 80-G-259254.
Americal Division Veterans Association tour group at Museo Sugbo, Cebu City, 2015. Source: Americal Division Veterans Association.
Filipino military forces re-enact the Americal Division landing at Talisay Beach on the 70th anniversary of the battle. Source: Dave Colamaria.
Comparison of the landing at Talisay Beach in Cebu, with 1945 at top, and 2015 at bottom. Source: top photo Naval History and Heritage Command SC 264198, bottom photo Dave Colamaria.
Dave Colamaria at an overlook on top of Babag Ridge, looking down on the sprawl of Cebu City below. Source: Dave Colamaria.
Sam Arnold (left) and Dave Colamaria pose with the newly dedicated monument at the site of the Japanese surrender on Cebu. Source: Dave Colamaria.
In March 2015, I had the amazing opportunity to visit Cebu, an island in the Philippines. Along with a group of men from the Americal Division Veterans Association (all veterans of the war in Vietnam), I spent a week on the island touring sites with ties to World War II. This included several locations where the 182nd Infantry engaged in combat. It was a very emotional experience for me, retracing the footsteps of my grandfather, Ed Monahan. He served as First Sergeant for Company G of the 182nd on Cebu, from their amphibious landing in March 1945, until he was rotated home on points in May 1945, with the heaviest fighting completed.
Over the next few weeks, I plan to post a short series of stories on the Cebu trip. I am going to post them in an order approximating the sequence of events that the fighting on Cebu occurred, rather than how our trip was scheduled. The first piece will look at the extravagant ceremonies hosted by the people of the Philippines to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Americal Division’s landing at Talisay Beach, on 26 March 1945 (read Part I here). Next I’ll look at some of the sites in the urban center of Cebu City, which was seized shortly after the successful landing at Talisay (read Part II here). We’ll move from there into the imposing hills of Babag Ridge, scene of the bloodiest fighting of the campaign (read Part III here). A visit to the west coast of Cebu affords the chance to tour some World War II pillboxes and tank barriers (read Part IV here). And lastly, we’ll finish up with a piece on the dedication of a new monument at the spot where thousands of Japanese troops surrendered to the Americal at the end of the war (read Part V here).
The main purpose of our visit was to attend this new monument dedication. My grandfather was not present when the Japanese on Cebu surrendered to the Americal Division at the end of the war. So in a way, I saw this trip as a way for me to bring some symbolic closure to the war for him. On that last day in Cebu at the monument dedication, I did find that closure, in a deeply satisfying and emotional moment I’ll describe in my story on the ceremony.
After completing the Cebu portion of the trip, I had a brief stopover in Manila, where I visited the graves of men from Company G who were killed during the war. You can read that story here. To learn more about the battle for Cebu, read the story here. Please check back throughout the month as a I post the details of the 2015 trip. The journey begins with the reenactment of the Talisay Beach Landing.
