MANILA, Philippines - The closure of the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial inside Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City has become a visible sign of the recent US government shutdown.
In its website (http://www.abmc.gov/home.php) The American Battle Mounuments Commission (ABMC) posted a notice to visitors which said that due to a "lack of funding for ABMC operations (U.S. Government shutdown), ABMC cemeteries and memorials are temporarily closed."
It added that they "are unable to respond to your inquiries or provide the services and products described in the 'Services Available' section of this Web site. We regret any inconvenience these temporary actions may cause. ABMC will resume normal operations when a new funding measure is passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by the President of the United States.
The cemetry's staff have been told to close the gates of the cemetery.
The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines occupies 152 acres on a prominent plateau, visible at a distance from the east, south and west. It contains the largest number of graves of the US' military dead of World War II, a total of 17,201, most of whom lost their lives in operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. The headstones are aligned in 11 plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery.
The chapel, a white masonry building enriched with sculpture and mosaic, stands near the center of the cemetery. In front of it on a wide terrace are two large hemicycles. Twenty-five mosaic maps recall the achievements of the American armed forces in the Pacific, China, India and Burma.
On rectangular Trani limestone piers within the hemicycles, are inscribed the Tablets of the Missing containing 36,285 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. Carved in the floors are the seals of the American states and its territories. From the memorial and other points within the cemetery there are impressive views over the lowlands to Laguna de Bay and towards the distant mountains.
The US governemnt shutdown also forced the closure on October 1 of all 24 overseas war cemeteries maintained by the ABMC in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Britain, Italy, Panama, Mexico, and Tunisia.
The war cemeteries not only serve as final resting places for the fallen American and allied soldiers of World Wars One and Two but also serve as memorials to their gallantry. - Mike Frialde