So one of the few perks to being sent to Iraq is, come R&R time, the army will buy a plane ticket to just about anywhere in the world. So I went to the Philippines. It was my 4th trip there.

All the following images are from MacArthur Memorial Park just south of the city of Tacloban on the island of Leyte. MacArthur and entourage wading ashore, the entourage consisted of some generals and Philippine President Osmena along with some members of his government.

The monument is actually built up on a small rise or hill, not actually on the beach like I thought it would be. The statues are a little larger than life and are in the middle of a very shallow wading pool with a walk way around it. I had to resist the urge, the temptation, to walk out into the little pool and welcome MacArthur ashore. I'm sure the local Philipino's wouldn't mind, although the fish in the wading pool might.

 

 

In this picture the monument is to the right. You can see the sea wall that runs almost down the center of the photo, this is the 'rise' I mentioned in the first post.

 

 

This picture is of the beach just a little farther on down from the picture above. This is what I imagine the beach MacArthur actually landing on would have looked like.

 

This picture was taken from the same spot as the 2nd picture in the above post, I did an about face and snapped a shot looking back where I came.

 

 

One more of the statues.

 

The plaque:

 

This monument was ercted on the 50th Anniversary of MacArthur's landing (I think, it could have been the 40th Anniversary). There are about 15 or 20 plaques around the statue from various countries expressing gratitudes, salutations, and rememberances of the landings.

 

And one final picture:

 

What an outstanding post and a great monument! Thanks for posting it Swag!

beautiful, outstanding!

Very nice.