Liberation

The Battle for Manila from February to March 1945 was fought by American, Filipino and Japanese forces, part of the Philippines' 1945 campaign. The one-month battle, which culminated in a terrible bloodbath and total devastation of the city, was the scene of the worst urban fighting in the Pacific theater.

A ponton bridge built by Army engineers at Nagtahan enabled American troops and their heavy equipment started to cross the river. One of my father’s friends, Jacinto Ciria Cruz of the basketball team that made the fifth place in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games (all time record of highest finish for Philippine basketball), came with the liberation forces in his army uniform.

My mother tells me of so many dead soldiers lining up the banks of one of the tributaries leading to the Pasig. I wonder what ever happened to the Japanese that were customers of the barber shop, particularly that one who gave us mongo beans.

Japanese money became known as Mickey Mouse money and peso bills marked Victory became the legal tender.