70th Anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf and Stories from WWII in the Philippines Event
/The Battle of Leyte Gulf, considered as the largest naval battle in history, took place between October 23 to 26, 1944. It marked the beginning of the liberation of the Philippines two and a half years after the fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942. It was also the beginning of a massive extermination of civilians by the Imperial Japanese Army culminating in the Battle for Manila. Manila, once called the Pearl of the Orient became the second most devastated city after Warsaw, Poland. By the end of the war, approximately one million civilians had perished.
Bataan Legacy Historical Society is gathering stories of the war from veterans, civilian survivors and their families to create a comprehensive perspective of the war. The stories will be published in an Anthology of Stories from World War II in the Philippines (Vol. 1), scheduled to come out on October 24, 2015, in time for the first Bataan Legacy Historical Society Conference at the San Francisco Public Library.
The event will feature veterans of the war as well as civilian survivors who will speak about their experiences. It will also feature an exhibit as well as living historians. The event will be presented in collaboration with Memorare Manila 1945, California Veterans Administration, Philippine Scouts Heritage Society, Wreaths Across America, Rod Hall Collection on WWII in the Philippines, Filipino American National Historical Society (Bay Area Chapters), the New Castle Society, Veterans Equity Center and the Filipino American Soldiers WWII Recognition Project.
