Explosions thundered and troops stormed the beach as American and Filipino veterans joined dignitaries from a dozen countries Thursday to commemorate the U.S. recapture of the Philippines from the Japanese 50 years ago.
Philippine Air Force T-54 planes, repainted to resemble Japanese "Zero" fighters, roared over the beach where Gen. Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his "I shall return" vow made after the Japanese drove him from the Philippines two years before.U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry and Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined President Fidel Ramos and representatives from 10 other countries here on Leyte island, 350 miles south of Manila.
Six U.S. Navy ships as well as vessels from Australia, France and Thailand took part in the ceremony offshore in Leyte Gulf where four U.S. Army divisions landed on Oct. 20, 1944.
Two days later, Japanese naval forces attacked with surface ships and dreaded "kamikaze" suicide pilots in a five-day battle that was the largest naval engagement in world history.
"It was an absolutely awesome experience, specially to a 17-year old," recalled Edward Johnson, 67, a gunner aboard the USS Louisville during the Leyte fighting. "As time passes and fewer of us are left, it takes on more significance."
During a speech following the re-enactment, Perry praised the Filipino people for their resistance against the Japanese.
The Philippines was a self-governing U.S. commonwealth when the war began. It was granted full independence after the war in 1946.
"Filipinos paved the way for the invasion by wearing down the occupiers," Perry said. "After U.S. troops landed, Filipinos offered friendship. We in the United States have nothing but admiration."
Ramos, the Philippine president, said it was time to "leave the past behind us."
Japanese Ambassador Yoshifumi Matsuda told the crowd his country was "fully aware that Japan was directly responsible for the grave consequences of war inflicted on the peoples of Asia and the Pacific."
"Our nation has learned a great lesson from the war," he said.
In the capital, Manila, hundreds of demonstrators burned an American flag in front of the U.S. Embassy Thursday to denounce celebrations at Leyte, calling the liberation of the island an act of "U.S. imperialism."