CLARK FREEPORT – The Americans are officially returning to this former US Air Force base, but not so much for the living as for the dead.
US Pres. Barrack Obama has signed into law the bi-partisan legislation passed by the US Congress last Dec. 27, putting under US government supervision and funding the Clark cemetery in this government-run freeport.
Dennis Wright, chairman of the Clark Cemetery Restoration Association (CCRA) based here, said Obama signed last week the “Remembering America’s Forgotten Veterans Cemetery Act” which mandates the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to restore, operate, and maintain the Clark cemetery.
“The cemetery is the final resting place of about 8,300 US war veterans, mostly those who fought wars for America before World War II,” he noted. The cemetery was abandoned when the Americans left Clark in 1991 amid the impending eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.
The following year, the Philippine Senate did not renew the Military Bases Agreement with the US government.
Lt. Guy Hilbero, executive officer of the 26th US Cavalry and Philippine Scouts Memorial Regiment based here, told Punto he expected the US government to initiate talks with Philippine government officials on how to implement the law covering the 20-acre Clark cemetery near Clark’s main gate in the Balibago tourism district in Angeles City.
The law was introduced by US Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican from New Hampshire, and co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat from Arkansas.
Hilbero quoted Ayotte, in reacting to Obama’s signing of his bill, as saying that “Clark Veterans Cemetery is sacred ground, and the brave Americans who are buried there deserve a dignified and well-maintained final resting place.”
Ayotte, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee also said, ”I’m so pleased that President Obama signed this bill into law, which will ensure that our country keeps its promise to forever honor these heroes.”
Hilbero noted that the bill had 15 bipartisan cosponsors in the US Congress which passed it “in the nick of time” in the last week of December.
“The ABMC is an independent agency of the US government responsible for managing overseas cemeteries and monuments,” he explained.
Hilbero noted that the ABMC also maintains the Mexico City National Cemetery in Mexico and Corozal American Cemetery in Panama.
The Ayotte-Begich legislation was endorsed by The Military Coalition, The National Military Veterans Alliance, and the Military Officers Association of America.
