CLARK FREEPORT – Hopes of US war veterans and American expatriates here have been boosted after US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. personally expressed support for their lobbying for US federal government funding for the “neglected” US cemetery in this freeport.
“The ambassador expressed support for our proposal and that includes lobbying in the US and the Philippines for our proposal,” Dennis Wright, president and chief executive officer of Peregrine International, told Punto.
Thomas was here last Friday and held a meeting with Wright and other officers of the US Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2485 (VFW Post 2485), headed by Larry Heilhecker.
The Clark cemetery was the first to be visited by Thomas here.
“It was the first trip of the ambassador outside Metro Manila since he was installed recently as ambassador to the Philippines and the Clark cemetery was the first in his itinerary. I think that has some significance,” said Wright who was once stationed in the Philippines as a member of the US Navy.
The cemetery contains remains dating back to the 18th century. It is the burial site for at least 2,250 members of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and Philippine Scouts, a branch of the Army during American occupation of the Philippines.
Some of the remains also belonged to veterans of the Spanish-American war at the turn of the 20th century, as well as veterans of the wars in Korean, Vietnam and Iraq.
Lt. Guy Hilbero, executive officer of the newly revived ceremonial 26th US cavalry of the Philippine Scouts Memorial Regiment here, said members of the US Veterans of Foreign Wars (VWF) have deplored the “neglect” of the US government in preserving the cemetery, the only place in this former base where the American flag still flutters alongside the Philippine flag.
The VWF wants the US to negotiate with the Philippine government so that the cemetery could be administered by either the American Battle Monuments Commission, a federal agency, or the National Cemetery Administration, a branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Wright said he had briefed Thomas on the establishment of the Clark Veterans Cemetery Restoration Association (CVCRA) to take care of the needs of the cemetery while lobbying is being done for US federal funding for it.
“The US veterans have been raising funds to maintain the cemetery since the US military left Clark and the devastation caused by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, but their funds are limited, so Peregrine and its Kuwaiti investor at the 177-hectare Global Gateways Logistics Center (GGLC) has adopted the cemetery,” he said.
The association, he said, plans to fund the reconstruction of a fence around the cemetery, as well as the putting up of flood lights and gazebo there. Its old iron fence had already been stolen, Wright lamented.
Wright said that US federal funding for the cemetery might require a new agreement between the US and Philippine governments, thus the need for lobbying for support also from the Philippine government.
“The ambassador expressed support for our proposal and that includes lobbying in the US and the Philippines for our proposal,” Dennis Wright, president and chief executive officer of Peregrine International, told Punto.
Thomas was here last Friday and held a meeting with Wright and other officers of the US Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2485 (VFW Post 2485), headed by Larry Heilhecker.
The Clark cemetery was the first to be visited by Thomas here.
“It was the first trip of the ambassador outside Metro Manila since he was installed recently as ambassador to the Philippines and the Clark cemetery was the first in his itinerary. I think that has some significance,” said Wright who was once stationed in the Philippines as a member of the US Navy.
The cemetery contains remains dating back to the 18th century. It is the burial site for at least 2,250 members of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and Philippine Scouts, a branch of the Army during American occupation of the Philippines.
Some of the remains also belonged to veterans of the Spanish-American war at the turn of the 20th century, as well as veterans of the wars in Korean, Vietnam and Iraq.
Lt. Guy Hilbero, executive officer of the newly revived ceremonial 26th US cavalry of the Philippine Scouts Memorial Regiment here, said members of the US Veterans of Foreign Wars (VWF) have deplored the “neglect” of the US government in preserving the cemetery, the only place in this former base where the American flag still flutters alongside the Philippine flag.
The VWF wants the US to negotiate with the Philippine government so that the cemetery could be administered by either the American Battle Monuments Commission, a federal agency, or the National Cemetery Administration, a branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Wright said he had briefed Thomas on the establishment of the Clark Veterans Cemetery Restoration Association (CVCRA) to take care of the needs of the cemetery while lobbying is being done for US federal funding for it.
“The US veterans have been raising funds to maintain the cemetery since the US military left Clark and the devastation caused by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, but their funds are limited, so Peregrine and its Kuwaiti investor at the 177-hectare Global Gateways Logistics Center (GGLC) has adopted the cemetery,” he said.
The association, he said, plans to fund the reconstruction of a fence around the cemetery, as well as the putting up of flood lights and gazebo there. Its old iron fence had already been stolen, Wright lamented.
Wright said that US federal funding for the cemetery might require a new agreement between the US and Philippine governments, thus the need for lobbying for support also from the Philippine government.
