SANCTUARY OF VALOR. Tombstones of war veterans dot the Clark Veterans Cemetery. PHOTO BY BONG LACSON
CLARK FREEPORT – The Americans are officially returning to this former US Air Force base this May 30. The return, however, has nothing to do with the controversial Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) and it will not be a come-back of the US Air Force.
Instead, it’s the US American Battle Monument Commission (ABMC) that will officially take over an area limited to only 8.2 hectares which is the American Veterans of War Cemetery near Clark’s main gate from the commercial district of Balibago in Angeles City.
Lt. Guy Hilbero, executive officer of the 26th US Cavalry and Philippine Scouts Memorial Regiment based here, confirmed that turn-over ceremonies have been scheduled on May 30 when the cemetery will also be renamed Clark American Cemetery.
“It will be attended by more than 400 people including some US senators, ambassadors and other diplomats, and other guests,” he said. Hilbero noted that “at long last, the ABMC will shoulder the development and maintenance of the cemetery.
It will also better serve as a tourist attraction in Clark.” Dennis Wright, chairman of the Clark Cemetery Restoration Association (CCRA) based here, recalled that early this year, US Pres. Barrack Obama signed “Remembering America’s Forgotten Veterans Cemetery Act” which mandates the 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 even as the Philippine Senate did not renew the Military Bases Agreement with the US government.
Hilbero said the US Congress’s passage of the law on the Clark cemetery led to talks with the Philippine government on the takeover. 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.
