This post is long overdue. My apologies to those who have been following my story on WW2 veteran Don Schloat and the Plaza Cuartel, the site of the Palawan Massacre in 1944. Thanks for waiting. Here are more pictures below as promised.
Here’s the portal of the Cuartel. Don recalls that there wasn’t a road right in front of the camp and it opened up directly to the Puerto Princesa town plaza of old.
I went back to the plaza in the morning to find it pleasantly quite and empty of visitors. The last time I was here with Don a few weeks ago, there were school children horsing around.
I had intended to take just a few shots including a close up of the marker to show the names of the massacre survivors. I ended up staying much longer to feel the place, imagining how it was 63 years ago with the Japanese kempetai.
It was so relaxing to just sit on the grass and feel the surroundings. There is something about the calmness of the place that tells me those who have suffered and died here are now in peace.
For reader Holly Thomas: Yes, your grandfather’s name is on the marker.
January 18, 2008 at 4:28 am
my father and his cousin were both in ww2…his cousin james a pitts was killed in the massacre at palawan…. my father maylon jones was in another place fighting and was not killed in the war…he recently passed away at age 87…. he always talked about the war…so i am researching…james a pitts father always claimed it wasnt his son and died never believing…also we were told growing up that james died in the death march… i was informed after visiting abby’s site (a palawan survivor) and posting there that it wasnt the bataan but palawan that james lost his life in…his name is in the last man out book in the back…but i can find no other trace about him during the war…so stopped by your site…it is very interesting…
August 27, 2008 at 1:14 pm
My mother’s first cousin, John Solomon Harris, was a POW at Palawan and was reportedly killed in the fire. He was from Monticello, GA and was in the Navy. My mother and her cousin were very close, and every now and then she would mention him, but only once did she tell me how he died.
January 11, 2009 at 11:49 am
My uncle was killed in the massacre! its an honor to be named after him, he was young and a Marine thru and thru, his nickname was kid and he was a starter for the corps basketball team, he was captured on corrigidor and our family has never forgotten, I would like to hear from anyone that could tell me any info.
April 27, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Lorna Murray has some information from her father Eugene Neilsen, who survived the massacre. I am slowly gathering material for a written work on Cpl. Douglas Burnett, who died in the massacre – my father’s best friend – and my namesake. None of them should be forgotten. Thank you for posting the pictures.