02/19 What Happen Yesterday?
The Beginning of the Battle of Iwo Jima Island
February 19, 1945
Iwo Jima, a small volcanic island in the southeastern part of Japan in the Pacific Ocean measuring only 21 sq. km and approximately 1,200 km away from the capital of Japan. Who would have thought that on this island one of the most brutal and bloody island-hopping by American forces in the Pacific Ocean to mainland Japan happened.
On this day in 1945, the American forces began a campaign against the Japanese forces on the island of Iwo Jima, when there were a total of 70,000 American seafarers on that island led by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. They were greeted by deadly rains of mortar and artillery by the opponents from the hill on the said island. The land of Iwo Jima is muddy because the whole island is almost made of volcanic ash so it is difficult for the soldiers to move on that island. The Americans intended to take over the entire island by any means, but the 20,000 Japanese soldiers there were determined to fight every inch of the island to the death. And as usual between the Japanese and the Americans, the Japanese made a series of banzai charges on every line defended by the Americans especially at night, during which thousands of lives were lost on both sides. The Japanese cannons were not drawn to the larger naval and air support of the Americans. Despite running out of food, weapons and ammunition, Iwo Jima chief general Kuribayashi was determined to fight until his last soldier.
On February 23, a historic American flag was raised by American seafarers on Mt. Suribachi, the highest hill in Iwo Jima, which became an iconic American military photograph. But the hot and bloody clash between the two forces on the island continued, and on March 25, Kuribayashi and the 300 Japanese carried out their last banzai attack on the Americans, but they still failed to break the defense of the opponent. The next day, the Americans finally took over Iwo Jima, but the price was huge in exchange for success. About 6,800 American sailors were killed in Iwo Jima, while more than 18,300 Japanese were killed in the fighting, killing themselves together rather than surrendering. They captured about 300 Japanese soldiers, and some of them continued to hide on the island until 1949.
Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos was born
February 19, 1886
Today marks the 135th birthday of one of the great and noble Filipinos in our country, Jose Abad Santos who is the fifth Chief Justice of our Supreme Court. He was born in San Fernando, Pampanga, one of the children of Vicente Abad Santos and Toribia Basco. His brother is anti-American socialist and activist Pedro Abad Santos.
In 1904 Jose was selected as a pensioner, or intelligent young Filipino scholars chosen by the American government to study in the United States. He attended a pre-law course at Santa Clara College in California and went on to study law at Northwestern University in Illinois. At the age of 23 she obtained her law degree and returned to the Philippines to serve as Assistant Attorney in the Bureau of Justice from 1913 to 1917. She was also one of the by-laws of the first women's private university in the country. , the Philippine Women's University.
He became the first Filipino corporate lawyer of government-owned corporations, such as the Philippine National Bank and Manila Railroad Company. He also served as a professor at the UP College of Law and was later appointed three times as Secretary of Justice; the first was in 1922-1923, 1928-1932 and was appointed by President Manuel Luis Quezon from 1938 to 1941. He also served as legal counsel of the Philippine Congress. And when President Quezon's first family fled to Corregidor following the Japanese invasion of Manila in December 1941, Jose Abad Santos was appointed Chief Justice and Quezon was sworn in as President for his second term. When President Quezon convinced Abad Santos to join him in fleeing to Australia, Abad Santos chose to stay in the Philippines, and before Quezon left he was given the full power to lead our country on March 17, 1942. But more than a month later, the Japanese arrested Jose, along with one of his five children, Jose, Jr. (alias Pepito), and some generals in the province of Cebu.
From Cebu they were taken on a ship to the small town of Malabang, Lanao del Norte. There Abad Santos was threatened by the Japanese government, but he vehemently refused their offer, so they looked for a possible reason to kill him. He was accused of ordering arson at a military camp in Cebu, but Abad Santos vehemently denied the allegations against him. He readily accepted the death penalty through the firing squad. Before the Japanese separated them he said to his weeping son the words, "Show these people that you are brave. It is an honor to die for one's country. It is rare to be given such an opportunity".
At the age of 56, he was shot by the Japanese in the town of Malabang on May 2, 1942. It is still unknown at this time where Abad Santos' body lay.
Copyright © 2021 MidnightWriter. All Rights Reserved
