Editing Corregidor (section)

==Corregidor today==
[[Image:Corregidor island from air (Cavite City; 04-29-2024).jpg|thumb|250px|Aerial view of the island in 2024]]
[[Image:Corregidor DN-ST-86-01667.JPEG|thumb|250px|Aerial view of the ruins]]
After the war, many people, most of them veterans, visited the island because of its history.  Today, Corregidor is a historic monument as well as a tourist destination.  Many travel companies offer day tours on the island featuring military installations used during World War II.  Most of the war-ravaged buildings have not been restored, and left as they were after the war in reverence to the Filipino and American soldiers who died there.

===Pacific War Memorial===
[[Image:OutsideMarker.JPG|thumb|250px|Marker of the Pacific War Memorial]]

Standing on the highest part of Corregidor's Topside is the Pacific War Memorial, which was built by the [[United States Government]] to honor the Filipino and American soldiers who participated in World War II.  It was completed in 1968 at the cost of three million dollars.  The major memorial structure is a [[Rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]] with a circular altar directly under the dome's [[oculus (architecture)|oculus]] through which light falls on the altar during daylight hours. Light lands directly on the altar on May 5 at exactly 12 noon, in commemoration of the surrender of the troops stationed there and the courage they exhibited over 72 days of bombing.  Located behind the Memorial is the ''Eternal Flame of Freedom'', a {{convert|40|ft|m}} [[Corten steel]] structure [[commission (art)|commissioned]] to [[Aristides Demetrios]] symbolizing freedom.<ref name="Topside">[http://corregidorisland.com/sectors.html "Corregidor Island's Geographic Sectors-Part 1"]. Corregidor Island Web Site. Retrieved on March 11, 2011.</ref>

===Malinta Tunnel===
The [[Malinta Tunnel]], which is the last stronghold of the joint Philippine and American military prior to the Japanese takeover during the [[World War II]], is now home to an audio-visual presentation by National Artist [[Lamberto V. Avellana]] of the events that took place on the island, including the reluctant departure of General Douglas MacArthur and the evacuation of the Philippine president [[Manuel L. Quezon]] and his family to unoccupied areas of the Philippines and eventually in exile in the United States.<ref name="Malinta" />

===Filipino Heroes Memorial===
One of the most recent additions to Corregidor is the Filipino Heroes Memorial located in the Tail End. This {{convert|6,000|m2|sp=us|adj=on}} complex has 14 [[mural]]s depicting heroic battles fought by Filipinos from the 15th century up to the present day. It was designed by Francisco Mañosa, while the murals and a statue of a Filipino guerrilla were sculpted by Manuel Casas.  The complex was inaugurated by [[President of the Philippines|President]] [[Fidel V. Ramos]] on August 28, 1992.<ref name="Bottomside" />

===Japanese Garden of Peace===
This garden was built as a memorial to the Japanese soldiers who served and died on the island during World War II. The park includes a praying area, shrines, markers and a small pavilion that houses photographs and memorabilia.<ref name="Bottomside">[http://corregidorisland.com/part2.html "Corregidor Island's Geographic Sectors-Part 2"]. Corregidor Island Web Site. Retrieved on March 11, 2011.</ref>

===Corregidor lighthouse===
[[File:Spanish Lighthouse in Corregidor Island.jpg|thumb|200px|The Corregidor lighthouse]]
The [[Corregidor Island Lighthouse|lighthouse]] on Topside is one of the oldest landmarks in Corregidor, first lit in 1853.  In 1897, the defective lighting apparatus was changed, extending the range to {{convert|33|mi|km|0}}.  The grounds and keeper's dwellings were further improved during the American occupation. During World War II, the lighthouse was damaged during the siege of Corregidor.  The lighthouse was totally reconstructed in the 1950s with a different design and stands on the same spot where the first lighthouse once stood.  The whole [[Lighthouse#Components|lantern]] of the lighthouse was recently replaced by the [[Philippine Coast Guard]] to run on [[solar power]].

===Texas A&M University monument===
: ''See also: [[Muster (Texas A&M University)]]''
In 2015, a monument designed by students at the [[Texas A&M University School of Architecture|School of Architecture]] at [[Texas A&M University]] in [[College Station, Texas]] was dedicated. During World War II, there were more officers from Texas A&M – the largest of the United States' six [[senior military college]]s and known during World War II as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas – than from any other school and more than the combined total of the [[United States Military Academy]] and the [[United States Naval Academy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Aggies of Corregidor |url=https://www.aggienetwork.com/corregidor/ |publisher=The Association of Former Students |access-date=August 17, 2024}}</ref>

In 1942, [[Brigadier General]] [[George F. Moore (soldier)|George F. Moore]], a 1908 graduate of Texas A&M, was the American artillery commander on Corregidor. With the help of Major Tom Dooley, of A&M's class of 1935, Moore gathered the names of 25 other Aggies – as the students, alumni and athletic teams of the university are known – under his command. Despite the fierce fighting as the Japanese laid siege to the island, on April 21, 1942, Moore held a muster, or military roll call, calling the names of each of the Aggies under his command.<ref name="Emerald"/><ref>{{citation|last=Tutt|first=Bob|title=Enemy shells at Corregidor couldn't stop Aggie Muster|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=April 16, 1994|accessdate=2007-08-16|url=http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1994_1196332}}</ref> In 1889, Texas A&M administrators had declared that April 21 – [[San Jacinto Day]] in Texas, the anniversary of the [[Battle of San Jacinto]] whereby Texas gained its independence from Mexico – would be a school holiday. It had evolved, including with the support of former school president [[William Bizzell]] in 1919, into a day for current students and alumni to gather wherever they were.

Only 12 of the 25 survived the battle and the prisoner of war camps to which the survivors were sent. Dooley told a [[United Press]] correspondent about the gathering, and the reporter sent an article back to the United States about the 25 Aggies who had "Mustered". Although the Aggies on Corregidor did not physically gather for Muster, stories were widely published celebrating their heroic assembly in the Malinta Tunnel including yelling and singing of songs about Texan independence.

In 1943, one year after the Aggies' original Corregidor Muster, E. E. McQuillen, Executive Secretary of the school's alumni association, [[The Association of Former Students]], renamed the school's April 21 event [[Muster (Texas A&M University)|Aggie Muster]]. This is also when it began to evolve into how it is known today, when students and alumni also honor fellow Aggies who have died.<ref name="Emerald">{{cite web |url = http://clubs.aggienetwork.com/emeraldcoastamc/muster.htm |title = Aggie Muster |accessdate = 2006-12-17 |publisher = Emerald Coast A&M Club |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001229/http://clubs.aggienetwork.com/emeraldcoastamc/muster.htm |archivedate = 2007-09-27 }}</ref> Dr. John Ashton of A&M's class of 1906 also wrote a poem in 1943 at McQuillen's request. Entitled "The Heroes' Roll Call", also known as the "Roll Call for the Absent" (which is also the name of a current Aggie Muster traditional segment), it also commemorates the 1942 Muster and is designed so that the number of years since 1942 can be inserted.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roll Call for the Absent (The Heroes' Roll Call) |url=https://www.aggienetwork.com/muster/song_rollcall.aspx |publisher=The Association of Former Students |access-date=2 September 2024}}</ref>

In April 1945, eight weeks after Corregidor was recaptured, three Aggies "Mustered on the Rock" and wrote letters to McQuillen detailing the events. On April 21, 1946 – the first such day after the war – 128 Aggies gathered on the island for Muster and to remember their fallen comrades. They posed for a photograph at the mouth of the Malinta Tunnel with an improvised A&M flag made from a bed sheet, and the photograph became famous. MacArthur also wrote a message to Texas A&M that day praising the bravery of Aggies who had given their lives on Corregidor and elswehere.<ref name="Emerald" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=John A. |title=Softly Call the Muster: The Evolution of a Texas Aggie Tradition |date=1994 |publisher=Texas A&M University |location=College Station |isbn=0890965862 |edition=1st}}</ref>

Efforts by the university to memorialize student and alumni participation during World War II in the Philippines began in 2011 when The Association of Former Students asked Elton Abbott, assistant dean for International Programs and Initiatives for the College of Architecture, to enlist the college's resources to design a Corregidor monument. The Association of Former Students then secured funds from Texas A&M Clubs and private donors to build the monument.

Affixed to the largest of the monument's four ceramic-tiled panels in maroon, the school's color, is a large bronze Aggie Muster symbol with a crossed rifle and sword over a lit torch and partially obscured “A&M” letters. A bronze plaque below describes the famous 1942 and 1946 Aggie Musters. The monument descends to the left in three tall “steps,” each with plaques mounted on top. The center plaque names the 88 Aggies who defended Corregidor and Bataan, the right plaque names the 1942 Muster participants, and the left plaque names the 1946 Muster participants. The American and Philippine flags fly over the monument along with the Texas A&M flag.<ref>{{cite web |title=Student-designed memorial dedicated on WWII battle site - OneArch |url=https://newsarchive.arch.tamu.edu/news/2015/6/15/student-designed-memorial-dedicated-wwii-battle-site/ |website=Texas A&M University School of Architecture |publisher=Texas A&M University |access-date=August 17, 2024 |date=June 15, 2015}}</ref>