The following message was received on April
21, 2009 from Annette Morgan, daughter of Roy E. Hays, D Co, 1st Regt, 4th
Marine Regt.:
On Saturday April 18,
2009, Neal {Annette's husband}and I had the pleasure of
attending the Seventh Annual Celebration of "Filipino American
Friendship Day" at the Bataan- Corregidor Memorial at Lakefront
Park in Kissimmee, Florida, A Tribute to Courage.
During the ceremonies, the Hon. Jim Swann Mayor, City of
Kissimmee spoke those words "Freedom isn't Free" in his address
to honor all veterans and commemorate the bond of friendship. I
had the opportunity to talk with him after the formalities of
the day were over and he told me that his own father had been a
veteran and that his dad had dug schrapnel out of his legs until
the day he died.
In Kissimmee, Florida there is a large Philippine community
which includes veterans, Philippine Scouts and guerillas and
that community worked to get a memorial to honor all those who
fought and those who died in defense of the Philippines approved
and built. They then set about to have the city of Kissimmee,
the county of Osceola, the state of Florida to declare a day in
April the "Filipino American Friendship Day" and today was a
celebration of that day. The Filipino community here is
eternally grateful for America and our defense of their
homeland.
They formed a foundation and commissioned Sandra Storm to make a
sculpture for the memorial and it is stunning. She did a larger
than life bronze which represents a true tiny segment of the
Bataan Death March.
The sculpture is of a Filipino soldier and an American Soldier,
wounded and holding each other up and being given a vessel of
water to drink by a Filipina village woman. The captives were
forced to go on an almost 100 mile march in oppressive heat
without food or water and the women and children who tried to
help relieve their suffering by bringing them food and water
were killed. Eyewitness accounts to this small vignette say that
a Japanese sentry beheaded the woman on the spot and left her
body to rot by the roadside and the two soldiers were shot where
they stood.
City, county and state officials attended. There were only 3
American POW survivors left to come (one was my dad Roy E.
"Gabby" Hays, 4th Marines, D. Co.. He is 90 years old), and 2
Filipino POW's and they were honored in every way possible with
ceremony and speeches and the friendship of the two countries
re-avowed. The women cooked for us and we feasted.
While we sat and watched my dad (who during his 3 1/2 years as a
POW had been starved down from 180 lbs to 89 lbs during his
captivity) and the other veterans who had been starved to near
death during their captivity, all the families and friends
diving with gusto into that bounty of wonderful food, I got
goosebumps and tears ran down my cheeks because right in front
of me was sitting the most wonderful example of our costly but
glorious freedom, the men and women of America and the
Philippines sitting together sharing friendship and food without
fear of death for even the smallest act of kindness to one
another.
The Filipino folks in this community are so gracious, warm,
welcoming, appreciative and kind towards America and especially
our veterans beyond any description I can give you.
I made an album on my Flickr page and here is the link to it
where you can see the pictures of this marvelous day. Just click
on any photo to see a larger version of it and please feel free
to leave comments or ask questions.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hairhangingdown/sets/72157616928707451/
It such meaningful day and it reminded us once again to never
lose sight of what this country means and its core constitution.
"Freedom" took on a spiritual meaning for me during that one
simple meal. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Annette provided copies of her photos taken at the April 18, 2009
Filipino-American Friendship Day Ceremony. Click on the "thumbnails" below
to see full-size images of her photos.
Above: Randall Edwards, Owen Boothroyd (seated) & Roy Hays at the
Bataan-Corregidor Memorial in Kissimmee, FL on April 18, 2009 which is
Filipino-American Friendship Day in Kissimmee.
Above: Sgt Roy E. Hays Marine Corp D. Co. commemorative brick at
Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Kissimmee, FL in the shadow of Roy E. Hays April 18,
2009
Above: The freedom page memorial at the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial,
Kissimmee, FL
Above: Randall Edwards, Roy Hays, Owen Boothroyd, a Filipino veteran
and live re-enactment of Bataan Death March.
Above: Live depiction of soldiers and woman sculpted in bronze by
Sandra Storm, Bataan-Corregidor Memorial, Kissimmee, FL on April 18, 2009.
Above: Bronze sculpture of a scene from the Bataan Death March by
sculptress Sandra Storm, April 18, 2009, Kissimmee, FL.
Above: Filipino veteran beside live depiction of soldiers and woman
sculpted in bronze by Sandra Storm, Bataan-Corregidor Memorial, Kissimmee, FL on
April 18, 2009.
Above: Left to Right - Randall Edwards, Owen Boothroyd (seated),
Annette Morgan (standing @ center) and Roy Hays at the Bataan-Corregidor
Memorial, Kissimmee, FL.
Above: Roy and Vera Hays at the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial, Kissimmee,
FL on April 18, 2009.
Above: Neal and Annette Morgan at Bataan-Corregidor Memorial,
Kissimmee, FL on April 18, 2009.
Additional information from Annette Morgan
received after the above was posted:
This is a little short notice but I just found out about a fund raiser event
for the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Foundation, Inc. which is the group who
sponsored/hosted the "Filipino-American Friendship Day" celebration that I wrote
about a couple of days ago.
Mrs. Pedro Gonzales, wife of Pedro Gonzales, M.D., Chairman of the
Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Foundation, Inc. told me yesterday she would put a
brochure in the mail to me, so if there is more information in there, then I'll
send another note.
Bataan-Corregidor Walkathon
May 2, 2009
Gateway High School
93 Panther Paws Trail
Kissimmee, Florida
8 a.m. to noon
Best Regards,
annette
