The Foreign Service Journal, December 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2013 27 involved in World War II hostilities, but the battle for the nearby island of Peleliu is still remembered as one of the bloodiest of the Pacific campaign. Operation Stalemate II finally ended in the autumn of 1944 after 2,000 Americans and 10,000 Japanese were killed. An airport exchange of classified diplomatic pouches occurs here with an embassy escort. An hour later the plane is taxiing for a takeoff over the spectacular Rock Islands, shaped like mushrooms rising from turquoise waters. After a few hours in the air, we fly past the perfect cone of the Mayon Volcano (8,081 feet) and over the Leyte Gulf, scene of the largest naval battle in modern history. In October 1944, this was the site of General Douglas MacArthur’s famous “I have returned” speech to the Philippine people. The Battle of Leyte Gulf pitted 212 Allied ships against the remnants of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The victory there eventually paved the way for American and Philippine troops to recapture the Bataan Peninsula on Feb. 17, 1945. In Manila, I secure the regional classified material overnight in the embassy vault, and proceed to explore the disheveled seafront and Intramuros District, the original walled Spanish settlement built in 1571. In January 1945, when American and Philippine forces attempted to recapture Manila, they drove the retreating Japanese troops into the walled city and shelled it, killing 16,000 soldiers. The infamous Manila Massacre, committed by Imperial Japanese Army troops while surrounded by U.S. and Philippine forces, killed some 100,000 Filipinos—10 percent of the city’s population at the time. The next morning it’s important that I arrive at the airport early. Embassy Manila always has a large outbound classified load, and traffic is notoriously bad. The diplomatic courier escort in Manila always does an excellent job of getting the pouches planeside through a remote customs gate. I process through the terminal like a regular passenger, before being escorted onto the tarmac to observe their loading by the Thai ground agent. Following wheels-up, the flight soars west over Corregidor. En route to Bangkok above the South China Sea, we pass over Scarborough Shoal and the Paracel Islands—two contentious island groups currently being claimed by the Chinese, much to the displeasure of the Philippines and Vietnam. On arrival in Bangkok, the entire classified load of diplo- matic pouches is securely transferred from Suvarnabhumi Airport to the embassy’s classified vault, where it is prepared for dispatch aboard the weekly department trunk line to Seoul and Washington. The Island Hopper is a classic Diplomatic Courier Service trip, as well as an education in the history of the Western Pacific during World War II. n Intramuros in Manila, as it looked in January 1945. In January 1945, when American and Philippine forces attempted to recapture Manila, they drove the retreating Japanese troops into the walled city and shelled it. en.wikigogo.org