In the US, the day that lives in infamy was December 7, a Sunday.
But in the Philippines, it was Monday December 8, a feast day of Mary, so like the US, many were at church when attacked.
(photo of the EDSA shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace. )
Those who remember are now dying or dead; but Lolo, who was a child at the time, remembers that his family walked to their farm so that they would be safe...he carried his cousin and his mom the food. Luckily, the town was not bombed and they returned shortly later, and he remembers one Japanese soldier who befriended him and the other preteens. However, he also remembers when things got worse, and people were shot on the street outside his old home.
His brother (see photo) and cousin fought the Japanese, and his cousin was killed. At the end of the war, like many Pinoys, he joined with them to fight and rid their country of the Japanese soldiers. That story is rarely told, even though thousands of Filipino civilians were murdered (especially in Manila) and the revenge against the Japenese soldiers makes their story one of terror and horror.
Sigh.
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