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• SKULLS & BONES OF U.S. ARMY MIAs?

  WHILE SUPER TYPHOON “YOLANDA” (HAYAN) was devastating Balangiga, Eastern Samar in 2013, it also exhumed skulls and bones beside the Balangiga Church which was dug up as a mass grave of the remains of both U.S. Army men and attacking Filipino natives on Sept. 28, 1901 who were killed in a battle called “Massacre” or “Encounter. (JGL Photo by JOSEPH G. LARIOSA)

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• KRAG RIFLES & SET OF TEETH:

  FORMER BALANGIGA MAYOR VISCUSO S. DE LIRA and Balangiga Municipal Tourism Officer Contessa Maria “Maricar” A. Amano show this reporter what looked like rusty parts of Springfield Model 1892-99 Krag, the standard of United States Army military longarm at the time, and a set of teeth are shown in this photo. (JGL Exclusive photo by JOSEPH G. LARIOSA)

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• CHURCH RUINS:

  THESE DIGGINGS BESIDE the Balangiga Church were the handiworks of supertyphoon Yolanda (Hayan) that exhumed bones, skulls and Krag rifles and other turn-on-the century artifacts that could be traced from garrison of Company C of the 9^th U.S. Army Infantry 48 of the 74 of its officers and enlisted men were hacked to death by an unwelcoming Balangiga, Eastern Samar villagers, who just repulsed Spanish colonizers two years earlier. (JGL Photo by JOSEPH G. LARIOSA)

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• DAUGHTER OF MASSACRE SURVIVOR:

  MS. JEAN GAMLIN WALL, the daughter of one of the survivors of the Balangiga Massacre/Encounter, has visited Balangiga twice. She could not believe the three Balangiga bells have been returned to Balangiga. She is shown in this photo with reporter Joseph G. Lariosa. (JGL Photo)

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• MEMBERS OF “C” COMPANY OF THE U.S. 9th INFANTRY:

  THESE ARE THE MEMBERS of the “C” Company of the U.S. Army 9^th Infantry sometime in July 1901 in Madison Barracks, Sachkets Harbor, New York a few weeks before they were shipped to Manila, Philippines for their war service. Some 48 of the 74 members did not make it back to the United States when they were hacked to death by Independence-loving natives of Balangiga, Eastern Samar who felt territorial as they considered their village like their “home is our castle.” (Photo courtesy of retired U.S. Navy Capt. Dennis Wright)

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• SOCIALIZING:

  BALANGIGA, EASTERN SAMAR Chief of Police Valeriano Abanador, who lead the attack on the garrison of the headquarters of Company C of the 9^th U.S. Army Infantry, is shown according to the caption in this photo exhibit at the Balangiga Museum as “standing with arms folded across his chest (sixth from right)” joins elements of the Company C in this group photo opportunity six weeks before launching the Massacre/Encounter on Sept. 28, 1901. (Balangiga Museum photo)

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• BONIFACIO REPLICA:

  THIS MONUMENT OF BALANGIGA, Eastern Samar Chief of Police Valeriano Abanador in the plaza between Balangiga town hall and the scene of the attack must have been inspired by the massive monument of Andres Bonifacio in Caloocan City where the Philippine national hero declared his open break with the Spanish colonizers two years earlier. At right is former Balangiga Mayor Viscuso S. de Lira and journalist Joseph G. Lariosa. (JGL Photo)

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• DRAMATIZING THE MASSACRE:

  THIS DIORAMA was re-created exactly in the place where the garrison of the Company C of the U.S. Army 9th Infantry was attacked and savaged by the Balangiga, Eastern Samar natives on the morning of Sept. 28, 1901. Local and foreign tourists flock to this Balangiga during the anniversary every year of the attack when the locals dramatize the event. The anniversary is one of the celebrated events in Balangiga. The others are April 1-3, foundation day of Balangiga, which originated from the word, “Balanga” for jackfruit or “Bala” (balay or house in Ilocano and Waray), “ngi” (ngi-ngi, which means mouth) and “ga” (for port or port town) and August 10, town fiesta of St. Lawrence Deacon & Martyr. The church is only less than 200 meters away from the U.S. Army garrison. (JGL Photo by JOSEPH G. LARIOSA)

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• BALANGIGA CHURCH:

  THIS MODERN BALANGIGA CHURCH, St. Lawrence Deacon & Martyr, according to former Balangiga Mayor Viscuso S. de Lira was the same church where Balangiga, Eastern Samar natives some of them cross-dressing as women pretended to be joining a funeral procession toward the church but a U.S. Army sentry who challenged them to open the coffin had to step back when natives screamed that the cause of death was “cholera, cholera,” a death-causing disease prevalent during that era. As soon as they entered the church, the remains-vacant coffin was emptied of boloes, spears, bows and arrows and other weapons. The natives stayed inside the church overnight before launching the attack followed by pealing of the bells as the signal of attack. Although U.S. sentry, Pvt. Adolph Gamlin noticed that women and children were leaving the village and told his superiors about the phenomenon, the warning signs were ignored. (JGL Photo by JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

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• BALANGIGA MASSACRE LIST:

  HERE ARE THE NAMES dead, the wounded and unscathed U.S. Army officers and enlisted men and Filipino guerrilla natives. (JGL Photo)

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