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MABALACAT, Pampanga: In a bid to promote peace,
goodwill and friendship worldwide, Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales
approved the construction of the Capt. Collin P. Kelly Jr. Peace
Memorial here.
“Mabalacat supports the
establishment of the Capt. Collin P. Kelly Jr. Peace Memorial not
only to honor him but to promote goodwill, peace and friendship
among nations.” Morales said.
Kelly’s life size fiberglass
statue will be erected within the allotted 5,000-sqm memorial at the
Air Force City inside the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ). He is
considered as the “first American hero of World War II.”
Morales said the construction of
Kelly’s memorial, which is expected to be finished in January next
year, as a tribute to his courage and bravery also serves as a
symbol of unity.
The Mabalacat Tourism Office is
now working closely with the 600th Air Base Wing of the Philippine
Air Force (PAF) for the establishment of the memorial near the old
Kelly Theater.
Citing the heroism of other
Filipino pilots, Morales added that a similar memorial would be
built in the area for First Lieutenant Cesar Basa who died on
December 12, 1941; two days after Kelly met his fate on December 10
of the same year.
Basa and Kelly died a few days
after the December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor bombing. The following day,
Japanese ace pilot Saburo Sakai led the attack on Clark Field
destroying most American fighter planes on the ground while
refueling.
Robert Altman, one of the
surviving crew and a prisoner of the Japanese Imperial Forces for 40
months, recounted Kelly’s heroism. Using a B17 fighter plane, the
American pilot destroyed heavy cruiser Ashigara in a Japanese
landing force near Aparri.
On his return to Clark Field,
Kelly was jumped by 10 Japanese Zero fighters that immediately cut
down the flight engineer; setting the aircraft on fire. Kelly
ordered his crew to bail out before the ill-fated B-17 crashed in
Barangay Mabiga here.
The only B-17s to survive were
those dispersed to a small strip in Mindanao, one of which that had
Kelly as skipper returned to Clark Fields to load bombs.
The late US President Franklin
Roosevelt awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on Kelly for his
bravery and sacrifice.
--Joey Aguilar
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