UST during World War II

After exchanging some notes on Redman pics of Brod Roxx Roque at Buckingham Palace in London at Facebook .... that will later progress as to the location of the UST GCC monument built in 1985 for the 50th anniv of the Liberation of Manila na ngayon ay nawawala dahil napalitan na ng building. Sabi naman ni NC he is negotiating for the restoration of the monument. Why for me is so important aside from the touring sacrifices done during my time in the cadet corps. Allow me to share some worthy feelings !!!!
For all you know UST served as a garrison and an internment camp of about 3700 foreigners and their families (Americans and allied civilians .... British Australians etc ) starting from 1941 up to liberation in 1945 captured by the Japanese during WW 2. You can see and view the stories behind the epic and saga of the captured internees form this site:

http://www.cnac.org/emilscott/santotomas01.htm

Why the Japanese choose UST? and not other places like Ft. Santiago, Malacanang or Letran. Ft Santiago became a garrison and so is Letran and all other properties of the Friars. Malacanang being the seat of power became also the office and palace of the chief of the Japanese Imperial Army. UST was chosen maybe because of its large area that can accommodate thousands of detainees plus the steel WALLS of UST can be properly secured by the Japanese guards. During the Battle of Manila it was considered to be the scene of the worst urban battle in the Pacific Theater that the house to house and building to building fight lasted for a month that destroyed the once "Pearl of the Orient".
At the start of the war Gen MacArthur ordered the mobilization of Filipino troops mostly college volunteers and civilians that comprise what later call known as Philippine Scouts. The plan for MacArthur to put one Philippine Division was scuttled when the Japs attack Pearl Harbor that caught MacArthur by surprise and unprepared. The Philippine scouts (Philippine Army, Philippine Constabulary and Army Air Corps later known as USAFFE) of MacArthur are therefore poorly trained and under equipped when they defended Bataan and Corregidor. Many volunteers are ROTC cadets coming from different schools of Manila. Some ROTC officers may have been directly promoted as Officers of the USAFFE. The supposed class of 1945 of PMA who were then plebes become officers as a result of the war and are ordered to command troops and they march from Baguio to Bataan. As to the number of UST volunteers who fought alongside the Americans maybe we can still research from our surviving goldies ....
What is the significance of UST during the war aside from being an internment camp? Remember that Manila was burned and destroyed by the Japs during the Battle of Manila but there is one building in Manila that was kept intact and left standing when Manila was recaptured by the Americans - and that was UST. When MacArthur left Manila in 1942 he declared it as open city meaning there are no aggressive force and a neutral place between the Americans and the Japs. Napamahal na siguro si MacArthur sa Manila na nung bata pa sya'y lumaki dahil ang kanyang ama ay naging Governor-General nung 1900 kaya nung nilisan ang Pilipinas isinambit ang makasaysayang katagang "I Shall Return". Not only MacArthur had that sensible feeling toward the magnificent city of Manila but also with Gen Tomoyoki Yamashita. Sensing that Manila is un-defensible he devised a tactical plan for a guerrilla warfare at the mountains of the north. Yamashita surrendered to Filipino guerillas (not to American G.I's as history pictured it to be) at Kiangan, Ifugao in 1945. When the Japs lost at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Yamashita sense that the battle of the Philippines is already a lost cause. There will be no ships to resupply them the much needed fuel for their aircraft and tanks plus the Americans are already island hopping toward the Philippines. Ganun talaga ka importante ang aircraft carrier at island to resupply and re-arm (the British would have lost the Falkland War without the Ascension Island). So Yamashita along with more than 200,000 Japs Army went North and left behind some 16,000 men (mostly sailors) to defend Manila as part of his delaying strategy. The specific order of Yamashita is to fight the Americans out of the city and not inside the city. But the remaining Japs turned Manila into a warzone. With only around 16,000 men left in Manila with over a million civilians then about 100,000 Filipino civilians perished from the carnage. The Japanese torch the wooden houses and burn the city to the ground sensing American planes will bomb them as a cover of their retreat going to Laguna and Rizal. Just they did in the famous Rape of Nanking thousands of Filipinos perished considered to be one of the greatest atrocities committed by the Japs during the war. When Yamashita was tried he reasoned out that he had no control over Adm. Iwabuchi's men but it was command responsibility later called the Yamashita doctrine.
I was already in the cadet corps in 1985 during the time of Class Mandirigma. It was in this year that the 50th anniv on the Liberation of Manila was celebrated at UST and no less than Pres.Marcos came to grace the occasion. Why in UST? Because UST serves as monument into the saga and epic in the history of Manila at World War 2. The UST Main Building still stand tall as of today as the only building left standing after Manila was burned to the ground and serves as bastion of freedom of every Filipino. When you are at UST you should look and stand there with pride, honor and dignity that will serve as a remembrance of our generation. Maybe God had put that distinction that he guided the foreigners to survived from that unforgettable war that he chooses UST their home and as a savior. When you are at UST as you step on our hallowed ground remember that you are in the heart of history of our country. With or without the monument that was built in 1985 that remind us the uncommon valor shed by our forebear Redmen during the war ..... the monument are just edifice for monuments are best built in the hearts of men. But you can only sense and feel it if you know the history of UST during WW II !!!!!