The dock at Ormoc City, Leyte.Battle damage at Ormoc. This little building is about all that is still in evidence from the war.RJD in 1945 & MJD in 2012 (Hard to believe this gate survived intact through all the years.)Along the road to Guiuan, Samar.“Butch” my driver. En route from Ormoc to Tacloban. We stopped at the top of Breakneck Ridge—the key battle for the liberation of Leyte. After driving up to the top it was hard to imagine what it must have been like to have fought one’s way up.Japanese shrine at Breakneck. There was no American monument.Dugout Doug’s statue just outside of Tacloban. It was here that he “I Shall Return”-ed.San Juanico Straits, the waterway that separates Leyte from Samar, 1945 vs. 2012.The airport at Guiuan, Samar. No scheduled air service these days. 1945 vs. 2012.All that is left of Navy Base 3149, one of the largest bases constructed during the war. Near Guiuan, Samar.A road to the beach, Base 3149. There is nothing else left to the base except concrete slabs that are occupied by locals or jungle.Inside Guiuan’s 18th Century’s Immaculate Conception Church. 1945 vs. 2012. Church totally destroyed in 2014 typhoon.The crew of PT-127 in front of the Immaculate Conception Church. RJD 1945 (Front row, far right.) MJD 2012 Church totally destroyed in 2014 typhoon.Remains of church following the strongest typhoon in history. The U.S. Embassy has donated $300,000 to rebuild it.2019 — After rebuild!RJD (right) and Chuck Heck at a mausoleum at Malitbog, Leyte, 1945.MJD the same mausoleum at Malitbog, Leyte, 2015.
