Pacific War’s only urban battle remembered

I am writing to commend the Inquirer and its staff for appropriately commemorating the 68th anniversary of the Battle of Manila as well as for its commitment to accuracy in the Feb. 11 article “Yamashita’s guilt, Korean atrocity, other misconceptions about Liberation of Manila” by the eminent economist and historian Benito Legarda Jr.

I am an American author/historian; my first book was titled “Escape From Davao: The Forgotten Story of the Most Daring Prison Break of the Pacific War” (Penguin, 2011) and I’m currently working on a book on the Battle for Manila which will be published next year.  I hope to shine a light on a largely forgotten nightmare, to tell the truth about the Pacific War’s only urban battle, and what is perhaps the greatest crime in Philippine history.  In the meantime it is refreshing to know that others are committed to honoring the eternal memory of the victims and patriots who perished in February 1945.

—JOHN D. LUKACS

Pennsylvania, USA

www.johndlukacs.com