Clark Veterans Cemetery 3.38

Clark Veterans Cemetery is located in Clark Freeport Zone, Philippines. The cemetery is the burial place for thousands of mainly American veterans and Filipino Scouts who served in the United States Army, and who died in conflicts other than World War II or on military bases in the Philippines.HistoryThe origins of the Clark Veterans Cemetery can be traced to 1900 after the conclusion of the Spanish–American War. As a result of the war, the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain and established a number of US Army posts throughout the islands. These included a large Army base in Manila named Fort William McKinley and an even larger US Cavalry base 50 miles north of Manila called Fort Stotsenburg (now Clark). Similarly the US Navy, after Admiral George Dewey defeated the Spanish Navy in the Battle of Manila Bay, created naval bases including one at Sangley Point in Cavite. Many of these military installations had post cemeteries. The largest was the cemetery at Fort William McKinley in Manila. During World War II, the Fort McKinley military post cemetery was the scene of heavy fighting because it was strategically situated on a hill that overlooked the city and Manila Bay. During the battle to liberate Manila in early 1945, thousands of graves and cemetery records were lost or damaged, including a large marble obelisk Monument to the Unknown Dead.