I made a trip to the largest overseas US cemetery when I was in Manila. It was an emotional afternoon.

Arguably, the most famous Consolidated B-24D Liberator bomber in WWII is one called The Goon. For three reasons. One, its nose art was featured in a 1944 issue of National Geographic Magazine. Two, among the crew was the top turret gunner in the war with 17 confirmed downed zeros, seven during one mission on Halloween of 1943. His name was Artie Benko from Brisbee Arizona. And three, for many years, if any kid in America wanted to build a scale model of a B-24D Liberator, they could purchase The Goon at their local hobby shop.

The nose art for The Goon was painted by my uncle Malcolm Stuart Sanders and is based on a character from the Popeye comic strip. He was the bombardier/Navigator of the 11-man crew.

The Goon flew her last bombing mission on November 15, 1943. The reports available online are conflicting. On the way to (or returning from) a mission to bomb Kowloon Docks across the harbor from Hong Kong, “The Goon” developed engine problems. To avoid crashing, the crew jettisoned everything they could to lighten the load. Then the pilot ordered a bailout. Seven (or eight) crew members bailed out, while three (or one) stayed with the plane and successfully landed it at Kweilin airfield. Benko and my uncle were among those who bailed out and were subsequently declared Missing in Action (MIA) and twelve days later, deceased. The other members of the crew made it back to an American base safely. One online report said that Benko and my uncle were captured by the Japanese and tortured to death and that missionaries supplied the military with photos of their crucifixion. (Those photos are not in any online official record and while I have the paperwork to petition the military for a release of service records, I’m not sure I want or need to do that. The plain facts of their deaths in November of 1943 are enough.)

Interesting side note: maybe 20 years ago, I was inquiring online about The Goon and if any of the crew was still alive. The pilot’s name was Sam Skousen and he had recently passed. But one of the pilot’s granddaughters got in touch with me. She told me her family had 30 minutes of color 8MM film footage of the plane and the crew. After some back and forth, I was able to take possession of the film and have it professionally converted to video tape and then I returned the original to the Skousen Family. One Father’s Day, in the early 90s, I was able to play the tape for my father, who was entering the early stages of Alzheimer’s. He was able to view moving pictures of his oldest brother for the first time in 50 years, before he succumbed to the disease. That was a special moment for both of us.

There are actually two memorial grave markers for my uncle Malcolm. One is on a snowy hillside in Marshall, Wisconsin, attached to the obverse of the marker for my paternal grandparents. The other is in Manila, the Philippines. My uncle’s remains were never officially recovered and he remains MIA to this day.

I knew all of this before I made my visit to the Manila American Memorial Cemetery last week.

On Wednesday, I left my accommodations in Makati City and took a Grab taxi to the cemetery. I had seen pictures online but I was not prepared for the immense scale of the site. I later learned that this was the largest of all of the overseas American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries with 17,058 interred, and 36,286 listed on the Walls of the Missing. That’s almost double the number of interred and 24 times the number of missing of the Normandy cemetery that is the most-visited among ABMC sites. That makes sense. The Pacific Theater was massive and involved the actions of four branches of the military over four years. The number of men in the Navy missing or buried at sea alone required half of the space on the Walls of the Missing in Manila. The Normandy site commemorates the dead from one military operation, albeit the most decisive one.

The Manila American Memorial Cemetery is beautiful, peaceful, and perfectly manicured. I was one of maybe a dozen visitors I observed that day. Why so few? The war ended 80 years ago. The number of people who have a personal memory of, or connection to, the dead is dwindling. My uncle died 18 years before I was even born and if my father, his youngest brother, were alive today he would be over 100 years old. That fact, plus the location of the site 10-13 time zones away from the US, means that there are no long lines to enter and honor the dead here.

I’m not certain, but I may be the only member of my family to make this pilgrimage since the site was dedicated in 1950.

I walked the grounds and then made my way to the visitor’s center. A very kind and professional woman looked up my uncle and printed out some documents relating to him and provided me with a memorial certificate of his service. She also offered me paperwork to dig into his service records further, which I may or may not do. Then she pointed me in the general direction of the location of his name on the Walls of the Missing. I started at the A’s and made my way to the S’s.

I found my uncle roughly at eye level after ten minutes. Then I retraced my steps and found Artie Benko, the top turret gunner in WWII. As I mentioned, both men’s remains were never identified and recovered, but there is a chance that they are actually buried here in Manila. The cemetery features dozens of crosses marking the final resting place of unknown “comrades in arms.” Part of me hopes my uncle eventually received a fitting and respectful burial there. It is a peaceful place to rest.

I left as quietly as I entered. Hallowed ground.