A parallel wartime experience

“A Return to Wartime Philippines” [Special Asia Issue, Aug. 7] was quite a bittersweet nostalgia trip for me. Like the author’s mother, Leanne Blinzler Noe, I lived in the Philippines from 1938 to 1947. All my experiences parallel hers.

However, I would like to add that the liberation of Manila was one of the great horrors of the war. It was a six-week battle of shelling, deliberate killing of civilians, and the city was burned to rubble.

A good memory, though, is one of the first meals given us by the liberation forces: fried Spam, dehydrated mashed potatoes, dehydrated scrambled eggs and a Milky Way bar. It was a lip-smacking treat.

LOTTE HERSHFIELD