After stumbling on the news about the World War II bombs found on the US Embassy ground, I found another news that is yet again related to World War II.

This time, it’s a contest launched by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philippine Veterans Bank. The contest is dubbed World War II True Stories contest.

The contest was launched in order to get genuine war stories that may inspire today’s youth and give them a better understanding of what our war heroes went through during the time of war.

The contest is open to students 13 to 18 years old attending in public or private high school. They should interview personally a World War II (WWII) veteran or any person living during the WWII and ask them to narrate their story and personal experiences during the war era.

The student will then submit a narrative report of his interview, with a maximum of 2,000 words, the interviewee’s story, noting important details as well quotes from the interview.

Needless to say, the entry must be an original and unpublished story, which is cohesive and realistic. An entry form should accompany the entry. You can download a PDF format of the entry form here.

Entries can be submitted to any branch of the Philippine Veterans Bank nationwide. The last day for the submission of entries will be on March 9, 2009, and winners will be announced on April 1, 2009. Awarding will be on April 9, 2009.

Prizes at stake for the contest are:
First place     – Laptop computer and printer plus a PVB savings account of P10,000.00
Second place – Desktop computer and a PVB savings account of P7,000.00
Third place – Digital camera and a PVB savings account of P5,000.0

Aside from being office to the American diplomats here in the Philippines, the US Embassy was also found to house World War II bombs, as workers were able to unearth some 60 pieces of bombs from the second world war on the embassy’s ground.

The embassy was evacuated on Friday afternoon when the bombs were discovered. By Saturday morning, 77 mortar shells were successfuly removed by the experts and transferred them to a police base.

While the bombs appear to be rusted and covered with mud, Leopoldo Bataoil, Metro Manila police chief, said that they are still potentially lethal and very much capable of massive destruction.

“There are explosive components remaining in the bombs, and we have to make sure that further checks ensure that these bombs will not cause harm or destruction,” Bataoil said, adding it was fortunate that the construction workers had not been hurt.

“There are sets of standard operating procedures we follow in properly disposing of these materials. We will examine these and take them to an area north of Manila where these will be properly detonated,” Bataoil added.

The US Embassy is located in Manila, the scene of terrible fighting at the end of World War II. It was occupied by Japanese forces and retaken by Allied forces, saw fierce fighting and was heavily bombed during the war.

Police said reports of unexploded ordnance being found at construction sites in the capital remained common more than six decades after the end of World War Two.