THE BALANGIGA BELLS Robbed by the us forces from the people and taken as a war booty

Balangiga, which became a parish on September 27, 1859, may have taken four years to raise the funds needed to acquire their first church bell. This is believed to be the large 1863 bell now in Wyoming. It bears what is probably an Augustinian emblem and has a mouth diameter of 31¼ inches and height of 30 inches. The name inscribed on the bell, "R. San Francisco", it is believed, belonged to the parish priest at that time.

After Balangiga became a separate parish on Sept. 27, 1859, the town probably took four years to raise funds to acquire its first church bell. It was cast circa-1863 and has a mouth diameter of 31 ¼ inches and height of 30 inches. It is inscribed with a name, R. San Francisco, who was probably the parish priest at that time.

The town probably acquired its second bell, cast circa-1889 and having a mouth diameter of 27 ¾ inches and height of 27 ½ inches, in 1889 through the initiative of Fr. Agustin Delgado, whose name is inscribed on the bell.

The third and smallest bell may have been acquired in 1895, through the initiative of Fr. Bernardo Aparecio. This is the bell now kept by the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment in Camp Red Cloud, South Korea. Estimates of its size deduce a 23-24 inch height and a mouth diameter of about 20 inches. It also bears the Franciscan emblem.

On September 28, 1901, Filipino freedom fighters from the village of Balangiga ambushed Company C of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment, while they were at breakfast, killing an estimated 48 and wounding 22 of the 78 men of the unit, with only four escaping unhurt. The villagers captured about 100 rifles and 25,000 rounds of ammunition. An estimated 20 to 25 of the villagers had died in the fighting, with a similar number of wounded.

American survivors of the Balangiga massacre pose with a Balangiga bell. Photo taken in Calbayog, Samar, in April 1902 (Wikipedia)

In reprisal, General Jacob H. Smith ordered that Samar be turned into a "howling wilderness" and that any Filipino male above ten years of age capable of bearing arms be shot. From the burned-out Catholic town church, the Americans looted three bells which they took back to the United States as war booty. The 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment, however, maintains that the single bell in their possession was presented to the regiment by villagers when the unit left Balangiga on April 9, 1902. Smith and his primary subordinate, Major Littleton Waller of the United States Marine Corps were both court-martialled for illegal vengeance against the civilian population of Samar. Waller was acquitted of the charges. Smith was found guilty, admonished and retired from service.

After the Balingiga incident mentioned above, the town was recaptured on September 29, 1901 by 55 men of Company G, 9th Infantry. That unit departed the town the same day, and was replaced by 132 men from Companies K and L of the 11th Infantry Regiment which garrisoned the town until relieved on October 18, 1901. When the garrisoning the 11th Infantry departed, they brought home the war trophies. These included two large bronze bells cast in the late 19th century and a much older cannon. The bells were taken because one or both had been used by the insurgents to signal the attack on Company C, 9th Infantry. The cannon had been taken from the plaza in front of the church because it looked like it might make a good war trophy.

The 11th Infantry redeployed to Fort D.A. Russell in Wyoming, arriving on March 23, 1904. On May 16, 1905, the Cheyenne Daily Leader newspaper reported that the cannon had been mounted on the parade ground near the flagpole along with other relics from the Philippines "...to include the famous bell which gave the signal for the massacre of a whole company. Two large bells three feet tall and a seven foot cannon were proudly displayed in front of the flagpole on the parade ground of the fort.

A sign was installed over one of the bells that said;

This bell hung in the church at Balangiga, Samar, PI, and rung the signal for the attack on Company C, 9th U.S. Infantry, Sept 29 [28], 1901. Taken by Company L, 11th Infantry and detachment of Company K, 11th Infantry, the first units to reach the scene after the massacre.

The sign above the bell erroneously credited units of the 11th Infantry with being the first to reach Balangiga after the battle. After further research, the sign was changed in 1911 giving proper credit to Company G, 9th Infantry, for recapturing Balangiga.

In 1927, Fort Russell was renamed Fort Francis E. Warren. On 7 October 1949, it became Francis E. Warren Air Force Base.

In 1967, a curved red brick wall constructed in the Warran AFB trophy park for the bells, with a bronze plaque on the wall between the bells telling the story of the Massacre at Balangiga. As of 1987, a faint inscription was visible on the back of both bells, reading:

USED BY PHILIPPINOS 

TO SOUND SIGNAL FOR MASSACRE

OF COMPANY "C" NINTH INFANTRY

AT BALANGIGA P.l.

28TH SEPTEMBER 1901

The two of Balangiga bells exhibited at Fort D.A. Russel, now F. E. Warren Air Force Base (Wikipedia)

As of 2001, a glass case housed the bells along with a 400-year-old  British Falcon cannon. This seven-foot cannon is described in F.E. Warren Air Force Base's fact sheets as a Queen Mary Tudor cannon forged in 1557. The bell in the possession of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment is kept at the 2nd Infantry Division Museum in Camp Red Cloud, Uijeongbu. It had previously been displayed at the unit's Camp Hovey headquarters.

As of 2013, the bells remain under US government control