It all happened in the summer of 2002. I will try to recall everything that transpired on that scary Saturday evening. Airsoft Wargames is still in extreme underground during that time unlike these days….
Airsofters from different locations around the metro and in nearby provinces as far as Batangas, Laguna, Cavite and Baguio City.
We were number around 130(I can no longer recall the exact numbers) airsofters from different teams and lonewolves. We landed in the Island of Corregidor at 1100hrs from Manila Bay.
The Airsofters are in very high spirits because this is the FIRST TIME that a bivouac(night game) will be played in an island and most of all for me this is my very first bivouac as an airsofter.
Laughters and chattings were heard everywhere.
After we ate our lunch we opted to stay inside our bunks some were asleep others drinking others went outside to see the sights around the island.
Around 1600hrs Game Organizers and Marshalls arrived and we were told to gear up and double check everything before proceeding to the game site because we will only be inserted once by our service and we were prohibited to go back to the barracks.
At last Gametime at 1900hrs.
Everyone are so anxious you can almost hear the pulse’s and nerves pumping. We are all locked and loaded to squeeze the triggers. I’ve seen their game face some are serious others look bored others cracking jokes and others were still sleepy. Ahehehehe….We were divided into two groups(green and red arm band) to play capture the flag.
The two groups went to their different HQ’s(Base Camp-Starting Point). Red Team(my team) was camped at the southern most part of the island while the Green Team was at the northern part. As the team leaders and squad leaders laying out the plans as to who will play the assault, recon, ambush, support team, etc…our main objective is how to capture the flag as fast as we can with ease and as minimal detection as possible. My squad was designated as the ambush group as well as support group. We are in close coordination with the reconnaissance team because they will be the one to spot any tango movements…Once they spotted a tango activities they will immediately radio to us the coordinates after the confirmation codes my squad will proceed to the location to set up an ambush. Each team has its own night vision equipment to easily spot movements especially in pitch black.
The only light we had is coming from the moon but that is not enough to totally spot any movements for both enemies and friendlies even with the color of our team banded to our left arm. We were reminded that before we squeeze our triggers we should verify first through comms if they are friendlies or not to avoid any casualty from our side. Comms(Radio Communication) are not yet busy. we only received several nitches from our Base Commander after 30 mins of the insertion to the field asking for sitrep’s(situational reports) and locations of each squaddies. After almost an hour of crawling and duck walking we were finally ordered by our squad leader to rest and set up a perimeter to guard our fortress. I’m sweating cold and my calf and legs are aching. I asked my teammates in whisper through our comms how they feel luckily the same as I am. Ahehehehehe…..I got hold of my cigarette to puff some smoke in order for me to temporarily calm my self. This is hard because we need to cover the burns with our hands because a single light will give away our position. Interestingly I also smell some tobacco Hooyah!! Some of my mates are also puffing cigarettes. After three minutes we received a very strange comms coming from our “Romeo Alpha” team(assault team) that they were hearing people talking in Japanese but they are whispering because any loud or reckless movements will easily give away their position. We know these guys because they are the type of blokes who love to crack jokes…in short you will not going to take them seriously. Our Base Commander cursed them and warned not to traffic the comms. We are laughing our ass off but in whispers. I felt that somehow it eases up my anxiousness. They are located in the Battery Fortifications which is about 1 click(kilometer) away from us. My squad is currently located in the Middleside and we are about one foot away from each other(so that we can easily tap one another in case of trouble). I quietly removed my webbing and my other gears to let the heat breath out from my body. I suddenly felt very cold its like there is a hand or a wind or whatever pressing my calves. My heart started to pump tremendously. I immediately put again my webbing and gears and I whispered comms to my team leader if we can set up an ambush at the second floor of the Islands hospital building which is about 500 meters away from us that would be a good vantage point because of the elevation but the real situation is I am scared as bunny. Ahehehehehe….Luckily, my team leader agree with me. So we find our way towards the hospital building crawling. Whew!!!! Ahehehehe…As we approached the starboard side of the building we heard some footsteps. My lucky guess they are about ten to 15 people walking moderately. I grinned….I heard my squad leader whispered comms to us and ordered us to put off our safety and get into position and ready to fire anytime. As we slowly crept inside the hospital building I heard our radio man immediately threw comms to the Base Commander asking if there are friendlies inside the hospital building. And he replied screaming “None! Waste them all!”. Our radio man whispered to our comms and told us “It’s a GREEN! Lets give them hell.” We all replied “Copy that!” I grinned, I felt it touches my ears. Ahehehehehehe….We immediately set up a cross fire in between the stairs and windows. Two of my teammates at the front(our point man) keep on whispering and counting…steady…. I can also hear the footsteps getting louder and louder from the third column….. steady…my heart like to jump from my ribs in excitement….5…4…3…2….1. I saw our point men both in crouch firing position stepped in and we were shocked when we heard them screamed…”BAIL OUT!!!!! BAIL OUT!!!! Pu*#@*^$g In$#%!!!! DI SILA TAO!!!!” We immediately ran toward them but instead we saw them coming to us then without second thinking we ran like hell outside the hospital building. We sent comms to the Game Marshall’s and asked for a ceasefire from the south east side at the hospital building. Three Game Marshalls immediately rushed to us. I got hold of my surefire and flashed to the faces of my two teammates and saw them white as bond paper. Ahehehehehe….We heard them recount their stories. They heard English and Japanese speaking guys rushing towards our position but I thought why we did not hear what they are saying? I am only five to six feet apart….after a very deafning silence we grinned to each other and embraced each other and we laugh our ass off. Ahehehehe…..but I can still see the faces of my teammates that they are still afraid. I cannot deny that I am also afraid. Ahehehehehe……
We proceeded back to our Base…and saw our Base Commander grinning to us while brewing hot chocolate and asked what happened and we recounted again our stories. One thing I knew I am not the only one who experienced the very cold air pressed in my calves. Even my teammates felt it also.
I think after 15 to 30 minutes we heard a horn and Game Marshall’s radio’ed “Game Over!”. After 30 mins we saw the rest of the blokes..sweating and very tired…and to our horror we saw one of the lonewolves in great pain and he was in stretcher. Field Medics are attending to him. They are recalling the stories they heard him scream and saw his body lying at the foot of the Fil-Am memorial(the burial site of dead Japanese soldiers). The bloke broke his foot while he attempted to run because he claimed he saw a white figure floating about two feet away from where his spot.
Different stories began to emerged from all individuals recalling their own adventure but others experience nothing(good for them). Others claimed they heard people in mourning, yelling in pain, gunshots, speaking English, Japanese, everything ghoulish….We all know that no one from our fellow airsofters are joking because you can see the traces in their faces that they are telling the truth.
After we shook off the dust.
We decided to offer prayers and halt the game. I checked my watch it reads 230 am.
Game officials decided to continue the game at 0600 hrs the following day in order to avoid other possible mishaps. Oh yeah!! Not even Casper the friendly ghost’s or what so ever will going to stop us in playing our beloved game. Ahehehehe…….
We left the island Sunday at 1700 hrs. We are still grinning and spirits are high despite of the experiences we had.
As different photographers post’s their shots for both film and digital the following day in our airsoft community website it has orbs and sphere of lights in which according to them they are spirits. Whew!
Creepy and this is a true story!!
Once a year airsofters still play in Corregidor Island.
The experience is great!
From: Karma
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