The Belangiga Bells-- Part 5: After 2017 Years, the Bells Are Back in the Philippines

Efforts to have the bells returned began in 1957 when the Franciscan monks of the Catholic Church said the bells were owned by them and should be returned.  In 1987, the government of the Philippines got involved with returning the bells.

It was discovered that two of them were at Francis E. Warren AFB in Wyoming, but the Air Force refused to give them back.  They continued to try to get them returned during the Clinton administration,   but were told the bells were U.S. property and it would take an Act of Congress to return them.

After that, there were a whole lot of efforts, both U.S. and Philippines to have the bells returned but all failed.  Finally, in 2018, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis was given the authority to make the decision and he decided to return the bells, the two in Wyoming and one in South Korea.

The bells arrived in the Philippines on December 11, 2018, just five months ago.  On December 14, they arrived in Belangiga.  On the next day, a Sunday, one of the bells was rung for the first time since 1901.

A Happy Ending To A Sad Moment in Time.