This Memorial Day, I offer a tribute to the hundreds and thousands of Filipino Guerrillas who fought in World War II alongside the Americans. In a moving poem, General Romulo penned these words:
To the men who fought
In defense of the Philippines
In the 1941-1942 campaign
The ill-trained, ill-armed recruits
In straw helmets and rubbers shoes
The pilots without planes
The sailors without ships
The men on horseback
Fighting tanks with sabers
The gunners short of shells
The soldiers with obsolete rifles
Hungry in the foxholes of Bataan
And the batteries of Corregidor
Racked by dysentery, malaria, beriberi
Surviving on false hopes
Defeated at long last by their bodies
Sent to die in their faceless thousands
In the long cruel march to Capas
And in the concentration camps
This memorial is dedicated
By their grateful countrymen
Who will not forget
That their defeat was weakness of the flesh
But victory of faith loyalty and love.
~ Carlos P. Romulo
Half-American and half-Filipino, Panlilio wrote: Filipinos will die for love, and Americans will die for principle. I am half-and-half. I die the same way.”
excerpt from: Valerie Gonzalez to read the original post visit : Dream to Learn
A moving testament to their bravery.
Here’s more stories about Panlilio:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=pkMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=filipino+guerrillas+romulo&source=bl&ots=eHRmFdCVK6&sig=iuHmU83Vv0Q_TKgeW_wB_IVG3pE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cAWEU73mJInNsQSdi4D4Bw&sqi=2&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=filipino%20guerrillas%20romulo&f=false
I’ll check it out later. Thanks for the link. 🙂
Moving, thanks for sharing.
You are welcome.
What a moving tribute to incredible unsung heroes.
Thank you, Joanne.
I’m just learning of Carlos Romulo now, though I had heard about him in passing many times…what a powerful figure in Filipino history! Here’s an interesting account of how Romulo became and pro-American…
http://books.google.com/books?id=pkMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=filipino+guerrillas+romulo&source=bl&ots=eHRmFdCVK6&sig=iuHmU83Vv0Q_TKgeW_wB_IVG3pE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cAWEU73mJInNsQSdi4D4Bw&sqi=2&ved=0CHwQ6AEwDQ#v=onepage&q=filipino%20guerrillas%20romulo&f=false
Good share, psalmdiva. Thank you for the story.
Thank you for such lovely words
You are welcome, Jim. Did you experience the War?
Carlos Romulo is a great statesman. thank you for posting this and reminding me of my heritage.
You are welcome, Imelda. Here’s a link Valeria posted as a comment:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=pkMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=filipino+guerrillas+romulo&source=bl&ots=eHRmFdCVK6&sig=iuHmU83Vv0Q_TKgeW_wB_IVG3pE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cAWEU73mJInNsQSdi4D4Bw&sqi=2&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=filipino%20guerrillas%20romulo&f=false
Thanks. I will check this out. 🙂
Great. The photo deserves a slot in the walls of Facebook’s “Manila Nostalgia”
I assume that you have a Filipino background. Here’s a link Valerie, the writer of this post, shared as a comment.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=pkMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=filipino+guerrillas+romulo&source=bl&ots=eHRmFdCVK6&sig=iuHmU83Vv0Q_TKgeW_wB_IVG3pE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cAWEU73mJInNsQSdi4D4Bw&sqi=2&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=filipino%20guerrillas%20romulo&f=false
Thank you.
You are welcome
A well described tribute to the brave poorly armed heroes.
For those who sacrificed their life, a nine gun salute.