The true soldier and society “Duty Honor & Country"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE TRUE SOLDIER AND SOCIETY “DUTY HONOR & COUNTRY”

The Marine's Prayer Almighty Father, whose command is over all and whose love never fails, make me aware of Thy presence and obedient to Thy will. Keep me true to my best self, guarding me against dishonesty in purpose and deed and helping me to live so that I can face my fellow Marines, my loved ones and Thee without shame or fear. Protect my family. Give me the will to do the work of a Marine and to accept my share of responsibilities with vigor and enthusiasm. Grant me the courage to be proficient in my daily performance. Keep me loyal and faithful to my superiors and to the duties my country and the Marine Corps have entrusted to me. Make me considerate of those committed to my leadership. Help me to wear my uniform with dignity, and let it remind me daily of the traditions which I must uphold. If I am inclined to doubt, steady my faith; if I am tempted, make me strong to resist; if I should miss the mark, give me courage to try again. Guide me with the light of truth and grant me wisdom by which I may understand the answer to my prayer. - Amen

The true soldier and society

How I longed for the old days, when a soldier has honor in his heart to serve loyally the country. Where did that saying, honor, Duty and Country gone…. by the wayside. Throughout the history of all nations, political institutions have been shaped, in varying degrees, by military pressure. In primitive societies, all men, to a greater or lesser extent, are warriors. The survival of the tribe is often dependent on its ability to defend itself militarily. However, even in the so-called bastion of democracy, the United States, the presence and pervasive political influence of a military-industrial complex was publicly acknowledged by then President Dwight Eisenhower.   At the onset of the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War, the Filipino leaders considered themselves first as soldiers and not as statesmen. Thus Andres Bonifacio led what was essentially a military uprising. The other major leaders were all self-styled generals including Emilio Aguinaldo, Antonio Luna, Miguel Malvar, and Gregorio del Pilar.  This is the era of Heroes, where soldiers exist solely to protect and obtain the freedom of the Republic ( Era of Heroes) Today, we are again witnessing the critical role of the military as we listen to the news from North Africa. In Tunisia, the withdrawal of support of the military caused the downfall of the ruling regime. In Egypt, the big question is supposedly what role the military will take in the current political upheaval. The soldier’s place in society and in the nation is determined by a large number of factors. According to Andre Courvoisier, in his book Dictionary of Military History, the soldier’s position is moral as he bears arms and is legally permitted to use violence; political and social, through methods of recruitment; moral and technical through the differing types of warfare; and finally circumstantial, whether the soldier is at peace or at war. In the Western world, the profession of arms and being part of the aristocracy was the common norm for most societies before the 18th century. Even in the Eastern world, warrior castes like the samurai dominated society for many years before the modern era. In Philippine history, during the pre-Spanish period, the ruling class was also the warrior class. Thus our first heroes were Lapulapu and Rajah Soliman. By the 18th century two closely linked events happened to change this practice of a warrior aristocracy. The first was the rise of a professional army which brought about a sharper distinction between soldiers and civilians. More and more, war became an affair for professionals. During the same period, there was a change in the hierarchy of social values on lines similar to those which had already occurred in many mercantile countries. The pursuit of earthly happiness and the search for whatever could be socially beneficial meant that, more and more, those who moved into the foremost rank of society were thinkers, creators of wealth, inventors, merchants, and manufacturers. At the same time, the growing power of liberal, democratic regimes in the Western world emphasized the subordination of military to political authority. This was partly due to the growing distrust of armies and military commanders. The army was supposed to be an instrument in the government’s hands and, as such, should have no political ambitions of its own. Since they are supposed to stay out of politics, 21st century armies could act in this environment only as a pressure group working primarily for the preservation of national defense interests primarily for the maintenance or increase of the share of the armed forces in the national budget. This is normally done through close contacts with industrialists and politicians and through other various organizations with links to the armed forces such as veteran’s associations. In every country, war means that the military assumes a leading role and that the work of the nation has to be adapted to the necessities of the struggle. However, during the past centuries as the Western powers started colonizing the rest of the world, the use of military power to suppress dissent in the colonies became a standard practice. In these so-called Third World countries, the military became the symbol of authority and order. It is not surprising that in the states that arose out of the decolonization process, in Latin America in the 19th century, and in Africa and Asia in the 20th century, military dictatorships arose. The military elite often justified their seizure of power by the need to suppress "subversive" elements and often proclaimed the priority of civil over military power. They would promise the early establishment of a constitutional regime following free elections and the end of what supposed would be merely a provisional dictatorship. However, in most circumstances, the outcome would be the postponement of such an outcome. This is what happened to the Philippines when Marcos declared martial law and promised free elections which never came.   The abuse of  civil rights among the citizenry, in the guise of national security, comes from the advise of a surprisingly foreign institution. The US military advisers of the Joint US Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) and the CIA station in Manila designed and led the bloody suppression of the nationalist Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB) which was vehemently opposed to the post-war Parity Rights amendment and the onerous military agreements with the United States. The CIA's success in crushing the peasant-based Huk rebellion in the 1950s made this operation the model for future counterinsurgency operations in Vietnam and Latin America. Colonel Lansdale and his Filipino sidekick, Col. Napoleon Valeriano were later to use their counter guerrilla experience in the Philippines for training covert operatives in Vietnam and in the US-administered School of the Americas, which trained counter guerrilla assassins for Latin America. Thus, the Philippines had become the CIA's prototype in successful covert operations and psychological warfare. After this stint in the Philippines using propaganda, psywar and deception against the Huk movement, it was then used in Vietnam to wage military, political and psychological warfare. It was the CIA view that the tactics that they used to solve the problem in the Philippines were applicable to Vietnam. They were wrong. In 1975, after two decades of protracted warfare, the Vietnamese people defeated the strongest superpower on earth. Today, in the 21st century, there is a temptation in some quarters to again look to the military as the final arbiter in a political struggle. The lessons of history should teach us that a democratic society cannot exist with the existence of two separate societies -- civil and military. The memory left to us by the story of civilization is that the most progressive and liberal societies are those where the rule of law prevails and where the predominant authority was civilian. Society is deemed to be in danger of security forces. There are over a hundred political prisoners in jail, and detainees continue to be tortured and mistreated during interrogations. The security forces have been responsible for a number of forced "disappearances" and extra-judicial executions, while private security forces and unidentified armed men have responsible for the killings and harassment of civilians in the context of land disputes. Muslim armed opposition groups have also been responsible for kidnappings and arbitrary killings. Hundreds of people continue to be sentenced to death by the civilian courts. The military corruption in the Philippines is not unique. It seems to prevail in all previous Spanish, French, Dutch, and Italian  colonies in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The degree of corruption is related to their civilian masters’ integrity. The Marcos dictatorship, politicized the military, to the degree that the institution can never be revitalized like the times of my father or my ancestors. They served their country honorably as poor men with dignity, and they went to their graves with honor. Nowadays the concept of honesty among the military is non existent. The young flock to the academy not for honor , duty and country, but in search for security,  booties and fortune. Just recently Gen. Angelo Reyes a PMA graduate, who was Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff from 2000 to 2001 and subsequently handled the Defense, Local Government, Environment and Energy portfolios, was  accused of pocketing millions of pesos monthly while in office and receiving a P50-million sendoff when his military service ended. The charges came as legislators probed a controversial plea deal entered into by the Office of the Ombudsman with a former military comptroller found guilty of graft. The young has made the mockery of our honorable institution, and it saddens me, as the name of the institution in Baguio belong to my ancestors. (Fort del Pilar) The academy in effect allows and breed the succession of officers in the Armed Forces by further fortifying the bonds among future conspirators. Honor among classmates, forms  cliques in the officer corps, whose loyalty befits the class and their pockets after graduation.  It would be more efficient to recruit the officer Corps from the ranks of the ROTC, and let the cream of the crop rise to the top. The usual continuing education as you go up the ranks of leadership should  be by merit only,  like General Collin Powell as an example of a non academy officer, but proved to be an outstanding officer. The Philippines can ill afford to subsidized the education of its officer corps, it is a lot cheaper to get them from the ranks of our ROTC, a true representative of our youth and not the  newly formed  cliques of officers that is bound to bite back the citizenry. By the same token here in the USA Abolish West Point and Annapolis': US Navy's own professor says famed academies of world's most powerful military are a snobbish waste of time and money Bruce Fleming, a professor at the English Department of the U.S. Naval Academy since 1987, has been praised for his short stories In new piece, argues academies have outlived their usefulness and are 'vanity projects' that only drain the taxpayer Has long been at odds with U.S. Naval Academy and publicly criticized many of its practices A controversial Naval Academy professor is back in the spotlight after calling for an end to military academies. Bruce Fleming, a professor at the English Department of the U.S. Naval Academy since 1987, has been praised for his short stories. But now he's turning that sharp pen towards a missive calling on the new Republican legislative majority to shut down 'four hugely expensive and unproductive U.S. service academies (Navy, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard) — taxpayer-funded undergraduate institutions whose products all become officers in the military — to more modest and functional schools for short-term military training programs, as the British have repurposed Sandhurst.' +3 Bruce Fleming, a professor at the English Department of the U.S. Naval Academy since 1987, has been praised for his short stories Writing at Salon, Fleming's column goes on to argue that the military is not suited to education - as opposed to training - and that the academies have lived beyond their usefulness. 'When they were founded in the 19th century (the Air Force split off from Army after World War II), college was classics and religion for gentlemen, so it made sense to have technical training institutes for people who would be in charge of increasingly technical warfare,' he writes. 'All the service academies have now to justify their cost and their pretensions, it seems, is their once-illustrious history, and the club of 'tradition,' which they wield mercilessly against students who dare question why things are as they are.' +3 Writing at Salon , Fleming's column goes on to argue that the military is not suited to education - as opposed to training - and that the academies have lived beyond their usefulness. Pictured: West Point Military Academy campus As they stand, he argues they provide no benefit to the taxpayers who back them and stand as mere 'vanity projects' operating without oversight, accountability, or indeed any room for criticism from military subordinates on their operations. Among their biggest defenders, he continues, are parents benefiting from government benefits and paid education. 'And no,' he adds, regarding health benefits, 'most people in the military aren't remotely likely to be shot at.' He claims that from his own long experience enjoying his own taxpayer funded job at the navy's institution that no one ever asks if they're doing their jobs well. Far from enjoying any academic boost, the students struggle to stay awake in class as they balance outside responsibilities.  +3 Fleming claims that from his own long experience enjoying his own taxpayer funded job at the navy's institution that no one ever asks if they're doing their jobs well As The Washington Post reported in November, Fleming has long been an outspoken critic of the Naval Academy's practices and clashed with the institution's brass. He told the paper the school attempted to silence him with a formal reprimand this year after he criticized the school's sexual assault prevention training.  'What they are trying to do is to shut me down,' he told the paper, 'to put me at 11:59 so when the clock strikes 12, they can fire me.'

The soldiers of the family, beginning with my granduncle Gen. Gregorio del Pilar.

The death of Del Pilar is something more than a soldier's death. It was the sublime protest of a patriot against the decree of adverse fate. He had yearned for death when he saw that all was lost for the Republic. He had wished for it when long before the battle of Tirad, he proposed to meet the pursuing enemy after the disaster at Caloocan. He felt its obsession when at midnight on the bank of the river at Aringay he woke up his soldiers and pointedly asked them this question: "Brothers, which do you prefer, to die fighting or to flee like cowards?

From morning till noon he repelled charge after charge, he tenaciously held on with his handful of men through the heat and agony of battle, till he himself fell dead among his slain soldiers. And well chosen and most fitting was the place where he offered the sacrifice of his life. It was on the mountain summit, overlooking the plains and the shores of his country, a massive and tremendous altar, built as it were for Titans, caressed by the rolling clouds of morning, lighted by the stars of dusk.

My Uncle a US Merchant Marine, WWII, Korean War   Minesweeper operations of father ( Era before the Marcos Regime) Father the Commanding Officer MNS ( Era before the Marcos Regime)

Father in a small Patrol Craft 1947 in the Kamlon Campaigns in the south

"Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean. The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule. But these are some of the things they do. They build your basic character. They mold you for your future roles as the custodians of the nation's defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid. They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for actions, not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm but to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future yet never neglect the past; to be serious yet never to take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. They give you a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what next, and the joy and inspiration of life. They teach you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman."… Gen. Douglas McArthur Burial cortege of  my first cousin   Father as Dean and professor At The Command General Staff College(GSC) Father with fellow officers in Vancouver, below at GSC

A nephew following the tradition of our family serving our USA in the USN

The Marine Medical Corpsman at the Battle of Baghdad Airport, my nephew Jason Lee

 

 

Gregorio Del Pilar ( PHOTO, RIGHT) was born in San Jose, Bulacan, on Nov 14, 1875 to an illustrious ilustrado (middle class) family. In his early years, he aided his uncle, Marcelo H. del Pilar, in distributing his anti-friar writings. He was a member of the revolutionary forces in Bulacan even when he was studying at the Ateneo de Municipal. When the revolution broke out on Aug 30, 1896, he joined the forces of Heneral Dimabunggo (Eusebio Roque). In the battle at Kakarong de Sili, Pandi, Bulacan, on Jan 1, 1897, he almost lost his life. General Gregorio del Pilar (front, dark trousers) and Filipino army officers in  1898 photo The Dec 14, 1897 Truce of Biyak-na-Bato temporarily halted the revolution. Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo brought Del Pilar to Hong Kong (LEFT, photo taken in Hong Kong in early 1898).  On May, 19, 1898, Aguinaldo and the other exiles returned to the country and renewed the revolution. Del Pilar was promoted to general either in June or July 1898 at the age of 22. (He was the second youngest general in the Philippine army, after General Manuel Tinio). He besieged the town of Bulacan and forced the colonial forces there to capitulate on or about June 30, 1898. The Filipino-American War found Gen. Del Pilar in the frontlines once again. In the April 23, 1899, battle at Quingua (now Plaridel, Bulacan), he nearly defeated Major (later Brig. Gen.) James Franklin Bell; the cavalry commander, Col. John Stotsenburg, was killed. Toward the latter part of May 1899, with the Philippine army reeling in the face of unrelenting American offensives, President Emilio Aguinaldo created a peace commission to negotiate an armistice. He appointed Del Pilar to head the Filipino panel. For two days, on May 22 and 23, the Filipinos conferred with the Schurman Commission. The talks failed, owing to the Americans' insistence that US sovereignty was non-negotiable. In addition, the Filipino army had to surrender unconditionally.  [RIGHT, photo of General Del Pilar taken on May 22-23, 1899 in Manila]. Mt. Tirad at Concepcion, Ilocos Sur Province. PHOTO was taken in the early 1900s. Tasked to delay US troops pursuing President Aguinaldo, Del Pilar and 60 of his men formed a blocking force at 4,500-foot (1,372 m) Tirad Pass, Concepcion, Ilocos Sur Province (Concepcion was renamed "Gregorio del Pilar" on June 10, 1955).  They  constructed several sets of trenches and stone barricades, all of which dominated the narrow trail that zigzagged up towards the pass. On Dec. 2, 1899, Major Peyton Conway March (LEFT, as First Lt. in 1896-1898) led 300 soldiers of the 33rd Infantry Regiment of  U.S. Volunteers, up the pass. A Tingguian Igorot, Januario Galut, led the Americans up a trail by which they could emerge to the rear of the Filipinos. Del Pilar died in the battle, along with 52 subordinates.  The Americans lost 2 men killed. The Americans looted the corpse of the fallen general. They got his pistol, diary and personal papers, boots and silverspurs, coat and pants, a lady's handkerchief with the name "Dolores Jose," his sweetheart, diamond rings, gold watch, shoulder straps, and a gold locket containing a woman's hair. Del Pilar's body was left by the roadside for two days until its odor forced some Igorots to cover it with dirt. On his diary, which Major March found, Del Pilar had written: "The General [ Aguinaldo ] has given me the pick of all the men that can be spared and ordered me to defend the Pass. I realize what a terrible task has been given me. And yet, I felt that this is the most glorious moment of my life. What I do is done for my beloved country. No sacrifice can be too great." Peyton Conway March (LEFT, as General) graduated from West Point in 1888, in the top quarter of his 44-member class. He rose to Major General and became Army Chief of Staff on May 20, 1918. He held that post until June 30, 1921. In World War I,  John J. Pershing and Peyton C. March were the American generals who gave the edge to Allied victory over Germany. Pershing was the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) of two million men in France while, during the last eight months of the war, March was in Washington, D.C., as the chief of staff who oversaw the logistics and general development of the army, and the shipment of some 1.8 million troops across the Atlantic. As Secretary of War Newton D. Baker noted shortly after the war, "Together they wrought...victory." March was born on Dec. 27, 1864 in Easton, Pennsylvania; he died on April 13, 1955 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The St. Paul Globe, St. Paul, Minnesota, Dec. 10, 1899 Monument to General Gregorio del Pilar at Tirad Pass ("Pasong Tirad" in Filipino).

Battle of Quingua, April 23, 1899 The first important fighting of MacArthur's northward movement was at Quingua (now Plaridel), Bulacan Province, on April 23. It was a two-part battle. The first phase was a brief victory for the young Filipino general Gregorio del Pilar over the American Cavalry led by Major (later Maj. Gen.) James Franklin Bell, West Point class 1878, where Bell's advance was stopped. But in the second phase, Bell was reinforced by the 1st Nebraskan Infantry and the Nebraskans routed the Filipinos, but not before they repelled a cavalry charge that killed Colonel John M. Stotsenburg. Scouts commanded by Major James Franklin Bell. Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon. The battle began when Bell (LEFT, 1899 photo) and his men, while on a scouting mission, were attacked by a strong force of about 700-1,000 Filipinos led by General Gregorio del Pilar. The Americans were forced to withdraw to a defensive position. Swarms of Filipino troops began to attack from different directions. Bell saw that he was in a badly exposed position, and if he did not receive help soon his force risked being captured or killed. 1st Nebraska Volunteers crossing a river during their advance against the Filipinos at Quingua Bell sent for reinforcements, and the 1st Nebraskans came to his aid under Colonel Stotsenburg. Col. John M. Stotsenburg (2nd from left) and some staff officers of the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Photo was taken at his field headquarters in March 1899. Col. John M. Stotsenburg in the field. Photo was taken shortly before he was killed. Once he entered the field, Stotsenburg ordered a charge, and the Nebraskan Infantry—Stotsenburg at their lead with a dozen or so cavalrymen—rushed the Filipinos' position. Stotsenberg, taking into account that the Filipinos previously had displayed poor marksmanship, perceived that a charge from such a force would dislodge and route them, which on most occasions, had been done before rather easily. Instead, the Filipinos held their ground and opened a heavy accurate fire into the charging cavalrymen. Stotsenberg fell, along with 6 of his men. Several of the cavalrymen's mounts were also slain. The Filipinos sustained the heavy fire, forcing the cavalry to retreat. The Nebraskan infantry advanced under withering fire. Soon the two forces clashed in close range combat. After a stiff fight in which both sides suffered heavy casualties, the Filipinos were driven into their secondary defenses. Brig. Gen. Irving Hale (LEFT) ordered an artillery bombardment on the Filipinos' secondary defensive lines. Two artillery pieces were brought up, which fired 20 shots into the Filipino positions. The powerful artillery barrage forced the Filipinos to retreat. Casualties: 15 Americans killed, 43 wounded; 100 Filipinos killed and wounded. In 1902, a large US military reservation, Fort Stotsenburg, was created in Pampanga Province and named in honor of Colonel Stotsenburg. It was originally set up as a facility for various US Army Cavalry units. In 1919, a US Army air force base, Clark Field, was carved out of Fort Stotsenberg. [The US Air Force became a separate branch of service only in 1947.]

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