moroni
History Student
Posts: 58
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Post by moroni on Jun 22, 2011 9:54:38 GMT -5
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Post by VeeVee on Jun 23, 2011 7:57:49 GMT -5
Thanks for posting the pictures. They are priceless and I'm glad that your family kept them.
If your grandfather was in Pettit barracks, Philip may be right. He could have been with the 45th infantry later on. However back in 1915, there were only Philippine Scout companies. I don't know which PS companies were stationed there around that time.
Do you know where your grandfather was during WW2?
Again, thanks for the pictures.
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Post by legionnaire on Jun 23, 2011 8:47:49 GMT -5
The photo dated 1915, your grandfather could be part of the 13th Battalion which was created inn 1914 and could be part of the 1st Philippine Infantry (Prov.) the only Christian Company. From what I checked out these units stationed at Petite had a very " hectic and varied history." It was only in April 1921 they were authorized into the regular US Army. They became the 3rd Battalion 43rd PS. it's interesting to see them wearing those canvass leggings. Thanks for sharing these unique pictures. And here is an restored "colorized" and enhanced new version of your Grandfather at Petite. Hope you like it. ;D
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Post by cplhawkeye1950 on Jun 23, 2011 11:32:02 GMT -5
Great pictures
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moroni
History Student
Posts: 58
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Post by moroni on Jun 23, 2011 21:04:47 GMT -5
Thanks guys! The picture looks much better. According to my mother, grandpa was already retired when the the Japanese attacked the Philippines. He was already 53 yrs old at that time and living at Victoria st. in Intramuros. He is a father of 8 kids and his wife is pregnant with the 9th child. Five of his eldest children where all girls (which i think made him think twice about going to Bataan with his buddies) and he had to take care of them first. He moved his family to his home town in Mangatarem, Pangasinan and enroute they had to board the train at Tutuban Station. THis was his first encounter with a Japanese soldier, he was carrying some of their things that he did not bow. The japanese beat the daylights out of him and grandma embraced him and asked that they stop.
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moroni
History Student
Posts: 58
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Post by moroni on Jun 23, 2011 23:55:24 GMT -5
....which they did, and once in Mangatarem his friend the Mayor asked him to be the chief of police of that town and Ruperto's eldest daughter, Inding ( who later married a lieutenant from the 11th Airborne named David Verrell from Virginia ) became the Mayor's secretary. Ruperto joined the guerilla movement and conducted ambuscades with his men. Info came from his daughter who eavesdrop at the Mayor's office.
There was one story related to me by my mother when the Japanese conducted a search in their home with bayonets attached to their rifles, ransacking everything. My grandmother told his 3 youngest kids to stay below the "batalan" ( part of the kitchen) and if the Japanese became violent, my mother who was then 14 yrs. old was suppose to put the baby in the pail and lower it to the kids waiting below and run.
One day the Mayor told Ruperto to get out of town because he and his family was next on the lists of the Kempetai to be taken that night. They hurrriedly left town and stayed in lingayen with their distant relatives. Whether he knew it or not, that the Americans will be landing there, i do not know, but it was certainly the right move.
According to my Aunts and Uncles, he was always away for many days. They have no idea where he was until one day one of his men came and asked his wife if she knew where he is? And that they were looking for him. That they were in a firefight and he never made it to their rallying point. They later found out that he fell inside a crevice and cant get out.
When the Americans arrive it was said that he and his men guided the first troops entering his town of Mangatarem. He was awarded the Silver star medal, and the Purple Heart. The Mayor who helped him get away was later executed not by the Japanese but by the guerillas for collaborating with the enemy.
When i had a chance to talk to David Verrell or Uncle Dave in 1992 and asked him about grandpa, he told me that when he was helping Papa ( as he called him ) build his house after the liberation they exchanged stories about the war, and one story that i cannot forget is this:
During one ambush Ruperto yielding a bolo struck a japanese soldier in the head with his helmet on and killed him. I was skeptical and said to uncle Dave " With a steel helmet on?" his reply " your grandpa was a Philippine Scout and he was a strong man!"
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moroni
History Student
Posts: 58
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Post by moroni on Jun 26, 2011 6:23:17 GMT -5
All shaven and cleaned up after liberation Ruperto with his chevrons and sharpshooter pin on his chest Ruperto Vicente vowed not to shave his beard and cut his hair, until the Americans return. Then during liberation, an American soldier cutting Ruperto's hair.
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Post by legionnaire on Jun 26, 2011 9:24:47 GMT -5
" your grandpa was a Philippine Scout and he was a strong man!"
Best new quote of the month!
Where were your Grandfather and father buried? Thanks for sharing your grandfather's war experience Victor.
Philip
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moroni
History Student
Posts: 58
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Post by moroni on Jun 26, 2011 21:04:32 GMT -5
Thanks Philip!
I still have a couple of pictures of my grandfather during liberation that i will try and post later.
My Grandfather died in an accident in 1969, he was 82 yrs old. His remains now rest with his wife at the loyola memorial park in Marikina. My father died in 2007, he was 88 yrs. old and his body lay here in lipa City's Eternal Gardens. Both of them were given military honors with the 21 gun salute. I am now the proud owner of 2 American flags which represents our family's service and sacrifice to the United States during it"s time of need in World War 2.
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Post by frank on Jun 27, 2011 17:10:46 GMT -5
Thank you for your post. Please consider joining the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society. I'm the secretary for the Los Angeles Chapter.
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Post by VeeVee on Jun 27, 2011 21:08:40 GMT -5
Keep the stories coming. We're enjoying every bit of it And yes that's the best new quote of the month Frank, I think Victor is in the Philippines. Maybe he could meet up with the McKinley Chapter sometime if there's an event.
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moroni
History Student
Posts: 58
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Post by moroni on Jun 28, 2011 12:54:47 GMT -5
Thanks! Frank and VeeVee for the invite, i do have every intention of joining the McKinley Chapter but my new upgraded email server can receive but cannot reply to any messages. Will work something out soon so that i can get intouch with them.
I'm trying to scrape the bottom of the barrel here for additional stories about Grandpa, hope this can qualify.
During the 1960's, whenever the family will gather together, we will go to grandpa's house in Project 4, Quezon City. There he lives with his 2nd daughter Hilda, (who is already a widow) and two of his grandchildren, Ella and Cyrel.
Grandpa was a student of Agriculture at the University of the Philippines, Los Banos even before he joined the Philippine Scouts. He planted fruit trees there in his house at Proj. 4 of jackfruit, chico, granada and plants that bear beautiful flowers. He was a very gentle and loving grandpa.
I have a lot of cousins mostly boys my age and we will play games around that house, play soldiers, running here and there. We were a rough bunch of kids. But the most dreaded part is whenever you get a scratch or any kind of wound. Grandpa will tell you to come with him inside his room ( which we did, we were rough but obedient kids).
Nobody else would want to go inside grandpa's room when somebody has a scratch or a wound, you go alone with grandpa and the closer you get to his room the more nervous you are. But you show no fear or else the rest of the cousins will tease you.
Inside his room everything is neat and in order, the bed was well kept with a U.S. marked blanket on it and there was this huge field desk also marked "U.S.", he will open that field desk and there was all kinds of stuff in there, documents, two big albums of pictures, and one of which was a jar containing several Japanese gold from their teeth, souvenir from the war, (once in a while Cyrel will sneak us in Grandpa's room to show us those gold teeth) and there were more or less 10 pieces of not just single tooth but the whole thing, from incisors, canines, molars full of gold.
But this time he will bring out a bottle with a very dark liquid in it, "iodine". And he will dip the tip of a feather in that vial and rub it in your wound, and then you will feel the pain and start crying out loud and you come out weeping and the rest of the cousins laughing.
One day, and this was around 1967 or 68, while we were playing, grandpa brought out his uniform, medals and his hat outside, and asked me and Cyrel to choose which one we wanted. I chose the hat and wore that til the early 70's until i misplaced it somewhere. Cyrel got most of the other stuff, medals uniform, belt.
Grandpa died in 1969, while filling the drum with water at around 3 a.m., (Proj.4 was having water problems) so he had to get up early when hardly anybody was using it, when he slipped and hit his head in the cement floor outside his house. Nobody came to his rescue.
Many years passed by and the Aunts and the Uncles took whatever was left in grandpa's room.
One of my uncle joined the PA Army and became a Scout Ranger, he wore grandpa's silver star medal (minus the ribbon) next to his dogtags (it was pretty much beat up. In the 70's He became the detachment commander at Macunacon, Isabela and was awarded a medal and citation for killing the head NPA leader there. He also carried with him grandpa's M1 garand bayonet, it has 5 notches credit to grandpa and 2 additional notches credit to my uncle. When he died all his gear and medals (including grandpa's) went to his sons Cyrel and Mike. I later got hold of the bayonet and medals.
When i visited my grandpa's house in 2005, his room was dark and filthy, like a storage of all sorts of stuff but it still brings back memories of him while he was still alive and at the corner, to my delight, i saw that the field desk was still there. My cousin Ella and her family lives there now and all the documents, pictures, medals, are all gone except for that desk. I gave my cousin an offer and took that desk home with me to Batangas.
And before my other Uncle died, (half of his body paralized from a stroke) he called me and handed me grandpa's flag and his razor with the box written "Zamboanga" on it. He said, the reason he is giving it to me is because he knew that i will take care of it.
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Post by frank on Jun 28, 2011 17:55:09 GMT -5
I e-mailed you some notes I on the field desk. Let us know which one you have. Do you have a picture of the uniform your cousin has? Regards.
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moroni
History Student
Posts: 58
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Post by moroni on Jun 29, 2011 10:22:38 GMT -5
Hi Frank, regarding the field desk of my grandfather, it is the same model as Chap15 has. OD color, can fit a portable typewriter, and with the ink wells. It is however missing the small middle drawer. the dimensions are as follows: Height- 24 and a half inches, width- 29 and a half inches, and depth- is 16 inches. And it came with a key, lock still functional. leather handles on each sides. I use it to store old stuff from the family, documents, pictures, medals etc.
Concerning the uniforms, they were all lost when my uncle's house burned down in the 70's.
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Post by VeeVee on Jun 30, 2011 22:55:21 GMT -5
Thanks for all the stories Victor. Great stuff.
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Post by cplhawkeye1950 on Jul 1, 2011 16:50:24 GMT -5
Those are amazing stories of an amazing man. Thank You for sharing them
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Post by RayAdillO on Jul 8, 2011 6:12:54 GMT -5
" One day, and this was around 1967 or 68, while we were playing, grandpa brought out his uniform, medals and his hat outside, and asked me and Cyrel to choose which one we wanted. I chose the hat and wore that til the early 70's until i misplaced it somewhere. Cyrel got most of the other stuff, medals uniform, belt" But still you have the memories, the great family history and the pictures to prove it. Many thanks for sharing, and also for the valiant service of your grandfather, father and uncle. Salutes! BTW, would you know if your grandfather had a WW1 Victory Medal?......... Because the criteria for it is..... Originally known simply as the “Victory Medal”, the World War I Victory Medal was awarded to any member of the U.S. military who had served in the armed forces between the following dates, in the following locations:April 6, 1917 to November 11, 1918 for any military service. November 12, 1918, to August 5, 1919 for service in European Russia November 23, 1918, to April 1, 1920 for service with the American Expeditionary Force Siberia. Although his unit was authorized as a U.S. Army unit only by April 1921 thereafter, if it was retroactive then he would have satisfied the first condition enough to earn it.
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moroni
History Student
Posts: 58
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Post by moroni on Jul 8, 2011 8:50:18 GMT -5
It's a great privilege to be able to share my family's history. Their experiences, challenges and sacrifices. I just wish i knew more about them and what they have to go through, during those perilous days.
When Grandpa brought out his medals, uniform and hat, I was just a young boy of 7 or 8 yrs. old. All i can remember were the different colors contrast against his khaki uniform. I chose his overseas hat because it is something i can wear, regardless of the size.
My uncle (the scout ranger) is Cyrel's father. Cy lives with grandpa in Proj. 4, Quezon City. Most of grandpa's military uniform and medals ended up with Cyrel and his father. Unfortunately uncle's house in Pangasinan burned down in the 70's, and what was left was the Silver Star, Purple Heart medals and bayonet.
I don't know if he ever had that medal. I tried one time to research grandpa's military record but to no avail. I'll have to do it again. Mostly what I know is what I have gathered from my aunts and uncles. I was only nine when he died.
Sorry i can't be of much help but thanks for the info on the medal.
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Post by legionnaire on Jul 8, 2011 12:32:35 GMT -5
" Preserving the history, heritage, and legacy of the Philippine Scouts for present and future generations!"
Your stories are the reasons why the Heritage Society exists and our chapter in Manila is the first I believe and credited PS Veterans chapter on Philippine soil. And we the new generation simply represent the legacy of the greatest generation of scouts with our reenactment group PS Living History Company!
Mabuhay ang Philippine Scouts!
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moroni
History Student
Posts: 58
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Post by moroni on Apr 17, 2014 6:51:55 GMT -5
Found another picture of Grandpa during liberation.
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