They remained

BENCHWARMER
Ramon Dacawi

About 40 war veterans, mostly from the “66th”, made it to last Wednesday’s program marking the 66th anniversary of the liberation of Baguio on April 27, 1945.

Most came in army khaki, complete with garrison caps from which dangled their individual medals of courage and sacrifice. Over their uniform, most donned Igorot vests that are the mark of the famed 66th Infantry, the all-Filipino regiment that, side by side with the American forces, fought for the city’s liberation from the Japanese forces.

About half of the old soldiers assembled in front of Jollibee’s, for a short parade covering the 80-meter or so span of Calderon St. to the Veterans Park. The other half decided the distance would be like the route to liberation 66 years ago and so waited for the ceremony at the park that, now and then, gets desecrated by boys honing their skateboard skills or by men downing gin bottles on evenings.

Led by cadet flag bearers and the band from the Philippine Military Academy, the veterans were joined by the surviving members of the Women’s Auxiliary, their children and grand children. Behind them in that walk with heroes were the boy and girl scouts, the city’s rescue volunteers, teachers and pupils of San Vicente Elementary School and other groups following the veterans’ pace.

“For the younger ones, it was truly an honor marching with the liberators,” observed city councilor and anniversary chair Peter Fianza. ”It heightened their sense of local history and appreciation for the blood, sweat and sacrifice for the freedom we all enjoy today.”

To the tune of the PMA band, the soldiers belted out Star Spangled Banner by memory and with the same fervor as they earlier did in singing the Philippine national anthem.

The sense of camaraderie overflowed as they joined mayor Mauricio Domogan in offering flowers on hallowed ground, after Prospera Lee, secretary of the United States Armed Forces in the Philippines-Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL), welcomed everyone.

The traditional 21-gun salute, taps and flourishes followed, under the supervision of Gen. Maximo Caro, commandant of cadets of the PMA. The sons and daughters of the veterans then rendered two songs in tribute before two heroes stepped forward to recall how it was in the early months of 1945.

Private Robert Bellasi, the diminutive commander of those who served under the famed 66th, and fellow veteran Raymundo Gadgad, said it was a three-pronged attack – from the Naguilian Road and Kennon Rd.-Tuba and a blocking force against the retreating Japanese forces along the Halsema Highway.

As members of the 66th, their motto was “Nowhere But Everywhere”. As members of the USAFIP-NL, it was “We Remained”.

“We Remained”, Gadgad explained, was in response to Gen. Douglas McArthur’s famous promise, “I Shall Return”. With ambivalence, mayor Mauricio Domogan delivered the city’s response: “It always inspires and makes us happy to see you; this is not sufficient for us, your children to express our gratitude. What makes us sad – makurkurangan kayo kada tawen (your number dwindles every year).”

He added April 27 will remain as Victory Day for Baguio. He stressed that September 3 is also reason for celebration for it marked the end of the war in the Asia-Pacific with the formal surrender of Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, commander of the Japanese forces, at the Camp John Hay.

The war in the Far East, he pointed out, also began in Baguio on Dec. 8, 1941, when the first Japanese bombs fell at Camp John Hay. “Why miss the important fact that the war started and ended here; historians should highlight and remember this,” he said.

He assured that the city had set aside enough amount for the protection-fencing this year of the heroes’ park - against vandals with no sense of history, respect or gratitude. Just before Liberation Day, the city engineer’s office rightfully changed the tag of the street surrounding the park, from “Veteran’s Loop” to “66th Infantry Loop”.