Remembering my Grandfather

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My grandfather had served with the Philippine guerrilla movement which was loosely affiliated with the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) from 1943 to 1945. He served under the commands of Capt. Edward Johnson and then Major Ramon Magsaysay.

It was the close of the Second World War, popularly called Liberation, and the American soldiers under Gen. Douglas MacArthur had landed in the gulf of Leyte several weeks earlier and headed north towards the capital of Manila.

My grandfather's platoon of approximately 12-15 soldiers were sent on a mission to intercept a group of Japanese military en route from Northern Zambales but as it turned out, they were the ones who got ambushed themselves in the open rice fields of Pamatawan which is located between Subic and Castillejos.

They were caught in no man's land with nowhere to hide or run. They were pinned on the ground and strafed by machine gun fire on top of a truck. A few managed to escaped to tell the heroic stand of those who didn't make it and my grandfather was among the unfortunate ones. I always have this image playing in my mind over and over how my lolo met his own death. It was painful for me to recall up to this day even if it was only related to me by my dad forty years later.

After the war, the Philippine government approached my grandmother and asked her permission to transfer the remains of my lolo from the Olongapo public cemetery to the Libingan ng mga Bayani but she politely refused because it was too far from where she lived. He was posthumously bestowed a medal of valor and my grandmother received a monthly veteran's widow pension from the U.S. government until her death. He was only 34 years old at the time of his death which is exactly the same age I am today.

This recollection is in honor of the memory of my late grandfather who in my eyes was a true patriot and hero - Sgt. Nicanor Millan Sr.

Edgar Millan
Leamington, Ontario/ Olongapo City
ZambalesForum (ZF2) moderator

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