Today I choose to celebrate the life of a soldier. I do not know him well but I know him. He was that silent guy who salutes everytime he meets me. He calls me sir. That was several years ago, when we were both cadets at the Philippine Military Academy. I graduated a year ahead of him and have not seen him since. I even paused for some time trying to recall his face upon learning of his death. Later, my Facebook wall is filled with tributes of his heroism. In one post documenting the visit of Chief of Staff General Irriberi, familiar faces were on the background His classmates, my classmates and many others that belonged to our generation of cadets at the Academy. One would think that it was a reunion of some sort led by the incumbent Chief of Staff who, at the time when we were cadets, was also the Chief of Staff of the Philippine Military Academy under then Superintendent General Maligalig. But it was not. It was a sad occasion. It was better not seeing those familiar faces as long as everyone is safe and alive.
We meet again today. Well, it was
a meeting of some sorts. I wake up in the morning being told that his body will
be flown by a C-130 plane to Davao where he will then be transported to his
hometown in Panabo City, just the City next to Davao. My Battalion, which is
the CMO Battalion for the Division, was tasked to document his arrival. As the
Operations Officer, I was to orchestrate this task. So it is just a meeting of
some sort. It will be like that because he is in heaven now and I will never
really get to meet him again.
His information is sent to me. He
was 31, married and with two kids. Everything else are the same information I
have already read from the news and feeds on my Facebook wall. What comes to
mind though is this guy who I remember watching in one of the boxing matches in
PMA. I do not remember if he won, it’s just that I remember him in his boxing
outfit. Then I remember a post from one of his squadmates. The post said that
there was a time that she (the squadmate is a girl) wanted to resign from being
a cadet and just go home. She said that he talked to her and motivated her. She
ended by saying that it was what kept her inside the Academy. That lady
graduated and is now in active service. And then there’s another one, his
underclass buddy. He said that they had good memories together. He thanked him
for teaching him and guiding him during cadetship. The same guy is also in the
active service.
The stories I tell now are just
bits of pieces of a man who paid the ultimate sacrifice to this country.
According to reports, he was hit on a major artery in his thigh. He was
initially given first aid but expired an hour and a half after. From the
report, he is the only casualty.
So today, I choose to celebrate
the life of a soldier. A lot of reports have been released on his death, but
then, he was an ordinary person. He chased his dreams and dedicated his life to
this country. I believe that if more of those who really knew him will say
their piece of what a fine person he is, perhaps we can celebrate his life and
bring greater dignity to that life that was taken away by the enemies of this
country.
1 comment:
I know the guy well, he's my classmate in high school. Quite, simple and intelligent...with big dreams I remember in our yearbook, we were ask to see ourselves the next 10yrs then he wrote he wanted to be a great defender of the country. Its so sad he's too young to die but I guess he realized his dream to defend his country.. We will miss you lt. mike "eko" nollora.
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