Death March survivor son retraces dad

MANILA, Philippines – The commemoration of Bataan Day tomorrow will be more meaningful than ever for the son of one Death March survivor.

Ron Discipulo, the Filipino-American son of the late former Philippine Scout Gerardo Discipulo, took a sentimental trip to Bataan a few weeks ago to learn more about his father’s role in the Death March.

In an interview with The STAR, Ron claimed that his father never told his five children about the infamous Death March in which he participated, along with 70,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war captured by the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II.

Starting out from Mariveles, at the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, on April 9, 1942, these soldiers were forced to march 88 kilometers to San Fernando, Pampanga. They were then taken by train to Capas, Tarlac, from where they were again made to walk the remaining 13 kilometers to Camp O’Donnell.

According to Ron, 62, the first time he got an idea about his father’s involvement in the Death March was when the latter came home from Los Angeles for a commemoration of the event.

A picture taken during the occasion later left a question in his mind: What was his father doing at the affair?

His father died in 1995 and his mother, in 2005. It was after this that he began getting answers to his compounding inquiries.

“To be frank about it, I’m quite disappointed that I did not know about all these things. It would have been great to hear the story from him firsthand. But he (father) had his reasons. Perhaps he wanted to spare us from the pain of knowing what he went through. And besides, the non-disclosure (of his bad memories) led me to do something to discover his past,” Ron said.

Photograph found

The journey towards the beginning of his father’s lifetime started after his mother died.

Once, while he was cleaning their house in Los Angeles, Ron went through the photo albums that his parents kept, and saw the picture of his father with the other members of the 12th Signal Company of the Philippine Scouts taken at Fort McKinley on Oct. 8, 1937.

Ron said some of the guys in the picture looked familiar to him. They were his father’s friends in the US who went to their house at particular occasions.

Ron had the photo reprinted and when he came to the Philippines recently, he donated it to the AFP Museum where it was received and certified authentic by Administrative Officer Elizabeth Dapiton.

“I am still trying to put things together, but the picture was a good start,” Ron said.

Ron has also gone on trips to Corregidor in his effort to complete the story. During WWII, Corregidor was the site of several battles and its fall to the Japanese forces was instrumental in the subsequent capture of the Philippines and the retreat of the United States in the early stages of the war.

Helping him on his journey is his cousin Rikky, who knows more stories about his uncle Gerardo being a Death Marcher, not because the latter volunteered information, but because he asked questions.

“Uncle Gerardo, to a certain extent, was more open to me because I grew up here, I’m somehow familiar with the Death March based on what I’ve read, and my father, Uncle’s brother, told me stories about it,” Rikky said.

“But more than that, I really asked questions, which may have left him with no option but to answer, albeit hesitantly and with limits,” Rikky said.

The hesitation, both agree, was brought about by the traumatic experience of the elder Discipulo.

Rikky said his uncle told him that they were tortured, starved and often kicked or beaten on the way, while those who fell on the march were bayoneted.

“He used to tell me that he buried his fellow soldiers who died along the way, and throughout his lifetime, he said it was one of his most painful experiences,” Rikky said.

“How can you imagine such brutality,” added Ron. “(It) must have really broken his heart. But that was his fate, his destiny.”

“Whenever we would watch movies, he would tell me, ‘My son, you haven’t been to a war,’” Rikky said.

History books reveal that around 7,000 to 10,000 in the Death March perished on the way while some were able to escape to the jungle. Only 54,000 reached the camp. And one of them was former Philippine Scout Discipulo.

But while he survived the horrifying experience of the march, Scout Discipulo got infected with malaria, which later led to his release from prison in 1943.

Months later, he married the person who took care of him, Cecilia Loay.

In 1953, he took the offer of the US for him to become part of the US Army, where he later obtained the rank of captain.

Years later, Gerardo became a design engineer for the Los Angeles Water and Power, the local utility company.

Philippine Scouts

The Philippine Scouts are said to be the heroes of WWII. They showed great skill as US Army soldiers before the war, charged with the defense of the Philippines. But it was their spirited combat against the Japanese in one action after another from early December 1941 until the fall of the Philippines in May of 1942, for which they are most famous.

The Philippine Scouts were said to have fought the Japanese under extremely difficult conditions marked by inadequate food and medicine, deteriorating health due to tropical diseases, obsolete weapons and ammunition and lack of support from the United States.

Ron, although quick to say that he wouldn’t wish to have an experience similar to that of his father, nevertheless stressed how proud he is of the role the elder Discipulo played in the nation’s history.

“You have to fight for your country no matter what, in whatever way. They (Philippine Scouts) put their lives on the line for the country,” Ron said.

Ron himself had a two-year stint with the US Navy. He shared that he was part of the support group that was sent to the Vietnam war. This was before he became a design engineer for the same company his father had worked for, the Los Angeles Water and Power.

“It was scary but not as brutal as the Death March,” he said of his experience in Vietnam.

“The sacrifice involved in the Death March can never be explained in words. It was marked by blood, pain, torture and sadness,” Ron said, citing how his own father had refused to recount this tragedy.

“As I gradually discover on my own about this episode in my father’s life, I am beginning to have peace of mind. That’s the difference. Somehow, there’s 85 percent closure. At least now I am more familiar with how my father became one of the heroes of the Philippines. Now there is more pride, not only in being my father’s son, but in being a Filipino,” Ron said.

Tribute in Vizcaya

SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya – A tribute for the four remaining Novo Vizcayano survivors of the infamous Death March during World War II will highlight this town’s own Araw ng Kagitingan celebrations tomorrow.

To be given honors are Juan Corpuz, the oldest at 90, and his three companions, Cayetano Baria, Vicente Campos and Valentin Jose, who all served in the l1th Division of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE).

They were among the 54,000 prisoners of war who survived the Death March, a 140-km walk from Mariveles, Bataan to Capas, Tarlac in 1942, which war historians said was characterized by wide-ranging physical abuse, murder, and savagery.

Besides commemorating tomorrow’s Araw ng Kagitingan here, their recognition rites will also highlight the 30th founding anniversary of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines-Solano post here, according to retired colonel Lorenzo Molina, one of the surviving founding leaders of the local VFP chapter, the biggest among the veterans’ group in Cagayan Valley.

Molina, a Korean War veteran, said that the event would begin with wreath laying and arrival rites for VFP secretary-general Francisco San Miguel at the Veterans Memorial Monument at the Heritage Memorial Park in Barangay Roxas, Solano.

“Once again, let’s all be united in commemorating the gallantry and undying heroism of the World War II veterans in defense of Philippine freedom, which we are now all enjoying,” said Molina.

The event will also be participated in by local officials led by Mayor Philip Dacayo and Heritage executives led by engineer Rogelio Uribina of the Parks and Gardens Development  Inc.

Like father, like son

If not for his father, Maj. Ramon Zagala would not have been a soldier.

This is because he was inspired by his father, the late Maj. Gen. Rafael Zagala’s contributions as a World War II veteran, having fought in defense of Bataan, and his continued service to the country as an officer in the army.

“He motivated me. When I was young, I was carefree and all I wanted was to have a good time. He said it’s okay to have fun but I must know my responsibility as a citizen of this country. I joined the Armed Forces of the Philippines because of him,” he said.

In an interview, Zagala, who has been with the military for 16 years, said it was only when he entered college and took up the Reserve Officer Training Corps at De La Salle University that he appreciated what his father did in defense of the country’s freedom.

His late father had served in the 41st Infantry Division of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), a unit that fought in Bataan and Corregidor. He, along with his father, the late Ramon Zagala, was a survivor of the Death March, where thousands of allied soldiers died due to starvation and disease.

Zagala recalled one story during that episode of the war, when his father saw his grandfather, already weak from the grueling march, about to be stabbed by a Japanese soldier.

“He told the Japanese it was his father and begged not to kill him.  What he did was drag my grandfather so he would not be killed,” he said.

“Soldiery is our common ground.  We had a generation gap of 49 years.  When I became a soldier, that’s when I was able to relate to him more,” he said.

They were both products of the ROTC, his father then with Ateneo and he, from La Salle. They also fought in the same frontline in Abucay, Bataan, but against a different enemy.

“He fought in the Abucay line 66 years ago against the Japanese. I fought in the same town five years ago when I was assigned to the 24th Infantry Battalion,” he said.

And coincidentally, they both got their gold cross medals for their feats in Bataan.

He said his father believed so much in a citizen’s responsibility to serve his country in whatever form.

“That time they were ordinary citizens who were called to do something extraordinary and they responded to the call. It might not happen again to this generation but it doesn’t matter, as long as we know we are ready to answer that call,” he said.

Zagala, one of the directors of the 41st Infantry Division Foundation and the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, also lamented the waning interest of the present generation in what took place in the places considered the last line of defense of allied forces during the Second World War.

“It’s unfair for those who laid down their lives in defense of freedom. Our youth should be made aware of the hardships of our forefathers who unselfishly served our country,” he said.

Zagala said young people should be inculcated with a deep sense of nationalism and service to country, as a fitting tribute to heroes who fought to defend Bataan and Corregidor, as well as other battles that earned the nation its freedom.

The nation commemorates Araw ng Kagitingan tomorrow in a ceremony in Mt. Samat in Bataan, where President Arroyo and other personalities are expected to attend.

He said their two organizations, composed of WWII veterans and their children, are working to compile the history of the war through books and other publications, which can be used in schools as reference materials. — Charlie Lagasca, James Mananghaya