Comments on: June 2: On The Brink Of Death & Coincidence

By: kingofpots

kingofpots — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:40:54 +0000

loony, i am sure the book will be published. thanks

carlo, thanks. your grandpa is more than a hero to me. his ordeal during the WWII is the highest form of supreme sacrifice a soldier has to experience/offer in service to his country.

mark, the schedule for the NF event here is too near and joining an ultra needs a lot of physical preparations, logistics and mental adjustments (we need to be crazy sometimes). i hope to experience joining one by next year.

By: markfb

markfb — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:11:16 +0000

Br,

Are you planning on the North face event? A similar ultramarathon event just finished in Singapore. I cannot even begin to imagine how it is to run 87 km for 11 to 12 hours…

By: carlo

carlo — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:08:42 +0000

Baldrunner, thanks for sharing your experience as a soldier. Your post reminded me of my late grandfather who, as a soldier in WWII, fought in Corregidor and survived the Bataan Death March. This is the reason why I have a great amount of respect and admiration for our men in uniform.

By: loonyrunner

loonyrunner — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:10:55 +0000

Thanks BR for sharing those important moments in your life… eagerly awaiting for your book

By: kingofpots

kingofpots — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:04:07 +0000

mark, thanks! i am at peace with myself already and past is past..hey, how about joining an ultramarathon race soon?

By: markfb

markfb — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:57:01 +0000

Qs, thanks for the link.

Br, I hope you do find closure to this or maybe you have thru what you’re doing now. There are things in life we have no control of. God will decide on those things when the time comes.

Saludo ako sa yo.

By: kingofpots

kingofpots — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:51:21 +0000

mark, thanks for the nice comments. a soldier who dies usually gets the usual burial expenses, mutual benefit funds, insurances, contributions, and pension to his benificiary–parents/or wife (if married). in addition, the benificiary receives 100K and house & lot in his province. his children & dependents are also given full school scholarships up to college.

cecil, as they say ” they could not make a good man down, forever”

marga, it’s liberating to talk about how i sacrificed my life & chose to serve the country and its people instead of choosing to live in comfort with my family in the United States, now that i am retired from the service. i agree completely on what you mentioned on your comment. we need more people in the military to express their views, opinions, insights, and their experiences while serving the country so that the people will be informed what the military is doing. i hate to say that the media we have only sensationalize things that embarass and negatively criticize the military. thanks!

qs, seven months after the lamitan incident, i was sent back to zamboanga city to lead a training directorate to oversee the planning and implementation of the 1st Balikatan Military Exercise between the RP & US Armed Forces and this is where i met the author, pekka. i gave him the impression that i was the only one “telling the truth” in the congressional investigation and in other formal investigations regarding the incident & he started his story from there. his story was nice and comprehensive but top leaderships in the AFP avoided answering pekka’s questions and some gave different answers. hopefully, writing my book will answer more questions and doubts about this incident. thanks for the comment!

By: quicksilverrunner

quicksilverrunner — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:34:08 +0000

Hi BR,

Wow–talk about a small world. To refresh my memory, I searched for and found this piece from Helsingin Sanomat:

http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20020201IE9

Your situation was just one big grey zone. Unfortunately, doing the right thing is sometimes not possible when collusion is involved. I hope you get the resolution you are looking for in the future.

Thank you for sharing your quiet day.

By: transitionzero

transitionzero — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:14:20 +0000

your post tugged at me a bit. i just can’t stop thinking of the hazards our filipino soldiers face, having to look at death in the eye 24/7 as part of their job description. i always think of my father and the perils he faced as a fighter pilot. until now i get that choke in my throat whenever i am reminded of the fact that he is a soldier, a pilot who flew in crappy aircraft as part of his duty. kung ang puhunan ng manunulat ay ang bawat katagang sinusulat niya, at ng mang-aawit ang kanyang tinig, tanging buhay lamang ng isang sundalo ang magsisilbing puhunan niya. walang labis, walang kulang.

thank you for posting about this. i hope this serves as an eye-opener for those with misconceptions about the military.

on another note, i also hold the 20th of august and 20th of october as significant dates in my life. share ko lang :p

By: prometheuscometh

prometheuscometh — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:36:41 +0000

When I realized that you were the same commander in Lamitan my respect for you grew bigger as you have faced death so many times! What is a 10k or marathon compared to that? I hope writing about your experience will be a cathartic experience for you and will help improve the lot of our soldiers. More power and prayers to you BR!