Reynaldo Mendoza: Difference between revisions
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== Military Career == |
== Military Career == |
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==== PMA, Oh Hail to Thee ==== |
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PMA Class 40 was the first batch to complete four years of training as cadets. The PMA [[alma mater]] song, "PMA, Oh Hail to Thee" was composed by its members, Quirico Evangelista (music) and Reynaldo Mendoza (lyrics).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Romero|first=Alexis|url=http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/pe/pe004911.htm?fbclid=IwAR1Wtq_O3BG04ugvGYC5aF48MlxoFHKw_brM5KWovVSfimEmLe2_7m2P_yU|title=PMA PIONEERING CLASS GRAD: NO TO ABOLITION|date=February 20, 2011|work=The Philippine Star|access-date=|url-status=live}}</ref> Symphonic and lyric versions of this song can be [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22PMA+O+hail+to+thee%22 found on YouTube]. |
PMA Class 40 was the first batch to complete four years of training as cadets. The PMA [[alma mater]] song, "PMA, Oh Hail to Thee" was composed by its members, Quirico Evangelista (music) and Reynaldo Mendoza (lyrics).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Romero|first=Alexis|url=http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/pe/pe004911.htm?fbclid=IwAR1Wtq_O3BG04ugvGYC5aF48MlxoFHKw_brM5KWovVSfimEmLe2_7m2P_yU|title=PMA PIONEERING CLASS GRAD: NO TO ABOLITION|date=February 20, 2011|work=The Philippine Star|access-date=|url-status=live}}</ref> Symphonic and lyric versions of this song can be [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22PMA+O+hail+to+thee%22 found on YouTube]. |
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Revision as of 02:06, 25 March 2020
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Reynaldo Arce Mendoza (24 March 1917 - death) was a Philippine Army Brig. Gen. officer and a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) pioneer Class of 1940.[1] He wrote the PMA alma mater song, PMA O Hail to Thee.[2] During the Korean War, Reynaldo Mendoza led one of the five Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK) Battalion Combat Teams (BCT), for which he would later be presented a war hero medal by the Republic of Korea.[3]
Military Career
PMA, Oh Hail to Thee
PMA Class 40 was the first batch to complete four years of training as cadets. The PMA alma mater song, "PMA, Oh Hail to Thee" was composed by its members, Quirico Evangelista (music) and Reynaldo Mendoza (lyrics).[4] Symphonic and lyric versions of this song can be found on YouTube.
| Oh, proud and bold you stand!
Bright beacon of the land Let loyal sons proclaim Thy glorious name
Wherever we may be O'er land or deep blue sea We'll raise a song to Thee Academy, Oh, Hail to Thee!
At every end of day We hope and fervent pray The honor you instill Doth guide our will!
|
May Thy sons ever be
Men of INTEGRITY, COURAGE and LOYALTY, PMA, Oh, Hail to Thee!
When bells for us are rung And our last "taps" is sung Let generations see Our country free
Oh, lead to righteous way Those solid ranks of gray Thy virtues to display Academy, Oh, Hail to Thee! |
After graduating from the PMA, Reynaldo Mendoza "saw action as a regular infantry officer immediately after Pearl Harbor in Northern Luzon and Bataan and joined the irregulars after Gen. Wainwright surrendered the USAFFE forces to the Japanese".[5] He was an intelligence officer the 1st Coast Artillery Battalion.[6] During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, he served in the United States Army Forces in the Philippines – Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL) Guerilla Unit as a staff officer.[7]
Commanding Officer of the 2nd BCT, Korean War
The Philippines was the third UN member country (after the USA and the UK), and the first Asian nation, to send combat troops to war in 1950.[8]
PEFTOK's mission was to defend South Korea against communist conquest. From 1950 to 1955, five BCTs served in Korea. Reynaldo Mendoza led the 2nd BCT.[9] This battalion was activated in July 1946 making it one of the most combat experienced in the anti-Huk campaign. It arrived in Korea in April 1954 and trained in new weapons and combat techniques. It extended peacekeeping and reconstruction work while providing humanitarian aid to South Koreans. Reynaldo Mendoza who was then a colonel succeeded commander Col. Antonio de Veyra.[10]
"Known as the "Black Lion," this unit is the most experienced combat force the country has had. Formed just after Philippine independence in July 1946, this unit served in the anti-guerilla campaigns against the Hukbalahap of Central and Southern Luzon. With its vast tactical experience in this type of asymmetric warfare, the 2nd BCT were trained in Marikina in preparation for its deployment in Korea. It was at the height of the war where advanced elements were sent. From December 1953 to April 1954, the men under Col. Antonio de Veyra and Col. Reynaldo Mendoza performed exemplary service under tremendous obstacles."
— JP Canonigo, We Were Soldiers: Filipinos Who Fought In The Korean War
The names of all the Filipinos who served in Korea from 1950 to 1955 are printed on floor panels displayed at the PEFTOK Korean War Memorial Hall which was inaugurated on March 29, 2012.[11][12] At a special ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War (2010), Reynaldo Mendoza was one of the 14 Filipinos honored with the Korean War Hero Medal, presented by the Republic of Korea for contributions that helped South Korea in the Korean War. Other awardees include former president Fidel Ramos, the late Senator Benigno « Ninoy » S. Aquino Jr., and Captain Conrado Yap.[3]
From Promotions to Retirement
After his service in the Korean War, he would proceed to assume several public service positions such as Chief of Intelligence (G-2) and Commanding Officer in the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP),[13] [14] Assistant Commandant[6] and then Superintendent of the PMA,[15] and 4th President of the National Defense College of the Philippines.[5] [16]
On September 11, 1966, Reynaldo Mendoza was promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General.[17]
On August 15, 1967, President Marcos retired the services of Reynaldo Mendoza, together with seven other generals who were holding key commands in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) but were serving past the compulsory retirement period, as part of a major revamp of the armed forces.[18]
In 1985, President Marcos signed the Administrative Order 501 to create a board of generals and colonels that will study the reorganization of the AFP. The Board included Reynaldo Mendoza, Fidel Ramos, Fabian Ver, Ernesto Mata, etc., and acted as an advisory body to Marcos on policy matters affecting the organization and management of military resources.[19]
When President Aquino came to power in 1986, several coup attempts were plotted against her during the first four years of her presidency, . Though PMA graduates such as Gregorio Honasan (Class 71) and Danilo Lim (Class 78) led some of these coups, Reynaldo Mendoza's PMA Class of 1940 denounced these.[20] The idea of involving their class in a coup is nothing new.
Three decades ago, when Ramon Magsaysay was Defense Secretary, he revamped the army, promoted exemplary officers and punished inefficient or corrupt ones. Reynaldo Mendoza and other graduates of his Class 40 led more than half (17 out of 26) Battalion Combat Teams that defeated the Hukbalahap rebellion. [21] [22] With half of the nation's arsenal under Class 40's control (and fears that the incumbent Elpidio Quirino will resort to fraud in the upcoming 1953 presidential elections), partisans of Magsaysay, approached Reynaldo Mendoza and his class with the idea of plotting a coup in the event Magsaysay lost in a fraud. Reynaldo replied, "If you start anything like that I'm going to fight you....That's no way to fix our country."[23] The pioneer class of the PMA wrote the Honor Code and they have lived lives according the academy's motto of courage, integrity and loyalty.[24]
Personal Life
Reynaldo Mendoza was born in Aparri, Cagayan Valley, Philippines. He is the son of Martin Sanidad Mendoza and Esperanza Arce. He has 5 children (Myrna, Roberto, Ramon, Marie, and Mercy) with his wife Lilia Moran.[25][5]
- ^ "PMA Pioneer Class of 1940". Angkang Pilipino. 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ Theorex (August 31, 2011). "THE PMA CADET: PMA, Oh Hail To Thee". THE PMA CADET. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Ninoy Aquino, FVR get Korea war hero medal". Philippine Daily Inquirer. December 21, 2010.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Romero, Alexis (February 20, 2011). "PMA PIONEERING CLASS GRAD: NO TO ABOLITION". The Philippine Star.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c Mendoza, Amado Jr. (June 11, 2001). "Bytes, Business & Governance (22)". Think Centre.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b McCoy, Alfred (1999). Closer than Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy. Yale University Press. pp. 85, 199. ISBN 978-0-300-19550-7.
- ^ McCoy, Alfred (August 1955). "Same Banana: Hazing and Honor at the Philippine Military Academy". Journal of Asian Studies. 54, no. 3: 709 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "Appreciating the context of President du30's visit to South Korea". Manila Bulletin News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ Cal, Ben. "FVR recalls sterling feat of PH combat forces in Korean War". www.pna.gov.ph. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Villasanta, Art (2009-12-12). "The Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK): 1950-1955: 2nd BATTALION COMBAT TEAM". The Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK). Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ Villasanta, Art. "PEFTOK Korean War Memorial Hall". peftokmuseumph. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Nepomuceno, Priam. "PA inaugurates memorial for Filipino veterans of 1950-53 Korean War". bayanihan.org. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Greitens, Sheena Chestnut (2016). Dictators and their Secret Police. Cambridge University Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-1316505311.
- ^ "G.R. No. L-16975". lawphil.net. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ Malinis, Rolando C. (2015). Brothers: The Untold Story of the Philippine Military Academy Matatag Class of 1971. Independent Publisher. p. 5. ISBN 9781495138621.
- ^ “Strengthening Korea-Philippines Partnership Relations”, a paper presented by Dr. Amado Mendoza Jr., Professor, Department of Political Science University of the Philippines-Diliman, at the 2017 Korea-Philippines/ Korea-Asean partnership forum, Manila, Philippines. [1]
- ^ "Official Week in Review: September 1 – September 15, 1966 | GOVPH". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ "Official Week in Review: August 6 – August 14, 1967 | GOVPH". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ "Administrative Order No. 501, s. 1985 | GOVPH". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ Mendoza, Golden Book, 125, qtd. in Alfred McCoy, Closer than Brothers : Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy (Yale University Press, 1999), 340, note 3.
- ^ "In the Philippines, the CIA Has Found a Second Home". Los Angeles Times. 1989-05-07. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ McCoy, Alfred (1999). Closer than Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy. Yale University Press. pp. 107–109. ISBN 978-0-300-19550-7.
- ^ Interview with Reynaldo Mendoza, in Closer than Brothers : Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy (Yale University Press, 1999), 108, note 19.
- ^ "PMA Pioneer Class of 1940". Angkang Pilipino. 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ "General Reynaldo Arce Mendoza". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 2020-03-24.