Filipino West Point Cadets – World War II

The Philippine Scouts

The Philippines is located in the Western Pacific Ocean, about 7,000 miles west of the mainland United States. It is green and lush, with a hot and humid tropical rain forest climate. By the late 1800s, Filipino culture had largely been defined by their Spanish colonizers of more than three centuries. Following the Spanish-American War in 1898 the United States took possession of the Philippines calling it a “protectorate,” with the dual intent of granting eventual independence while preventing other nations from colonizing the islands. While the transfer of power was not easy, many Filipinos eventually agreed to serve in the U.S. Army’s newly formed Philippine Scouts. The Philippine Scouts were a proud, versatile, and highly trained group of Filipinos serving primarily under American officers. Soon known as “the best light infantry in the Pacific,” and once called “the finest soldiers ever to serve in the U.S. Army,” the Scouts would be singled out for abuse by a future captor. After a recommendation by former Colonial Governor and future U.S. President William Howard Taft, the 60^th U.S. Congress passed Public Law 154 in 1908, which permitted “four Filipinos, one for each class, to receive instruction at the United States Military Academy at West Point… to be eligible only to commission in the Philippine Scouts.” Though the Philippine Scouts are now defunct, the law otherwise remains in effect.

Filipino West Point Cadets

Our grandfather Santiago Garcia Guevara (1899-1996) was the 10th Filipino National to graduate from West Point and was assigned to Ft. William McKinley near Manila to serve as an officer in the Philippine Scouts. Twenty-seven native Filipinos attended West Point between 1910 and 1941, when the Islands were invaded by the Japanese. Of these, four failed to graduate (leaving 23 men), one had died (22), and three others were no longer in the Army (19). Three were in the U.S. when war broke out (16), and one more joined them before Bataan fell (15). Fourteen Filipino West Point graduates were on Bataan at the time of the surrender, with the remaining graduate holding out for one more month on Corregidor. Because two men apparently avoided capture, thirteen were Japanese POW’s. After parole, some worked with the underground resistance, others fought as guerrillas, and some grudgingly cooperated with the occupation government. Of the thirteen POW’s, six were ultimately executed. Santiago survived and became a U.S. citizen when the Philippines gained its long-anticipated independence in 1946.

The Cullum# below is a unique identification number given to every West Point graduate. All four graduates who were in the US during the Japanese occupation returned to fight in the Philippines in 1944-45. Here, then, is a list of how these men fared during the war.

 Name                     Class     Cullum #       Remarks

†Vicente P. Lim                1914        5282       DEATH MARCH, POW, UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE, POW, EXECUTED Dec ‘44

Anastasio Q. Ver                  1915        5431        Retired in 1934

Rafael L. Garcia                    1916        5557        GUERRILLA

Louis R. Salvosa                   1917        5665        Honorable discharge 1922

†Fidel V. Segundo           1917        5804        DEATH MARCH, POW, UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE, POW, EXECUTED Dec ‘44

Salvador F. Reyes                1917        5821        DEATH MARCH, POW

†Estaquio S. Baclig         1918        6195       DEATH MARCH, POW, UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE, POW, EXECUTED Nov ‘44

†Pastor C. Martelino      1920        6605      DEATH MARCH, POW, GUERRILLA, POW, EXECUTED Jan ‘45

†Alejandro D. Garcia     1923        7167          GUERRILLA, POW, EXECUTED Dec ‘44

Santiago G. Guevara           1923        7178          DEATH MARCH, POW

Ricardo Poblete                   1924        7386          POW

Jesus Airan                            1925        7870        Lt. Airan was fatally injured at a horse show at Ft. Stotsenburg in 1928.   

Emilio Aguinaldo, Jr.         1927        N/A         did not graduate

Angel Miguel, Jr.                 1928        N/A         did not graduate

Eligio Tavanler                    1929        N/A            did not graduate

Maximiano S. Janairo         1930        8864       DEATH MARCH, POW, GUERRILLA

Rufo C. Romero                   1931        9042      Capt.Romero was convicted of espionage in 1941 and spent 15 years in prison.

Jaime Velasquez                  1931        9044       Lt. Col. Valesquez fought on Bataan but departed for the U.S. prior to its fall.

Emanual S. Cepeda             1933        9931        DEATH MARCH (Escaped), GUERRILLA,  POW (Escaped)

Tirso G. Fajardo                   1934        10114      In USA

Leon F. Punsalan                 1936        10722      In USA

Manuel Q. Salientes            1937     10832         POW, GUERRILLA

Antonio P. Chanco              1938     11098         DEATH MARCH (Escaped), GUERRILLA

Miguel Santiago                 1938        N/A          did not graduate

†Vicente E. Gepte           1940     11832        DEATH MARCH, POW, GUERRILLA, POW, EXECUTED Aug’44

Felicisimo S. Castillo          1940     11836         GUERRILLA

Atanacio T. Chavez             1941     12315         In USA

Adapted from West Point, Bataan, and Beyond: Santiago Guevara and the War in the Philippines © 2016 by Nick J. Guevara, Jr.