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June 15, 1941

Today’s Manila News front pages says  Hitler is again up to something big.  Several Divisions of German troops are massing along the Soviet borders. Another item announced the death of a New York Yankee baseball great, Lou Gehrig of a strange disease at age 38. (His sickness later became known as Lou Gehrig disease). He was a baseball team mate of Babe Ruth.

My June 11,1941 Diary mentioned about my 17 Classmates that helped pioneer PAAC at Zablan Field as reported by Cav Bert Aranzaso. 

Today, I would like to mention about my “magnificent seven” classmates in the Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) as reported by my Mistah Rey Mendoza who visited me in Port Area from Fort Wint.  Fort Wint is located at Grande Island at the entrance of Subic Bay, similar to what  Corregidor is to Manila Bay.  The powerful CAC big caliber cannons with disappearing carriages are the main weapons used to guard the entrance to Subic Bay. My seven CAC classmates aside from 3rd Lt Rey Mendoza are 3rd Lts. Deogracias Caballero who is the oldest among us;  Jose Mendoza; Job T Mayo; Conrado Nano; Francisco Lumen; and Ricardo Foronda, the youngest member of  class ’40. Cav Rey narrated their intensive training program not only among themselves but also on the trainees to build a citizen army.

Note: Cav Bang Adriano’s slight correction in my June 11,1941 Diary is partly valid. That time the present Camp Aguinaldo site was a wild cogonal area that gave me an impression it was far. That sizeable area was made  a PA reservation first for use by PAAC, later named as Zablan Field. When Gen Capinpin started the Infantry School and Infantry Units, the Northern half of the area was used and later named Camp Murphy. The area  south of Camp Murphy remained as Zablan Field until the start of WW II.  It was at Zablan Field Eisenhower learned to fly. It will be of interest to many PAF personnel  to know that in the Eisenhower Museum In Abilene, Kansas, pictures of PAAC pioneers when Eisenhower was learning to fly at Zablan are prominently displayed. He was so proud of being a qualified pilot by PAAC).