Prudencio B. Regis

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P:         My name is Prudencio, P-R-U-D-E-N-C-I-O.  My last name is [INAUDIBLE] B-R-G-O-S.  But my family name is REGIS, R-E-G-I-S.

I:          Thank you, sir.  And what is your birthday, birthday?  When were, when were you born?

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P:         I was born in [INAUDIBLE] [Sugod sargenalhi]

I:          So what is your birthday, sir?

P:         October 23.

I:          And?
P:         Nineteen twenty-five.

I:          Twenty-five.

P          Twenty-five.
I:          So now you are 94 years old?

P:         Nine, ninety-four years old.
I:          You look amazing.  Wow.  So tell me about when you were growing up, when you were child,

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what your father did, your mom and your brothers and sisters.

P:         My father and my father was uh, he was, he wanted to be, uh, wanted to playing all the time.  [INAUDIBLE] He goes to the farm once a week or, or twice a week and I go with him.  But otherwise he

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comes from and he’s a father for me, not, not, uh, uh, some [work here]

I:          Yeah.  And what about your brothers and sisters?  How many brothers and how many sisters did you have?

P:         The brothers and sisters were, I have four brothers and three, three sisters.  We are seven in all.

I:          Um hm.

P:         The four brothers

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who were with the, most of them were the, were the old, old family.  The old mother, [STAMMERS] her wife, his wife

I:          Um.

P:         and the, the, the, uh, the girl is this, orphans maybe.

I:          Okay.  So tell me about the school you sent through, middle school and high school.

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Where did you go?

P:         I started as a first grade, first grade

I:          Uh huh.

P:         Went to seven.  Started 1 to 4.  Then 5 to 7.

I:          Uh huh.  And when did you graduate your high school?

P:         I became a, in high school at, uh, uh, when I graduated

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finally, finally, that was at 17.  And then, uh, I was, uh, what do I call this?  I was sent to high school.

I:          So did you graduate high school in 1923?  No, no, no.

P:         No.

I:          No, no, no, no, no.

P:         In high school, I was 17.

I:          Seventeen

P:         To 21.

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I:          So sit was 1942.

P:         Yes.

I:          And did you experience Japanese invasion here in Philippines?

P:         Uh, an invasion we were hearing every, there is not much, no.

I:          Not much.

P:         Not much.  We were more afraid.

I:          And when did you join the military then?

P:         Uh, well I, when I finished my

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my high school

I:          Yes.

P:         I was, I was, I was, I was sent to, I entered the Philippine Military Academy.

I:          Um.

P:         So that was when I entered that school.  The military, military.

I:          Was it Military Academy or Military School?
P:         No.  I passed the examination.

I:          Uh, examination.

P:         Yeah.

I:          Yeah.

P:         Examination for so many,

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P:         so many, uh, already  [INAUDIBLE]

I:          Um.

P:         But only 62 of us passed examination.  Only 62 of us were admitted in the first year.

I:          So was it Army Academy, right?

P:         Yeah.

I:          Yeah.  So when did you graduate the Army Academy?  Do you remember?

P:         I graduated in 1951.

I:          Fifty-one?

P:         Oh,

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I:          You graduate from

P:         From the, from, from, uh, the military.

I:          When did you go to Korea?

P:         I was sent to Korea in 19, 1925.

I:          Nineteen fifty?

P:         Nineteen twenty-five.

I:          Fifty-five.

P:         Twenty-five.  Because, uh,

I:          Korean War broke out in 1950.

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Sos1950.

P:         Yes.

I:          Korean War started in 1950.

P:         I was sent to there.

I:          So when did you go in Korea?

P:         I was, we were, we were sent at the, at the, the whole Battalion, to Korea by the United States Army.

I:          Yeah.

P:         And we were, we were, it was, we were sent  there in 1924.  So I

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graduated ’51.

I:          Fifty-one.

P:         Yeah.

I:          So you were in Korea 1951.

P:         Yeah.

I:          Yeah.

P:         I graduated 1951.

I:          And then you went to Korea right away.

P:         Not yet.  I was, uh, serving, serving in the military and, uh, then the, the Korean, Korean, uh, Army asked me to go, sent me on a truck to Korea

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to go, to help in the, in the Korean War.  And they sent me there in 1920, three years after graduation.  Then I, we stayed there.  We went to Korea and stayed there for three months.  We, uh, we were, we were playing in the [STAMMERS] They [INAUDIBLE] there military in the, in the,

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in the military zone.  But no war, no war years.  Just, uh, information.

I:          Um.  So exactly when did you arrive in Korea?
P:         About 1920

I:          No, not 20.  It started in 1950 something.

P:         Ah.  1954.

I:          Fifty-four.

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So that was after the War.

P:         After the War.

I:          Okay.  And where did you arrive in Korea?  Was sit Pusan or Inchon?  Where did you arrive in Korea?

P:         We arrived in the main, main Korean, uh, military battlefield.

I:          Was it in Pusan?
P:         Under the Americans, yeah, Pusan.

I:          Pusan.

P:         Pusan.

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I:          So did you know anything about Korea before you went to Korea?

P:         Well, a little yes because we were, uh, in the military, in the military, a little in high school.  We were taught everything from beginning to end.

I:          So did you know where Korea was in the map?

P:         At that time, not yet.

I:          Not yet.

P:         It was the first time in South Korea.

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I:          Yeah.  So tell me about this.  The first image of Korea.  How was it to you?  How Korean people living there, how was the city, how much it was destroyed, how about Korean children in the street.  How was it?  Just tell me the details.

P:         They were really friendly.

I:          Uh huh.

P:         They were very friendly, and most of the time wanted to play with us.

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But, uh, before that time while we were practicing, uh, practicing our, our, uh, military in the, in the planes,

I:          Yeah.

P:         we were also fighting against the Chinese, the, the, the, the Chinese.

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The, the Chinese occupied that, uh, that, uh, Korean [STAMMERS] more land that [scolded] Korean, in Pusan itself.

I:          Pusan?

P:         Pusan.

I:          No.  Chinese were not in Pusan.

P:         No. it was in the [INAUDIBLE] itself.  Where it, where the Korean, Koreans were, were now.

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But the Koreans were fighting against the, the, uh, the Chinese were fighting against the Koreans.

I:          Yep, that’s

P:         And the Koreans as far, uh, help.  At that time, the Chinese, Chinese

I:          Yes.

P:         Are in China.  So we help, we were asked to help, to drive the, or to stop them and guide them.  When we were able to,

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they were able to guide them out.

I:          Um hm.

P:         Until they, when they were out, they were, they asked for more, more, uh, help from the troops.  And we were able to rid the  Koreans from the South, very far South.

I:          Yes.

P:         Until the time when we were up into the South, when we had to, to, the war is, it’s not really war.

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Let them go up there and we will find out first what they want to do.  So they started fighting back.  And at that time, there was no warn very much with them, and it came a time when the Koreans and the Philippinos were there,

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put up a fighting, fighting [INAUDIBLE] fighting when, when we want to started fighting Korea and [INAUDIBLE] in Korea.  And that was war between the two.

I:          Um.

P:         But somehow,  it was stopped because, when after sixth round in the boxing, when the, when the Korean asked for a time out,

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when the Philippino was going to his seat, trying to reach his seat, he was hit by the, by the, by the Korean in the nose.  [INAUDIBLE]  He was hit from behind.  [INAUDIBLE]

I:          So at the time, what was your rank?
P:         My rank was a Lieutenant.

I:          Lieutenant.

P:         Lieutenant.

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I:          Yeah.  And second lieutenant or first lieutenant?

P:         Uh, first lieutenant because when we arrived in Korea, we were very, when we left the Philippines, we [INAUDIBLE] second Korean.  But when we arrived, uh, in Korea, the Philippines made us, they raised us to first lieutenant.  When, uh, went to Korea.

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I:          And you belonged to 19^th BCT, right?

P:         Yes.

I:          Yes.  Have you been back to Korea?  Does Korean government invite you back to Korea?

P:         Yes, yes.

I:          When?

P:         Oh, I cannot remember exactly when   [lost audio 0:13:22 – 0:15:07]

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I:          We are doing this because Korean War is very important in the world history in the e20th century.  But we don’t teach much about it.  And it’s becoming a Forgotten War.  And also in the Philippines, they talk very little about the Korean War.  So that’s why we are doing this.  And I really

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appreciate your willingness to do interview with me, okay?  So thank you so much again, sir.

P:         We were very interested to go there.

I:          Yes, sir.  Thank you.

 

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