FVR donates war items to Korean museum

On the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War on September 14, former President Fidel Ramos donated several items to the Korean War Memorial Museum in Seoul. The Department of Foreign Affairs said Ramos donated books, photographs, videos and a replica of a uniform used by soldiers of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea. Ramos led successful combat operations as a Second Lieutenant in the 20th Battalion Combat Team (BCT) of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK). “May these modest memorabilia serve the purpose of enhancing the understanding and appreciation of our shared history by younger generations," Ramos said, according to an article posted Thursday on the DFA website. The DFA said the donations are expected to increase awareness about the role of the Philippines in helping South Korea gain freedom. The Philippines deployed 7,420 soldiers in five battalions from 1950 to 1955, of whom 112 were killed in action. In his visit to Korea, Ramos led a 30-man delegation which includes PEFTOK veterans deployed as part of the United Nations Command to help defend South Korea from a surprise communist invasion on June 25, 1950. The delegation was in South Korea upon the invitation of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. The names of those who died in the Korean War are engraved in the Museum, which also contains a special section detailing the involvement of countries that helped South Korea. One of the Filipino soldiers who perished in the Korean War was Captain Conrado Yap, who was awarded the Philippine Medal of Valor for the heroism of the 10th BCT in the Battle of Yultong in April 1951. The Philippine Medal of Valor is the top combat award of the Philippines. “It is said that, ‘a nation reveals itself not only by the individuals it produces, but also by those it honors and those it remembers,’" Ramos said. Before to the ceremony, he met with members of the Filipino Community at the Embassy on September 13. During the meeting, he said commemorative rites remind the people about the hard-earned lessons of history— that unity, peace and sustainable development are humanity’s highest benefits. After delivering his speech, Ramos handed out the awards for outstanding individuals from the Filipino community in South Korea. These included the winners of a recent Philippine Embassy-sponsored photography contest, which documented the lives of some 50,000 Filipinos who now live in South Korea. –VVP, GMANews.TV