Post by rik on Sept 5, 2013 20:38:22 GMT 8
Hello to all; I will apologize in advance for the length of my initial post but I have a somewhat serendipitous connection to Corregidor so I hope you will all indulge me. I promise to keep future posts shorter...
My name is Rik, I'm a Department of the Army Civilian (US) working at an Army base in Vicenza, Italy called Caserma Ederle. I arrived here as a young Sergeant in 2000, assigned to the Southern European Task Force (SETAF). In that year, the 173rd ABCT was reactivated here and the following year, the 2-503rd was reactivated as an airborne unit and assigned to the 173rd here. The 1-503rd followed in 2006. In the years that followed I've heard paratroopers constantly sound off with "The Rock!" without ever knowing the meaning or origins of the motto.
In 2002 I married a beautiful woman who I'd met in Hong Kong and who was born and raised in Pangasinan. Henceforth my fate has been irrevocably intertwined with the Philippines however I did not take my first trip to the islands until 2010, I'm ashamed to say. On that first trip I fell in love with the country, so much so that we ended up buying a small beach house in San Fabian on Lingayan Gulf and we now spend a few weeks there every summer for vacation. There are five of us now: myself, my wife Virginia and our three boys - Xavier (9), Luca (5) and Maximus (8 months).
Also in 2010 I met and became friends with a new coworker who happened to live in my town, a fellow named LTC Mike Larsen. After a year or so, Mike assumed command of the 2-503rd, "The Rock" as they prepared for their impending deployment to Afghanistan. Somewhere during this time I happened to be reading up on some WW2 history in the Philippines and came across he story of the 2-503rd's airborne assault on Corregidor. I was familiar with Corregidor and knew it had the nickname of "The Rock" but somehow never connected the dots between that and the 503rd motto of the same name. A few days later I ran into Mike and told him, rather shamefully, that I never knew the connection. He excitedly told me the history of the airborne jump and I replied "You know Mike, we have a small beach house in the Philippines and we go every summer for vacation...I'm planning on doing the Corregidor tour on our next trip and I'd be happy to try and bring you back a little piece of The Rock if you want...". Well, word spread and next thing you know, I had about a dozen current and past 2-503rd buddies who also wanted a piece of The Rock. On our next trip to the PI I did indeed do the Corregidor tour (day trip) and I was absolutely blown away. I'd wanted to be read up on the history of the island beforehand so I'd borrowed the great book "Corregidor: Saga of a Fortress" from the base library and tore through it in the months leading up to my trip which helped immensely. I ended up picking up about 30 small rocks at or near the base of the 503rd monument on Drop Zone Alpha to bring home with me and made many current 503rd paratroopers very happy. As for myself, I was so taken with Corregidor that I vowed to take the tour each and every time we went back to the PI for vacation.
Here's where the story get even more interesting. I will continue in the next post...
My name is Rik, I'm a Department of the Army Civilian (US) working at an Army base in Vicenza, Italy called Caserma Ederle. I arrived here as a young Sergeant in 2000, assigned to the Southern European Task Force (SETAF). In that year, the 173rd ABCT was reactivated here and the following year, the 2-503rd was reactivated as an airborne unit and assigned to the 173rd here. The 1-503rd followed in 2006. In the years that followed I've heard paratroopers constantly sound off with "The Rock!" without ever knowing the meaning or origins of the motto.
In 2002 I married a beautiful woman who I'd met in Hong Kong and who was born and raised in Pangasinan. Henceforth my fate has been irrevocably intertwined with the Philippines however I did not take my first trip to the islands until 2010, I'm ashamed to say. On that first trip I fell in love with the country, so much so that we ended up buying a small beach house in San Fabian on Lingayan Gulf and we now spend a few weeks there every summer for vacation. There are five of us now: myself, my wife Virginia and our three boys - Xavier (9), Luca (5) and Maximus (8 months).
Also in 2010 I met and became friends with a new coworker who happened to live in my town, a fellow named LTC Mike Larsen. After a year or so, Mike assumed command of the 2-503rd, "The Rock" as they prepared for their impending deployment to Afghanistan. Somewhere during this time I happened to be reading up on some WW2 history in the Philippines and came across he story of the 2-503rd's airborne assault on Corregidor. I was familiar with Corregidor and knew it had the nickname of "The Rock" but somehow never connected the dots between that and the 503rd motto of the same name. A few days later I ran into Mike and told him, rather shamefully, that I never knew the connection. He excitedly told me the history of the airborne jump and I replied "You know Mike, we have a small beach house in the Philippines and we go every summer for vacation...I'm planning on doing the Corregidor tour on our next trip and I'd be happy to try and bring you back a little piece of The Rock if you want...". Well, word spread and next thing you know, I had about a dozen current and past 2-503rd buddies who also wanted a piece of The Rock. On our next trip to the PI I did indeed do the Corregidor tour (day trip) and I was absolutely blown away. I'd wanted to be read up on the history of the island beforehand so I'd borrowed the great book "Corregidor: Saga of a Fortress" from the base library and tore through it in the months leading up to my trip which helped immensely. I ended up picking up about 30 small rocks at or near the base of the 503rd monument on Drop Zone Alpha to bring home with me and made many current 503rd paratroopers very happy. As for myself, I was so taken with Corregidor that I vowed to take the tour each and every time we went back to the PI for vacation.
Here's where the story get even more interesting. I will continue in the next post...