What Filipinos Today Can Learn From Filipino Soldiers Who Gloriously Fought In The Battle Of Yuldong

I was doing a bit of research and unfortunately, one incident out of many was used to justify the whole fallacy that says "Pelepenos are da most powerful race in a world." -- it was the great Battle of Yuldong in North Korea which happened last April 22 - 23, 1951. It was once upon a time when the Philippines was still a great nation. It was merely three years and several months after the Philippines truly gained its independence. It was when a Tsinoy captain named Conrado D. Yap valiantly gave his life for the Philippines to defeat the combined forces of 40,000 Maoist troops which aided North Korea's troops. Take note that China's military was severely weakened thanks to Mao Zedong's irresponsible leadership.

So does this prove that the Filipinos are the most powerful race in the world and the Chinese are always no match for them? Not at all. Need I remind you that the brave captain was Chinese by blood and that one of the greatest Filipino revolutionaries Captain Ignacio Paua was also Chinese by blood? Not that I'd brag about it because there's always failures and successes on every race and/or nationality. This is more of a call to learn how successful Filipinos succeeded and not to rely on one's Filipino blood (and please stop obsessing about being a Pure-Pino because the Philippines has had several settlers which resulted to today's Filipino people) in order to succeed.

Why did the Filipino soldiers succeed in the Battle of Yuldong? They weren't in disarray like the SAF-44 during the time of Noynoy Aquino. The Philippine Expeditionary Force To Korea (PEFTOK) were highly trained, highly skilled and they were in full coordination with their allies. The Maoist armies were probably the most undermotivated Chinese soldiers in history -- after all, who would want to fight valiantly under a Maoist welfare state? That scenario is way different than Noynoy's whose incompetence would have allowed the Philippines to be run over by China in less than a day. It's because China today is no longer under Maoist maintenance and most bad China products you're buying are even outlawed in China itself.

Here's something worth learning about how the 900 Filipino troops helping in the battle outlasted the 400,000 Maoist Chinese troops in that same battle:

One Chinese attack came so close to the Filipino battalion headquarters that soldiers were now shooting at each other almost at point blank range and in many cases, combat became a hand-to-hand encounter. Despite these deadly penetratrations done by the enemy, the 10th BCT still firmly held its line.

By noon, April 23, the 10th BCT was the only unit left standing its ground, a virtual island surrounded by a sea of communist troops as its fellow UN combat units were either decimated or forced to withdraw.

Despite this situation, the Filipinos even launched their own counterattack that sent the bewildered Chinese troops running back to their original lines. It was said that the US Army Division Headquarters (where the 10th BCT was attached) radioed repeated orders to retreat but the Filipinos firmly refused to move until all the other UN military units have retreated to the safe zones.

By the end of the battle, the Filipinos suffered 10 killed, 26 wounded and 14 missing in action. The CVA & NKPA losses ranged from about 500 to close to a thousand casualties.

In short, there was strength in unity. They didn't want to move until all other U.N. military units have retreated to the safe zones. They had brilliantly planned to outsmart the Maoist army. It had nothing to do with their Filipino blood. They owned the Maoist army not because they were of Filipino blood but because of their well-planned counterattack.

Unfortunately, many losses today attributed to the Philippines may also be found in the mindset of, "Well I'm Filipino, I belong to the most powerful race in the world and I'm bound to succeed." Just imagine for a second if the members of PEFTOK thought like that. They would have probably launched a reckless attack against the 40,000 Maoist troops that would have ground them to powder in direct conflict. Instead, they did all their hard work and proper planning in order to defeat the 40,000 Maoist troops and they were able to help save South Korea from a possible Communist takeover.

Some people may have had pitiful losses because they rely on their being Filipino rather than knowing what they're good at and enhancing it. Maybe those two Filipino divers who lost a diving competition in Singapore thought their Filipino blood will save them from a humiliating loss. Maybe the whole SAF-44 fiasco and the strings of losses against China may be linked to relying on one's Filipino blood rather than relying on hard work, dedication and teamwork. Do you think Lydia De Vega would have had made her record as one of the world's fastest runners if she just relied on her Filipino blood rather than continuous training and perseverance in her career? She wouldn't. She would have probably made a fool out of herself instead of achieving what she achieved.

It's time to reopen history books and learn why Filipinos succeeded. There's nothing wrong with being proud of the accomplishments of Filipinos. Just make sure that you don't free ride on their successes. I guess it's time to really study about how those glorious soldiers in Yuldong succeeded. It's not because of their Filipino blood but because of their hard work and dedication in their work as Filipino soldiers. It's more than time to instill the lessons of the Filipino soldiers during the Battle of Yuldong as part of fighting for a better Philippines.