Posted by Brig. Gen. Ramon M. Ong (Ret) Philippine Army on June 27, 2001:

Among us Filipino West Pointers, Roger was one of the quietest guys around. He was a quiet plebe, a quiet officer and after his retirement, a quiet businessman. But he got the job done and done very well indeed. We served together as Associate Professors at the Philippine Military Academy and he was well liked by the Cadets because he always reached out to them and was available for extra hours of Math instruction when anyone needed him. We were also together in the combat zone and this was an officer who really cared for his men, who worked hard to get his unit more than its share of badly-needed logistics, and his men loved him for it. And in the battlefield, he was right in the thick of the fighting. He was awarded the Gold Cross Medal (the nation's 2nd highest award for bravery) and showed all of us that he, too, knew the meaning of "Duty, Honor, Country." He then retired after 21 years to devote more time to his family. Our paths did cross a couple of times afterwards, but I did not learn about his illness until it was too late. I was able only to give my condolences to his family at a modest funeral parlor where his body lay in state. Many USMA alumni were there, and they filled up the place along with his many friends. Then the President of the Republic of the Philippines showed up to pay his last respects to a fellow alumnus and a provincemate! And I said to myself, "Boy, when I finally kick the bucket, I wanna go like that!" So long, Roger, you've done a lot since I left you at West Point at the end of your Plebe Year. And thanks for joining my classmates in holding crossed sabers over Esther and me at the Catholic Chapel on my Graduation Day in 1963!

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