Posted by BG Ramon M. Ong (Ret) on May 23, 2008:

Jon was one of my first friends in Beast Barracks. We belonged to 4th New Cadet Company and transferred to Company E2 where we stayed for the rest of our four years. So I got to know him as well as any classmate of mine. He had a sharp wit, studied hard and worked well with everybody. After graduation, we parted ways -- he joined the US Army while I returned home to serve in the Philippine Army. I was most surprised 2 years later to receive the news from him that he would be assigned to the US Army Signal Corps unit located at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. We met and had some fine times together sightseeing like carefree tourists, when both of us had some free time. He was already a Captain while I was still a 2nd Lieutenant (slow promotion in the Philippine Army). We parted ways again because I had to go to Vietnam. My last memory of him was our sipping iced tea together at his quarters in Clark AB. When my Vietnam stint ended 3 years later, he was no longer in Clark. We never saw each other again. Goodbye, Jon! It was nice knowing a friend like you. Be thou at peace ... Ray Brigadier General Ramon M. Ong (Retired) Armed Forces of the Philippines USMA 1963

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