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Reynaldo Arce Mendoza (24 March 1917 - 4 June 2001) was a Philippine Army Brig. Gen. officer. He was a member of the pioneer Class of 1940, the author of the alma mater song "PMA, Oh Hail to Thee," and former Superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). He was also the former Chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and President of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP). During his military service he had received several awards and decorations including three Distinguished Service Stars and Presidential Unit Citations from the Philippines, the United States, and the Republic of Korea. He was also recipient of the Ulchi Distinguished Military Service Medal and the Korean War Hero Medal for his command of the 2nd Battalion Combat Team (BCT) of the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK).

Military career

Philippine Military Academy (Class of 1940)

Reynaldo Mendoza is a member of the PMA Class '40, which was the first batch to complete four years of training as cadets in the academy. Out of 120 cadets who were admitted in the academy in 1936, only 79 graduated in 1940. A year after their graduation, they would be called upon to serve in the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) to fight against the Japanese invasion.

Not only did this batch author the Honor Code, they were exemplary of the academy's motto: courage, integrity and loyalty. It was a class whose record wasn't spoiled with scandals, corruption, or coups.

PMA, Oh Hail to Thee

The PMA alma mater song, "PMA, Oh Hail to Thee" was composed by Class '40 batchmates, Quirico Evangelista (music) and Reynaldo Mendoza (lyrics).

The words of the anthem profess the persistent safeguard of personal honor as the absolute duty of each cadet. All cadets and cavaliers of the academy have to memorize the lyrics and sing the song correctly. Several symphonic and lyric versions of this song can be found online.

World War II Veteran

When World War II broke out, Reynaldo Mendoza was an intelligence officer of the 1st Coast Artillery Battalion. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, he was a prisoner of war from 1943-1944 in Camp O'Donnell, arriving there via the Bataan Death March.

Throughout the campaign to liberate the country from Imperial Japanese forces from 1944-1945, Mendoza served in the United States Army Forces in the Philippines – Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL) Guerilla Unit as a staff officer.

Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK)

The Philippines was the third UN member country (after the USA and the United Kingdom), and the first Asian nation, to send combat troops to war in 1950.

PEFTOK's mission was to defend South Korea against communist conquest. From 1950 to 1955, five BCTs served in Korea. Reynaldo Mendoza led the 2nd BCT. This battalion was one of the most combat-experienced in the anti-Huk campaign. It arrived in Korea in April 1954 and trained in new weapons and combat techniques. It extended peacekeeping and reconstruction work while providing humanitarian aid to South Koreans. Mendoza succeeded commander Col. Antonio de Veyra.

"Known as the "Black Lion," this unit is the most experienced combat force the country has had. Formed just after Philippine independence in July 1946, this unit served in the anti-guerilla campaigns against the Hukbalahap of Central and Southern Luzon. With its vast tactical experience in this type of asymmetric warfare, the 2nd BCT were trained in Marikina in preparation for its deployment in Korea. It was at the height of the war where advanced elements were sent. From December 1953 to April 1954, the men under Col. Antonio de Veyra and Col. Reynaldo Mendoza performed exemplary service under tremendous obstacles."

— JP Canonigo, We Were Soldiers: Filipinos Who Fought In The Korean War

Intelligence Agencies, PMA, and NDCP

After the Korean War, Reynaldo Mendoza would proceed to assume several public service positions in education, research, and intelligence agencies. With Luciano Gunabe, he wrote the "Leadership for Filipinos," a book intended for the military, in 1956.

Mendoza was the Chief of Intelligence (G-2) and Commanding Officer of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) from 1959 to 1962. He then assumed the post of Deputy Director in the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) for the next two years. He also chaired the South East Asia Treaty Organization's (SEATO) 6th Meeting of Security Experts in Bangkok.

In 1964 he became the 4th President of the National Defense College of the Philippines. In 1966, he was appointed as the new Superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), his alma mater.

In this same year, on September 11, he was promoted by President Marcos from Colonel to Brigadier General.

Retirement

On August 15, 1967, President Marcos retired the services of Reynaldo Mendoza, together with seven other generals, who were holding key commands in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), but were serving past the compulsory retirement period, as part of a major revamp of the armed forces.

From 1972 to 1981, the Philippines was under martial law. Mendoza was already retired but had not lost his influence. When Mendoza's nephew was arrested and abused by the Marcos' military forces, he recounted that the torture stopped after the Constabulary Security Unit's head, who used to serve under Mendoza, found out about their kinship.

In 1985, Marcos signed the Administrative Order 501 to create a Board of Generals and Colonels that will study the reorganization of the AFP. The Board included Fidel Ramos and Fabian Ver, among others, and retired generals like Mendoza and Ernesto Mata. They acted as an advisory body to the President on policy matters affecting the organization and management of military resources.

When President Aquino came to power in 1986, several coup attempts were plotted against her during the first four years of her presidency. Although PMA alumni such as Gregorio Honasan (Class '71) and Danilo Lim (Class '78) led some of these coups, Mendoza's Class '40 denounced these. This is consistent with the pioneer class' stance on coup in the past.

Three decades ago, after Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay revamped the army and promoted meritorious officers to defeat the Hukbalahap rebellion, Reynaldo Mendoza and his other batchmates led 17 of the 26 Battalion Combat Teams. Half of the nation's arsenal was under the control of Class '40. Recognizing their power and for fear that the incumbent Elpidio Quirino will resort to fraud in the upcoming 1953 presidential elections, partisans of Magsaysay approached Mendoza with the idea of plotting a coup in the event Magsaysay lost in a fraud. In his interview with historian Alfred McCoy, Mendoza said that he rejected the idea and told them he will fight any coup started because it's not the way to fix the country.

Decorations and Honors

Throughout his military career, Reynaldo Mendoza had received three Distinguished Service Stars, four Military Merit Medals, two Philippine Presidential Unit Citations, two US Presidential Unit Citations, a Korean Republic Presidential Unit Citation, two Long Service Medals, several Campaign Medals from the Philippines and the USA, and the Ulchi Distinguished Military Service Medal (second highest decoration awarded by the Republic of Korea for military merit) for his service as Commander of the 2nd BCT during the Korean War.

At a special ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War in 2010, Mendoza was one of the 14 Filipinos honored with the Korean War Hero Medal, presented by the Republic of Korea for their contributions during the Korean War. Other notable awardees include former president Fidel Ramos, the late Senator Ninoy Aquino Jr., and Captain Conrado Yap.

The PEFTOK Korean War Memorial Hall, where names of all the Filipinos who served in Korea from 1950 to 1955 are displayed on floor panels, was inaugurated on March 29, 2012.

Personal Life and Education

Reynaldo Mendoza was born in Aparri, Cagayan Valley, Philippines. He is the son of Martin Sanidad Mendoza and Esperanza Arce. He has 5 children with his wife Lilia Moran.

When he passed away in June 2001, he was entitled to be buried in the Heroes' Cemetery but he preferred to be buried next to his kin at the Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park.

Alma Mater

Mendoza's education consisted of the following: 1936 – 1940 Philippine Military Academy, Baguio, Philippines

1947 – 1948 Armored Force School (now the United States Army Armor School), Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA

1949 – 1950 University of Santo Tomas, Philippines

1950 – 1951 University of the Philippines

1958 Command & General Staff College, Ft Leavenworth, Kansas, USA 1958

1961 Industrial College of the Armed Forces (now Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy), D.C., USA

References

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3. The Philippine Army : Keeping its Covenant with the Nation. Army Troopers Newsmagazine, March 2012, 7-8.
4. Interview with General Reynaldo Mendoza (ret.), Camp Aguinaldo, 13 August 1996 ; Major Rogelio S. Lumabas, Wither the MAP, The Cavalier 7, no. 1 (November – December 1967), 5-6, qtd. in Alfred McCoy, Closer than Brothers : Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy (Yale University Press, 1999), 3, note 1.
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22. ^ Mendoza, Amado Jr. (June 11, 2001). "Bytes, Business & Governance (22)". Think Centre.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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24. Mendoza, Golden Book, 125, qtd. in Alfred McCoy, Closer than Brothers : Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy (Yale University Press, 1999), 340, note 3.
25. "In the Philippines, the CIA Has Found a Second Home". Los Angeles Times. 1989-05-07. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
26. McCoy, Alfred (1999). Closer than Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy. Yale University Press. pp. 107–109. ISBN 978-0-300-19550-7.
27. Interview with Reynaldo Mendoza, in Closer than Brothers : Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy (Yale University Press, 1999), 108, note 19.
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