World War II Veteran and Bataan Death March Survivor Does “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit
How time has changed.
On reddit, a social networking and news aggregate website, Lolo Gregorio recently did an “Ask Me Anything” or AMA segment. Lolo Gregorio is a 94 year old World War II veteran and Bataan Death March survivor who shared tidbits of his life experiences in the said AMA.
Though a man of few words, he talked about life during World War II and his thoughts about the Philippines. Many redditors sent in their questions along with words of gratitude for his great service.
(Photo credit: u/lolo_gregorio on reddit.com)
(Photo credit: u/lolo_gregorio on reddit.com)
Here are a few questions Lolo Gregorio shed light on.
Q: What was the life lesson you took from WWII?
A: Be in good health, it is important to survival.
Q: What’s the best part about being alive in 2014?
A: The best thing about being alive right now is receiving compensation from the U.S. government. (Smiling)
Q: What was the first thing you wanted to do after going home?
A: The first thing was to get my health back. Then, I wanted to have a simple life. Just eat. Rice and fish!
Q: What was your closest call to being killed in action?
A: Yes I did. When the Japanese bombed us, I was under a mango tree. I looked and there was a big hole near me!
Q: Do you feel that the Philippines was abandoned at the time; i.e. thrown to the Japanese?
A: We had no support or good weapons, just rifles and artillery. The United States was justified in not coming to help sooner, there were more strategic reasons.
Q: Hi, I’m Filipino and from the Philippines. What’s your opinion about the current state of our country?
A: It’s so over populated now. It’s hard to progress. So many typhoons each year. The government is corrupt, and companies won’t let people work.
Q: What was your ranking in the military? Do you know or keep in touch with anyone from back then? Which country were you enlisted in?
A: I was a Staff Sergeant. I can’t remember anyone else from my unit, and I never saw them after I was released.
Q: Do you still hate the Japanese?
A: Of course at the time. Now I am neutral.
Q: What was the kindest thing you saw in the camp/on the march? What were the circumstances of your capture (i.e. battle/campaign)? Appreciate your service greatly!
A: Along the way, people sometimes threw food wrapped in banana leaves at us.
Q: What is your best advice to someone who is currently serving in the military?
A: Just be a simple soldier. Don’t (be) lazy, sleepy or aggressive. Follow the orders of the day.
Q: Thank you for your service. If you are willing to talk about it; what was the worst thing that you had to endure? If you’re not willing to talk about it; how about the best experience?
A: The worst thing was the death march itself and the food in the camp. Just rice and salt. We used to try and get the leaves of edible plants and cook it. Some people were so hungry they would sweep up grass hoppers and eat it! The best part of it is “now”. There was nothing good about the war.
You can read Lolo Gregorio’s full AMA here.
An AMA is a reddit entry where a person or a group of people entertains questions from various redditors and answers as many of these questions as possible. Many US celebrities have done their own AMA on reddit.
In 2012, President Barack Obama did an AMA where he answered many queries regarding politics. Bill Gates also did one in 2013 and he said he had lots of fun then so he did another one in February 2014. His main focus were on philanthropy and technology.
If you had the chance, what would you ask Lolo Gregorio?
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World War II Veteran and Bataan Death March Survivor Does “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit
