Persons of Interest! #6: Sergeant Roman O. Briones, USA, Ret. (1919-2002)

I haven't done a POI post in a while, but I'd like to give a shout-out to a family member today.

That's him circled in red. Maraming salamat to my Silva cousins back in the Philippines! :D

Meet Roman Ona Briones, my great-uncle. He was born in the Philippines in 1919 as the United States was recovering from the First World War. He enlisted in the Philippine Constabulary sometime prior to the U.S. entry into World War II. Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Constabulary was incorporated into the U.S. Army, and Lolo (that's the Tagalog word for grandfather) Roman found himself assigned to an military police unit.

With the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, Lolo Roman participated in the defense of his homeland, seeing action in Manila and Bataan. He was later taken prisoner and was forced to undergo the Bataan Death March. During his imprisonment, he contracted malaria, and--to my surprise when I was checking his records--was released by the Japanese as a civilian, apparently "discharged" from military duty. However, for him and many other Filipinos, the war was far from over.

When the opportunity presented itself, Roman Briones became a guerilla fighter and resumed his fight against the Japanese army, eventually surviving the war to see the liberation of his homeland. By war's end, he made the rank of technical sergeant (a sergeant first class in today's U.S. Army) and earned four awards. He continued his military service in the Philippines shortly after the islands were given their independence and ranked up to first sergeant prior to his retirement. Afterwards, he lived out his retirement before he passed away in 2002.

I heard about Lolo Roman shortly after I myself had enlisted in the Army Reserve. A cousin of mine mailed his records to my house; from those records, I read his story and saw all his achievements during his service. Although I never got to know him, I now appreciate his service and that of all who served during arguably the world's greatest conflict to date. As we observe Veterans Day, let us all find inspiration and hope in the sacrifices our veterans and current service members have made.

New Orleans, Louisiana: A City That Stole My Heart

It's been well over a month since my last post, but I've finally gotten around to writing again after adjusting to a new schedule. Hopefully, I'll be writing more often from this point onward. Anyways, I just came back from a brief, but amazing trip at New Orleans, Louisiana. That's another state to knock off the list!

My family and I boarded a coach bus bound for NOLA on March 1. Unfortunately, our trip got stalled in the first hour, as our bus broke down and we had to wait a good three hours on the shoulder until another bus came along to pick up everyone and load up all of our luggage.

The rest of the trip went smoothly. We arrived at our hotel and got settled in our rooms. The main reason why my family was there in the first place was that there was a business conference in the convention center not too far from our hotel. In reality, there were many things in New Orleans that caught my eye as I started exploring this fascinating city.

St. Louis Cathedral

Our first stop was the French Quarter, an area rich with culture and historical architecture. A statue of Andrew Jackson on horseback stands in the middle of the square which bears his name. Just behind that statue is the Cathedral of St. Louis, the episcopal seat of the Archdiocese of New Orleans (Bonus fact: One of the Archdiocese of Chicago's former archbishops, Cardinal Cody, was archbishop of New Orleans.) I had the opportunity of going to Mass when I came in, and I was absolutely awestruck by both the exterior and the interior of this cathedral.

We continued to explore the city a bit more before stopping for lunch at a Bubba Gump's, where we were treated to some nice Southern-style cooking and, of course, Forrest Gump trivia. After spending the evening exploring the French Quarter--and seeing some things I probably should not be describing in this post (or this blog in general)--we got back to our hotel and rested a bit.

A couple of days later, I decided to go out on my own to see the National World War II Museum, which was about a six minute walk from the hotel.

Best. Museum. Ever.

What I found was a treasury of historical artifacts, ranging from uniforms and equipment to first hand accounts of the war from all sides. Having grown up watching military documentaries and also having had a great-uncle who fought in the Pacific Theater, this place was breathtaking. I went through basically all of the attractions offered, including, but not limited to, a 4D presentation on the war narrated by Tom Hanks and a submarine simulator reenacting the sinking of the USS Tang. If anything, I'd love to go back there next time.

Overall, this short trip had a lot to offer. I think I just found my new favorite U.S. city outside of Chicago. Perhaps I could move there. Who knows?