By Cav Domingo C Carbonell Jr ‘80

“Not the triumph but the struggle” …this phrase was the dedication of Jose “Jun” Ramos Briones, Jr., above is his picture in our class year book “The Sword 1980 ” . I think it clearly describes what he had gone thru during our cadet days which metamorphosized him from a young and determined teenager into a true son of our Alma Mater, the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).Yes, Jun is greatly missed, and almost forgotten… except for a lonely street in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, named in his honor. Allow me to share “flash backs” of my fond recollections of Lt. Briones’ life as a cadet and albeit short, as an officer and some Mistahs who had been part of his life.

It was a fine, cool morning of April 01, 1976, 142 young men, ages 17 to 21 years old, who were members of PMA Class 1980, marched to Borromeo Field for the “reception” rites. One of them was a seventeen-year old named Jose “Jun” Ramos Briones Jr., from Marilao, Bulacan. Jun and I were squadmates with four others namely: Ricardo Rainier G. Cruz III, from Novaliches, Quezon City (Q.C.); Angelito N. Pacia, from Pampanga; Benjardi H. Mantele from Cavite; Romeo L. Gapuz, from La Union and me from Q.C. Among the six of us, Jun was the youngest in our squad (we found out later that he was the youngest in our class). 

Jun was about 5 feet 9 inches tall, but lankily built and could barely carry the garand rifle during road runs. I initially thought that he would not last long. I was wrong, he managed to finish summer camp. Aside from his firm determination, Jun had strong pair of legs. 

After two months of summer camp, we were “incorporated” (fourth classmen joining the upper class corps) into the cadet corps, assigned to Bud Daho company, (formerly “delta” coy) which occupied the second floor of Regis Hall. I still recall it was very challenging for us as fourth class cadet since we experienced the “daylight saving time (DST)“. The time was adjusted one hour earlier to maximize sunlight and save on electricity. We had to wake up at 0400H (0500H DST). Also lack of water was a problem in the barracks. We would wash our cross straps at the swimming pool and take a shower there as early as 0400h. Sometimes we were ordered to get water from the sun dial to flush the toilets at the barracks.

One day, around the middle of June, 1976, when I was the ACCQ (Assistant-Cadet-in-Charge), I was surprised to see Jun wearing civilian clothes. He said that he was “clearing out” (which meant that he returned his issued rifle and items of uniform to the supply office). I asked him where he was going and he smilingly replied that he was one of the candidates for the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), with three other classmates. They were told to report to Manila for processing. With a little bit of envy, in my mind, I said ”Buti ka pa hindi na magro-rot!” Nevertheless, I wished him “good luck, Mistah.” 

However, to my surprise, about one week later, when I was again the ACCQ, Jun reported back to barracks for ”clearing in”. When I inquired what happened, with a sad countenance, he said that the USAFA decided not to accept candidates from the Philippines that year. Jun confided that he had second thoughts of coming back to join us again as plebes and wanted to resign and will just give himself one week and if he can not catch up with the training he would resign.

But Jun hurdled plebe life! He had the mental and physical toughness to tackle the rigorous training. He placed 3rd in the cross country run in our intramurals. Moreover, with his good memory, academics was no problem for him and he could flawlessly memorize the plebe knowledges and names of upper class cadets in the guard details, so much so, that upper class cadets in our table would castigate other fourth class table mates of Jun, like me and Melchor A. Fajardo, for mumbling when reciting plebe knowledges and guard details for the day . 

When we were yearlings (second-year cadets) we had our weapons training in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija. Jun was one of the lucky ones who survived the accident unscathed when the 6×6 truck we were riding fell over the ravine. He was situated at the front of the passenger area with Segundo S. Bolo and Delfin G. Lorenzo. They were able to hold on to the truck’s front railing and were somewhat compressed forward by most of us, who were catapulted out of the truck when the truck hit a pile of sand in between the ravine and the river bank. Four of our classmates and a security escort died in that accident. 

Jun was an achiever, not only in academics but also in sports. He did not go on Christmas break when we were first class cadets just to practice running middle distance. He had set the PMA intramural record in the 5,000 meter run. With his powerful karate kick he fractured the left hand of Nicanor A. Bartolome, his sparing mate, in our physical education class. He graduated number 5 in our class and received the Philippine Army Award.

He was a very serious and diligent person. He did not smoke and avoided drinking beer, a trade mark of “Bud Daho” cadets. After graduation, we had our Scout Ranger Orientation Course (SROC) training in Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal. On one week end leave, Emmanuel I. Amat and I were looking for a place to drink beer before going back to Tanay, Rizal. We bumped into Jun, somewhere at a Balintawak bus station. He had just come from his home in Bulacan for the week end. We invited him to join us for some beer but he declined and said he had to go back immediately to Tanay. Amat and I cajoled him for not giving in to our invitation but we found out later that he was carrying the mess allowance of the Army group, more than ten thousand pesos, and did not want to be delayed bringing it to Camp Capinpin for security reasons. 

After graduating from SROC training, we were distributed to the different units of the Army. Jun was assigned with the Special Warfare Brigade (SWAB) based in Fort Magsaysay. Months later, when I was in Fort Bonifacio on a mission, I chanced upon Jun and three other classmates: Eduardo D. Del Rosario, William C. Campos and Herbert S. Yambing. They were undergoing the regular Scout Ranger Course. In the Ranger training, Jun again exhibited his superior stamina in long distance running when he was pitted against the best enlisted man in their Ranger class. He easily beat the enlisted man in a cross country race by a “proverbial mile”. 

In the 1981 Alumni homecoming in PMA, our class was proud that we still had no casualties in combat, not like previous classes who already had one or more casualties before the one year period after graduation had lapsed. During the Alumni parade, Jun was in front of the alumni who trooped the line, marching proudly since he was the youngest alumnus. But I could sense that during our picnic after the alumni parade he was somewhat uneasy hearing our stories of our experiences in the “front lines” while he had nothing to share about his “field experience” since he was still doing garrison duties in Fort Magsaysay. Apparently, this prompted him to request for an assignment in one ranger unit in Mindanao for combat duty. 

On the early morning of 22 July 1981, I received a phone call from one of my Navy classmates, Zyril D. Carlos, informing me of the shocking news that Jun is dead, killed in an encounter with New People’s Army rebels, somewhere near Mount Apo in Mindanao. His remains will be flown to Manila on that day. I hurriedly dressed up and joined Zyril and Delfin Lorenzo to the domestic airport and sadly waited for Jun’s body. When the plane carrying Jun’s body landed, we noticed one of our Mistah, Washington” JV” M. Javier (who was assigned with a P.C. battalion in Davao) sporting shoulder long hair, alighting from the plane. He volunteered to escort Jun’s remains from Davao airport to Manila. JV directed the ground crew to bring down the wooden crate containing Jun’s body and be transferred to the waiting 6×6 truck. Del Lorenzo and I volunteered to ride in the truck to escort Jun’s lifeless body to the funeral parlor. After more than an hour at the funeral parlor, we were wondering why there was no one attending to Jun’s body. I was still in shock seeing Jun’s body lying lifeless, when Del, whom I never saw get mad when we were cadets, suddenly blew his top and demanded that somebody attend to Jun. Finally, because of Del’s outburst, the funeral staff began to “work” on Jun’s body so he could be brought to the mortuary in Camp Aguinaldo. 

The three of us then proceeded to Marilao, Bulacan to inform Jun’s relatives especially her mother who was close to us since she would bring macaroons she personally baked, to PMA when she visited Jun. When we located the home address, we opened the gate and entered and was about to knock at the front door of the house when his mother appeared, already crying, before anyone of us could utter the bad news. Her other son, Danny, who was from PMA class 1982, called her from PMA, the day before and informed her that something very bad happened to Jun but did not specify what it was. 

After informing Jun’s relatives, we proceeded to Camp Aguinaldo mortuary where the wake was held. I kept vigil, with some relatives of Jun, for the first night since Zyril and Del, had to attend to their Naval duties. The following morning at around 0600H, other Army classmates from “Bud Daho” company, Rustico C. Francisco and Mario A. Mendoza arrived. Other upperclassmen and high ranking officers later came to pay their last respects to Jun. 

Upon the behest of his family, Jun was laid to rest at their family’s burial site in Manila North cemetery. It has been more than 39 years after Jun’s tragic death … but his short but inspiring life journey as a cadet and second lieutenant will forever be an indelible part of my PMA memories …… for he had struggled, endured and triumphantly “raised a song” emblazoned with Courage, Loyalty and Integrity for our Alma Mater ! Proud of you Mistah!!!