Augusto Canuto Dicsen
By Josephine “Joey” D. Pablo
Special to the Herald
My father, Augusto Canuto Dicsen (1907-1944), a convert and civilian, died during World War II in his homeland, the Philippines.
My mother shared memories of his death in bits and pieces before she died. Memories of my father came alive when I looked at family photographs taken in the late 1930s: their wedding picture, my picture at six months with my older brother William, a picture of my father with a group of workers from Benguet Lumber Company where he was the supervisor.
I love the picture of him sitting, reflecting on a bench in Burnham Park. In his pictures, sometimes he wore a moustache and at times, clean shaven.
Is my father a veteran? Not if defined by Title 38 of the U.S. Code as a “person who served in the active military naval, air or space service and who was discharged and released there from under conditions other than dishonorable.”
Accounts from my mother and cousins, some of whom are still alive and are witnesses, tell this story. In 1944, during the Japanese occupation, my father and a close friend, the then Governor Bado Dangwa of Mountain Province were taken prisoners for “political” reasons.
An attempt was made to help my father and the governor escape, but my father refused for fear of what would happen to his family who were taken hostage. Unbeknownst to him, we had managed to escape, with the help of relatives and friends, amidst thunderous bombings and gunshots. I was almost five-years-old at that time, and I vaguely remember someone carrying me on his back and running through rice paddies.
A week after our escape, we found out that my father had been tortured to death, his lifeless body mangled and unrecognizable except for his gold tooth. He is now interred in a family gravesite at our old house in Datakan, Kapangan.
He is my hero and a true veteran because he lost his life for love of family, community and country.
Finally, it was only in 2015 that his name was included in the Memorial for U.S. Armed Forces World War II Veterans Post, in Kapangan, Mountain Province, Philippines.
“Joey” D. Pablo is a resident of Mililani and parishioner of St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church for more than 50 years.