Ed Ramsey's Arlington burial

We recently spent nine days traveling in central and northern Luzon with Michael Duncan, a Valor Tours guest from the United States.  Mike was attempting to retrace his father’s footsteps there during the later days of World War II and during the “mop-up” period.  We took many pictures, and need to take some time organizing them and our write-up, which we hope to have put together soon.

One reason for the delay is that we are busy getting ready for our annual return trip to the United States.  Although we do not have exact dates, we plan on spending the majority of July in and around Virginia, Minnesota, with a probable excursion or two to the Twin Cities.  The first two weeks of August should find us in Lansing and Eaton Rapids in Lower Michigan.  The next two weeks will be spent back in Minnesota, splitting time between Virginia and the Twin Cities.  We hope that we can see many of you during our trip.

A few weeks ago we received the following email:

Dear Steve & Marcia,

My husband, Col. Edwin P. Ramsey, former East central Luzon Guerilla Commander who led the Last Horse Cavalry Charge of the U.S. Army, passed away on March 7, 2013 in our home in Los Angeles, CA He will be buried in Arlington on June 28, 2013 at 11:00 Am. A reception will follow at the Sheraton Pentagon City where my family and I will be staying.

Please view his website www.edwinpriceramsey.com

Thanks for your wonderful stories of your travels and of Corregidor which we knew so well.

Warmest regards,

Dr. Raquel R. Ramsey, wife of Col. Edwin P. Ramsey.

We regretfully informed Mrs. Ramsey that we would be unable to attend the ceremony at Arlington, as we would not be leaving the Philippines for the States until the following day.  We received this reply:

Dear Steve & Marcia,

Thanks for letting other people know about his passing. He definitely loved the Filipino people and they kept him alive when he was four years behind enemy lines. Have you read his book “Lieutenant Ramsey’s War,” by Ramsey & Rivele? It is now in 6^th printing as a paperback.

I’m sorry you won’t be able to join us at Arlington, but do visit the WW II Memorial which is so impressive. Ed’s burial will be with full military honors with a riderless horse since he led the Last Horse Cavalry Charge in U.S. history. I hope you saw Ed’s website as it shows the funeral mass and memorial Service at St. Paul the Apostle church last March 14.

Thanks for your interesting stories and take care of each other,

Raquel

During our recent trip we took the attached photos relevant to Ed Ramsey’s life.  The first two were taken in the Clark Museum, and talk about him leading the last U.S. cavalry charge.  The final photo shows his name on one of the committee members’ panels at Cabanatuan prison camp, acknowledging his contributions to this memorial which honors the POWs who died there.

In our December 2, 2009 newsletter we wrote the following:  “In our [2009] Veterans Day newsletter we mentioned and printed a picture of Carlos Inigo, Jr., familiarly known as Jun, the nickname for almost every Filipino son named after his father.  Col. Ed Ramsey, who served in the Philippines and later married a daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, read the newsletter and asked us about Jun.  Col. Ramsey knew Carlos Sr. as well as Jun, who was only a teenager when he served during the war.  As a result of our newsletter, we managed to put the two men in contact with each other.”  We later found out that Col. Ramsey vouched for Jun, who was having a little trouble proving to the U.S. government that he was entitled to a then recently-announced one-time payment of $9000 for those Filipinos who could prove that they had served the U.S. in WW II.  As a result of Col. Ramsey’s intervention, Jun received his much-deserved payment.

We have a number of readers in the Washington, D.C. area and encourage you to try to attend this full honors burial.  We sincerely wish we could attend.

Steve and Marcia on the Rock