When Colonel Quesada came to live in the United States, he vowed to accomplish this last mission: “To secure and restore the unpaid compensation and benefits for honorable and active military service (of retirement) pensions denied by the American Government.”

He entered the US military service in November 1941 in Manila when his unit was incorporated into the United States Army Forces in the Far East, shortly before World War II. His was then in college, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration at the University of the Philippines. His studies were interrupted by the Pacific War and World War-II in Dec.8, 1941. He served in defense against the Japanese invasion, which over-ran the USAFFE resistance. He was an Associate member of the Philippine Military Academy, Class of 1944.

He continued wartime irregular and unconventional (guerrilla) warfare service after surrender of the American and Filipino forces in Bataan and Corregidor. He later joined the Hunter-ROTC Guerillas in Luzon, Philippines, and continuously served in various positions up to 1946.

He received an outstanding award for noted participation behind enemy lines, and in the physical assault-rescue of all 2,146 American and Allied POWs in a concentration camp in Los Banos, Laguna, on Feb. 23, 1945. It was a joint operation of the U.S. 11th Airborne Division, the US 8th Army under Lt. Gen. Robert Eichelberger, Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing and Brig. Gen. E. Adevoso, commanding general of the Hunters-ROTC Guerrillas.

This little-known heroic feat later earned the uncommon tribute from former Joint Chief-of-Staff Chairman Colin Powell, who said: “I doubt that any airborne and guerrilla unit in the world will ever be able to rival the Los Banos raid. It is a textbook operation for all ages and all nations.”

He was the combat intelligence operative, 43rd Infantry Division, Counter-Intelligence Command (CIC) with Agents: Ray E. Jackson and Eric Hager, under Maj. Gen. Leonard Wing, commanding general of the 43rd Infantry Division, and Brig. Gen. A. Marking. The Marking’s guerrillas were credited with the capture of Ipo Dam, from the Japanese stronghold in the Sierra Madre Mountain. The Ipo Dam was the only source of potable water for Greater Manila area.

During the war, he became an observer plotting enemy lairs in Sierra Madre mountain, for the 152nd Field Artillery BN. Attached  with  Capt. Rivers Deglow, that later resulted to the surrender of no less than 5,000 Japanese despondent stragglers defenders (of the enemy’s Shimbo Defense Line)  in Sierra Madre Mt., Eastern Laguna Province.

He was demobilized in 1946 in Manila, Philippines. He was chosen by the then Defense Sec. Ramon Magsaysay, as psy-war advisor for the Dept. of Defense. Later, he was detailed as Assistant S-2 with the 19th Hqs, Armed Forces in the West Pacific (AFWESPAC) Military Police Command (MPC) during the Luzon Zone Pacification Campaign of dissidents that brought the dissidents to the folds of the law during the president of Ramon Magsaysay.

Colonel Quesada served also as the Military Advisor to then Governor Juan Pambuan of Laguna Province.

He took advantage of the GI Bill of Rights (educational benefits) to take up pre-law course. He then continued higher study grants in European capitals as (U.N. grantee) in Torino, Italy, at the United Nations’ Technical and Professional Management Center of the WTO’s International, Cours Pluridiscipliiaire Etud Especiale for international government administrators.

Colonel Quesada completed doctoral studies of “Comparative Structures of Governments, and Respective Socio-Economic and Political Systems,” and won a gold Medal for Excellence, which was awarded by UN Director General Robert Lonati.

He received a grant at the Svenska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Socialized Economic Systems, and Cooperative Societies.

He led a delegation to the International Conference on Human Rights and Social Welfare at Helsinki, Finland. Then he joined a Goodwill mission to the USSR and East Berlin during the Cold War.

He was awarded a grant at the ROC Defense and War College, recommended by the then, ROC President Chiang Ching Kuo, and by the Council for World Freedom (CWF). at Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.

Before he migrated to the United States, he became the Senate Committee Secretary of the Veterans and Military Pensions under Sen. Jose W. Diokno, Committee chairman.

Colonel Quesada was a former vice president of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines. At the time of his death, he was the VFP Representative to the USA and served also as a consultant to the National Advisory Council of the Fil-Am WW-II Veterans, USA.

No later, he was chosen by US Senator Daniel K. Inouye, as his staff of the “U.S Senate Inquiry on the Unsettled Filipino-American World War-II Veterans Benefits.”

He resumed his military career at the USARNG California State National Guard’s Defense Force’s Military Reserves of 3 Brigades as Division Deputy Chief-of-Staff, after serving as G-3, and concurrently as Logistics Advisor, of the 2nd Infantry Brigade at Fort Funston, in San Francisco, California.

He was a noted member of the ad-hoc National Defense Committee, chaired by Lt. Gen Daniel O. Graham, based at the White House during the Reagan Administration.

He retired from the armed services, and accepted a position in the Circuit Executives Office of the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, garnering 28 awards and commendations upon retirement from Circuit Judges, not to leave out an outstanding commendation from former Circuit Judge, now US Supreme Court Justice, Anthony Kennedy.

He spent part of his waking hours at the INS District Office of Director David Ilchert; assisting thousands of his World War-II comrades win their US citizenship by virtue of their WW-II active and honorable military service under the Immigration Reform Act of 1990.

Here are parts of Colonel Quesada’s uncommon military and non-military services (as imbedded Intel-operative) in various international emergency-mercy missions (overtly as technical air-traffic coordinator of participating international air-carriers) – as a noted participant in the following:

(a) “Operations: Airlift" in re-supplying logistics by air for the UN troops the Korean War;

(b) Mass-and-emergency evacuation of the  Chinese Nationalist “Kuomintang” Government, and Army of Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek in a narrow escape  from Mainland China to Taiwan to safety from the surging Chinese Communist Army. He participated in missions in cooperation with the Flying Tigers Transport, and Nationalist Chinese Air Command.

(c)  Emergency mass evacuation of undocumented stranded Estonians, White Russians, Europeans, Chinese nationals to the Free West to escape capture by the Chinese Communists troops of Mao Tse Tung

(d)  Collection of stranded thousands of Jews and native Palestinians in a mass “Reverse Exodus” operation, as part of the repatriation of displaced persons back to Israel and the Middle East through Lydda and Jerusalem in accordance with the Belford Agreement.

(e)  As an imbedded psy-war and counter-Intel observer in Laos during the Vietnam War.

Colonel Quesada earned Philippine, American and foreign awards and decorations during WW-II and post-war: Per General Order, G-131-015 Cert. #46571, etc., issued the following:

(1)   Philippine Defense medal
(2)   Philippine Liberation medal
(3)   Philippine Independence medal 
(4)   American Defense medal       
(5)   American Defense medal
(6)   World War-II medal
(7)   Luzon Campaign medal
(8)   Philippine Republic Unit Citation badge
(9)   Distinguished US Unit badge
(10) California National Guard Distinguished Unit Citation badge
(11) RP Anti-Dissident Campaign medal
(12) USARNG California Achievement Award medal (Biological, Radiological Warfare medal)
(13) Hunters Guerrilla medal of valor and loyalty
(14) American Legion International Amity medal
(15) American Retired Officers Association medal
(16) Military Merit Medal, as authorized under Section 640 of the California Military and Veteran’s Code, presented by Brig. Gen. G.Titus, CG of the USARNG recommended by Major Gen. Richard E. Keith, CG, USARNG California Defense Forces, for exceptional meritorious service as Operations and Training Advisor for 4 BDEs, at Hqs. at Sacramento, California.
(17) Outstanding award by the US House of Representatives, presented by Rep. Don Clausen (CA).
(18)  Order of Renaissance and Honor medal, presented by Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Chao Tsu Yu, upon order by President Chiang Ching Kou (Son of the late Gen. Chiang Kai Shek) for extra-ordinary services for the Kuomintang Government.
(19). Veteran’s Medal of Honor with Cravat, presented by Lt Gen. (Ret) Chao Tsu Yu, as President of the Vicars as outstanding war veteran.          

Col. Frank B. Quesada (Ret.), passed away peacefully in the evening of Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He wished to have his body cremated and ashes eventually brought to the Philippines.

Colonel Quesada is survived by his wife, Lourdes Vat-Martinez-Quesada, twin daughters Peachy and Cherry Pie, siblings in the United States and in the Philippines and cousins in Canada.

A family tribute is posted at http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/tl/tl013120.htm

Viewers may also visit www.newsflash.org and go to “Travel & Leisure,” which is Colonel Quesada's BALITANG BETERNO corner of the website. # # #

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