When I visited New York a few weeks ago, I met up with two of my Philippine Military Academy (PMA) classmates who have served in peacekeeping missions for the United Nations while in the Philippine Army.
Arnold Altuna is an Army Scout Ranger who has led various counterinsurgency operations in Isabela, Bicol and Quezon.
He served as a field security coordination officer of a UN special political mission in Kunduz, Afghanistan up to June 2017. He survived two near-death experiences while in the said city, the first and only major Afghan urban center to have fallen to Taliban hands since 2002. Previous to this, he also had an 18-month tour in Northern Iraq. He is now back at UN Headquarters in New York as a technical staff responsible for the security of UN operations in eight African countries. Eugene Gepte was a member of the Army Corps of Engineers. His unit has built several buildings, schools, bridges and other infrastructure to help communities in Southern, Central and Northern Luzon where other Army units operate. Years back, he served as a staff officer of a UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia and at UN Headquarters in New York. He now works in Central Darfur, Sudan as sector head, Joint Operations Centre Jebel Marra Task Force of the UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur. While heading a UN-interagency assessment mission in the rebel-held Jebel Marra Mountain, Eugene had a freak accident, which caused serious neck injuries. He had to be medically evacuated to the US for a major operation if only to save him from being paralyzed.
I never had the chance to work with Arnold and Eugene when I was in the Army for 12 years. But I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that both are ardent believers of God. Amid all the fighting in these aforementioned conflict-stricken countries, both Arnold and Eugene kept faithful to His Word.
As Taliban forces overran Kunduz City and about to physically occupy the UN regional office in Northern Afghanistan, Arnold kept reciting to himself, over and over, the soldier’s “go to” Bible verses in Psalm 91. Tasked to secure personnel of various faiths and beliefs in a predominantly Muslim country, Arnold displayed his unwavering faith in Him, which led to the successful evacuation of all his 100 colleagues. Arnold’s trust in God allowed him to fulfill his mandate that day, which was conducted in three shuttles from dawn to dusk, only to leave when all UN core staff under his watch have been safely flown out. In the case of Eugene, he keeps on sowing the seed of goodness and peace in his capacity as a farm owner in Batangas as he named it as Genesis Re-Creation Farm for the ministry. He is guided by his favorite Bible verse, in Matthew 5:9, which says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Even though he is assigned in war-torn Sudan and his family is based in New York, Eugene offers his simple and spartan farm lot to any group who wishes to hold any Christian-related retreats, team- building activities and learn organic farming, for free. I suppose this is Eugene’s way of keeping the peace in the Philippines.
We need more peacekeepers and soldiers like my PMA classmates, Arnold and Eugene. In the words of Billy Graham, “The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” A number of my PMA classmates has retired from the service and will be retiring in a few years. Most are contemplating what legacy they will leave behind for the country and their respective families. For Arnold and Eugene, they seem to prefer to leave a legacy of peace secured by faith. In the Bible, James 3:18 tells us, “Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” Most of us commonly misconceive that soldiers are trained to fight battles and win wars against all enemies. What we should internalize is that soldiers are trained to keep the peace by spreading kindness. Soldiers can accomplish this mission better by being more mindful knowing that their main mission is to keep the peace by spreading His Word through deeds and not win wars by overpowering the enemy. Whether in the uniformed service or not and whether in a battlefield or not, Arnold and Eugene are among my PMA classmates who can be considered as some of the wisest peacekeepers and faith movers any Army can have.
For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.