Vicente Lim - Education and Military Service

Education and Military Service

Lim is the first Filipino graduate of the United States Military Academy (Class of 1914) at West Point, Lim graduated 77th in a class of 107, and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant under the Philippine Scouts, US Army. He quickly rose in rank with the Philippine Scouts. By 1940, he was appointed to the post of Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army.

On the 21st of December, 1935 Commonwealth Act. No. 1 created the Army of the Philippines, a force completely separate from that of the United States. The bill simultaneously decreed the dissolution of the Constabulary as an insular police force. On June 30, 1936, Lim retired from the United States Army with a rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was admitted into the Philippine Army with a rank of brigadier general and appointed chief of the War Plans Division of the Central General Staff.

When the Philippine Army was incorporated into the American Armed Forces on July 16, 1941, Lim became the top–ranking Filipino under General Douglas MacArthur, placed in command of the 41st Philippine Division, tasked with the defense of southern Luzon. On April 9, 1942, the 41st surrendered on Bataan, along with all American and Filipino forces, to the Japanese 14th Army of General Homma.

Lim survived the Bataan Death March, and on June 6, 1942 was admitted to the Philippine General Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained at Bataan (where he had led the bloody rear guard action against the Japanese in Abucay, Bataan). He recovered quickly, but with the help of his brother–in–law, Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez, he concealed this fact. With the Japanese convinced of his incapacitation, he led the guerilla resistance forces of Luzon. Basically, he conducted secret guerrilla activities while pretending to be confined at the Philippine General Hospital.

In 1944 he was ordered to rejoin General Douglas MacArthur in Australia. He attempted the journey but was captured en route by the Japanese. He was held for months at Fort Santiago and the Bilibid prison before being executed by firing squad, shortly before the liberation.