In Memory of
Major Federico “Frederic” Foz
45th Infantry Regiment (PS)
November 17, 1917-February 7, 2014
“To the sons and daughters of Philippine Scouts, I say: Reap the fruits of our toil and keep burning the torch that we pass on to you.”
~Major Fredric Foz, PSHS 22nd Annual Reunion.
We salute yet another hero who always remained “Strong to Endure.”
Major Fredric I. Foz, a former Philippine Scout and the 5th National President of the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society, passed away on February 7, 2014 in Las Vegas, NV.
Born November 17, 1917 in Dingras, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, he was the eldest of seven children of Juan Acosta Foz and Inocenia Isaguirre Beltran.
Initially, the Philippine Commonwealth Army drafted him. After basic training at Ft. William McKinley, the Philippine Scouts of the U.S. Army accepted him in 1939 and was assigned to F Company, 2nd Battalion, 45th Infantry Regiment (PS). He attained the rank of corporal in peacetime.
His battalion experienced their first engagement with the enemy on December 28, 1941. The Army promoted him “through the lines” to Sergeant. He continued to fight until the surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942. He began the Death March at 9:00AM the next day. He had planned to escape, but he saw his cousin, Colonel Manuel Acosta three days before the surrender with his left arm “blown to pieces.” Because of this, he kept going.
He was imprisoned at Camp O’Donnell, where remained for four months. He contracted dysentery, beriberi, and malaria. With no way of caring for the unexpected number of Filipino prisoners, the Japanese released him and many others. After a period of recuperation, he returned home to Dingras, Ilocos Norte and organized the Dingras Bolo Battalion—a guerrilla group—with his brother (The group was part of the much larger organization headed by Col. Russell Volckmann).
On February 8, 1944, his group attacked the local Bureau of Constabulary headquarters, killing a number of the Japanese-sponsored police and seized a supply of firearms and ammunition.
During the raid, Foz and his men confiscated a katana that a Japanese NCO had used to behead captured Filipino guerrillas. (In 1995, he presented the sword to PSHS President BG Reynolds and Historian Col. Olson. The sword was then displayed at Ft. Sam Houston Museum.)
In the following months, the Japanese launched a campaign to eradicate the guerrillas, resulting in heavy casualties among the guerrillas (including 2,600 Scouts in one engagement) and the civilian population in Ilocos Norte. The Foz family home was burned down and his father was tortured, which led to his passing shortly after the war.
When Foz received orders to return to U.S. military control, he left Abra and reported for duty at Alabang, Rizal in July 1945.
In 1946, a year after the Japanese surrender, the U.S. Army commissioned Fred a Second Lieutenant and was assigned to HQ and HQ Company, 45th Infantry Regiment (PS) Earlier that year, he married Filma Dario Magno—whom he had met while undergoing basic training at Ft. McKinley—and became naturalized American citizens.
He later transferred out of the Philippine Scouts and remained in the U.S. Army until retiring as a Major at Ft. Ord, CA in 1961. He then became a businessman, establishing a trading company and a freight forwarding enterprise.
He retired again in 1981 and moved with Filma to Honolulu, HI. For years, Fred remained active in Filipino-American and Philippine Scout activities. He was one of the founders of the Golden Gate Bay Area Chapter of the PSHS and served for several years as President of the Philippine-American Society of California.
In 1995, Fred was one of 40 veterans—all from different wartime conflicts starting with WWII—who had lunch with then President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. He and Filma were invited to the Wheeler Army Airfield on September 1st for the celebration of V-J Day in Honolulu.
“My being seated next to President Clinton and Mrs. Clinton is an experience of a lifetime. Mrs. Clinton is prettier in person than in pictures. She’s very intelligent,” Fred said.
Maj. Foz took the reigns of the PSHS as National President in May 2005 and was sworn in during the 21st Annual Reunion’s banquet by The Honorable Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez, the Philippine Consul General of San Francisco. He served until May 2006.
Filma passed away in November 2009, and, at his daughter’s request, Fred moved to Albuquerque, NM, where he was an active member of the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Foundation of New Mexico.
Fredric, who was affectionately known as ‘Aciong’ to his close family friends and relatives, is survived by his four children Gilda Lee (Meigs), Carlo Foz (Sylvia) John Foz (Elaine) and Pilar Leto (Frank); seven grandchildren: Christina, Brian, Renato, Spencer, Maria, Frank, and Kimiko; and brothers Constante, Amador, and Elpidio Foz.
“He was such a survivor,” his daughter, Pilar Leto, said.