Even though I never met this man because he passed away before I was born, there is much to learn from our immediate ancestors. There is an abundant amount of interesting accounts from his life that coincides with much of history and for these reasons, a young entrepreneur in today's age can learn from him. Before I get into the meat of this BLOG, I want most of us to admit that at one point our lineage had nothing in this country but a burning desire.
With this being said a full connection can be made with myself, my brother and our grandfather. While my grandfather or "Lolo" as Filipinos called our grandfathers, was young he set out to America. He earned his engineering degree and soon started looking for a job in Detroit. Similar to most immigrants, he wasn't well spoken in English, but he did find opportunity in the US Army. He served in World War II and most tragically he was captured by the Japanese. He was a prisoner in what is the now famous Bataan Death March, where US and Filipino Soldiers marched 60 miles to the prison camp for over 3 months. As most Filipino Soldiers were slaughtered by the Japanese, our Lolo luckily survived. My grandmother always talked about how he came back thinner than her when he was finally reunited with her.
Now come back to the future with me in present day 2011. I am 2 generations away from my grandfather, but we have the same goals, to leave a better life for my family. Of course I will never compare my hardships of being an entrepreneur with his World War II survival and experience, but I do admire his story of becoming an American Citizen. He went through the difficulties of coming to a new country, fight in history's most brutal war, and have a multitude of family ranging from many children, grandchildren, and great grand children within a hundred years. I would only be so lucky if I achieve a percentage of the experience my grandparents had. I know taking business risks are hard, but not to the measures of leaving your country in lieu of success, fighting a war, and when its all over having a family to be there with you. My final words for this BLOG is to remember that at one point your family had nothing in this country, but because they had nothing and worked hard to sustain in America, you now have opportunity. I would take opportunity any day over an entitlement.
With this being said a full connection can be made with myself, my brother and our grandfather. While my grandfather or "Lolo" as Filipinos called our grandfathers, was young he set out to America. He earned his engineering degree and soon started looking for a job in Detroit. Similar to most immigrants, he wasn't well spoken in English, but he did find opportunity in the US Army. He served in World War II and most tragically he was captured by the Japanese. He was a prisoner in what is the now famous Bataan Death March, where US and Filipino Soldiers marched 60 miles to the prison camp for over 3 months. As most Filipino Soldiers were slaughtered by the Japanese, our Lolo luckily survived. My grandmother always talked about how he came back thinner than her when he was finally reunited with her.
Now come back to the future with me in present day 2011. I am 2 generations away from my grandfather, but we have the same goals, to leave a better life for my family. Of course I will never compare my hardships of being an entrepreneur with his World War II survival and experience, but I do admire his story of becoming an American Citizen. He went through the difficulties of coming to a new country, fight in history's most brutal war, and have a multitude of family ranging from many children, grandchildren, and great grand children within a hundred years. I would only be so lucky if I achieve a percentage of the experience my grandparents had. I know taking business risks are hard, but not to the measures of leaving your country in lieu of success, fighting a war, and when its all over having a family to be there with you. My final words for this BLOG is to remember that at one point your family had nothing in this country, but because they had nothing and worked hard to sustain in America, you now have opportunity. I would take opportunity any day over an entitlement.
