Maximiano Saqui Janairo – Colonel, United States Army

From a contemporary press report

Maximiano Saqui Janairo, 92, a retired Army colonel who had fought in Philippine guerrilla units against the Japanese during World War II, died of cardiovascular shock, septicemia and diabetes December 14, 1997 at Inova Alexandria Hospital, Alexandria Virginia.

Colonel Janairo retired from the Army in 1960 after a 30-year military career. He then served as a legal and technical consultant and later as chairman of the Northern Virginia Builders Association until retiring altogether in 1970.

He was born in Cavite Province in the Philippines and received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on the basis of an examination given by the U.S. military in the Philippines. He graduated in 1930 and received a commission in the Philippine Scouts.

During the 1930s, he helped establish and organize the general service school at Fort William McKinley in the Philippines. He also taught mathematics at the Mapua Institute of Technology, and he received a law degree at the Philippine Law School.

He was chief engineer with the Philippine Army when World War II broke out, and he was captured by the Japanese when U.S. forces, trapped on the Bataan Peninsula, surrendered in April 1942. He participated in the Bataan Death March and later was held in a Japanese prison camp, where he contracted malaria and dysentery. He escaped while being transferred to a hospital. He later recovered and joined guerrilla units fighting Japanese forces of occupation.

After the war, Colonel Janairo transferred to the U.S. Army. He served in Korea during the early 1950s and later with NATO in Paris. He was an official of the engineer school at Fort Belvoir when he retired.

During his military service, he received a master’s degree in civil engineering at Cornell University. His decorations included a Legion of Merit.

On retiring, he settled in Alexandria and began his career with the Northern Virginia Builders Association. He also served on the Alexandria Building Codes Committee.

Buried in Arlington National Cemetery on December 23, 1997.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard