By Kevin Seabrooke
During the Japanese invasion of the islands in December 1941, 2nd Lt. Edwin Ramsey commanded the U.S. Army’s 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) in rearguard action that allowed Allied forces to fall back to the Bataan Peninsula. On January 16, 1942, Ramsey led what would become the last mounted charge by the U.S. Army Cavalry in history, an action that earned him a Silver Star.
Ramsey managed to avoid capture and joined Lt. Col. Claude Thorp in establishing a Philippine resistance force.
A true hero whose exploits in the Pacific are not as well known as other figures from the war, Ramsey’s many awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, two Philippine Distinguished Conduct Stars, Gold Cross and Legion of Honor
Using short stories, poems, letters, and photographs, Dr. Raquel Ramsey has created a very personal portrait of her war-hero husband, to whom she was married for 34 years, until his death in 2013 at the age of 95.
Reflections (Raquel Ramsey, Independent, 198 pp., 2025, $19.95 SC)
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