On Thursday, 28 August 2014, Syrian al Qaeda soldiers drove up to a UN peacekeeping outpost on the Golan Heights manned by a handful of Fijian soldiers and demanded their surrender. The Fijians turned over their weapons and surrendered and were driven away, probably to a freshly dug slit trench where they now lay. The rebels then drove to UN outpost 69, this one manned by a small group of 35 Filipino soldiers. The Filipinos, outnumbered and surrounded, refused to surrender, and put up a fight. Next morning the Filipinos at outpost 69 withdrew into Israel, covered by the UN Irish contingent. On Saturday outpost 68, with about 40 Filipino soldiers, was attacked, and again the Filipinos refused to surrender to superior force. That night, after dark, after fighting off the attackers during the day, the small Filipino force walked over the hills to Israel and safety. The lesson is clear. The soldier’s creed, through the ages, is Death before Dishonor. The Philippines can be proud of their soldiers, who chose not to surrender but to fight.

Surrender? Never! Not today!
We die if die we must
We’re soldiers, we will not betray
Our country’s sacred trust!