Vicente Ebol Gepte was born on May 26, 1917, and came from a Filipino military family. He was married to Betsy Todd Higgins. He began his training at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) as part of one of its early classes and later became one of only two PMA cadets selected to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point as a foreign cadet. Reporting with the Class of 1940 in the spring of 1936, “Hep,” as he was fondly called, excelled in academics, boxing, and leadership, graduating near the top of his class in June 1940.

On the eve of World War II, Lieutenant Vincente E. Gepte returned to the Philippines to serve in the Army of the Philippines, later becoming executive officer to General Vicente Lim, the first Filipino West Point graduate and commander of the 41st Infantry Division. During the Japanese invasion, Gepte helped lead a determined defense, first along the beaches, then in Bataan, where his division fought courageously under relentless bombardment and in brutal hand-to-hand combat, most notably in the Battle of Trail 2 near the Pilar River, one of the most celebrated stands in Philippine history.

After four months of fierce resistance, Bataan fell on April 9, 1942, and Gepte was captured, enduring the Bataan Death March and imprisonment at Camp O’Donnell, where thousands perished from disease and starvation. Later paroled by the Japanese and reunited briefly with his wife, Betsy, and daughter Linda, Gepte’s sense of duty led him to join the Manila Intelligence Group (MIG), an underground resistance organization. There, he distinguished himself by uncovering a traitor, Franco Vera Reyes, whose betrayal had cost the lives of many members of the Filipino resistance.

Cpt Gepte’s bravery came at great cost: he was recaptured by the Japanese, imprisoned, and executed by beheading on August 30, 1944, along with several comrades. He is now buried in the Manila North Cemetery, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines. He also has a cenotaph in the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, Orange County, New York, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, alumni.westpointaog.org