My Family & Ancestry

I am a descendant of a decorated American hero.

My grandfather, Aaron, saw action in both World War One (WWI) and World War Two (WWII). He was with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that fought in the Argonne Forest, France, in WWI. Later in WWII, he fought with the US Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE).

In 1918, soon after the conclusion of WWI, Aaron’s Engineering Unit was sent to the Philippines. As Master Engineer, Aaron supervised the construction of lateral tunnels of the Malinta Tunnel in Corregidor, Bataan, which, many years later, in WWII become the command headquarters of Gen. Douglas McArthur.

 During peacetime, following WWI in the Philippines, and after his honorable discharge from the US Army, Aaron was employed as Chief Engineer of Atlantic Gulf and Pacific Company (AG&P), an American company engaged in constructing infrastructure projects in the Philippines. Through AG&P, Aaron worked on building monumental structural landmarks that stand as testimony of his professional expertise. Among these iconic structures are the Angat and Ipo Dams and several other dams and irrigation systems, which, to this day, supply water to farms and cities across central Luzon, Metro Manila, and its suburbs.

Aaron married Victorina Cervantes, of the town of Plaridel, the province of Bulacan. They had ten children.

When World War II broke out, Aaron, at the ripe age of 55, compelled by his sense of patriotism, decided to leave behind a life of comfort and retirement, to reenlist in the US Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE) at Corregidor, Bataan. He fought side-by-side with the regular army in defense of America.

Bataan eventually fell in the hands of the Japanese. Aaron was captured together with 75,000 prisoners of war (POW), and with them trekked the infamous 85-mile Bataan Death March to their incarceration in the town of Cabanatuan.

While a POW in Cabanatuan, Aaron ministered to both the bodily and spiritual needs of his fellow soldiers. He organized a Carabao train to collect food scraps from a local market near camp in order to supplement the food supply in their encampment. He attended to the sick and dying. He became the designated Cantor conducting spiritual services at the camp for the POWs. He also risked his life considerably by undertaking spying operations connected with the spy network based in Manila. As the war was ending, Aaron was among the 1,619 prisoners that the Japanese hauled and shipped to Japan, using unmarked cargo ships, which later became known as Hellships, for the hellish conditions that the prisoners were subjected to in those ships.

The hellship Aaron was on was named the Oryoku Maru. While in transit from Subic Bay in the Philippines enroute to Formosa (now Taiwan), the Oryoku Maru (which did not bear any markings indicating that it was then ferrying POWs – a violation of the Geneva Convention rules) was bombed by American aircraft from the USS Hornet. Aaron was wounded but survived that bombing. The survivors were later reboarded to another ship, the Onoura Maru, that continued the voyage. Upon reaching the harbor of Takao, Formosa, on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 1944, Aaron died.

In 1948, Aaron was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom, instituted by President Harry Truman to recognize the contributions of American civilians to the war efforts. Later, Aaron was also posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, and a Congressional Gold Medal, among others.

To this day, Aaron is still considered Missing in Action (MIA), as the process of recovering and identifying his mortal remains have yet to be completed. Despite this situation, however, the US government and the US military establishment, as an expression of esteem, recognition, and appreciation from a grateful nation, have caused the erection of a grave marker at the Arlington Cemetery in Virginia, to perpetually honor and commemorate Aaron Kliatchko’s legacy, heroism, and patriotism, in the service of God and country.

My father, Jacob, was a distinguished Human Resource professional, author, public servant, and community leader.

Jacob was the eighth of the ten children of Aaron and Victorina Cervantes Kliatchko.

He studied Law and obtained his Master’s Degree in Industrial Relations. He was a pioneering figure in the Personnel and Industrial Relations profession in the Philippines, and served as Personnel Manager and/or Industrial Relations Director of several multi-national corporations.

Jacob was Director of the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines, Director of Aetna Insurance Co., Charter Member of the Industrial Relations Society of the Philippines, Member of the Society of Fellows in Personnel Management, and Director of the Alliance for the Family Foundation of the Philippines.
In recognition of his professional expertise, he was the first-ever recipient of the Outstanding Personnel Manager Award from the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines.

At different periods of his career, Jacob also had his stint in government service. He served two terms as a City Councilor (for which he was awarded Outstanding City Councilor), Board Member of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Arbitrator at the Philippine Department of Labor, and as Commissioner of the Human Resources Commission of the City of Durham, North Carolina.

He was actively involved in various community and religious organizations, including having served as Charter President of the Rotary Club, and as Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus.

Jacob was an accomplished author, having penned several books on management, work values, and family life. The father-and-son tandem of Jacob and Jake co-authored the bestseller Attitude Towards Work, which became the impetus for the establishment of their first corporate partnership at Kliatchko Industrial Relations Services Corp.

My mother, Aleli, was a musician, educator, homemaker, and a champion of the pro-life movement