Real Philippine Hero from Bacolod

This is the current news now:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081208/ap_on_re_us/military_jet_crash;_ylt=AoXLTQUBWAxDYaFzFw14xKis0NUE

Military jet crash in San Diego kills 2 on ground

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat,

SAN DIEGO – A military fighter jet preparing to land at a Marine base crashed in a densely populated San Diego neighborhood Monday, killing two people on the ground and destroying three houses.

The pilot of the F/A-18D Hornet jet ejected safely, according to a statement from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Mayor Jerry Sanders said two people on the ground were killed. Fire officials said the deaths were at a home where two children, a mother and a grandmother were believed to be inside. Officials did not immediately know who died. (for more click link above)

I heard it on CNN radio then I quickly read the story. I am by no means questioning the pilot because decisions like these are made in seconds. But what it did remind me of was this story from a few years ago. And gosh would you know it, it was so so hard to Yahoo or Google. True heroism is often anonymous or obscure.

Ed

http://www.bacolodcity.gov.ph/hero.htm

'Amazing Grace'
Statue Unveiled, Blessed


Deserving the full honor and recognition of the Bacolod City Government, Capt. Mary Grace P. Baloyo, a Bacole�a and a bemedalled Philippine Air Force combat pilot, who made an ultimate a sacrifice so that others may live has now her memorial statue or monument established at a corner Araneta Highway and Alijis, Bacolod City.
Mayor Joy S. Valdez, Mr. & Mrs. Romeo Baloyo, parents of Capt. Baloyo with other relatives and friends, Councilors Ana Marie Palermo, Sonya Verdeflor, Marx Louie dela Rosa, Mrs.Josefa Puentevella, President of St. Scholastica's Alumni Association, officials and cadets of the Philippine Air Force graced the blessings and unveiling of the monument held in the afternoon of March 6, 2003.
The monument was established by virtue of Sangguniang Panlungsod Resolution No. 092, Series of 2002.
Capt. Mary Grace P. Baloyo, PAF, was the daughter of the spouses Romeo and Annie Baloyo of Do�a Juliana Subdivision, Bacolod City. She was a graduate of Jack & Jill School (elem.) in Homesite and the St. Scholastica's Academy (High School). She took up B.S. Airline Management at the Technological Institute of Cebu City.
In 1995, she joined the Philippine Air Force as an aviation cadet, and passed all the required military courses and rigid trainings, to later become one, and if not, the only female member of the elite combat/bomber aircraft of the PAF.
In the course of her active military life, she saw combat action as either an attack or bomber pilot in the many military operations in Mindanao, the Visayas and Luzon. As a result, she received at least (8) Gold & (1) Bronze Cross Medals for gallantry in action as OV-10A bomber pilot; (2) Distinguished Aviation Cross Medals for heroism and gallantry in action as attack pilots of the 15th Strike Wing; (4) Military Merit Medals for heroism and meritorious service, and several awards, medals and commendations.
Capt. Mary Grace P. Baloyo was a recipient of the Golden Eagle Merit Medallion given by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last September 2000.
On March 26, 2001, while she was on a mission flight from Cavite to Pampanga, the OV-10 bomber plane she was piloting developed engine trouble. Sensing that the plane was about to crash, she ordered her male co-pilot to eject and bail out to safety, while she opted to slay on, she can still maneuver the plane to crash land in the vacant lots of a nearby subdivision in order to save the lives of hundreds of residents therein.
Capt. Mary Grace P. Baloyo chose to offer her life so that others may live. Her unselfish act managed to saved the lives of hundreds of people as well as prevented a major disaster in a thickly populated area.
For her unselfish act, the townspeople of Pampanga, as an act of gratitude for her ultimate sacrifice, named the street where she nose-dived the plane as OV-10 after her and a marker was built in her memory.
President Gloria Arroyo recently bestowed a hero's honor on the late Capt. Mary P. Baloyo, PAF, in rites held at the Malaca�ang Palace.
The City of Bacolod, in proud recognition of her heroic deeds will put up a monument/statue at the median island along the Araneta highway leading to/fronting the Bacolod Airport.
The putting up of the monument in her honor at said place will forever remind the Bacole�os, and the thousands of commuters from the city and elsewhere that passed by it daily, that there was once a very brave and bemedalled Capt. Mary Grace P. Baloyo, of the Philippine Air Force and a Bacole�a, who for love of God and fellowmen, with her strong sense of duty to country, gave up her life so that hundreds of others may live.
It is hoped that with this monument, the memory of Capt. Mary Grace P. Baloyo, PAF, her life, her unselfish acts and her ultimate sacrifice will be perpetuated.