Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

Salvador Busa Fortun of Butuan City, Agusan, Philippines and Norwalk, California has reached a milestone! Known to family and friends as Badong, he turned 100 years old on December 12, 2009. He is a US Veteran, a father, grandfather, businessman, pioneer, musician, and a hero.

"I was born Dec. 12, 1909 in Butuan, Philippines," said the oldest son of Antonio Torallba Fortun and Isabel Rosales Busa Fortun, both deceased. He has also outlived his three sisters- Maximina Fortun Villanueva, Purification Fortun Lagnada, and Lucia Fortun Maclang. Badong attended school at Butuan Elementary School and Agusan High School. He graduated Valedictorian and claimed he wrote the school Marching Hymn.

"After graduating from high school, I left Butuan. They gave me some money. They gave me only 300 pesos. It was 75 pesos for the boat, but I didn’t tell my parents where I was going. They thought I was in Davao, working as a helper for the boat," recalled Badong, who was just a teenager when he boarded a ship to California. He did some labor work and as a cook near the dock to support himself. Sometime in late 1930, he somehow ended in Chicago, IL where he worked full time in a hospital doing odd jobs. "After four years, a Filipino from Butuan saw me working at a Chicago hospital and that’s the time when they told my family that I was working in America," said Badong.

When World War II broke out in the 1940’s, Badong alleged that he was recruited by (Gen) Douglas McArthur himself. After the US Army basic training, he ended up with an Army reconnaissance squad that was assigned to sneak, by submarine, into the Philippines, by way of Australia.

Badong reminisced about his war experience. "MacArthur was my general. I took the submarine headed from Los Angeles to Australia and then to the Philippines because we didn’t want to use boats during the war. We knew the Japanese were looking for our boats. There was an incident with the submarine. There was a convoy of Japanese, guarded by 4 ships loaded with soldiers and supplies. After we sunk the 4 ships, our submarine laid low and didn’t move. The Japanese were looking for us," he said.

His squad landed in Zamboanga, Philippines sometime in mid-1940’s. With his recon squad, he claimed they went by foot through Davao and Butuan City. Their mission was to report Japanese strengths and whereabouts to their superiors. As the lead radio operator of the squad, he worked in the front line most days and nights. One of their missions was to provide intelligence report to the landing party of General MacArthur. Badong claimed that his squad was responsible for giving General MacArthur the go signal to land in Leyte. After the Japanese Army surrendered and as the war started winding down, he did some guard duty in Japan. Sometime in late 1946, he was discharged from the Army. He suffered combat wounds during the war. He received multiple medals (e.g., Bronze Medal, etc) as well veterans pay for life from the U.S.

Badong exclaimed proudly, "I was given a Medal of Honor and MacArthur gave me a Bronze Star."

After the war, Badong studied in MAPUA, graduating with a Bachelor and Masters Degree in Civil Engineering and Associate Surveyor.

"I was working in Davao, Philippines as a radio operator when I met my wife Felicidad Visitacion Fortun," shared Badong. Together, they bore four children: Douglas V. Fortun, Elizabeth Fortun Tecson, Gwendolyne Fortun Paraguya and Susan Fortun Corpus. A few years before their golden anniversary, Felicidad passed away.

Badong was a farmer and a pioneer in the logging and mining (sand and gravel) industries in Butuan City. He also built residential and commercial facilities.

During the Marcos era, Badong went back to the States with his family. Since then, he has been going back and forth to the Philippines. Living in Norwalk, Badong spent his time, as an avid reader, going through newspapers and magazines, doing crossword puzzles, watching television, and enjoying his 10 grandchildren: Althea Corpus, Eric John Corpus, Cecile Tecson, Nonoy Tecson, Sammy Tecson, and Ja Tecson, April Fortun, Andrew Fortun, Jason Fortun, and Anthony Fortun and 4 great-grandchildren: Ariana B. Tecson, Isabella C. Tarin, Samantha S. Tecson, and Jordan Bryant B. Tecson.

Nowadays, it’s a rare thing for a man to reach 100 years and still be walking about and enjoying life. Rare and amazing indeed is Badong Fortun! Happy 100th birthday!