<p>
<em>Santiago Garcia Guevara</em> was born in Marilao, Bulacan, the Philippine Islands. He fulfilled a lifelong dream when he was one of only two young men from his country chosen to attend USMA in 1919, graduating with the Class of ’23.</p>
<p>
Upon graduation, Guevara returned to the Philippines, where he served as an officer in the Philippine Scouts and with the Reserve Officers Training Corps at the University of the Philippines, where he met his wife, the former Carmen Rodriguez Fernandez, the sponsor of the Corps. In Manila in 1923, at the Founders Day celebration there, he gave the "Youngest West Point Graduate" speech.</p>
<p>
Guevara attended the Infantry Advanced Course at Ft. Benning, GA, in 1937 and returned to the Philippines to assume the position of Commandant of Cadets at the Philippine Military Academy— patterned after USMA—in the nations summer capital of Baguio. When WWII began, Guevara served under Generals MacArthur and Wainwright in the defense of the country. He was Chief of Staff of the first regular division in Bataan. Taken prisoner after the fall of Bataan, Guevara survived the infamous Bataan Death March.</p>
<p>
After the U.S. liberation of the Philippines, Guevara served on Japanese war crimes tribunals and assumed command of a military police battalion in postwar Manila before receiving orders to transfer stateside in 1946 when the Philippines became an independent nation. Guevara became a U.S. citizen and commanded an Infantry battalion at Ft. Ord, CA, and an Artillery regiment at Ft. Bliss, TX. His final assignment, before retiring in 1953, was as staff officer with the Seventh U.S. Army in Germany.</p>
<p>
Guevara settled in the Washington, DC, area and worked for several realty companies. A tennis champion while he was in the service, Guevara kept physically fit after retiring by remaining an active tennis player. His last residence was in the Watergate East Apartment Building, where he was a member of St. Stephen Martyr Catholic Church. Guevara rarely ever missed his Class of<em> </em>'23 get-togethers in Washington, DC, and gave the "Oldest Graduate" speech in Tiipci, Taiwan, in 1963, when visiting his daughter and family. He and his family visited USMA at least once every five years for the Class of '23 reunions. His last was his 70th Class Reunion in 1993.</p>
<p>
Guevara died of pneumonia at the Knollwood Army Retirement Home at age 96. His survivors include his wife of 65 years, Carmen Fernandez Guevara; three children, Dr. Santiago Jr.; Dr. Carmen O. Neuberger; and Nick James Guevara; 16 grandchildren; and a growing number of great-grandchildren. All who knew "Guey," as his Classmates of ’23 fondly called him, will remember him as one of USMA’s most loyal graduates, strongly believing in "Duty, Honor, Country" throughout his long and fruitfiul life.</p>
<p>
<em>Carmen F. Guevara</em></p>