By Dr. Dencio Acop
I met Joji on a blind date. I was a ‘yearling’ at the United States Military Academy at West Point then. A ‘yearling’ is a third class cadet or a sophomore. It was towards the end of the academic year when we met. Truth is, I almost ended up not being her date. Her uncle, the late Colonel Domingo, was the Philippine Defense Attaché in Washington then and he called us to set up escort duty for her visiting nieces. There were three of us Filipino allied cadets that Spring of 1981 plus a fourth Fil-Am cadet who wanted to join in.
As I was finishing up my Cadet-in-charge of Quarters duty at the time, I was the last one to join the group which was at Grant Hall, the visitors waiting lounge. As I hurried to put on my grey jacket, I worried that it would be a dateless night for me. After all, there were only three of them but four of us, thanks to my classmate. But LO and behold, when I got there Joji was the only one still without a date. It was like we were destined to be together. And she was pretty as hell thus was my amazement at her being all alone by herself. As it turned out, she didn’t like my classmate at all. Lucky me! She was the eldest of the three women and she must have acted aloof. Fortunate me indeed! As she was not distant to me at all.
We walked over to Eisenhower Hall where there was a featured Spinners concert that Saturday night. I felt awkward being with her and it showed. I don’t even recall if she clung to my arm as we walked. She must have as she was such a lady. I in turn, a cadet and supposed gentleman at that, was almost stumbling all over myself. It must have been my more junior in years and the fact that we were almost like seminarians in there. But I remember glancing at her face as she watched the concert beside me. We had burgers at the Ike Hall cafeteria if I remember right. Then, unfortunately, it became time to walk them back to Grant Hall where they were picked up from by another uncle who was a veteran from the last global war in the Philippines. From that moment on, Joji became my date. But not yet my girlfriend. At least not until two years later in another springtime.
We dated more than a couple of times in Manhattan. Once we saw a movie not far from where she stayed with an aunt living at the upper east side of town. It was a movie that starred Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange. Then I walked her back to her aunt’s apartment. It was a night I wished to have been more eventful but was not. Another night we had dinner near Broadway and I lost all my stipend buying dinner. Yet another night I dropped by her Mount Sinai apartment half-drunk as I couldn’t say what I wanted. Then before I left for summer break in Sacramento and subsequent training in Lisbon and Hanau, I accompanied her buying plane tickets to Chicago where a cousin was getting married. When I was in Europe, I sent her postcards as I had lots of downtime when I wasn’t training. Portugal was where I was sent over with three other West Point cadets as exchange students to the military academy in Lisbon. West Germany was where I got stationed as intern platoon leader of Alpha Company, 23rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Division. Europe is truly gorgeous! Good thing I sent those cards to her. She probably remembered me by them when she was ready in February 1983.