Military Order of the Carabao
A satirical social club for Philippine campaign veterans.
The Military Order of the Carabao is a social club for U.S. military officers and war correspondents who served in the Philippines or on overseas campaigns. Founded in 1900, it was created to satirize the Military Order of the Dragon and is notable for its annual Wallow event and its survival as the only one of the two orders still active.
Quick Facts
- Headquarters
- Army and Navy Club
Facts from the source article.
Background
Founded in 1900 by U.S. Army officers stationed in the Philippines during the Philippine Insurrection, the Military Order of the Carabao began as a lampoon conceived one night at the Army-Navy Club in Manila. It was created to mock the Military Order of the Dragon, a group started by American officers who had served in China’s Boxer uprising. Today, only the Carabao survives. Its name comes from the carabao, a domesticated water buffalo used for labor in the Philippines.
Carabao Wallow
The organization sponsors an annual black-tie, military-dress social event called the Carabao Wallow, attended by members of the U.S. military, government, and defense contractors. Members perform semi-professional musical skits that often poke fun at national and international issues and current events, and it is not uncommon for the Carabao players to spoof high-ranking guests at the Head Table. The group's anthem, sung at the Wallow, is "The Soldier's Song," which refers to "bolos" (machetes used by Filipino insurgents) and "ladrones" (thieves).
Membership
Members and guests at the Wallow in recent years have included former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Richard B. Myers, and many other high-ranking officials. Honorary membership is conferred upon the President of the United States and the Ambassador to the United States from the Republic of the Philippines.
More in Philippine–American War
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