Two posthumous honours for Sergeant De Koning

Sergeant Philip de Koning would have turned 22 the following day and was due to return to the Netherlands shortly afterwards when the three-tonne lorry in which he and his comrades were returning to base hit a landmine. It had been planted there the previous day, concealed beneath a sack of cement. Philip was the only one to lose his life in the explosion in southern Lebanon.

UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon

In April 1975, a civil war broke out in Lebanon between Christians and Muslims. In March 1978, Israel intervened militarily by occupying the southern part of Lebanon. In response, the United Nations Security Council decided to station a peacekeeping force on the Lebanese-Israeli border: UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

Between 1979 and 1985, the Netherlands made a major contribution to UNIFIL. In total, around 9,000 Dutch military personnel were deployed. Philip de Koning was one of them. He had arrived in Lebanon in March 1979 with the first contingent of Dutchbatters.

Would you like to be my dad?

In Lebanon, public information officer Pieter van Geldorp had become good friends with Philip de Koning. After returning to the Netherlands, he came into contact with Philip’s mother and his younger brother Willem. Philip’s death had deeply affected both mother and son, so much so that Willem had to be admitted to a psychiatric institution on two occasions due to severe depression. Pieter took Philip’s younger brother under his wing; at one point, the boy asked him, ‘Will you be my father?’

Posthumous tribute

Since 1985, the Republic of Lebanon has been awarding honours to UNIFIL personnel who have been killed in action in Lebanon. In 2018, Pieter van Geldorp decided to apply for such an honour for Philip de Koning as well. And he was successful. On 3 June 2019, the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Lebanon recognised Philip de Koning as a martyr. He was posthumously awarded the War Medal and the Military Medal for Respect and Gratitude, 2nd class. On 7 August 2019, Inspector-General of the Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Hans van Grinsven presented the honours in Hilversum to the surviving relatives of Sergeant De Koning. Pieter van Geldorp was also present at the ceremony.

This posthumous honour recognises the dedication of service personnel such as Philip de Koning. It demonstrates how recognition and appreciation can help ease the burden of loss for the bereaved.

In 2020, Pieter van Geldorp wrote the book *Wil je mijn vader zijn? Veteraan voor het leven*(Would you like to be my father? Veteran for life), ISBN 90-6868-323-3.