“OUR commitment to defend the Philippines is ironclad and the United States will keep that commitment, because allies never stand alone.” – Pres. Barack Obama’s remarks at the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte in Fort Bonifacio
Strong words uttered by the US president, who is considered as one of the greatest leaders in the world.
In his 11-minute speech to the 200 American and Filipino troops present in Fort Bonifacio in the Philippines, Pres. Obama also honored the presence of American and Filipino war veterans, who fought in the Battle of Leyte during World War II, endured the hardships in Bataan and Corregidor and survived the treacherous Death March.
Pres. Obama acknowledged the United States’ failure to recognize the “proud service” of these Filipino veterans and called the “denied compensation they had been promised” as an “injustice.”
“It was an injustice. So in recent years, my administration, working with Congress and others, have worked to right this wrong. We passed a law, reviewed the records, processed claims, and nearly 20,000 Filipino veterans from World War II and their families finally received the compensation they had earned. And it was the right thing to do,” Obama said.
Now, Filipino-American community leaders and veterans advocates are calling on US Congress to issue a national proclamation and bestow the Congressional Gold Medal upon World War II veterans, in recognition of their wartime service to the United States.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) with more than 56 sponsors. It seeks recognition for the bravery, valor and dedication that Filipino World War II vets have exemplified when they bravely fought alongside their American counterparts.
“There has never been a formal declaration to recognize Filipino American soldiers for their sacrifice and loyal service during World War II,” said retired US Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who spearheads the Filipino-American World War II Soldiers Recognition Project.
“They fought bravely alongside American soldiers to resist Japanese aggression, engaged in guerilla warfare and provided intelligence to US forces that was critical in ultimately winning the war. It’s about time we say ‘thank you’ and honor them for their exemplary record of selfless sacrifice and love of country,” Taguba added.
And while Pres. Obama has acted upon the “injustice” done to our Filipino WW II vets (more than 18,000 vets have already received payments), there are still 4,000 of them seeking denied claims.
Marie Blanco, former chief-of-staff to the late US Sen. Daniel Inouye, is asking for the active involvement of local national communities and veterans service organizations for this cause.
“Their strong and unified engagement in seeking additional cosponsors and advocating for consideration and passage of HR 111 is crucial to getting this measure signed into law,” she said.
Now in their nineties, our Filipino WWII vets are perishing one by one.
Pres. Obama said: “What’s been written about Bataan could be said of their entire generation: ‘The loss of life was grievous, and hardly a Filipino family was untouched by the tragedy. But the heroic struggle brought out the best in the Filipino character in the face of adversity and served as a beacon to freedom-loving peoples everywhere.’”
May their heroic struggles be fully recognized and rewarded, and may this long-sought recognition become our Filipino WW II veterans eternal legacy.
(AJPress)