THE TERRIBLE STORY OF THE FILIPINOS WHO FOUGHT FOR THE U.S. IN WWII THEY NEVER SAW BENEFITS

 THE TERRIBLE STORY OF THE FILIPINOS WHO FOUGHT FOR THE U.S. IN WWII THEY NEVER SAW BENEFITS

 Filipinos who fought for the U.S. in WWII never saw benefits. A new bill seeks to change that.

The U.S., which recruited tens of thousands of Filipino servicemen to fight with it in World War II, rescinded the promise of benefits and citizenship after the war ended.

Filipino guerrillas in the hills on Leyte Island, Philippines, during World War II in November 1944.

By Kimmy Yam

A group of bipartisan lawmakers announced on Monday that they are introducing a bill that would help fulfill a U.S. promise to Filipino veterans who fought alongside American troops during World War II. 

The Filipino Veterans Fairness Act aims to grant benefits to the remaining veterans and the families of the hundreds of thousands of Filipino servicemen who were recruited by the U.S. in the early ‘40s, in part by promising full access to veterans’ benefits and citizenship. The pledge, however, was rescinded by Congress in 1946 and only partially fulfilled in recent decades.

“During World War II, over 250,000 Filipino troops bravely fought under U.S. command, saving countless lives during their service. It’s unacceptable that these veterans were stripped of the benefits they were entitled to,” Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Calif., who spearheaded the bill, said in a news release. “I cannot imagine the pain Filipino veterans and their families felt and the irreparable harm caused by this unjustified disparate treatment.”

A U.S. Marine speaks to a group of Filipino soldiers on Corregidor Island in the Philippines in May 1942.U.S. Marine Corps / AP

The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii and Rep. James Moylan, the Republican delegate from Guam, would offer a need-based death pension to the remaining survivors. It would also expand the kinds of military documentation accepted for benefits’ eligibility. 

Kevin Nadal, president of the Filipino American National Historical Society, said that the Filipino veterans’ fight to secure their benefits has dragged on for decades. In the meantime, the number of Filipino WWII veterans has dwindled to less than 2,000, making the restoration of their benefits all the more urgent.  

The Philippines was an American colony until 1934, when the U.S. promised to grant it independence within the next 10 years. But before doing so, Nadal explained, the Pentagon recruited both Filipino Americans and Filipino nationals to fight under U.S. command due to a substantial part of the war being fought in the Philippines, which Japan had invaded. It’s estimated that up to 1 million Filipinos died in the war.

Panay guerilla leaders in conference with American Division G-2 soldiers in Panay, Philippines, around the 1940s.

The U.S. changed its tune with the conclusion of the war. Congress passed the Rescission Act in 1946, stripping many Filipino veterans and their families of benefits due to budget concerns and prompting the ongoing efforts to restore them.