[Enters the room with a sad face]
Hey Hayta, my little punkin![Pissed off face.] Excuse me?Punkin! It's from the new episode of Happyslip!Call me that again and I'll -
You guys not now... I understand why you're sad, Hayta.
Did you see Jen Amos last Friday?Yeah, I never saw her breakdown like that before... Or even be that hard on herself...Oh, are you talking about how she locked herself in the AB Samahan office with the lights off after her JFAV presentation? Yeah, that was pretty emo. Who the heck does that?! But you know how cute it would've been if some guy came in there and comforted her?Pa Sivv... come here.No Hayta! Don't slap him!Oh don't worry! I think Jen's doing a lot better now. I hear she really enjoyed JFAV yesterday. Oh the memories!Yeah... but still. She probably won't look back at that presentation for a while.It's okay, Hayta. She left her script behind at the office. Let's see everything she wanted to express at her presentation.---
Google Earth
(Everything that's in *bold* means to look up on google earth)
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President Roosevelt’s Conscription of Filipinos
(World to SDSU)
Here we are. SDSU, college students aiming to graduate in 4,5,6,7 years… Now for a few minutes, let’s take a step out of our shoes and into the shoes of Filipino war veterans…
Let’s go back almost 70 years. It’s the year 1941. You’re living a normal life. Probably getting a good education. Taking care of the family. Making money from your job. When out of nowhere, you find out that you are being drafted for a war.
First off, you have no idea what this war is about. All you know is that the Philippines, your home country, is being invaded and that you will be fighting under the United States Armed Forces in the Far East.
Whatever the reason, you are promised full benefits as a veteran of the US Army.
The Philippines never wanted to be a part of a war. But during WWII, the Japanese wanted to take over the Philippines. (Philippines) It made a lot of sense (Far East - zoom out) It was a good location to take over. The Philippines was kind of the center of everything. It had access to the southeast, the mainland and northeastern Asia
Plus, the US had military forces in PI, which motivated the Japanese even more to come to the PI. The Japanese coming was threatening to the US. So on July 26th, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt drafted Filipino men into the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East
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Okay… back to you. A few months later, from July 1941 to February 1942, you find yourself fighting this war against the Japanese in Corregidor Island. However, the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in the Far East, which is your General, Douglas MacArthur, takes orders by President Roosevelt to retreat from the Philippines to Australia. Japan was going to invade PI and President Roosevelt knew it.
Before your general retreats, he gives his power to the second in command – General Wainwright. Without your supreme commander and with a new commander, the fight goes on.
But you’re struggling. As a Filipino, you have received the worst equipment – chinellas instead of boots, no combat uniforms – just your white shirt and pants. And you have a gun that doesn’t fire sometimes… so you end up relying on your bolo (dagger) or even find yourself in hand-to-hand battles.
On top of that there is not enough food and not enough water canteens. Regardless, you fight your heart out with all you’ve got.
But then… your army surrenders.
The siege of Corregidor was the-last-stand for Filipinos and Americans against the Japanese. However, because of the diminishing supplies, General Wainwright unconditionally surrendered on May 1942. The Japanese rallied up every Filipino and American soldier at Corregidor and began the death march.
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The March of Bataan
So here you are, after the entire struggle… captured. How would that make you feel? Regardless, the situation only gets worse. Not only are you going to prison, but you are walking there. 105 kilometers – 65 miles worth of walking.
Why did the Japanese do that to us?
The Japanese soldiers saw those who surrendered as inferior because it was their philosophy was to fight till death. They did not expect to have so many POWs (prisoners of war) nor did they have the vehicles to transport them humanely. So on April 9th, 1942, the Japanese Army made them march – 65 miles north to Camp O’Donnell. (Corregidor Island to Capas, Tarlac)
Anyone who couldn’t keep up was tortured several ways. Some were shot to death, beheaded or bayoneted. For fun, the Japanese soldiers would compact the POWs (prisoners of war) in trucks or small rooms causing them to die from suffocation or disease. They’d beat prisoners randomly or torture them just because. Japanese soldiers have even drove tanks over prisoners during the march.
For several days POWs were denied food and water. For further torturing, POWs would get the “sun treatment” where they were ordered to sit under the sun in silence – without any protection from UV rays. And if anyone tried to help the prisoners and were caught, the Japanese soldiers would put them on a stake and torture them in front of everyone.
Out of the 76,000 that walked, only 54,000 survived. That was 22,000 lives lost
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Ending note
So let’s say that you are one of those 54,000 survivors… At the beginning, you were promised full benefits as veterans of the U.S. Army. However… After the war ended, Congress reversed the promise in the Rescissions Acts of 1946. All of your benefits, gone. Everything you were forced to leave behind – your friends, the life that you had, your family – and everything you fought for ...was for nothing. On top of that, you the only national group that wasn’t recognized under the American Flag… Out of 67 nations, you were the odd one out…
If it weren’t for the sacrifices of Filipino people, soldiers, or even our own parents in the Philippines during World War II, we would not be here today. (San Diego State University)
Filipinos fought side by side with the Americans. But in the end, we don’t get equal treatment? Equal benefits? We aren’t even acknowledged as Filipino American veterans? For over 60 years, we have been fighting for Filipino American Veterans equity. Their suffering still continues to this day and has trickled down to their children, to our parents and now to us.
As mentioned in an earlier presentation, the bills didn’t pass. So what can we do?
We have a duty everyone.
As descendants, it is our obligation to recognize this hidden part of history. This is the story of our grandparents. And everyone effected by it. Family, friends, even you. The least we can do together is be part of Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV) March this Saturday to show our veterans that we recognize what they have done for us.
They will not be forgotten.
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Thank you for reading!
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