00:00:10.969 --> 00:00:14.889
-[Feliciana] Dear Sir or
Ma'am, peace be with you.

00:00:14.889 --> 00:00:18.935
[Solo guitar and typing]
My name is Feliciana Reyes,

00:00:18.935 --> 00:00:22.105
a World War II veteran
in the Philippines,

00:00:22.105 --> 00:00:24.315
and I was with the Medical Corps

00:00:24.315 --> 00:00:27.986
75th Infantry in
Dumaguete, Negros Oriental.

00:00:29.070 --> 00:00:32.032
I was helping, treating,
and assisting...

00:00:32.032 --> 00:00:36.953
I was born a national of the
United States of America,

00:00:36.953 --> 00:00:39.414
American history is my history.

00:00:40.248 --> 00:00:44.127
I enlisted and served under
the flag of the United States

00:00:44.127 --> 00:00:49.132
during World War II. That
service was not recognized.

00:00:49.591 --> 00:00:53.553
I'm hoping for your kind
understanding and patience.

00:00:53.553 --> 00:00:55.138
More power to you.

00:00:55.138 --> 00:00:58.975
There are many like me,
but most Americans

00:00:58.975 --> 00:01:00.935
don't know about us.

00:01:01.853 --> 00:01:04.022
Our story has been buried in time,

00:01:05.106 --> 00:01:06.983
waiting for you to discover.

00:01:09.277 --> 00:01:12.280
[Enigmatic low notes]

00:01:24.375 --> 00:01:28.630
-[Victor Fulford] These paintings
have been in my basement since 1980.

00:01:30.507 --> 00:01:32.634
When I got married,
several years ago,

00:01:32.634 --> 00:01:35.970
my wife brought out this big crate

00:01:37.013 --> 00:01:38.973
and I asked her what was in it,

00:01:38.973 --> 00:01:39.974
she said, oh, they're some paintings.

00:01:39.974 --> 00:01:41.935
I didn't think anything about it,

00:01:41.935 --> 00:01:43.770
stuffed them in the basement.

00:01:43.770 --> 00:01:46.022
I said, where did you
get these painting?

00:01:46.022 --> 00:01:48.108
She said, George give 'em to me.

00:01:48.108 --> 00:01:51.986
Okay, George was her ex-boss.

00:01:51.986 --> 00:01:55.031
I did ask her, why
George give 'em to you?

00:01:55.990 --> 00:01:58.743
There is the mystery that
will never be answered.

00:02:00.161 --> 00:02:01.621
Yeah, I said, Let's get rid of 'em.

00:02:01.621 --> 00:02:02.413
No.

00:02:03.248 --> 00:02:08.128
She wouldn't talk about them,
and I just ended up with 'em.

00:02:08.128 --> 00:02:11.131
[Mysterious low notes]

00:02:12.215 --> 00:02:14.884
When she passed away I
looked at the paintings

00:02:14.884 --> 00:02:16.970
and realized there
was something there.

00:02:16.970 --> 00:02:21.599
They were actually
very striking, very,

00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:23.476
they're just plain
terrible paintings.

00:02:24.477 --> 00:02:26.980
Then I started researching George

00:02:26.980 --> 00:02:29.858
and they come out it was
Colonel George Kinsey,

00:02:29.858 --> 00:02:32.861
the man that gave the
paintings to my wife,

00:02:32.861 --> 00:02:36.739
was the commanding officer at
the time that these paintings

00:02:36.739 --> 00:02:39.701
were made at Hamilton
Field in San Francisco,

00:02:39.701 --> 00:02:43.997
in February, March,
and April, 1944.

00:02:46.124 --> 00:02:50.295
So, I started studying them,
researching the best I could,

00:02:50.295 --> 00:02:52.755
and I didn't know what I was doing.

00:02:52.755 --> 00:02:56.009
You talk about like a
billygoat in the wash machine,

00:02:56.009 --> 00:02:58.011
I didn't know what I was doing.

00:02:58.011 --> 00:03:01.097
-[Feliciana] Tracing the
dates and inscriptions,

00:03:01.097 --> 00:03:04.309
Victor learned what
he had were depictions

00:03:04.309 --> 00:03:06.060
of a once censored story

00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:09.105
of troops who
escaped from POW camps

00:03:09.105 --> 00:03:12.984
in the Philippines, after the
Bataan Death March.

00:03:12.984 --> 00:03:15.778
- They didn't believe any
of us would live to tell

00:03:15.778 --> 00:03:18.072
the horrible things they did.

00:03:18.072 --> 00:03:19.824
Thank God we have.

00:03:19.824 --> 00:03:22.952
-[Feliciana] Stunned by
his new understanding,

00:03:22.952 --> 00:03:26.956
and seeking more answers,
Victor dug deeper.

00:03:26.956 --> 00:03:28.958
-[Victor] Bataan didn't
mean anything to me,

00:03:28.958 --> 00:03:33.379
just like any American, you
never heard about in school.

00:03:33.379 --> 00:03:37.842
I went to this Bataan
memorial convention.

00:03:37.842 --> 00:03:39.510
I never could get a
straight answer out

00:03:39.510 --> 00:03:43.139
of all these quote-unquote
military experts.

00:03:43.139 --> 00:03:44.974
They have no clue that these type

00:03:44.974 --> 00:03:47.101
of paintings and artwork exist.

00:03:47.101 --> 00:03:48.311
I'm gonna show some paintings

00:03:48.311 --> 00:03:50.480
that you are not going to believe.

00:03:50.480 --> 00:03:52.023
I had hit a dead end.

00:03:53.066 --> 00:03:57.612
And then when
Frank Francone got involved

00:03:57.612 --> 00:04:00.365
then the whole picture
started coming together.

00:04:01.282 --> 00:04:03.493
-[Frank Francone] A fellow, named Jim,

00:04:03.493 --> 00:04:06.329
I had talked to him about
some of my experience

00:04:06.329 --> 00:04:07.372
in the Philippines.

00:04:07.372 --> 00:04:09.415
Jim says, well you know,
I've got this friend

00:04:09.415 --> 00:04:12.835
he keeps talking
about having paintings.

00:04:12.835 --> 00:04:16.256
I said, well, that's interesting.

00:04:16.256 --> 00:04:19.008
Philippines?
I said, I don't know.

00:04:19.008 --> 00:04:21.886
I've never heard of anybody
having paintings like that.

00:04:23.554 --> 00:04:25.807
I wasn't really expecting that much

00:04:25.807 --> 00:04:27.225
and now all of a sudden
he starts bringing out

00:04:27.225 --> 00:04:32.021
these huge paintings of scenes

00:04:32.021 --> 00:04:35.316
that were obviously from
the Bataan Death March.

00:04:37.735 --> 00:04:42.532
I was given the opportunity
the way you are in the Army.

00:04:42.532 --> 00:04:45.159
I was given the opportunity
to go to the Philippines

00:04:45.159 --> 00:04:49.372
and I ended up there
in September of '46

00:04:49.372 --> 00:04:53.126
by then I was 19 years old.
[Distant horn with drums]

00:04:53.126 --> 00:04:56.129
They are depicting an
actual scene that occurred

00:04:56.129 --> 00:04:59.382
in the Philippines in World War II,

00:04:59.382 --> 00:05:03.052
right after the Japanese took
over the Philippine islands,

00:05:03.052 --> 00:05:04.971
and this was
basically the beginning

00:05:04.971 --> 00:05:06.764
of the Bataan Death March.

00:05:08.308 --> 00:05:09.851
Yeah, it's pretty gruesome.

00:05:12.020 --> 00:05:17.025
This painting is really amazing
because it depicts

00:05:17.066 --> 00:05:21.821
the situation that, and the
emotions involved by these men,

00:05:21.821 --> 00:05:24.407
you can really understand
where they were coming from.

00:05:27.535 --> 00:05:29.162
I was assigned to an organization

00:05:29.162 --> 00:05:33.041
called the Philippines Scouts
as a Second Lieutenant,

00:05:33.041 --> 00:05:35.460
Company Commander,
Battalion Adjutant,

00:05:35.460 --> 00:05:39.255
stationed at Camp O'Donnell.

00:05:39.255 --> 00:05:42.008
It turns out that Camp
O'Donnell was the place

00:05:42.008 --> 00:05:44.093
where the Death March ended.

00:05:44.093 --> 00:05:47.055
When I arrived there of course,
fortunately, the battles,

00:05:47.055 --> 00:05:48.723
the fighting was over.

00:05:48.723 --> 00:05:52.977
The camp was basically under
control of the U.S. Army,

00:05:52.977 --> 00:05:54.854
primarily the Philippine Scouts.

00:05:56.314 --> 00:05:58.941
All the troops were Filipinos,

00:05:58.941 --> 00:06:02.653
many of the troops had been
involved in the Death March.

00:06:02.653 --> 00:06:04.697
Because I was there,

00:06:04.697 --> 00:06:07.283
I developed a heart
for what had happened.

00:06:07.283 --> 00:06:12.038
I spent a lot of time studying
it and saw the destruction

00:06:12.038 --> 00:06:14.040
that had taken place there,

00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:16.125
because it's only by
looking at those,

00:06:16.125 --> 00:06:19.379
that you can say, oh my
God, look at this happened?

00:06:19.379 --> 00:06:21.089
I never knew about that.

00:06:23.091 --> 00:06:25.009
-[Victor] When I
started learning about it,

00:06:25.009 --> 00:06:30.014
what the government did to,
actually they were Americans,

00:06:30.098 --> 00:06:33.017
you know, that they
fought for this country

00:06:33.017 --> 00:06:36.854
and then they get treated
this way the government did.

00:06:36.854 --> 00:06:41.067
I was glad I had sense
enough to realize they

00:06:41.067 --> 00:06:42.985
had historical value to 'em.

00:06:42.985 --> 00:06:45.530
'Cause it's definitely not taught.

00:06:45.530 --> 00:06:48.116
I thought I'd studied
World War II, but I didn't.

00:06:48.116 --> 00:06:50.993
[Horns & drums fade]

00:06:55.039 --> 00:06:57.375
[Church bells & horse feet clopping]

00:07:06.134 --> 00:07:10.638
-[Gen. Antonio Taguba] Well, it goes
back to 1898 and the Treaty of Paris,

00:07:10.638 --> 00:07:12.640
because they had the
Spanish American War.

00:07:14.725 --> 00:07:18.855
Spain ceded the Philippines
to the United States,

00:07:18.855 --> 00:07:22.608
whereby the United States
became the colonial power

00:07:22.608 --> 00:07:26.654
of the Philippines back
in 1898 up until 1946.

00:07:28.698 --> 00:07:31.993
-[Dr. Colleen Woods] The Philippines is
taken as part of the

00:07:31.993 --> 00:07:33.077
Spanish American War.

00:07:33.077 --> 00:07:35.997
So, in 1898, the U.S.
fights a war in Cuba,

00:07:35.997 --> 00:07:37.957
and it fights a war
in the Philippines.

00:07:39.542 --> 00:07:43.045
The U.S. Navy, Admiral Dewey,
quickly routes the Spanish

00:07:43.045 --> 00:07:46.382
and fights alongside
Filipinos who are like, yes,

00:07:46.382 --> 00:07:48.259
the U.S. is going to
help us get independence,

00:07:48.259 --> 00:07:51.471
instead the U.S. buys the
Philippines for $20 million.

00:07:52.972 --> 00:07:55.975
[Ominous low notes]

00:07:56.976 --> 00:08:00.480
And, so what quickly
ensues is a war between

00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:03.983
Filipino Independence
activists and the U.S. Army,

00:08:03.983 --> 00:08:07.028
and it turns into a really,
really bloody and brutal war.

00:08:10.031 --> 00:08:12.700
[Guns firing]

00:08:12.700 --> 00:08:15.369
[Crowd shouting]

00:08:19.874 --> 00:08:20.875
-[Feliciana] It was an Alliance

00:08:20.875 --> 00:08:22.543
that became a shocking betrayal.

00:08:23.961 --> 00:08:28.966
Rather than be our own
people, after 300 years,

00:08:29.509 --> 00:08:33.846
we would be unwillingly sold
from one empire to another.

00:08:40.061 --> 00:08:44.815
The reality that we would
remain a colony was secured

00:08:44.815 --> 00:08:47.610
by the blood of about
a million Filipinos.

00:08:51.948 --> 00:08:54.742
- Filipinos actually
did declare independence

00:08:54.742 --> 00:08:56.702
after the Spanish American war,

00:08:56.702 --> 00:09:00.039
it was just never recognized
by the United States.

00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:02.083
The colonization of the
Philippines was predicated

00:09:02.083 --> 00:09:04.377
on the idea that Filipinos
were not yet ready

00:09:04.377 --> 00:09:05.711
for governing themselves.

00:09:05.711 --> 00:09:09.131
And so, Americans, though
they would recognize

00:09:09.131 --> 00:09:12.260
they had a colony, it was
always an exceptional colony.

00:09:12.260 --> 00:09:14.762
[Sweeping orchestral music]

00:09:14.762 --> 00:09:17.139
-[Feliciana] In an
effort by U.S. officials

00:09:17.139 --> 00:09:21.936
to gain public support for the acquisition
of the Philippines as a colony,

00:09:21.936 --> 00:09:26.107
an exhibition was constructed
at the World's Fair in 1904.

00:09:29.986 --> 00:09:33.030
This exposition's goal
was to demonstrate

00:09:33.030 --> 00:09:36.242
that we, "Little Brown Brothers,"

00:09:36.242 --> 00:09:39.120
were not ready for
self-governance.

00:09:42.164 --> 00:09:47.169
After the fair, in further
acts of paternal racism,

00:09:47.169 --> 00:09:51.591
some tribes were conned into
participating in human zoos

00:09:51.591 --> 00:09:53.593
from Chicago to Coney Island.

00:09:56.095 --> 00:09:58.014
Back home as we rebuilt,

00:09:58.014 --> 00:10:00.975
we were learning English
and American history.

00:10:04.478 --> 00:10:06.147
- Americans are not
all that comfortable

00:10:06.147 --> 00:10:07.857
acknowledging or
talking about empire,

00:10:07.857 --> 00:10:10.026
and to understand the
Philippines, you have to know

00:10:10.026 --> 00:10:11.944
that it was a possession
of the United States

00:10:11.944 --> 00:10:13.779
that was under U.S. sovereignty.

00:10:17.158 --> 00:10:20.870
They were helping to bring
the Filipinos into modernity,

00:10:20.870 --> 00:10:24.707
and that justification
rested entirely on a belief

00:10:24.707 --> 00:10:26.584
that Filipinos, as a racial group,

00:10:26.584 --> 00:10:28.336
weren't ready to do it themselves.

00:10:28.669 --> 00:10:31.672
[Marching, horses trotting]

00:10:33.215 --> 00:10:38.220
-[Gen. Taguba] So, over time, the United
States organized military forces

00:10:38.304 --> 00:10:40.097
in the Philippines, as
a matter of defending

00:10:40.097 --> 00:10:42.808
the United States in the Pacific.

00:10:44.810 --> 00:10:46.854
It created the Philippines Scouts,

00:10:46.854 --> 00:10:48.981
Philippine Commonwealth
Army, and the like,

00:10:48.981 --> 00:10:50.399
because they needed a presence.

00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:53.986
You don't colonize a country
without military presence.

00:10:58.032 --> 00:10:59.950
-[Feliciana] We began
to flourish once again

00:10:59.950 --> 00:11:03.120
in the Philippines with our
new identity as Americans.

00:11:04.372 --> 00:11:08.501
But, in the U.S. we
met with struggles.

00:11:08.501 --> 00:11:11.462
-[Dr. Woods] As a U.S. colony,
Filipinos were called U.S. Nationals

00:11:11.462 --> 00:11:14.131
and they could move freely
between U.S. territories.

00:11:14.131 --> 00:11:17.301
So, imagine that the depression
hits and you have Filipinos

00:11:17.301 --> 00:11:19.220
that can move between U.S. territories

00:11:19.220 --> 00:11:21.972
and Filipinos are paid lower
wages than white workers

00:11:21.972 --> 00:11:22.973
in the United States.

00:11:22.973 --> 00:11:25.059
So, there's a series of
really, really violent

00:11:25.059 --> 00:11:27.978
anti-Filipino race
riots in California.

00:11:27.978 --> 00:11:28.938
And they're all based on the idea

00:11:28.938 --> 00:11:30.398
that these are not Americans.

00:11:31.982 --> 00:11:34.068
In 1934, the U.S.
passes what's called

00:11:34.068 --> 00:11:36.987
the Tydings-McDuffie Act
and it's signed by FDR.

00:11:36.987 --> 00:11:41.534
The Tydings-McDuffie Act was
in part, racial exclusion law.

00:11:41.534 --> 00:11:43.786
- We're committed to
a policy of complete

00:11:43.786 --> 00:11:45.496
independence for the Philippines.

00:11:45.496 --> 00:11:46.997
They have asked for it.

00:11:46.997 --> 00:11:49.333
They must decide now.

00:11:49.333 --> 00:11:52.044
They can't have their
cake and eat it too.

00:11:52.044 --> 00:11:55.089
- Once Tydings-McDuffie is signed,

00:11:55.089 --> 00:11:57.842
Filipinos are no
longer U.S. nationals.

00:11:57.842 --> 00:11:59.969
They're essentially
treated as foreigners

00:11:59.969 --> 00:12:02.054
in terms of immigration and in fact,

00:12:02.054 --> 00:12:04.598
a number of them are repatriated
from the United States.

00:12:04.598 --> 00:12:05.349
What does it do?

00:12:05.349 --> 00:12:07.601
It says that the Philippines
is going to be a Commonwealth,

00:12:07.601 --> 00:12:10.938
it's going to be on a 10-year
timetable to independence,

00:12:10.938 --> 00:12:12.565
and Filipinos, and the
Filipino assembly

00:12:12.565 --> 00:12:15.526
is going to entirely
govern the sort of domestic

00:12:15.526 --> 00:12:16.944
order in the Philippines.

00:12:18.696 --> 00:12:20.030
What it left to
the United States

00:12:20.030 --> 00:12:22.742
in terms of sovereignty
was foreign policy.

00:12:22.742 --> 00:12:24.952
Manuel Quezon, who is the
president of the Commonwealth

00:12:24.952 --> 00:12:28.080
tries numerous times to
get the United States

00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:30.124
to declare Philippine independence,

00:12:30.124 --> 00:12:33.043
in hopes that it somehow
could spare the Philippines

00:12:33.043 --> 00:12:36.297
from a war between Japan
and the United States.

00:12:36.297 --> 00:12:39.467
And he asked again, and again,
until finally FDR is like,

00:12:39.467 --> 00:12:41.969
we're not gonna bring
up this subject again.

00:12:41.969 --> 00:12:43.637
You are under U.S. sovereignty,

00:12:43.637 --> 00:12:45.389
you know, sort of,
end of question.

00:12:45.389 --> 00:12:47.224
At this moment when the
United States is saying,

00:12:47.224 --> 00:12:49.268
yes, the Philippines is
going to be independent,

00:12:49.268 --> 00:12:51.812
they're still sort
of returning back

00:12:51.812 --> 00:12:54.940
to this imperial rule
again, and again.

00:12:54.940 --> 00:12:58.068
[Music swells]

00:12:59.153 --> 00:13:01.238
[Military drums]

00:13:01.238 --> 00:13:06.160
-[Gen. Taguba] On July 26, 1941, in
pending Japanese attack

00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:09.038
on the United States
in the Philippines,

00:13:09.038 --> 00:13:11.957
President Franklin Roosevelt
issued a military order

00:13:11.957 --> 00:13:16.462
ordering General Douglas MacArthur
to mobilize all organized

00:13:16.462 --> 00:13:19.048
military forces in the Philippines.

00:13:19.048 --> 00:13:23.010
Organize, meaning Philippine
Scouts, Constabulary,

00:13:23.010 --> 00:13:24.970
and the Philippine Commonwealth Army

00:13:24.970 --> 00:13:28.557
to be part of that force,
called the U.S. Army Forces

00:13:28.557 --> 00:13:29.975
in the Far East.

00:13:29.975 --> 00:13:32.853
So, thereby a promise was made

00:13:32.853 --> 00:13:35.105
that if you defend our country,

00:13:35.105 --> 00:13:37.358
meaning not just the Philippines,

00:13:37.358 --> 00:13:40.986
but the United States, we
will provide you with certain benefits.

00:13:43.364 --> 00:13:46.617
-[Feliciana] As recruitment
increased in 1941,

00:13:46.617 --> 00:13:49.161
forces in the
Philippine campaign grew

00:13:49.161 --> 00:13:52.790
to 120,000 Filipino troops,

00:13:52.790 --> 00:13:55.334
plus 30,000 from
the U.S. mainland.

00:13:56.877 --> 00:14:01.048
In a country where rations
were low, the new military was

00:14:01.048 --> 00:14:05.135
outfitted with used clothing
and World War I weaponry.

00:14:07.596 --> 00:14:11.809
We were ill-prepared for
the attack on December 8th,

00:14:11.809 --> 00:14:16.021
just eight hours after the
Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

00:14:16.021 --> 00:14:24.029
-[Radio address by FDR] December 7th, 1941
a date which will live in infamy.

00:14:24.029 --> 00:14:28.117
Japan has undertaken
a surprise offensive

00:14:28.117 --> 00:14:31.412
extending throughout
the Pacific area.

00:14:31.412 --> 00:14:34.957
The facts speak for themselves.
[Bombs exploding, flames roaring]

00:14:53.934 --> 00:14:56.854
-[Joy Romero Meyers] My father
was a dental surgeon, yes,

00:14:56.854 --> 00:15:00.232
and he was drafted when
he was 37 years old.

00:15:01.233 --> 00:15:03.944
Of course, I was in
grade school at the time.

00:15:05.321 --> 00:15:09.116
We were there until it came
up to be evacuation time

00:15:09.116 --> 00:15:11.076
and we were wanted families.

00:15:17.166 --> 00:15:19.335
We went to my grandmother's farm,

00:15:20.961 --> 00:15:23.881
we were in hiding for
the rest of the war.

00:15:26.467 --> 00:15:28.761
-[Feliciana] Over the
course of four months,

00:15:28.761 --> 00:15:31.764
forces fell back from
the Bataan peninsula

00:15:31.764 --> 00:15:33.474
to defend Manila Bay.

00:15:33.474 --> 00:15:36.977
On half rations,
with a diminished arsenal

00:15:36.977 --> 00:15:39.980
and no hope for reinforcements,

00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:44.777
entrenched troops surrendered
on April 9th of 1942

00:15:44.777 --> 00:15:47.655
the beginning of
what would notoriously

00:15:47.655 --> 00:15:51.742
be known as the Bataan Death March.

00:15:51.742 --> 00:15:55.704
-[Frank F.] Considering the situation
of their troops, malnutrition,

00:15:55.704 --> 00:15:59.959
ammunition, and the overwhelming
forces of the Japanese,

00:15:59.959 --> 00:16:02.086
they had made the
decision to surrender.

00:16:04.046 --> 00:16:07.633
-[Feliciana] From Mariveles,
70,000 captured soldiers

00:16:07.633 --> 00:16:11.345
were marched 62 miles
to San Fernando.

00:16:11.345 --> 00:16:15.015
There, they were loaded
into box cars for transport

00:16:15.015 --> 00:16:18.143
to Capas, and then
marched another six miles

00:16:18.143 --> 00:16:19.561
to Camp O'Donnell.

00:16:19.561 --> 00:16:24.566
During the week-long march,
without food or water,

00:16:24.650 --> 00:16:26.944
and at the mercy
of the merciless,

00:16:26.944 --> 00:16:31.949
some 700 Americans and 10,000
Filipino soldiers died.

00:16:34.994 --> 00:16:37.121
-[Sean Amutan] My grandfather
went missing

00:16:37.121 --> 00:16:39.331
and my grandmother
was never informed

00:16:39.331 --> 00:16:44.294
that he was either killed
or missing for a few years.

00:16:45.045 --> 00:16:48.382
- My father really
was a man of few words.

00:16:48.382 --> 00:16:52.886
He didn't really talk about
the war that much with me,

00:16:52.886 --> 00:16:54.847
I'm pretty sure he
shared it with my mother,

00:16:54.847 --> 00:16:58.559
and I know he got shot,
because I saw the mark.

00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:03.564
-[Frank F.] The Japanese had a policy,
I think it's called bushido,

00:17:03.981 --> 00:17:06.025
which was a policy that,

00:17:06.984 --> 00:17:10.946
basically as far as the
prisoners were concerned,

00:17:10.946 --> 00:17:15.951
if you ever surrendered, then
you were basically a coward

00:17:17.536 --> 00:17:20.289
and it really didn't matter
what happened to you,

00:17:20.289 --> 00:17:25.294
your life was insignificant.
And I think the atrocities

00:17:25.961 --> 00:17:28.756
that happened, many of
them were because of that.

00:17:28.756 --> 00:17:32.134
In the process of walking
in the Death March,

00:17:32.134 --> 00:17:36.555
they would strike people
for no reason at all.

00:17:36.555 --> 00:17:41.018
Citizens would try to hand
food to the men that were

00:17:41.018 --> 00:17:45.064
in the Death March and
sometimes they would kill them.

00:17:45.064 --> 00:17:48.025
In fact, there was one woman
that they actually stabbed

00:17:48.025 --> 00:17:49.943
with a bayonet and
she was pregnant.

00:17:51.028 --> 00:17:54.490
- He said that one time,
he was trying to help,

00:17:54.490 --> 00:17:57.034
I don't know if he was a
Filipino or an American,

00:17:57.034 --> 00:18:01.371
he was trying to help him
and a Japanese came down

00:18:01.371 --> 00:18:04.833
and bayoneted him and
he just went like this

00:18:04.833 --> 00:18:08.087
and you could see
the scar on his hand.

00:18:08.087 --> 00:18:11.590
- The troops had been on
quarter rations now for a month,

00:18:11.590 --> 00:18:16.595
and, as a result of that,
they were physically incapable

00:18:16.595 --> 00:18:17.638
of fighting back.

00:18:17.638 --> 00:18:20.057
Then, occasionally, there
would be some water source,

00:18:20.057 --> 00:18:23.060
maybe a creek they
would run to there

00:18:23.060 --> 00:18:25.646
and they maybe stick
their heads in it.

00:18:25.646 --> 00:18:27.648
Sometimes the Japanese
would come over

00:18:27.648 --> 00:18:29.817
and just shove their
head down into the water

00:18:29.817 --> 00:18:30.984
until they drowned.

00:18:32.611 --> 00:18:36.615
Then when the Japanese
took over Corregidor

00:18:36.615 --> 00:18:39.952
General Wainwright was
forced to surrender

00:18:39.952 --> 00:18:41.036
all the Philippines.

00:18:43.997 --> 00:18:46.792
-[Feliciana] This began
a new occupation

00:18:46.792 --> 00:18:48.085
of the Philippines.

00:18:50.087 --> 00:18:53.757
-[Radio address by Gen. Wainwright]
Yesterday, I tendered to the Commander in

00:18:54.550 --> 00:18:59.096
of the Imperial Japanese
forces in the Philippines,

00:18:59.096 --> 00:19:02.015
the surrender of Corregidor.

00:19:02.015 --> 00:19:04.268
[soldiers cheering]

00:19:04.268 --> 00:19:06.937
-[Dr. Woods] It was an enormous
defeat for the U.S. Army,

00:19:06.937 --> 00:19:08.814
a crushing defeat for the U.S. Army

00:19:08.814 --> 00:19:10.983
and an enormous victory for Japan.

00:19:11.984 --> 00:19:14.319
The military plans several
years in advance for this,

00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.029
and they were planning
for a conflict with Japan.

00:19:16.029 --> 00:19:18.240
It wasn't a huge surprise.

00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:20.242
And the plan was,
they said, you know,

00:19:20.242 --> 00:19:22.411
we don't have the resources
to protect the Philippines.

00:19:22.411 --> 00:19:24.413
These people are under
U.S. sovereignty,

00:19:24.413 --> 00:19:26.248
yet you're going to
say, in a conflict,

00:19:26.248 --> 00:19:29.042
you're not going to
fully protect them?

00:19:29.042 --> 00:19:30.627
[Dissonant music]

00:19:30.627 --> 00:19:33.297
-[Feliciana] Thousands
more captured soldiers

00:19:33.297 --> 00:19:37.134
and civilians were held
at various POW camps

00:19:37.134 --> 00:19:39.511
in deplorable conditions.

00:19:42.055 --> 00:19:44.975
-[Frank C.] After the March,
after the long walk,

00:19:44.975 --> 00:19:48.520
he said they were just in
this field in Camp O'Donnell,

00:19:51.940 --> 00:19:54.359
they would sleep on the field,

00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:56.028
and there were so many of them,

00:19:56.028 --> 00:19:57.654
they were like sardines.

00:19:58.947 --> 00:20:02.492
All you hear is moaning
and you didn't know

00:20:02.492 --> 00:20:05.996
whether the person next
to you is gonna die,

00:20:05.996 --> 00:20:07.331
you know, he might be dead,

00:20:07.331 --> 00:20:09.499
you know, by the time
the morning came.

00:20:11.043 --> 00:20:13.003
-[Frank F.] Of course, in the
camps themselves

00:20:13.003 --> 00:20:17.049
there were terrible stories
that occurred there,

00:20:17.049 --> 00:20:20.969
you know, dysentery, the
hospitals that they supposedly had

00:20:20.969 --> 00:20:23.513
were really death wards in a way.

00:20:23.513 --> 00:20:25.849
Once you went in a hospital,

00:20:25.849 --> 00:20:28.477
there was no way you were
going to come out alive.

00:20:28.477 --> 00:20:31.980
Of course, the mosquitoes
were terrible, the maggots,

00:20:33.232 --> 00:20:35.400
the lack of hygiene was,

00:20:38.946 --> 00:20:41.823
something that we can't
even relate to in a way.

00:20:41.823 --> 00:20:44.034
The Americans, there
were about 50 men a day

00:20:44.034 --> 00:20:47.287
that were dying at one
point, and the Filipinos,

00:20:47.287 --> 00:20:50.874
they were dying at a much
higher rate than that of Americans,

00:20:50.874 --> 00:20:53.627
and at that point, the
Japanese decided to move men

00:20:53.627 --> 00:20:56.880
out of that camp and move
them into Camp Cabanatuan.

00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:59.758
The Japanese were then decided,
well, we're gonna release

00:20:59.758 --> 00:21:03.136
some of these Filipinos, one
we wanna make it appear like

00:21:03.136 --> 00:21:06.515
we like them and trying
to get them to support

00:21:06.515 --> 00:21:10.519
our taking over the
Philippines, but also

00:21:10.519 --> 00:21:14.022
they wanted to cut down
on their obligations

00:21:14.022 --> 00:21:16.108
of taking care of these prisoners.

00:21:18.235 --> 00:21:21.488
-[Frank C.] My dad, when he was
released, in order for him

00:21:21.488 --> 00:21:25.826
to stay in Manila, would
work unloading trucks,

00:21:25.826 --> 00:21:30.038
he would work all day
long and he would have,

00:21:30.038 --> 00:21:35.043
enough wage for us to have a meal.

00:21:35.961 --> 00:21:38.463
And he says, the rice
would be about this big,

00:21:38.463 --> 00:21:41.008
and he says,
because you were so small,

00:21:41.008 --> 00:21:43.760
he says, you would
eat most of that,

00:21:43.760 --> 00:21:46.471
and my dad would eat some
and my mom would eat some,

00:21:46.471 --> 00:21:48.557
but that's the whole
meal that they had.

00:21:51.310 --> 00:21:54.104
A Japanese officer
took a liking to me

00:21:55.814 --> 00:21:59.067
because, I guess when I was
small, I was kind of cute.

00:21:59.985 --> 00:22:03.530
And he took a liking
to me and asked my mom

00:22:03.530 --> 00:22:07.951
if he could trade me
for 100 sack of rice.

00:22:09.745 --> 00:22:14.041
100 sack of rice was a lot of
money at that particular time.

00:22:14.041 --> 00:22:17.294
You don't defy the
Japanese during that time.

00:22:17.294 --> 00:22:20.547
My mom says, oh, no, no, no.

00:22:20.547 --> 00:22:21.965
[Dramatic drumbeats]

00:22:21.965 --> 00:22:25.052
The Japanese just
smiled and let me go.

00:22:28.305 --> 00:22:30.599
-[Feliciana] Though
Filipino prisoners on parole

00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:34.936
from POW camps swore not to
oppose the new occupation,

00:22:34.936 --> 00:22:39.983
some regrouped with escaped
soldiers and guerrilla troops.

00:22:39.983 --> 00:22:44.071
Many of us did, and guerrilla
numbers began to swell

00:22:44.071 --> 00:22:45.614
into the hundreds of thousands.

00:23:22.150 --> 00:23:24.861
[Guns firing]

00:23:26.113 --> 00:23:28.115
-[Frank F.] The guerrillas
had done such

00:23:28.115 --> 00:23:29.408
a great job interfering

00:23:29.408 --> 00:23:32.786
with the Japanese ammunition
dumps, food dumps,

00:23:32.786 --> 00:23:34.037
obtaining information
on the movement

00:23:34.037 --> 00:23:36.039
of the Japanese troops,

00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:40.877
passing that on to MacArthur
who was in Australia.

00:24:27.048 --> 00:24:29.676
[Drums continue with female vocal]

00:24:31.470 --> 00:24:34.055
-[Feliciana] I too
joined the guerrillas

00:24:34.055 --> 00:24:36.975
to serve the sick and
the wounded soldiers.

00:24:37.434 --> 00:24:40.479
I was assigned as a Ward Attendant,

00:24:42.981 --> 00:24:45.275
treating wounds and
tending the sick.

00:24:50.363 --> 00:24:53.033
[Gunfire and burning]

00:24:53.950 --> 00:24:58.955
-[Feliciana] On October 28, 1944,
Commonwealth President Osmena,

00:25:00.624 --> 00:25:03.168
issued an executive order:

00:25:03.168 --> 00:25:05.629
all persons who are
actively serving

00:25:05.629 --> 00:25:08.715
in recognized military forces to be

00:25:08.715 --> 00:25:11.092
on active service in
the Philippine Army.

00:25:13.094 --> 00:25:17.349
All guerrilla units recognized
by General MacArthur,

00:25:17.349 --> 00:25:20.936
like mine, were now
officially part of the war.

00:25:23.063 --> 00:25:27.734
Guerrilla troops, having gained
back huge swaths territory,

00:25:27.734 --> 00:25:30.070
coordinated the
resistance with the U.S.

00:25:30.070 --> 00:25:32.822
until their return
with allied forces.

00:25:32.822 --> 00:25:37.827
[Guns firing]
[Plane engine roaring]

00:25:39.162 --> 00:25:42.415
[Shells firing and exploding]

00:25:44.376 --> 00:25:49.214
-[Feliciana] By September of
1945, the enemy was crushed.

00:25:49.214 --> 00:25:52.092
[Patriotic band]

00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:06.022
Though devastated, the
Philippines remained.

00:26:11.611 --> 00:26:14.489
-[Joy] The war was over, peacetime,
and my mother wouldn't talk

00:26:16.074 --> 00:26:17.951
because she was
waiting for my father.

00:26:18.994 --> 00:26:23.373
I heard that vivid
story of my father,

00:26:23.373 --> 00:26:25.875
how my father was killed.

00:26:25.875 --> 00:26:27.586
He was an early casualty.

00:26:27.586 --> 00:26:31.089
He was in the hospital when
the Japanese bombed Bataan.

00:26:32.591 --> 00:26:34.217
My mother didn't talk.

00:26:34.217 --> 00:26:37.554
For the longest time
she refused to talk.

00:26:37.554 --> 00:26:40.974
She just felt like my
father probably had amnesia

00:26:40.974 --> 00:26:42.809
and could not find his way home.

00:26:42.809 --> 00:26:45.854
[Melancholy instrumentals]

00:26:53.737 --> 00:26:56.531
-[Sean] As administrations
changed, the decisions

00:26:56.531 --> 00:26:57.949
were not going to be easy.

00:26:57.949 --> 00:27:00.952
For Congress to had kind
of changed their mind

00:27:00.952 --> 00:27:04.539
on what was promised to
the Filipino veterans.

00:27:07.959 --> 00:27:11.838
-[Gen. Taguba] In February of 1946,
the 79th Congress passed

00:27:11.838 --> 00:27:14.049
the Rescission Act,
that Filipino soldiers

00:27:14.049 --> 00:27:16.635
were not to have
been on active duty.

00:27:16.635 --> 00:27:20.055
If you're not on active duty
is as if you did not exist.

00:27:21.306 --> 00:27:23.892
And they also took away
their U.S. nationality.

00:27:23.892 --> 00:27:25.518
They were not citizens.

00:27:25.518 --> 00:27:26.978
Why was that?

00:27:26.978 --> 00:27:29.814
Because it would have
taken $3 billion

00:27:31.358 --> 00:27:33.985
to pay those who fought
in the Philippines

00:27:33.985 --> 00:27:37.113
over a period of time,
about 30 years.

00:27:37.113 --> 00:27:42.118
It's cheaper to give them $220
million as their back-pay.

00:27:42.869 --> 00:27:45.455
History says that the
Philippine government

00:27:45.455 --> 00:27:47.374
turned down that money.

00:27:47.374 --> 00:27:50.585
-[Feliciana] The Rescission
Acts created a new law

00:27:50.585 --> 00:27:54.047
that left most Filipino
troops who had served

00:27:54.047 --> 00:27:58.051
with no rights to back-pay,
benefits or recognition.

00:27:59.094 --> 00:28:02.138
For those who could receive
pay it was not equal

00:28:02.138 --> 00:28:04.974
to that of mainland Americans,

00:28:04.974 --> 00:28:08.520
and the military
deducted costs, too.

00:28:08.520 --> 00:28:11.773
- Just one word more,
it's a word that covers

00:28:11.773 --> 00:28:14.943
a lot of ground,
it covers 48 states,

00:28:14.943 --> 00:28:19.072
it covers 7,000 islands.
The word is American.

00:28:20.031 --> 00:28:24.077
The Filipinos are American,
treat them like Americans.

00:28:24.077 --> 00:28:28.081
- There were lots of ways that
Congress could rationalize,

00:28:28.081 --> 00:28:30.083
essentially, the Rescission Act.

00:28:30.083 --> 00:28:32.085
Immediately after the
war Congress is like,

00:28:32.085 --> 00:28:33.253
we're spending so much money.

00:28:33.253 --> 00:28:35.588
We're not gonna spend
all this money anymore

00:28:35.588 --> 00:28:37.966
on essentially irregular armies.

00:28:39.801 --> 00:28:41.261
Truman didn't want the
Rescission Act, right?

00:28:41.261 --> 00:28:43.054
I mean, it's signed over his veto

00:28:43.054 --> 00:28:44.055
and he sees it as essentially

00:28:44.055 --> 00:28:47.767
kind of an embarrassment
for the United States.

00:28:50.019 --> 00:28:51.938
They decide that the U.S. is
going to give the Philippines

00:28:51.938 --> 00:28:55.024
250 million in war
reconstruction funds.

00:28:55.024 --> 00:28:58.278
And that is not the same as
guerrilla recognition, right?

00:28:58.278 --> 00:29:00.405
This has to do
with damaged property.

00:29:01.322 --> 00:29:04.075
One of the things to know about
the war rehabilitation fund

00:29:04.075 --> 00:29:08.455
was that the U.S. government
pegged it to a law

00:29:08.455 --> 00:29:11.040
that they wanted the
independent Philippines to pass,

00:29:11.040 --> 00:29:13.376
and this law was
called the Parity Law,

00:29:13.376 --> 00:29:15.295
sometimes in the Philippine
press it would be called

00:29:15.295 --> 00:29:17.964
the Equal Rights Amendment,
which I find really interesting.

00:29:17.964 --> 00:29:21.968
And what it essentially said
is that Americans would have

00:29:21.968 --> 00:29:26.014
the same rights as Filipinos
to do business in the country,

00:29:26.014 --> 00:29:28.224
and they do get that bill passed.

00:29:28.224 --> 00:29:30.935
-[Feliciana] At the
same time, U.S. officers

00:29:30.935 --> 00:29:34.314
who were to grant
naturalization to Filipinos

00:29:34.314 --> 00:29:39.027
who served honorably in the
U.S. Armed Forces during the war,

00:29:39.027 --> 00:29:40.987
had their authorization revoked.

00:29:42.030 --> 00:29:46.034
Only 4,000 Filipino
soldiers were naturalized

00:29:46.034 --> 00:29:49.454
before the window of
opportunity closed.

00:29:49.454 --> 00:29:54.042
- The U.S. is already using its
position to sort of leverage

00:29:54.042 --> 00:29:55.043
the Philippine government

00:29:55.043 --> 00:29:58.254
to get the kind of
Philippines that they want.

00:29:58.254 --> 00:30:01.049
The cost is that essentially the
individual Filipino

00:30:01.049 --> 00:30:04.010
and the individual guerrilla
is put to the side.

00:30:05.011 --> 00:30:06.971
Congress is certainly saying,

00:30:06.971 --> 00:30:09.891
well, we gave them $250 million.

00:30:09.891 --> 00:30:13.144
So, I do think it gets
used as a sort of leverage

00:30:13.144 --> 00:30:16.731
to justify, you know, not
paying the guerrillas.

00:30:16.731 --> 00:30:18.942
The colonial or imperial
relationship with the Philippines

00:30:18.942 --> 00:30:22.821
did not end with World
War II; it just adapted.

00:30:22.821 --> 00:30:27.116
So, leading up to independence,
which is July 4th, 1946,

00:30:27.116 --> 00:30:28.868
a date picked by the United States.

00:30:28.868 --> 00:30:33.248
-[Man at podium] I am authorized
and directed by the president

00:30:34.082 --> 00:30:38.253
of the United States to
proclaim the independence

00:30:40.296 --> 00:30:45.134
of the Philippines as a separate
and self-governing nation.

00:30:46.970 --> 00:30:49.848
[Crowd cheering]

00:30:49.848 --> 00:30:52.100
-[Dr. Woods] They continually
uphold the Philippines

00:30:52.100 --> 00:30:55.061
as a sort of example
of American benevolence

00:30:55.061 --> 00:30:58.731
and American foreign policy
good at work in place of

00:30:58.731 --> 00:31:02.861
the sort of bigger policies
having to do with economics

00:31:02.861 --> 00:31:05.029
and the staging of
U.S. military bases

00:31:05.029 --> 00:31:06.781
and rebuilding the
Philippine Army.

00:31:08.408 --> 00:31:13.413
-[Feliciana] In 1946, the U.S.
Army began the arduous task

00:31:13.788 --> 00:31:17.375
of reconstructing guerrilla
rosters that had been lost

00:31:17.375 --> 00:31:19.544
or destroyed during the war.

00:31:19.544 --> 00:31:22.505
This required those
of us who served

00:31:22.505 --> 00:31:26.467
to complete a
Philippine Army affidavit.

00:31:26.467 --> 00:31:31.097
Over 1.2 million
affidavits were collected.

00:31:31.097 --> 00:31:36.102
Of those claims, only
260,000 were added

00:31:36.311 --> 00:31:37.979
to the reconstructed roster.

00:31:39.856 --> 00:31:41.816
-[Dr. Woods] The numbers was an issue.

00:31:41.816 --> 00:31:44.986
They're saying 250,000, just
in central Luzon, right?

00:31:44.986 --> 00:31:48.489
Guerrillas, is that
number quantifiable?

00:31:48.489 --> 00:31:52.368
I don't know, but it's much,
much larger than 260,000.

00:31:54.287 --> 00:31:57.123
But you have to imagine
this is a place

00:31:57.123 --> 00:31:59.584
that's been devastated by the war.

00:31:59.584 --> 00:32:00.543
Outside of Poland,

00:32:00.543 --> 00:32:03.463
it was, sort of, the most
destroyed Allied country.

00:32:03.463 --> 00:32:05.465
There's an enormous displacement

00:32:05.465 --> 00:32:07.967
of people in the Philippines.

00:32:07.967 --> 00:32:12.972
So, it's a very messy
and complicated situation

00:32:13.306 --> 00:32:14.974
and so how do you
imagine guerrilla

00:32:14.974 --> 00:32:16.726
recognition process working?

00:32:17.727 --> 00:32:19.562
Add to that they
put a timeline on it.

00:32:19.562 --> 00:32:23.066
And that's designed to,
I think, exclude people.

00:32:23.066 --> 00:32:25.026
[Cinematic music]

00:32:25.026 --> 00:32:26.069
I mean, this narrative
of World War II

00:32:26.069 --> 00:32:28.363
is that the United States,
like, saved the world

00:32:28.363 --> 00:32:31.240
from fascism, it saved
the world for democracy.

00:32:32.492 --> 00:32:33.993
Well, the Filipinos contributed

00:32:33.993 --> 00:32:37.413
to that effort to enormous degree.

00:32:42.168 --> 00:32:43.586
And they have been essentially

00:32:43.586 --> 00:32:45.964
written out of that story entirely.

00:32:45.964 --> 00:32:50.051
The, sort of, most celebrated
figure in U.S. politics

00:32:50.051 --> 00:32:52.053
is like the veteran
in the U.S. military,

00:32:52.053 --> 00:32:53.346
it's like the sacred cow.

00:32:53.346 --> 00:32:55.848
These are veterans
of the United States.

00:32:55.848 --> 00:32:57.725
They're not just veterans
of the Philippines, right?

00:32:57.725 --> 00:32:59.852
They fought under U.S. command,

00:32:59.852 --> 00:33:01.562
they fought under the U.S. flag.

00:33:01.562 --> 00:33:04.857
And yet these are an enormous
population of veterans

00:33:04.857 --> 00:33:06.943
who not only have
they not been given

00:33:06.943 --> 00:33:08.111
what they were promised,

00:33:08.111 --> 00:33:10.530
but they have largely been
written out of history.

00:33:10.530 --> 00:33:12.949
[Rhythmic drums]

00:33:14.325 --> 00:33:18.162
-[Gen. Taguba] You go back
through history, the Tuskegee Airmen,

00:33:18.162 --> 00:33:21.582
African American, considered
to be non-citizens

00:33:21.582 --> 00:33:23.001
even though they were citizens.

00:33:23.001 --> 00:33:26.796
So, they fought for our country.

00:33:26.796 --> 00:33:30.967
The Japanese American, 120,000
were interned during the war,

00:33:30.967 --> 00:33:34.137
so 16,000 decided I'm
gonna fight for my country,

00:33:34.137 --> 00:33:37.056
regardless of whether my
family member is interned

00:33:37.056 --> 00:33:39.517
in those 11 camps, so they fought.

00:33:40.351 --> 00:33:43.354
The Women Air Service
Pilots considered

00:33:43.354 --> 00:33:44.355
almost non-citizens, right?

00:33:44.355 --> 00:33:46.774
'Cause they didn't have
women's rights at the time.

00:33:46.774 --> 00:33:49.652
Well, 3,000 of them flew
jets across the country.

00:33:51.821 --> 00:33:53.865
Puerto Rican soldiers did that.

00:33:55.950 --> 00:33:57.535
Navajo code talkers.

00:34:01.247 --> 00:34:05.084
Even today, we cannot fight alone.

00:34:06.878 --> 00:34:09.756
Why do people have to
prove their citizenship,

00:34:09.756 --> 00:34:12.550
immigrants and native-born Americans,

00:34:12.550 --> 00:34:15.094
to prove that they
love their country.

00:34:15.094 --> 00:34:18.014
Unequivocally they're willing
to die for their country.

00:34:18.014 --> 00:34:21.059
There are 57,000 that
were killed in action.

00:34:21.059 --> 00:34:23.770
Thousands more were wounded for life.

00:34:23.770 --> 00:34:27.982
Even to this day. And thousands
more are missing in action.

00:34:27.982 --> 00:34:30.026
How do you ameliorate that?

00:34:30.026 --> 00:34:30.943
How do you mitigate that?

00:34:30.943 --> 00:34:35.114
How do you reconcile the
fact that 57,000 died,

00:34:35.114 --> 00:34:36.699
yet you won't recognize them?

00:34:39.410 --> 00:34:40.953
[Intrepid guitar]

00:34:40.953 --> 00:34:42.497
-[Jon Melegrito] I'm the
son of a veteran.

00:34:42.497 --> 00:34:45.958
My father, Gregorio Melegrito,
served as a guerrilla

00:34:45.958 --> 00:34:47.126
during the war.

00:34:47.126 --> 00:34:51.589
I realized that there
was this grave injustice

00:34:51.589 --> 00:34:56.010
that he and his comrades
were a victim of,

00:34:56.010 --> 00:34:58.596
and that is the Rescission Act,

00:34:58.596 --> 00:35:00.014
that they were
deprived of benefits,

00:35:00.014 --> 00:35:01.641
they weren't given recognition.

00:35:01.641 --> 00:35:05.144
So, slowly I became
engaged and involved

00:35:05.144 --> 00:35:09.023
with community organizations
that were advocating

00:35:09.023 --> 00:35:13.569
to repeal the Rescission Act,
to really make Congress aware

00:35:13.569 --> 00:35:16.364
that they did a
very humiliating

00:35:16.364 --> 00:35:18.491
and an unjust act
to these veterans.

00:35:19.867 --> 00:35:21.702
Working with Congress
was a challenge

00:35:21.702 --> 00:35:26.707
because we were essentially
a community that was

00:35:26.749 --> 00:35:31.754
just beginning to be aware
of our potential capacity

00:35:33.881 --> 00:35:38.469
to influence legislation, so
we have to overcome the sense

00:35:38.469 --> 00:35:41.055
of, you know,
we're just Filipinos.

00:35:41.055 --> 00:35:43.015
Who are we to even
make a difference?

00:35:43.015 --> 00:35:47.103
Who are we that would even
somehow make an impact

00:35:47.103 --> 00:35:50.064
on these people in Congress?

00:35:50.064 --> 00:35:53.025
-[Feliciana] 45 years
after the Rescission Acts,

00:35:53.025 --> 00:35:57.321
Senator Daniel Inouye, a
Japanese American veteran

00:35:57.321 --> 00:36:00.074
of World War II, who
served with distinction

00:36:00.074 --> 00:36:01.951
and was all too familiar

00:36:01.951 --> 00:36:05.997
with race-based U.S.
governmental policy, recognized

00:36:05.997 --> 00:36:10.751
and took up the cause of
Filipino veterans in Congress.

00:36:10.751 --> 00:36:13.963
-[Marie Blanco] I started at the very
bottom, staff assistant.

00:36:13.963 --> 00:36:17.091
I did a lot of secretarial work.

00:36:17.091 --> 00:36:19.969
Then I asked the Senator,
if I could start

00:36:19.969 --> 00:36:24.974
working on casework, then I
moved to legislative director,

00:36:27.268 --> 00:36:32.231
and then from there I became
like the Deputy Chief of Staff

00:36:32.231 --> 00:36:35.568
and the last year and a half,

00:36:35.568 --> 00:36:38.988
I was his Chief of Staff
until the day he passed.

00:36:40.072 --> 00:36:44.994
-[Jon] Congress really had no sense
whatsoever of the history

00:36:44.994 --> 00:36:48.497
of Filipinos fighting
under the American flag.

00:36:48.497 --> 00:36:52.376
They had no history of
Filipinos fighting side by side

00:36:52.376 --> 00:36:54.295
with American soldiers.

00:36:54.295 --> 00:36:55.630
They have no history
of that the Philippines

00:36:55.630 --> 00:36:58.049
was even a
Commonwealth United States.

00:36:58.049 --> 00:37:00.635
How do we deal
with this opposition

00:37:00.635 --> 00:37:03.387
to even opening up their
minds, to the possibility

00:37:03.387 --> 00:37:06.057
that these Filipino veterans
deserve to be recognized,

00:37:06.057 --> 00:37:09.602
and they deserve the benefits
that was promised to them.

00:37:11.312 --> 00:37:14.023
-[Marie] We worked on a bill that
would give them naturalization.

00:37:14.023 --> 00:37:16.984
And there was a small
provision that was inserted

00:37:16.984 --> 00:37:19.153
in the Immigration Act of 1990.

00:37:23.115 --> 00:37:27.370
It wasn't a full bill, it was
a provision that was inserted

00:37:27.370 --> 00:37:31.958
into the a bigger bill, so,
we took what we could get.

00:38:03.030 --> 00:38:06.117
-[Feliciana] Veterans
still faced obstacles

00:38:06.117 --> 00:38:09.745
to naturalization, but
with the help of lawyers

00:38:09.745 --> 00:38:13.708
and advocates, some began
to meet with success.

00:38:54.540 --> 00:38:57.460
-[Feliciana] With the passage
of the Immigration Act,

00:38:57.460 --> 00:39:00.963
more than 25,000 aging
veterans

00:39:00.963 --> 00:39:03.966
arrived over a
period of 10 years.

00:39:03.966 --> 00:39:08.220
For many, spouses and
children lagged behind,

00:39:08.220 --> 00:39:12.475
and some still do as provisions
for our family members

00:39:12.475 --> 00:39:14.060
were not included in the bill.

00:39:15.102 --> 00:39:19.023
Rudy's wife lagged
behind him for two years

00:39:19.023 --> 00:39:21.317
and his children even longer.

00:39:40.753 --> 00:39:43.339
-[Feliciana] With our
new naturalization

00:39:43.339 --> 00:39:48.344
and an average individual
SSI payment of $450 per month

00:39:48.636 --> 00:39:51.972
to live on, our battle
for full rights

00:39:51.972 --> 00:39:56.268
and recognition as U.S.
veterans continued.

00:39:56.268 --> 00:39:58.479
-[Jon] You know, there would
be small victories,

00:39:58.479 --> 00:40:02.316
like they would approve
burial benefits for instance.

00:40:02.316 --> 00:40:05.027
And of course, you know,
they argue that they'd

00:40:05.027 --> 00:40:08.989
rather give them burial benefits
than healthcare pension.

00:40:08.989 --> 00:40:12.076
They would promise to
repeal the Rescission Act,

00:40:12.076 --> 00:40:16.122
but then again, because the
nature of Congress is that

00:40:16.122 --> 00:40:17.623
well, we don't have
the money for this,

00:40:17.623 --> 00:40:19.375
you know, it's always
about the money.

00:40:19.375 --> 00:40:22.086
We have Filipino American veterans

00:40:22.086 --> 00:40:25.005
from all over the United States.

00:40:25.005 --> 00:40:27.383
What do we want?
- Equity.

00:40:27.383 --> 00:40:30.052
- When do we want it?
- Now.

00:40:30.052 --> 00:40:32.096
-[Jon] And we always
posed it as, you know,

00:40:32.096 --> 00:40:36.100
this is a matter of honor,
this is a matter of justice,

00:40:36.100 --> 00:40:39.854
this is a matter of
fulfilling a promise

00:40:39.854 --> 00:40:41.981
that you made to these soldiers

00:40:41.981 --> 00:40:46.235
when you swore them in
as part of the U.S. Army.

00:40:46.235 --> 00:40:49.280
- It is contrary to
what America stands for.

00:40:49.280 --> 00:40:54.285
Against Equal Protection,
against Due Process,

00:40:54.285 --> 00:40:56.036
Civil Rights extended to everybody.

00:40:56.036 --> 00:40:59.331
We know that Due Process
and Equal Treatment

00:40:59.331 --> 00:41:01.375
are universal in character.

00:41:01.375 --> 00:41:04.128
And so no group in
the same situation

00:41:04.128 --> 00:41:05.963
should be discriminated against.

00:41:05.963 --> 00:41:10.050
And we, only the Filipinos,
are not receiving the benefits.

00:41:10.050 --> 00:41:12.761
-[Marie] Year after
year, I mean, we'd get

00:41:12.761 --> 00:41:17.141
that bill ready and every
Congress, he would reintroduce it,

00:41:17.141 --> 00:41:19.518
but it would just be
referred to committee

00:41:19.518 --> 00:41:22.271
and die in committee.

00:41:22.271 --> 00:41:24.940
-[Feliciana] The battles
for recognition and benefits

00:41:24.940 --> 00:41:29.945
were incremental and veteran
disenfranchisement continued.

00:41:38.412 --> 00:41:40.164
-[Feliciana] Refusing
to be dissuaded,

00:41:40.164 --> 00:41:45.044
nationalized veterans would
attend every hearing possible,

00:41:45.044 --> 00:41:49.256
fully engaging our newfound
rights as Americans.

00:41:49.256 --> 00:41:52.301
But again, we met
with obstructions

00:41:52.301 --> 00:41:55.804
and were shut out of
many of the talks.

00:42:45.145 --> 00:42:49.066
-[Jon] I remember in one of the
hearings on one of the bills,

00:42:49.066 --> 00:42:52.987
and they voted it down,
and there were hundreds

00:42:52.987 --> 00:42:55.990
of Filipino veterans
amassing in the hallway.

00:42:55.990 --> 00:43:00.035
And after the hearing,
despite the negative vote,

00:43:01.161 --> 00:43:02.705
these veterans were still singing

00:43:02.705 --> 00:43:05.124
God Bless America, right?

00:43:05.124 --> 00:43:06.458
I mean, it was a powerful,

00:43:06.458 --> 00:43:10.045
emotional outpouring of gratitude.

00:43:10.045 --> 00:43:13.048
And yet, you know, deep in
their hearts, they were hurt.

00:43:14.758 --> 00:43:19.054
-[Jackie Speier] Out of thin air
they started singing God Bless America,

00:43:19.054 --> 00:43:20.514
that is who they are.

00:43:21.390 --> 00:43:23.934
They are Americans and we owe them.

00:43:26.020 --> 00:43:30.065
-[Jon] They still believe that
somewhere, sometime, somehow

00:43:30.065 --> 00:43:33.277
America will do the right thing.

00:43:33.277 --> 00:43:35.362
And I think for the
living veterans today,

00:43:35.362 --> 00:43:37.990
even if they didn't
get their benefits,

00:43:37.990 --> 00:43:39.241
I think deep in their hearts,

00:43:39.241 --> 00:43:41.160
they still believe that the America

00:43:41.160 --> 00:43:45.372
that they fought for will
somehow do the right thing

00:43:45.372 --> 00:43:46.957
and they haven't given up on them.

00:43:49.877 --> 00:43:52.963
- There was a promise,
a solemn promise

00:43:53.964 --> 00:43:58.636
on the part of Americans
and by congressional action,

00:43:58.636 --> 00:44:00.012
we break that promise.

00:44:02.139 --> 00:44:07.144
Here we have a bill before us
that will restore this honor.

00:44:09.104 --> 00:44:12.775
And as I speak here,
men are dying.

00:44:14.360 --> 00:44:17.112
And by the time we consider
this measure and pass it,

00:44:17.988 --> 00:44:20.616
there'll be hundreds
more who will die.

00:44:21.700 --> 00:44:24.161
It's not a matter of
money, Mr. President,

00:44:24.161 --> 00:44:25.412
it's a matter of honor.

00:44:28.040 --> 00:44:32.002
-[Feliciana] Almost 20 years
after the Immigration Act,

00:44:32.002 --> 00:44:35.130
it seemed like advocates
were getting someplace

00:44:35.130 --> 00:44:36.131
in the passing of the

00:44:36.131 --> 00:44:39.259
Filipino Veterans
Equity Compensation Act.

00:44:39.259 --> 00:44:43.055
This bill provided for
a one-time payment,

00:44:43.055 --> 00:44:45.599
offered to individual
Filipino veterans

00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:47.935
to settle the debt
once and for all,

00:44:47.935 --> 00:44:52.064
but without changing our
service to active duty.

00:44:53.357 --> 00:44:55.067
Filipino American troops

00:44:55.067 --> 00:44:58.028
still were not
given the distinction

00:44:58.028 --> 00:45:00.948
of Veteran of the United States.

00:45:00.948 --> 00:45:05.035
-[Marie] When they did appropriate
the $198 million,

00:45:05.035 --> 00:45:08.038
at the time, Senator Inouye was told

00:45:08.038 --> 00:45:09.748
that there may be a shortage.

00:45:10.999 --> 00:45:16.004
So the way that they funded
this thing, the VA could

00:45:16.588 --> 00:45:21.593
look within the department
for any additional funds.

00:45:21.593 --> 00:45:25.222
-[Feliciana] To date, of
the nearly 43,000 claims,

00:45:25.222 --> 00:45:29.017
fewer than 19,000
had been approved.

00:45:29.017 --> 00:45:32.980
I was one of the
56% who were denied.

00:45:32.980 --> 00:45:37.067
-[Seth Watkins] 56% of them
have been denied the benefit.

00:45:37.067 --> 00:45:38.652
How can that be?

00:45:40.112 --> 00:45:43.323
We're still fighting
about who is eligible

00:45:43.323 --> 00:45:46.076
from those applications
that were filed.

00:45:49.079 --> 00:45:52.374
In order to properly
fight for Filipinos,

00:45:52.374 --> 00:45:55.711
you have to know the
history, you can't avoid it.

00:45:55.711 --> 00:46:00.716
It's the center of the
entirety of the legal case

00:46:01.133 --> 00:46:04.052
or the legislative case
for why to do something.

00:46:04.052 --> 00:46:05.971
Well, I tell you when I
was looking for the needle

00:46:05.971 --> 00:46:08.891
in the haystack kind of stuff,
when you get a box like this,

00:46:08.891 --> 00:46:11.810
it's like, oh God, it's gonna
take me an hour and a half.

00:46:11.810 --> 00:46:14.855
It's the definitive report

00:46:14.855 --> 00:46:16.648
on the Guerrilla
Recognition Program,

00:46:16.648 --> 00:46:19.943
it tells sort of in blunt terms,

00:46:19.943 --> 00:46:22.070
why some decisions were made,

00:46:22.070 --> 00:46:24.490
why some people were
included and others weren't.

00:46:25.491 --> 00:46:30.454
56% were told no, you're
not eligible under the law

00:46:30.621 --> 00:46:32.456
to receive the payment.

00:46:32.456 --> 00:46:35.542
And that usually is
because you're missing one

00:46:35.542 --> 00:46:37.836
of two pieces of evidence:

00:46:37.836 --> 00:46:42.049
your name on a reconstructed
roster from the war

00:46:42.049 --> 00:46:43.509
from your guerrilla unit

00:46:44.343 --> 00:46:49.014
and a document called a
PAAGO Form 23 affidavit.

00:46:52.768 --> 00:46:55.479
The material presented in
this report has been secured

00:46:55.479 --> 00:46:58.315
from official records and
the knowledge obtained

00:46:58.315 --> 00:47:00.275
in the investigation
of over a million

00:47:00.275 --> 00:47:03.070
and a quarter claims for
guerrilla recognition.

00:47:04.029 --> 00:47:07.032
First of all, the original
rosters were almost

00:47:07.032 --> 00:47:10.160
entirely lost during the war.

00:47:10.160 --> 00:47:13.080
They didn't exist by the
time the war was over,

00:47:13.080 --> 00:47:15.999
but even when they
set up the rules,

00:47:15.999 --> 00:47:18.627
history shows that
what actually happened

00:47:18.627 --> 00:47:20.963
was a lot of politics
came into play.

00:47:20.963 --> 00:47:24.550
And unfortunately, the
rosters were limited

00:47:24.550 --> 00:47:26.468
in the number of people
who could actually

00:47:26.468 --> 00:47:31.473
be listed on them, and so
it became very arbitrary.

00:47:32.015 --> 00:47:32.975
-[Feliciana] Because there were

00:47:32.975 --> 00:47:37.604
over 1.2 million affidavits
filed, denial of claims

00:47:37.604 --> 00:47:41.775
for the 2009 Equity
Compensation is believed to be

00:47:41.775 --> 00:47:44.945
because the veteran's
name is not listed

00:47:44.945 --> 00:47:47.364
on the recognized
guerrilla roster.

00:47:48.240 --> 00:47:50.951
-[Seth] So, when they did
recognition, unfortunately,

00:47:50.951 --> 00:47:54.121
what this report says is that
they would only recognize

00:47:54.121 --> 00:47:58.083
a certain number of guerrillas
in a unit because they had

00:47:58.083 --> 00:48:01.587
to match the number of
guerrillas to a standard size

00:48:01.587 --> 00:48:03.589
of a Philippine Army unit.

00:48:03.589 --> 00:48:07.759
So, if you had 300 guerrillas,
but the standard size was 50,

00:48:07.759 --> 00:48:10.053
then you throw away 250 names.

00:48:10.053 --> 00:48:11.054
That's arbitrary.

00:48:13.056 --> 00:48:15.100
-[Feliciana] Celestino's
name, though he served

00:48:15.100 --> 00:48:18.395
in the USAFFE and as a guerrilla,

00:48:18.395 --> 00:48:21.982
did not appear on the
list, nor did mine,

00:48:21.982 --> 00:48:25.986
but we both have the
affidavit that we served.

00:48:25.986 --> 00:48:29.072
Still our claims were denied.

00:48:30.616 --> 00:48:35.621
- The original legislation
provided a modest amount

00:48:36.580 --> 00:48:39.041
of compensation to
those that served.

00:48:39.041 --> 00:48:42.711
It's really important for
us to give these veterans

00:48:42.711 --> 00:48:47.382
the opportunity to show other
evidence that they served.

00:48:47.382 --> 00:48:50.135
- And I've seen their
roster, 5,000 pages of it.

00:48:50.135 --> 00:48:53.472
My dad is on that list,
but not my uncle

00:48:53.472 --> 00:48:57.476
who was also a prisoner
of war, Etikiano Taguba,

00:48:57.476 --> 00:48:59.227
is not on that roster.

00:48:59.227 --> 00:49:02.981
They actually admitted that
they did not do a good job

00:49:02.981 --> 00:49:06.026
of accounting for everybody.

00:49:06.026 --> 00:49:07.945
And they have not
opened that roster,

00:49:07.945 --> 00:49:11.531
or even examined that
roster for its accuracy

00:49:11.531 --> 00:49:15.243
or veracity since
1974 on a memo signed

00:49:15.243 --> 00:49:18.121
by the Secretary of the Army,
his name is Bo Callaway.

00:49:19.957 --> 00:49:22.876
-[Seth] And this document
essentially says

00:49:22.876 --> 00:49:25.879
that the Filipinos
will have no ability

00:49:25.879 --> 00:49:29.049
to fix any problems
with their recognition.

00:49:29.049 --> 00:49:31.093
Why is that a problem today?

00:49:31.093 --> 00:49:32.302
Because in order to get the

00:49:32.302 --> 00:49:36.765
Filipino Veterans Equity
Compensation Benefit,

00:49:36.765 --> 00:49:39.518
you still have to have these
two pieces of evidence.

00:49:39.518 --> 00:49:44.481
What the VA has argued
is that if you can't get

00:49:44.481 --> 00:49:47.651
the benefit right now,
fine, go to the Army Board

00:49:47.651 --> 00:49:49.027
and have them correct
your military records,

00:49:49.027 --> 00:49:51.029
come back to us for the benefit.

00:49:51.029 --> 00:49:53.991
When you're 103 and they're
finished denying you,

00:49:53.991 --> 00:49:55.367
come back and try again.

00:49:55.367 --> 00:49:56.535
This is false hope.

00:49:56.535 --> 00:49:57.619
It's ridiculous.

00:49:58.537 --> 00:50:00.539
The Army won't let you
correct your records

00:50:00.539 --> 00:50:01.623
if you were Filipino.

00:50:06.628 --> 00:50:10.757
-[Jon] My father who died in
1989, never saw an experience

00:50:10.757 --> 00:50:13.301
of some small victory.

00:50:13.301 --> 00:50:16.054
He would drag me to the
Veterans Administration office

00:50:16.054 --> 00:50:17.889
to apply for his benefits.

00:50:17.889 --> 00:50:19.057
And every time we would go visit

00:50:19.057 --> 00:50:22.978
the Veterans Administration,
he would always get turned down

00:50:22.978 --> 00:50:25.981
or they would deny his
claims and he would always

00:50:25.981 --> 00:50:29.067
get frustrated and
then he'd get angry.

00:50:29.067 --> 00:50:32.696
And I was like, what is
really going on here?

00:50:32.696 --> 00:50:37.034
Somebody who was working in
the appeals department said,

00:50:37.034 --> 00:50:38.952
you know what they're
doing to your veterans?

00:50:38.952 --> 00:50:41.038
It's like giving
them ice in winter.

00:50:41.038 --> 00:50:43.040
And I said, what do you mean?

00:50:43.040 --> 00:50:44.624
I mean, it's really nothing.

00:50:44.624 --> 00:50:46.126
You know, it's ice in winter.

00:50:46.126 --> 00:50:47.961
And this was somebody
who was working

00:50:47.961 --> 00:50:52.299
within the Veterans department
who was processing claims.

00:50:53.341 --> 00:50:56.970
And he said, every time
somebody comes up

00:50:56.970 --> 00:51:00.015
with an application for a claim

00:51:00.015 --> 00:51:01.975
and it is a Filipino veteran,

00:51:01.975 --> 00:51:05.812
they would automatically
stamp the word 'gook'

00:51:06.605 --> 00:51:07.606
on the application.

00:51:08.815 --> 00:51:10.984
I said, you know, this is
more than just humiliating.

00:51:10.984 --> 00:51:13.361
It is devastating.

00:51:13.361 --> 00:51:16.782
-[Feliciana] I wrote
endlessly to the VA to appeal.

00:51:19.034 --> 00:51:21.078
Dear Sir or Ma'am.

00:51:21.078 --> 00:51:22.079
Peace be with you.

00:51:23.497 --> 00:51:26.083
I would just like
to make an appeal

00:51:26.083 --> 00:51:28.126
to approve my application.

00:51:28.126 --> 00:51:32.589
I was confirmed and certified
of my military service

00:51:32.589 --> 00:51:35.008
during World War II
in the Philippines

00:51:35.008 --> 00:51:38.095
through Philippine
Veterans Affairs Office,

00:51:38.095 --> 00:51:40.555
and Armed Forces
of the Philippines

00:51:40.555 --> 00:51:42.015
and Department of Defense

00:51:42.015 --> 00:51:45.227
as a Ward Attendant
in the Medical Corps,

00:51:45.227 --> 00:51:49.106
treating and serving the
sick and wounded soldiers.

00:51:49.106 --> 00:51:51.775
- We had the WAVES and the WACs
in the United States, right?

00:51:51.775 --> 00:51:54.986
So, women were not only
serving as nurses, right,

00:51:54.986 --> 00:51:55.987
in the U.S. military.

00:51:55.987 --> 00:51:56.947
They were doing other things.

00:51:56.947 --> 00:51:58.115
They were recognized
as veterans.

00:51:58.115 --> 00:51:59.783
They were part of the war effort.

00:52:02.160 --> 00:52:04.871
-[Feliciana] Dear Honorable
Sir or Ma'am,

00:52:05.622 --> 00:52:10.627
I believe that VA decided
my case incorrectly

00:52:10.961 --> 00:52:15.048
because all documents,
affidavits and proofs,

00:52:15.048 --> 00:52:18.969
I presented them are
valid and authentic.

00:52:18.969 --> 00:52:20.095
Peace be with you.

00:52:21.054 --> 00:52:23.098
I would like to return my case

00:52:23.098 --> 00:52:24.891
to the Board of Veteran Affairs.

00:52:26.017 --> 00:52:28.145
I would like to make this plea

00:52:28.145 --> 00:52:29.980
to please make the right judgment.

00:52:31.064 --> 00:52:34.609
I submitted my most
important documents you need

00:52:34.609 --> 00:52:36.111
to prove my status.

00:52:37.154 --> 00:52:40.949
I am in poor health and in
danger of being homeless.

00:52:42.117 --> 00:52:47.122
More power to you. Truly
yours, Feliciana G. Reyes.

00:52:47.998 --> 00:52:50.000
- She was stuck in our system,

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:53.879
bouncing around with nothing
productive occurring.

00:52:53.879 --> 00:52:55.380
Everybody was simply concluding

00:52:55.380 --> 00:52:58.049
within the administrative tasks

00:52:58.049 --> 00:53:00.051
of determining, is
she eligible or not?

00:53:00.051 --> 00:53:01.094
She's ineligible.

00:53:02.304 --> 00:53:05.056
I wasn't the first
person who noticed

00:53:05.056 --> 00:53:10.061
that there was something
amiss in the administration

00:53:10.312 --> 00:53:13.064
of this particular
benefit by the VA.

00:53:16.109 --> 00:53:18.987
You're just reading this
sort of history written

00:53:18.987 --> 00:53:21.114
by the United States Army

00:53:21.114 --> 00:53:23.825
that was originally
classified secret.

00:53:23.825 --> 00:53:26.286
The number one piece of
information that jumped out

00:53:26.286 --> 00:53:31.291
at me was if your title
was not Registered Nurse,

00:53:31.583 --> 00:53:34.961
and you were a female,
then you didn't count.

00:53:35.879 --> 00:53:40.342
The close scrutiny given the
functions of women guerrillas

00:53:40.342 --> 00:53:44.971
ultimately led to the belief
that, again excepting nurses,

00:53:44.971 --> 00:53:47.015
no women should be recognized.

00:53:48.099 --> 00:53:50.769
Your service was in nullity.

00:53:50.769 --> 00:53:55.774
It was useless in terms
of being named recognized

00:53:56.149 --> 00:53:58.985
as having served
in the guerrillas.

00:53:58.985 --> 00:54:02.489
We can see: f. That women
guerrillas be excluded.

00:54:04.074 --> 00:54:06.701
Without that document I
never would have known

00:54:06.701 --> 00:54:11.122
of this problem, but I read it
and I read it in enough spots

00:54:11.122 --> 00:54:13.250
in that document to realize,

00:54:13.250 --> 00:54:16.044
this applies to Feliciana Reyes.

00:54:16.044 --> 00:54:17.879
She wasn't a registered nurse.

00:54:17.879 --> 00:54:19.297
She was a ward attendant.

00:54:20.882 --> 00:54:23.051
-[Dr. Woods] There's countless
women guerrillas.

00:54:23.051 --> 00:54:26.054
They don't show up in
the archives as much,

00:54:26.054 --> 00:54:29.099
and they are not recognized
because the U.S. Army's program

00:54:29.099 --> 00:54:31.935
very clearly states like
you cannot both be a female

00:54:31.935 --> 00:54:33.478
and be a soldier.

00:54:33.478 --> 00:54:35.021
But are there female guerrillas?

00:54:35.021 --> 00:54:36.564
100%, yeah.

00:54:36.564 --> 00:54:39.484
-[Feliciana] We know
that women in the U.S.

00:54:39.484 --> 00:54:43.029
were not permitted to serve
in combat roles back then,

00:54:43.029 --> 00:54:47.325
but we, Filipino women, were
thrust into every imaginable

00:54:47.325 --> 00:54:52.038
position from administrative
to medical, to fighting,

00:54:52.038 --> 00:54:55.083
spying, even to
commanding units.

00:54:55.083 --> 00:54:59.087
In some units, one in ten
guerrillas was a woman.

00:55:00.297 --> 00:55:02.549
The Army knew we were there.

00:55:02.549 --> 00:55:06.344
-[Seth] That 23 is the
Form 23 Affidavit,

00:55:06.344 --> 00:55:11.349
should indicate at the beginning
that processee is female,

00:55:11.850 --> 00:55:16.146
duty performed, if processee
has experience as a nurse,

00:55:16.146 --> 00:55:19.566
a detailed statement
of such experience.

00:55:19.566 --> 00:55:24.029
There's a question on the
Form 23 Affidavit and it says,

00:55:24.029 --> 00:55:25.030
are you female?

00:55:25.947 --> 00:55:28.158
And if you answer
that question yes,

00:55:28.158 --> 00:55:31.286
then you have to state what
your responsibilities were

00:55:31.286 --> 00:55:34.039
in your job as a guerrilla.

00:55:34.039 --> 00:55:36.583
But, if you're a male, you don't.

00:55:36.583 --> 00:55:39.085
So, I sent a Freedom of
Information Act request

00:55:39.085 --> 00:55:41.087
to the National Archives.

00:55:41.087 --> 00:55:43.590
And I got a letter back
from the National Archives

00:55:43.590 --> 00:55:46.009
and Records Administration saying

00:55:46.009 --> 00:55:48.803
she's not eligible for the
equity compensation benefit.

00:55:49.804 --> 00:55:50.555
Interesting.

00:55:50.555 --> 00:55:52.015
That's not what I asked.

00:55:52.015 --> 00:55:54.559
I asked you for copies of
the documents in her file

00:55:55.935 --> 00:55:57.312
and I didn't get them.

00:55:57.312 --> 00:56:01.024
So, I filed an appeal
with the National Archives

00:56:01.024 --> 00:56:04.110
and in the end, my appeal
worked and sure enough,

00:56:04.110 --> 00:56:06.988
all of these documents were not

00:56:06.988 --> 00:56:10.075
in the Department of
Veterans Affairs file

00:56:10.075 --> 00:56:13.703
for processing this claim
for equity compensation,

00:56:13.703 --> 00:56:16.998
but they don't seem to care
that all of these records

00:56:16.998 --> 00:56:20.085
proving her service existed

00:56:20.085 --> 00:56:23.046
but were intentionally suppressed.

00:56:23.046 --> 00:56:26.132
They were withheld from
the record on appeal.

00:56:26.132 --> 00:56:27.384
How can that be?

00:56:27.384 --> 00:56:30.261
I point this out to the court,
and what does the VA do?

00:56:30.261 --> 00:56:33.807
They oppose my motion
to add these documents

00:56:33.807 --> 00:56:35.975
to the administrative record.

00:56:35.975 --> 00:56:37.143
-[Feliciana] I thought
that after the war

00:56:37.143 --> 00:56:40.939
in the Philippines, perhaps
they did not give my name

00:56:40.939 --> 00:56:42.607
to the U.S. government.

00:56:42.607 --> 00:56:44.734
I thought that might be the problem.

00:56:44.734 --> 00:56:47.862
I was told there was
a fire in St. Louis

00:56:47.862 --> 00:56:50.031
and records were destroyed.

00:56:50.031 --> 00:56:52.367
Then I thought that was the problem.

00:56:52.367 --> 00:56:55.495
I never thought the
problem was being a woman.

00:56:56.287 --> 00:57:00.041
- Ms. Reyes appeal sat fully briefed

00:57:00.041 --> 00:57:02.961
at the U.S. Court of
Appeals for Veteran's Claims

00:57:02.961 --> 00:57:05.630
for 18 months.

00:57:05.630 --> 00:57:09.467
We got a very short opinion,
essentially stating nothing,

00:57:09.467 --> 00:57:11.594
not responding to our arguments.

00:57:11.594 --> 00:57:13.346
So, we went up to the Federal Circuit

00:57:13.346 --> 00:57:17.058
and we asked to expedite her
appeal, which was granted.

00:57:17.058 --> 00:57:20.270
The court placed us
last on the arguments

00:57:20.270 --> 00:57:23.064
for the day of that
argument on December 3rd,

00:57:23.064 --> 00:57:26.067
and the argument ran over an hour

00:57:26.067 --> 00:57:29.028
over double the amount of
time that was allocated

00:57:29.028 --> 00:57:30.864
for it under the rules.

00:57:30.864 --> 00:57:32.824
They were really
interested the appeal.

00:57:34.242 --> 00:57:36.411
-[Co-counsel] This is not a mystery here,

00:57:36.411 --> 00:57:38.413
and this argument
that Mrs. Reyes could

00:57:38.413 --> 00:57:40.165
have gone to the
Army Board for correction

00:57:40.165 --> 00:57:43.042
of military records
is completely bogus

00:57:43.042 --> 00:57:48.089
because they was an announcement
of a rule right after the war

00:57:48.089 --> 00:57:49.174
that Filipinos could not- [voice fades out

00:57:49.174 --> 00:57:51.134
-[Feliciana] After so
many years of appealing.

00:57:51.134 --> 00:57:54.471
Would they finally hear me?
-[Co-counsel] So this is like serpent

00:57:54.471 --> 00:57:57.974
eating its tail-
-[Judge 1] Your Catch 22 argument

00:57:57.974 --> 00:57:59.642
is pretty good.
-[Judge 2] It seems self-evident

00:57:59.642 --> 00:58:04.397
that if the VA secretary
makes a decision based

00:58:04.397 --> 00:58:07.108
on unconstitutional criteria,

00:58:07.108 --> 00:58:09.319
the decision is unconstitutional.

00:58:09.319 --> 00:58:11.112
-[Judge 3] It seems as if
really it's coming down

00:58:11.112 --> 00:58:12.947
to whether somebody is
on the roster or not.

00:58:12.947 --> 00:58:15.575
Is that correct?
-[VA Counsel] Yes, your honor.

00:58:15.575 --> 00:58:17.994
-[Judge 1] If we should decide,

00:58:17.994 --> 00:58:19.579
hypothetically, you understand,

00:58:19.579 --> 00:58:23.124
if we should decide to
vacate and remand this back

00:58:23.124 --> 00:58:27.754
to you all to the VA
to handle it correctly,

00:58:27.754 --> 00:58:32.300
can we get some assurance
that Mrs. Reyes will not,

00:58:32.300 --> 00:58:36.095
she's 91 at the moment,
will not have to make it

00:58:36.095 --> 00:58:38.890
to a hundred in order for
her to get her $15,000.

00:58:40.975 --> 00:58:41.976
-[VA Counsel] Well, your honor.

00:58:41.976 --> 00:58:44.103
I certainly can't
make any promises.

00:58:45.980 --> 00:58:48.983
-[Feliciana] I would
like to say I was hopeful.

00:58:50.276 --> 00:58:54.531
But this has been such a
long march for so many of us.

00:58:57.325 --> 00:59:00.745
- Eddie Dela Cruz lives in Guam.

00:59:00.745 --> 00:59:02.539
He's 95 years old.

00:59:02.539 --> 00:59:05.124
He served as a guerrilla
during World War II

00:59:05.124 --> 00:59:07.043
in the Philippines.

00:59:07.043 --> 00:59:10.588
Eddie Dela Cruz represented
himself at the VA

00:59:10.588 --> 00:59:13.383
trying to get
Equity Compensation Benefit

00:59:13.383 --> 00:59:17.011
and was consistently
denied on his appeal.

00:59:17.011 --> 00:59:20.306
And then I took that appeal
to the U.S. Court of Appeals

00:59:20.306 --> 00:59:22.350
for the Federal Circuit.

00:59:22.350 --> 00:59:24.769
-[Judge 1] Why hasn't your
client gone to the Board

00:59:24.769 --> 00:59:26.646
for Correction of Military Record?

00:59:26.646 --> 00:59:29.274
-[Seth] The Army board has
had a long-standing policy

00:59:29.274 --> 00:59:30.650
that they would not hear

00:59:30.650 --> 00:59:33.611
any appeals from guerrillas, period.

00:59:33.611 --> 00:59:37.407
-[Judge 1] Is your contention
that the Board for Correction

00:59:37.407 --> 00:59:39.951
of Military Records
has not performed

00:59:39.951 --> 00:59:42.996
its statutory obligation?
-[Seth] Yes.

00:59:42.996 --> 00:59:44.455
-[VA Counsel] I understand
from reading this,

00:59:44.455 --> 00:59:47.375
is Congress understood
that it was their problem.

00:59:47.375 --> 00:59:49.002
-[Judge 2] Whose problem?

00:59:49.002 --> 00:59:49.961
The guerrillas?
-[VA Counsel] Pardon me?

00:59:49.961 --> 00:59:52.338
No, it was Congress's problem.

00:59:52.338 --> 00:59:56.301
-[Judge 2] Do you deny the
documentation in which repeatedly

00:59:56.301 --> 00:59:59.971
the Board has told don't
look at the guerrillas.

00:59:59.971 --> 01:00:02.015
-[VA Counsel] I understand
that position

01:00:02.015 --> 01:00:03.558
to be what the Army is saying.

01:00:03.558 --> 01:00:05.351
-[Judge 3] This is truly pathetic

01:00:05.351 --> 01:00:07.812
in the real sense
of the word pathos.

01:00:07.812 --> 01:00:08.980
-[VA Counsel] I understand.

01:00:10.023 --> 01:00:11.024
But, from our perspective,

01:00:11.024 --> 01:00:13.568
what we have here is a
regulation from the secretary of...

01:00:13.568 --> 01:00:15.987
-[Judge 3] Well, there
needs to be a correction.

01:00:15.987 --> 01:00:18.031
- We're waiting for the
Federal Circuit to weigh

01:00:18.031 --> 01:00:19.741
in on these issues,
and if we don't like

01:00:19.741 --> 01:00:22.744
what the federal circuit does,
we have one more shot at it.

01:00:22.744 --> 01:00:24.287
That's the U.S. Supreme Court.

01:00:26.080 --> 01:00:28.958
-[Jon] So, the struggle
that we face in terms

01:00:28.958 --> 01:00:32.086
of not only creating
greater awareness,

01:00:32.086 --> 01:00:36.341
but in accepting them as a story

01:00:36.341 --> 01:00:39.052
that's part of American history,

01:00:39.969 --> 01:00:44.057
is something that will
take a little more time.

01:00:45.725 --> 01:00:48.645
I remember the phrase,
little brown brother

01:00:48.645 --> 01:00:52.065
has always haunted
this conversation about

01:00:52.940 --> 01:00:56.694
these Filipino veterans
as somehow inferior.

01:00:57.570 --> 01:00:59.322
Is this issue a human rights issue?

01:00:59.322 --> 01:01:00.114
Absolutely.

01:01:01.115 --> 01:01:05.328
It's more than just a
question of benefits.

01:01:05.328 --> 01:01:06.746
It's human rights,
because we're talking

01:01:06.746 --> 01:01:10.958
about the lives of human beings,
who sacrifice themselves.

01:01:10.958 --> 01:01:13.002
And it's not just the veterans.

01:01:13.002 --> 01:01:15.838
It's the families of
veterans, their children,

01:01:15.838 --> 01:01:19.050
their spouses, their
relatives, their grandchildren,

01:01:19.050 --> 01:01:20.468
they're all affected.

01:01:21.719 --> 01:01:26.057
-[Marie] I wish there was a way
rather than do it incremental

01:01:26.057 --> 01:01:30.895
to try and do a massive bill,
but given the way Congress was

01:01:31.854 --> 01:01:35.942
the cost involved, I don't
think we could have achieved

01:01:35.942 --> 01:01:39.570
what we've achieved incrementally.

01:01:39.570 --> 01:01:41.989
I would like to see this
whole thing repealed.

01:01:42.740 --> 01:01:44.283
- You know, I serve as the Chair

01:01:44.283 --> 01:01:46.035
of the Military
Personnel Subcommittee

01:01:46.035 --> 01:01:49.455
of the Armed Services Committee,
so I spend a lot of time

01:01:49.455 --> 01:01:52.291
with service members
and their families.

01:01:52.291 --> 01:01:54.252
It's not just the service
member who serves.

01:01:54.252 --> 01:01:56.129
It's the family who serves

01:01:56.129 --> 01:01:58.631
and they have a right
to those benefits.

01:01:58.631 --> 01:02:02.009
Well, the Rescission
Act revoked that benefit

01:02:03.010 --> 01:02:07.724
for no reason, it appears,
than it was a monetary expense.

01:02:07.724 --> 01:02:10.017
Well, we have monetary expenses

01:02:10.017 --> 01:02:12.603
in the Veterans Administration.

01:02:12.603 --> 01:02:17.608
But when you serve, you have a
right to have those benefits.

01:02:18.943 --> 01:02:22.071
[Impactful orchestral]

01:02:23.614 --> 01:02:26.784
- This dark chapter
in American history,

01:02:28.077 --> 01:02:33.082
in order for it to be closed,
has to be accountable,

01:02:33.249 --> 01:02:37.003
because until rescinding and
repealing this Rescission Acts,

01:02:37.003 --> 01:02:40.381
that chapter will
never be totally closed.

01:02:40.381 --> 01:02:44.135
There will always be these
lingering resentments,

01:02:44.135 --> 01:02:47.889
these suspicions, these doubts,

01:02:47.889 --> 01:02:52.894
does America really uphold the
values that it says it does?

01:02:53.019 --> 01:02:55.938
[Cornet solo]

01:02:58.608 --> 01:03:00.568
-[CW Speier] The cost is
really irrelevant.

01:03:01.986 --> 01:03:04.489
You make a promise,
you keep a promise.

01:03:06.073 --> 01:03:09.327
It's much like so
much of our history

01:03:09.327 --> 01:03:12.997
where we make a commitment
and then we renege on it,

01:03:12.997 --> 01:03:18.002
and I find it so offensive, and
it has always been a mystery

01:03:19.170 --> 01:03:23.090
to me how we would
let so much time pass

01:03:23.090 --> 01:03:28.054
and not give these heroes
the just compensation

01:03:29.972 --> 01:03:32.141
and services that they deserve.

01:03:32.141 --> 01:03:33.518
-[Male off-screen] Full recognition.

01:03:35.102 --> 01:03:37.021
Now!

01:03:37.021 --> 01:03:39.982
-[Gen. Taguba] A lot of the
veterans who were disenfranchised

01:03:39.982 --> 01:03:42.485
after the war were
going after benefits

01:03:42.485 --> 01:03:43.945
that were denied to them.

01:03:43.945 --> 01:03:48.574
So, 75 years in the
making, well, in 2014,

01:03:48.574 --> 01:03:50.827
we just decided that
enough is enough,

01:03:50.827 --> 01:03:53.538
that perhaps we should request
Congress to provide them

01:03:53.538 --> 01:03:55.331
with a Congressional Gold Medal.

01:03:55.331 --> 01:03:57.959
-[Feliciana] Through the
Filipino Veterans Recognition

01:03:57.959 --> 01:04:02.296
and Education Project, General
Taguba petitioned Congress

01:04:02.296 --> 01:04:06.467
for a Congressional Gold
Medal on behalf of all troops,

01:04:06.467 --> 01:04:10.972
both American and Filipino,
who served in the Philippines.

01:04:10.972 --> 01:04:13.975
In 2016, that request was granted.

01:04:13.975 --> 01:04:16.060
-[Speaker Ryan] The Congressional
Gold Medal is one

01:04:16.060 --> 01:04:19.730
of our oldest traditions
here in the Capitol.

01:04:19.730 --> 01:04:23.609
It is the highest civilian
honor that this body can bestow.

01:04:23.609 --> 01:04:25.862
-[Feliciana] At the
first award ceremony

01:04:25.862 --> 01:04:30.867
in October of 2017, the
VA ceded recognition

01:04:31.033 --> 01:04:35.246
to Second Lieutenant
Almeda, more than 20 years

01:04:35.246 --> 01:04:37.707
after he became a citizen,

01:04:37.707 --> 01:04:42.003
even though his name still
was not on the roster.

01:04:42.003 --> 01:04:43.963
-[Announcer] Ladies and
gentlemen, Filipino veteran,

01:04:43.963 --> 01:04:46.549
Mr. Celestino Almeda.

01:04:46.549 --> 01:04:49.385
[Crowd applauding]

01:05:47.985 --> 01:05:51.697
- I was representing a
lot of American officers

01:05:51.697 --> 01:05:55.159
that were in the battles,
that were leading the troops

01:05:55.159 --> 01:06:00.164
and many of them did not make it.

01:06:00.790 --> 01:06:03.084
And the sacrifices that they made,

01:06:05.294 --> 01:06:07.296
it was important
to stand up for that.

01:06:11.092 --> 01:06:14.095
-[Announcer] Mr. Frank Francone.
-[Frank F.] In my effort

01:06:14.095 --> 01:06:17.473
to try to locate families
that might be eligible

01:06:17.473 --> 01:06:19.600
for this Congressional Gold Medal,

01:06:19.600 --> 01:06:24.605
I discovered a Nacias family
in San Antonio, Texas,

01:06:24.981 --> 01:06:27.775
and it turns out that
they were the children

01:06:27.775 --> 01:06:30.152
of this Lieutenant Nacias that I knew.

01:06:30.152 --> 01:06:35.157
Now he had since passed away,
but I was given the honor

01:06:35.574 --> 01:06:38.619
of presenting the gold
medal to his family.

01:06:38.619 --> 01:06:39.996
And that was a blessing for me

01:06:42.164 --> 01:06:46.961
because it helped me remember his,

01:06:46.961 --> 01:06:49.130
our relationship in those days.

01:06:49.130 --> 01:06:52.091
[Group sings National Anthem]

01:06:56.095 --> 01:06:58.764
It's been a blessing
to be able to contact

01:06:58.764 --> 01:07:01.892
some of these families
that don't know about

01:07:01.892 --> 01:07:05.604
their eligibility, that's
still part of my mission.

01:07:06.605 --> 01:07:10.109
♪ And the home of the brave ♪

01:07:17.074 --> 01:07:19.994
[Crowd applauding]

01:07:21.287 --> 01:07:23.080
-[Male Speaker] Ladies and gentleman,
welcome to the

01:07:23.080 --> 01:07:26.083
Congressional Gold
Medal Award presentation

01:07:26.083 --> 01:07:27.793
of the Filipino Veterans Recognition

01:07:27.793 --> 01:07:30.504
and Educational Project Region Six.

01:07:30.504 --> 01:07:34.091
We're here to honor the
families of five Filipinos

01:07:34.091 --> 01:07:36.969
and American veterans who are
deceased for their loyalty

01:07:36.969 --> 01:07:40.014
and honorable service and
duty to their country.

01:07:42.141 --> 01:07:46.270
-[Frank C.] We heard it on TV and I said,

01:07:46.270 --> 01:07:50.649
wow, it's about time that we
had gotten an honor for that.

01:07:50.649 --> 01:07:52.943
- I'm very honored
and very humbled,

01:07:52.943 --> 01:07:56.405
and it just goes to show all
the sacrifice and service,

01:07:57.573 --> 01:08:02.536
that he did for the Philippines
and the United States,

01:08:02.995 --> 01:08:06.040
and we're getting to kind of
enjoy some of that this week.

01:08:08.793 --> 01:08:13.464
-[Joy] I would be very proud that
my father who gave the ultimate

01:08:13.464 --> 01:08:16.092
sacrifice for the
freedom we now enjoy.

01:08:17.259 --> 01:08:20.054
I am so proud of his memory.

01:08:20.054 --> 01:08:23.974
-[Frank C.] I am absolutely thrilled
that the United States

01:08:23.974 --> 01:08:26.936
recognize the service of my dad.

01:08:26.936 --> 01:08:31.482
It would have been important
for him to receive the medal.

01:08:31.482 --> 01:08:33.234
We all suffered.

01:08:33.234 --> 01:08:36.529
We are all in this together.

01:08:36.529 --> 01:08:39.740
- So, I'm just glad that a
lot of our living veterans

01:08:39.740 --> 01:08:42.493
and the next of kin
are able to receive it.

01:08:42.493 --> 01:08:47.081
We've done 52 ceremonies
now, since October 25, 2017.

01:08:48.707 --> 01:08:51.127
And we have three or
four more to go.

01:08:51.127 --> 01:08:53.129
And I'm sure the community

01:08:53.129 --> 01:08:54.964
would want to have more ceremonies.

01:08:56.882 --> 01:09:00.469
-[Diwa Carabio] I think it means
more to me because of what my father did,

01:09:01.220 --> 01:09:03.472
but I think that as far
as my father's concerned,

01:09:03.472 --> 01:09:07.226
a medal is really, it's
just an ornament type thing.

01:09:07.226 --> 01:09:09.979
He just did what
his duty called for.

01:09:09.979 --> 01:09:10.980
And that was that.

01:09:10.980 --> 01:09:12.815
That's why I'm here.

01:09:13.983 --> 01:09:15.025
To celebrate it for him.

01:09:15.025 --> 01:09:17.111
Let's put it that way.

01:09:38.007 --> 01:09:43.012
- The Congressional Gold Medal
was essentially the symbolic

01:09:43.262 --> 01:09:47.975
act that provided recognition
to these Filipino veterans.

01:09:47.975 --> 01:09:51.520
So, I'm proud to be
part of these initiatives,

01:09:51.520 --> 01:09:54.732
even if the Rescission Act remains

01:09:54.732 --> 01:09:59.695
to be the one Act that
still has to be repealed.

01:10:00.070 --> 01:10:03.741
At least over the years, we
felt that we did our best

01:10:04.575 --> 01:10:08.954
to at least achieve a
small measure of justice.

01:10:08.954 --> 01:10:11.123
To secure the recognition,

01:10:11.123 --> 01:10:14.335
it is not by any means
the end of this story.

01:10:15.961 --> 01:10:17.546
-[Feliciana] Though,
the Congressional Gold

01:10:17.546 --> 01:10:20.049
Medal was awarded,

01:10:20.049 --> 01:10:24.011
it failed to change the
veteran status for Filipinos

01:10:24.011 --> 01:10:27.056
still seeking recognition
from the VA.

01:10:31.894 --> 01:10:35.022
[Low guitar chords echo]

01:10:59.296 --> 01:11:01.382
-[Gen. Taguba] This is a
national issue.

01:11:01.382 --> 01:11:02.967
This is not a Filipino issue.

01:11:02.967 --> 01:11:06.971
This is an American issue
because who did they fight for?

01:11:06.971 --> 01:11:07.972
The United States.

01:11:09.473 --> 01:11:10.975
-[Jon] This isn't just a
struggle for Filipinos.

01:11:10.975 --> 01:11:15.020
This is really a struggle
for all Americans.

01:11:15.020 --> 01:11:17.147
And when you see the
American people galvanized

01:11:17.147 --> 01:11:19.608
and mobilized to say,
we agree with you

01:11:19.608 --> 01:11:23.779
and let's fight together
and let's achieve something

01:11:23.779 --> 01:11:27.825
to honor them, then to me,
over the years,

01:11:27.825 --> 01:11:31.078
this activism is
what it's all about.

01:11:31.078 --> 01:11:33.289
[Crowd applauding]

01:11:33.289 --> 01:11:35.249
And, I recollect Independence
Day in the Philippines

01:11:35.249 --> 01:11:37.793
when they were lowering the
flag of the United States

01:11:37.793 --> 01:11:40.379
and they were raising the
flag of the Philippines.

01:11:41.755 --> 01:11:43.799
And they got entangled
in the middle.

01:11:45.092 --> 01:11:50.055
So yes, we cannot separate
the two countries,

01:11:50.055 --> 01:11:53.058
the narratives somehow
are entangled in a way,

01:11:53.058 --> 01:11:57.604
and it needs to be untangled
in a more rational way

01:11:57.604 --> 01:12:01.775
that really gives due
respect to these two peoples

01:12:01.775 --> 01:12:05.863
so that we could have the
America that we dreamed about.

01:12:16.582 --> 01:12:19.043
- Nobody ever wanted the
contents of those files

01:12:19.043 --> 01:12:20.336
to see the light of day.

01:12:20.336 --> 01:12:23.130
I can guess the reason:
because they tell a story

01:12:23.130 --> 01:12:24.840
that's not a flattering story

01:12:24.840 --> 01:12:26.633
for the United States government.

01:12:26.633 --> 01:12:30.637
That we've disenfranchised all
of these people for decades,

01:12:30.637 --> 01:12:32.222
like 75 years.

01:12:32.222 --> 01:12:34.016
It's not a good story.

01:12:35.809 --> 01:12:38.020
-[Dr. Woods] I think the
Congressional Gold Medal was huge

01:12:38.020 --> 01:12:40.522
because it was recognition.

01:12:40.522 --> 01:12:44.151
These individuals had been
fighting just to be recognized

01:12:44.151 --> 01:12:46.987
that they fought behind enemy
lines for three years.

01:12:46.987 --> 01:12:48.030
So is that significant?

01:12:48.030 --> 01:12:49.490
Yes, but it has nothing to do

01:12:49.490 --> 01:12:50.532
with the Rescission Acts, right?

01:12:50.532 --> 01:12:54.161
It's not an acknowledgement
that the Rescission Acts was

01:12:54.161 --> 01:12:56.997
this, you know, sort of
grave injustice, right.

01:12:56.997 --> 01:13:00.876
That it was a broken promise,
100% a broken promise.

01:13:00.876 --> 01:13:03.045
- I'm still mad about this.

01:13:04.004 --> 01:13:08.801
I would like to see the
Rescission Acts repealed.

01:13:08.801 --> 01:13:11.345
You know, it took 75
years for them to even

01:13:11.345 --> 01:13:14.473
just get a
Congressional Gold Medal.

01:13:14.473 --> 01:13:16.850
Why can't we just
repeal it already?

01:13:17.768 --> 01:13:20.562
You know, to me, it's
like a stain there.

01:13:23.732 --> 01:13:26.777
-[Victor] It just was an
embarrassment to me to realize

01:13:26.777 --> 01:13:29.029
our own country had treated

01:13:29.029 --> 01:13:32.032
our own American people this way.

01:13:32.032 --> 01:13:34.034
They promised it and backpedaled.

01:13:35.577 --> 01:13:37.121
And a promise is a promise.

01:15:47.000 --> 01:15:49.962
- So, the bill I've
introduced would provide

01:15:49.962 --> 01:15:53.966
any service member during World
War II of Filipino descent

01:15:53.966 --> 01:15:56.510
that could provide
information about the fact

01:15:56.510 --> 01:15:59.012
that they served would
be in a position

01:15:59.012 --> 01:16:03.976
to receive veterans benefits,
and widows and children

01:16:04.560 --> 01:16:07.938
of that veteran would
receive the same benefits,

01:16:07.938 --> 01:16:12.943
that a veteran that he served
with shoulder to shoulder

01:16:13.485 --> 01:16:16.863
during the war
would have received.

01:16:18.115 --> 01:16:22.494
It's a bipartisan issue, the
bill has bipartisan support.

01:16:22.494 --> 01:16:27.082
We have over 25
sponsors on the bill

01:16:27.082 --> 01:16:29.126
and we could have far more.

01:16:31.962 --> 01:16:35.048
There's about 11,000 Filipinos

01:16:35.048 --> 01:16:38.051
who served in
World War II, still alive.

01:16:38.051 --> 01:16:40.095
-[Jon] All I can
remember is he said

01:16:40.095 --> 01:16:42.014
we never wanted to surrender.

01:16:42.014 --> 01:16:46.101
And so that's the one thing
that always stays with me.

01:16:46.101 --> 01:16:49.229
He said, despite the odds
against them, you know,

01:16:49.229 --> 01:16:54.234
no, no weapons, no equipment,
no forces to rescue them.

01:16:54.943 --> 01:16:59.239
And yet the sense of we
want to keep on fighting,

01:17:00.949 --> 01:17:02.576
they kept it alive.

01:17:02.576 --> 01:17:05.954
And that told me that I
should continue the mission

01:17:07.039 --> 01:17:10.167
that he started, and it's a
mission that we will continue,

01:17:10.167 --> 01:17:12.294
and we cannot give up.

01:17:12.294 --> 01:17:13.837
We have to keep on fighting.

01:17:16.840 --> 01:17:19.343
-[CW Speier] I think
there's a pathway

01:17:19.343 --> 01:17:22.054
by which this
legislation can move.

01:17:22.054 --> 01:17:24.765
It's about fairness and equity.

01:17:24.765 --> 01:17:28.393
And it's about putting
yourself in the shoes

01:17:28.393 --> 01:17:30.103
of one of these veterans.

01:17:31.146 --> 01:17:35.859
-[Gen. Taguba] Recognition means
I took away your dignity and your honor

01:17:35.859 --> 01:17:37.736
fighting and dying
for your country.

01:17:39.029 --> 01:17:40.614
It's called pride.

01:17:40.614 --> 01:17:41.615
It's called identity.

01:17:41.615 --> 01:17:42.866
It's called your legacy.

01:17:44.826 --> 01:17:47.120
If we don't tell their
stories, it's gonna die.

01:17:50.290 --> 01:17:52.167
-[Feliciana] More power to you.

01:17:52.167 --> 01:17:54.044
And may God bless you a lot.

01:17:55.462 --> 01:17:56.463
Truly yours,

01:17:57.255 --> 01:17:58.715
Feliciana Reyes.

01:18:03.095 --> 01:18:06.014
[Mournful guitar and violin melody]