an honour bittersweet

^ Celebration of the Signing of the US Economic Stimulus Bill. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Speech During the Celebration of the Signing of the US Economic Stimulus Bill including Filipino World war II Veterans Benefits.

Package includes money for Filipino war veterans | Times-Herald

The vets' quest for compensation stems from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision in July 1941 to draft 140,000 soldiers from the Philippines, then an American colony. A year later, Congress passed a law allowing Filipino soldiers to become U.S. citizens with full military benefits.

But in 1946, after Filipino soldiers fought and died side by side with U.S. troops, President Truman signed two bills denying them citizenship as well as most veterans' benefits. The bills were post-war cost-saving measures that Truman said he regretted.

The compensation was not in the House version of the stimulus bill. But it was inserted by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, who lost an arm in combat in World War II.

The compensation provision has not been without controversy. CNN's Lou Dobbs is railing against it, and several senators -- including Arizona's John McCain -- objected to including the lump-sum payments in a bill whose purpose is to stimulate the U.S. economy.

Inouye said "the honor of the United States is what is involved.''

Of the 250,000 Filipino vets of World War II, about 12,000 live in the Philippines and 6,000 in the United States. About 30,000 came to the country in the early '90s after President George H.W. Bush signed a bill granting them instant citizenship. About 2,000 settled in the Bay Area. But all but a few hundred have either died or returned to the Philippines because life here was too hard.

Daddy (we pronounce it "DAH-dee" in my family) fought alongside U.S. troops in the jungles of the Philippines during WWII. From what Nanay ("Mom" in Tagalog) told me, a shell explosion nearly rendered Daddy impotent. The explosion killed some of his compatriots. Nanay joked that there was a difference of an inch or so between Daddy subsequently starting a family with her, and of none of us - kids, grandkids, great grandkids - ever existing at all.

Daddy died almost 4 years ago. Four years too late to receive the $15,000 the United States promises him now under President Obama's stimulus package ($9,000 had he not been a U.S. citizen), and almost 70 years too late after the U.S. promised some kind of honorary recompense. I don't yet know the details, but I'm doubtful any of that money can be still made available to Nanay, his widow. It may not extend that way.

I feel more sorrowful for those old veterans, Daddy's fellow soldiers, back in the Philippines. They had endured decades of poverty and inadequate health care. The money they never received from the U.S. all those years could've helped them immensely. Alas, many of them have already died. If the money were not extended to their spouses and family, then what good is it? It only magnifies the years of cruel insensitivity the U.S. has displayed toward them. Toward Daddy.

Stimulus To Repay Debt To WWII Filipino Veterans | NPR (audio story)

Morning Edition, February 23, 2009 · The economic stimulus bill signed by President Obama contains $198 million to pay a long-overdue debt to Philippine veterans of World War II. They were promised payments for fighting the Japanese but never were paid. Some of those war veterans in California desperately need the money.

I do know that if Daddy were still alive today and received the money, it would mean nothing to him. What did mean everything to him was the honour of defending his country against invading enemies, of fighting alongside the U.S., the country that to him deeply meant the light of the world in terms of possibilities, the country he eventually made home with Nanay and us, his kids. Being in the U.S. was all he wanted for us, meaning opportunities for us that many Filipinos back in the Philippines would never enjoy.

If Daddy had received that money today he would have divided it among his kids and grandkids, perhaps helping pay for some of my nieces' and nephews' college tuition, investing in bonds for my grand niece, and just endowing us with it and trusting us to do wise things with it.

Money to him only had meaning as a symbol. In this case it would have meant a certain honour, a "Thank You" from the country he had fought with, and in the end, the country he called home.


Postscript:

According to The Seattle Times:

"The U.S. Embassy in Manila said it will start accepting applications next week for lump-sum payments of $15,000 for veterans who have become U.S. citizens and $9,000 for non-U.S. citizens.

Applications must be submitted by Feb. 16, 2010, and claims by spouses, widows or children of veterans will not be accepted..."

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