Filipino Veterans

In 1946, President Truman signed the Rescission Act. His action of doing so, resulted in the Filipino Veterans of WWII to not recieve the 'full benefits' that the U.S. had promised these soldiers. Truman wrote to the leaders of the House and Senate, stating that "The record of the Philippine soldiers for bravery and loyalty is second to none. Their assignment was as bloody and difficult as any in which our American soldiers engaged. Under desperate circumstances they acquitted themselves nobly." Therefore, the U.S. did not pay the Filipinos for their services. Today, out of the 250,000 Fillipino soldiers who volunteered to fight, only about 15,000 are alive. "We were loyal to the United States. Even up to now, we are loyal to the United States, except that the United States has forgotten us in many ways. It's only now, because of the insistence of Sen. [Daniel] Inouye in the Senate, he was able to act on this." Franco Arcebal, another leader of the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, said. "Now we are only 15,000. And the amount that they're giving us is a small amount. But we appreciate that. Because it will finally recognize our services ... as active service in the armed forces of the United States," he added. The Veterans who now are U.S. citizens are recieving $15,000 and the non-citizens will recieve $7,000. Repaying those Veterans is the right thing to do. Although it is so long ago, the U.S. had promised them benefits, and for those reasons, the soldiers joined WWII fighting on our side. "For a poor man like me, $15,000 is a lot of money," said 91-year-old Celestino Almeda. With that in mind, although the Filipinos had waited for this payment, they are still grateful that the U.S. had decided to pay them. I think that this is good that we had finally decided to pay them back because they are 'loyal to the United States'.

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