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Post by friscohare on Apr 10, 2011 11:55:21 GMT -5
On Friday, I attended an event to honor the Chicago-area Fil-Am veterans, many of whom took part in the Bataan Death March. There was supposed to be a wreath laying ceremony at the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Bridge, (State Street Bridge) but, due to the rain, no one was at the bridge. "The Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Bridge" (State Street Bridge) in Chicago  |
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Post by friscohare on Apr 10, 2011 11:55:49 GMT -5
As I waited at the bridge, I saw a lone veteran in his motorized wheelchair waiting there as well. I approached him and started to talk to him. He was First Sergeant Jose "Joey" V. Juachon of Nueva Ecija. While on Bataan, he served as 1st Sergeant of M Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Regular Division, Philippine Army. Sixty-nine years ago, the 2nd Regular Division was forced to surrender and took part in the Bataan Death March. 1st Sgt. Juachon described it to me: "I knew the route of the Death March. The men in my company wanted me to lead them and escape. I told them, 'I am your first sergeant. If we are to escape, you have to follow rank.'" He successfully escaped with some men in his company and he joined a guerrilla group shortly afterward. He continued, "Have you ever seen the movie The Great Raid? I'm supposed to be in there. What happened in that movie isn't true. They turned it into a love story." Mang Joey was part of Capt. Pajota's guerrillas that assisted the 6th Rangers and the Alamo Scouts in liberating the Cabanatuan POW Camp. Capt. Pajota's men stopped the Japanese from reinforcing the POW camp, making "The Great Raid" a success. "After the war, America gave the Philippines $27 million for the veterans of the Philippine Army and Guerrillas. Because of the corruption, we were paid not in dollars, but in pesos." He said that he is writing a book on the struggle of USAFFE Filipino veterans to receive full recognition of their service by the American government. It was only recently that the US Government gave these veterans a lump sum of $15,000 for their war services. In talking about his book, he said, "Lalabas din ang katotohanan" (The truth will come out). He is also a veteran of the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He came to live in the US in the 1970s and fought for Fil-Am veteran's rights since then. Here's 1st Sgt. Juachon receiving a certificate of honor from Leo Herrera-Lim, Philippine Consul General  |
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Post by friscohare on Apr 10, 2011 11:56:59 GMT -5
We proceeded to the Philippine Consulate where the other Pinoy WWII veterans gathered. I wore my WWII era khaki shirt with Philippine Department patch, which almost no one recognized. That's ok. When we arrived, Mr. Emilio Hidalgo, another Bataan Death March survivor, was giving a short address about the Fall of Bataan. Here's the video I captured when we got there: vimeo.com/22182053Here's a transcript of his address: I have prepared a short address about the Fall of Bataan. Today, April 10th 2011, we celebrate the Fall of Bataan to the Imperial Forces of Japan, 69 years ago.
If I may recall, on the early morning of January 10, 1942 the Japanese placed a determined effort to dislodge our troops on the area of the Pilar-Bagac Road, which was the main supply road of all units stationed there. What followed was a long and bloodied struggle between Filipino troops and the enemy, which lasted for 55 days and with staggering losses of men and materials on both sides. The enemy failed because we stood our ground and drove them away.
Although that was a strictly a conflict between the US and Japan, and does not involve the Philippines, we took the side of the United States. In so doing, we displayed the love of freedom and loyalty to the USA. After fighting the enemy for almost six months, General King surrendered Bataan to the Japanese under General Homma on the afternoon of April 9, 1942.
Now, after a lapse of 69 years, the guns that roared in the defense of Bataan are now silent. The voice of our commander asking us to stand our ground and not give give way to the enemy would no longer be heard.
We, the living, were born in a new struggle to repeal the prohibitions of the Rescission Act of 1946, which provides that our service with the USAFFE shall not be considered as service under the United States Armed Forces. We all believed that any tradition of existing law in the US, which granted veterans, like us, the promises of a great nation of our loyalty and faithful service to the United States of America and must be for honor, without any conditions.
But, unfortunately, that was not so. For out of the citizens of 60 nations that assisted the United States in the Great War of World War II, only the Philippines was excluded from receiving [benefits for its] veterans... In a few years, I will be gone already. So I hope you can help us repeal the Rescission Act. -------------- I spoke to Mr. Hidalgo after the speech and he told me, "You know, they gave us Enfields! If they had given us the Garand, we would have killed many Japs!" "The US also will not consider me as a POW. How can that be? The Japanese held me in the same house that General King surrendered in. I told them, go check the house. We dug a hole for a latrine there. But no one ever went to check it out." |
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Post by friscohare on Apr 10, 2011 11:57:36 GMT -5
 Here's an picture of the surviving Fil-Am veterans in Chicago. (most of them seated) I hope to see them at the Bataan Day Memorial Service in Maywood (Chicago Suburb and home to B Co. 192nd Tank Battalion) this September and at next year's Bataan event. |
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Post by frank on Apr 10, 2011 15:49:33 GMT -5
Thank you for your post.
Please stay in contact with the Vets there in Chicago.
We Remember Bataan and will not Forget!
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Post by VeeVee on Apr 10, 2011 16:41:58 GMT -5
Thanks Friscohare. Can't thank you enough for posting this.
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Post by oklahoma on Apr 10, 2011 19:32:40 GMT -5
Hey Friscohare.....How in the Hell can that Recission Act be defended by any fair minded person??? I have never heard of it, but if it is as you say it is, then it ought to be flushed down the toilet. It is totally unjustified. Surely it didn't apply to members of the Scouts. They were US Army, "lock, stock, and barrel". No way should they be excluded, but members of the Philippine Army should be honored also, in my humble opinion. This travesty should be given more exposure and what better time to start than on the anniversary of Genl King's surrender. We pour money down every "rat hole" in the world, but not any to benefit guys who shared the same foxhole with us in those dark days of early 1942. Cheers.
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Post by friscohare on Apr 10, 2011 23:16:59 GMT -5
Thanks gentlemen for your kind words. I heard before the event that President Truman did not recognize the Philippine Army under USAFFE or the guerrillas as part of the US Armed Forces. What I did not know was that it was an actual act of Congress. Here's the text of the act:
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Rescission Act of 1946
Service before July 1, 1946, in the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, while such forces were in the service of the Armed Forces of the United States pursuant to the military order of the President dated July 26, 1941, including among such military forces organized guerrilla forces under commanders appointed, designated, or subsequently recognized by the Commander in Chief, Southwest Pacific Area, or other competent authority in the Army of the United States, shall not be deemed to have been active military, naval, or air service for the purposes of any law of the United States conferring rights, privileges, or benefits upon any person by reason of the service of such person or the service of any other person in the Armed Forces.
________________
In reading more about the Act, apparently, the US government justified this by saying that "the U.S. had already given the Philippines $200 million after the war." (AP) The Philippine Scouts are not a part of this.
The lump sum of $15,000 that Mang Joey was talking about was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. "I'm going to use that money to publish my book," he said, which will come out this year he hopes.
My personal feeling about this is that the US should recognize these veterans as part of the US Armed Forces. The Philippine Army was federalized under the USAFFE, just as many National Guard units at the time were federalized.
I mean, the Fil-Am Vets have spent 69 years fighting for this, like Mang Joey, who is already 92. Hopefully, I can speak to Mang Joey more about the Rescission Act in the near future and that something can be done so that they can get full recognition.
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Post by oklahoma on Apr 11, 2011 8:37:54 GMT -5
Hey Frisco...Well, at least the Scouts received their just reward/benefits,etc, but to me the Philippine Army Vets/legit Guerrilla units got the short end of the stick. After all, a Jap bullet or bomb drew blood just as red as that which was lost by Scouts, members of the 31st Infantry Regt (US), or any defender of Corregidor, etc. Simple justice is demanded here, methinks.
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Post by altius on Jul 15, 2011 3:42:13 GMT -5
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Post by cplhawkeye1950 on Jul 15, 2011 12:19:09 GMT -5
As a fairly new member to this great site , let me say that was one of the most inspiring post ,I have ever read. I say Thank You Gentlemen Thank You!!!!!!!!!! Reading this has made my eyes moist.
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