ON Thursday April 9, we mark the Fall of Bataan, now known as Araw ng Kagitingan. Sixty-seven years ago, Maj. Gen. Edward P. King Jr. surrendered an army of some 76,000 men to a Japanese force of 54,000 under Gen. Masaharu Homma. Of the 76,000 men, 12,000 were Americans. It was the single largest surrender of a military force in American history, culminating in the infamous Bataan Death March which claimed the lives of thousands of prisoners of war. Exactly four years later, Homma would be executed under the principle of command responsibility for the deaths of these men.
Last February, 64 years after Japan signed the Instruments of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay formally ending World War II, the US Congress passed what is known as the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787-billion stimulus program designed to pull back the American economy from a deepening recession. Included in the new law is an appropriation of $198 million for payment to Filipino veterans of World War II.
Section 1002 of the new law reads: “Payment to Eligible Persons Who Served in the US Armed Forces in the Far East During World War II.”
Some salient provisions of this legislation are as follows:
(d) “Eligible Persons—An Eligible Person is any person who (1) served -
(A) 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 guerilla 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, or
(B) In the Philippine Scouts under Section 14 of the Armed Forces Voluntary Recruitment Act of 1945;
(2) was discharged or released from service under conditions other than dishonorable.
(e) Payment amounts—Each payment under this section shall be:
(1) in the case of an eligible person who is not a citizen of the United States, in the amount of $9,000; and
(2) in the case of an eligible person who is a citizen of the United States, in the amount of $15,000.
(i) Recognition of service—The service of a person as described in subsection (d) is hereby recognized as active military service in the Armed Forces for purposes of, and to the extent provided in, this section.”
There were two American legislators who, through the years, staunchly supported the move to compensate our veterans of World War II. California Rep. Bob Filner and Hawaii Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, a Japanese-American, were in the forefront of this long struggle.
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Between February and March, 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, some 117,000 Japanese-Americans living mainly along the West Coast of the United States were given 48 hours to prepare for evacuation and relocation to camps in remote areas under difficult living conditions. Executive Order No. 9066 signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led to Japanese-Americans being forced to sell their properties immediately at great loss.
It is important to note that 264,000 German and 600,000 Italian aliens residing in the United States were not subjected to the same treatment.
During World War II, Japanese-Americans volunteered to fight for the United States and were assigned to the European Theater of Operations. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, with the battle slogan “Go for Broke,” made up of Japanese-Americans, became the most decorated combat unit in US military history. Senator Inouye served with this unit, losing his right arm in combat. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest award for military valor.
In 1980, the US Congress created a Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) to look into the forced evacuation of Japanese-Americans in 1942. A 1983 report of the commission declared that the policy stemmed from “racial prejudice, war hysteria and a failure in political leadership.”
In 1988, 46 years after the mass transfers of Japanese-Americans, President Ronald Reagan signed the “Civil Liberties Act,” which provided each of the surviving 60,000 Japanese-American internees with $20,000 along with an apology for a “grave injustice.” In signing the law, Reagan declared “No payment can make up for those lost years. So, what is important in this bill has less to do with property than with honor. For here, we admit a wrong. . . that is still the American Way.”
Reagan’s successor, President George H.W. Bush, sent a letter of apology to each of the 60,000 internees. It read: “A monetary sum and words alone cannot restore lost years or erase painful memories; neither can they fully convey our nation’s resolve to rectify injustice and to uphold the rights of individuals. We can never fully right the wrongs of the past. But we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese-Americans during World War II.
“In enacting a law calling for restitution and offering a sincere apology, your fellow Americans have in a very real sense, renewed their traditional commitment to the ideals of freedom, equality and justice. You and your family have our best wishes for the future.”
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As citizens of a Commonwealth of the United States, Filipinos were legally American nationals, entitled to all benefits afforded those serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.
When the war ended, President Harry Truman signed into law the “Rescission Act of 1946,” declaring that “the service of Filipinos shall not be deemed to be or to have been service in the military or national forces of the United States, or any component thereof...” This effectively stripped Filipinos of their recognition as US veterans. In supporting the Filipino veterans’ compensation package, Senator Inouye issued a statement: “This nation made a solemn promise and with hardly a hearing, we revoked it. This episode is a blight upon the character of the United States, and it must be cleansed.”
Under limiting legal terms, the recognition has been restored by section 1002 of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Although more than 60 years late and with distinctions that are difficult to understand, the compensations are appreciated. But more than anything else, the apology of a great and just nation would help close the wounds of war.
