Our soldiers will be in heroic company.
(FilVetsREP), headed by retired Major General Antonio Taguba.
Taguba came into national prominence when he led the inquiry into the abuses committed by members of the US military in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. At the time, he was the secondhighest ranking officer of Filipino descent in the US Army.
My NaFFAA co-workers, Jon Melegrito, Bing Cardenas Branigin, and Ben de Guzman, are just three of many selfless FilVetsREP volunteers keeping the flame alive for the old soldiers whose ranks are being fast depleted by the Grim Reaper.
The main objective of FilVetsREP: full honors for more than 260,000 Filipino World War II veterans, living and dead, through conferment of the Congressional Gold Medal.
It seemed like a long shot, but the advocates found allies in Sen. Mazie Hirono and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, both Democrats from Hawaii. The Filipino Veterans of World War II bill sailed through the Senate and the House of Representatives and was signed into law by Obama as one of his last presidential acts in December of 2016.
On April 7, my wife, Gigi, and her sister, Lourdes Uy, will receive a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of my late father-in-law, Jose S. Nobleza, who fought the Japanese as a guerrilla captain of the Bagong Katipunan unit in Albay.
Each recipient is entitled to only one bronze replica. I suppose replicas of the replica can be made for other family members. There are excellent craftsmen in the Philippines who can do a perfect copy of anything.
My father-in-law did not live long enough to enjoy the benefits that the veterans’ advocates managed to wangle from the US Congress, but his wartime service did result in a small pension for him and a college scholarship for my wife.
The honor that the Congressional Gold Medal will give to him and his comrades-in-arms, living and dead, might well be the high point of The Second Death March. But the journey continues. Veterans advocates in California, led by Rudy Asersion, have succeeded in including in the official school curriculum the role played by Filipino Veterans in World War II.
The Veterans Equity Center, administered by Luisa Antonio and youth volunteers, and chaired by lawyer Lourdes Tancinco, has been providing services for the aging veterans and their families in the San Francisco Bay Area. They were among those who tirelessly lobbied Washington DC for “veterans equity.” They are also the ones organizing the April 7 awarding ceremony, aside from vetting prospective recipients.
But that is only part of their work. They and the regional chapters of FilVetsREP across the US have to raise funds to cover the cost of the bronze replicas, which will be bestowed for free to the veterans or their next of kin. It costs $52 each. The US government will only answer for the original gold medal.
FilVetsREP is trying to raise $150,000 to cover the cost of the awards presentations. Approximately $1 million will be required to fund the bronze replicas for all the recipients.
For the April 7 event, the Veterans Equity Center is trying to raise $10,000. It has managed to generate $2,000 so far in donations. My contribution of $ 100 was a drop in the bucket. For this reason, I have offered to help in the fund-raising effort by appealing to patriotic individuals and corporations in the Philippines.
This is the least we can do for those who laid their lives on the line for our freedom. It is a noble cause and, to be pragmatic about, it also translates into good corporate PR.
Those who would like to help can visit the FilVetsREP Web site for instructions.
On the matter of full “equity” for the Filipino veterans, this may never be realized in their lifetime nor in ours. But as long as there are those will keep the memory of the heroism of our old soldiers alive, the plaintive lyrics of that marching song will continue to resonate.
“Old soldiers never die… and they won’t fade away.