Filipino vets left out in the cold

[Antipodean Andy]

Not just the Gurkhas...

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingn...nclick_check=1

As a Filipino guerrilla in World War II, Dominador Valdez of San Jose fought side-by-side with American soldiers, suffered through malaria and felt the excruciating pain of a hot-metal bullet lodged in his left arm.

So after the U.S. Senate passed a bill in April to give Filipino soldiers military benefits on par with those of U.S. veterans, Valdez thought he would, finally, be honored for his years of sacrifice.

But the hopes that Valdez and tens of thousands of Filipino veterans around the country had harbored took a hit last week when the House of Representatives approved a version of a Senate bill that fell far short of what the veterans feel they deserve.

Instead of a lifetime of monthly payments to the veterans and their widows, the new bill would provide about $200 million for single lump-sum payments that would force many of the veterans to choose between the onetime gift and their Supplemental Security Income checks, a form of welfare.

"I shed my blood during the war," said the 82-year-old Valdez. "I served my time. I've been waiting for more than 60 years, and after all of these sacrifices, we get this bill? My goodness, we are even worse than mercenaries. We're like beggars here in America."

The Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2008 would make payments of $15,000 to about 6,000 Filipinos living in the United States and $9,000 to about 11,000 veterans living in the Philippines. The Senate version would have provided

Filipino vets living in the United States a $911 monthly pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and $300 plus VA health care if they live in the Philippines.

"It's very insulting," Eric Lachica, executive director for the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, said of the House version. "It's misleading because it claims to be an equity bill, but it's far from it; it's the inequity act. It doesn't restore recognition to the Filipinos who served in World War II."

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt drafted 140,000 soldiers from the Philippines. One year later, Congress passed a law allowing Filipino soldiers to become U.S. citizens with full military benefits. But several years later, President Truman reneged on the promise. Since then, Filipino veterans have been fighting to get what they say is their due.

"It's unfair. "... We are veterans," said Leon Agda, 82, of San Jose, a guerrilla who came close to being executed by the Japanese during World War II.

Many U.S. veterans of World War II say they fully support the Filipino vets decades-long quest for equity.

"I'm eternally grateful to anyone who speaks Tagalog because these Filipino soldiers helped rescue many of my fellow sailors," said Ellsworth Welch, 88, a retired Navy officer from Saratoga who served on a destroyer in a number of battles in the Pacific during World War II. "Fifteen thousand dollars is rather poor and late. Congress works slowly, and then they still manage to screw things up."

Filipino veterans had asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to convene a House-Senate conference committee to come up with a unified version of the bill. But the plan to reconcile the competing versions of the bills hit a snag late last week when the issue was overshadowed by the bailout negotiations consuming Washington.

Lachica and others are now scrambling to continue negotiations for what they consider a more equitable distribution. But they worry that time is running out.

Of the 250,000 Filipino vets of World War II, about 18,000 are still alive. About 30,000 came here in the '90s after President George H.W. Bush granted them instant citizenship. About 2,000 settled in the Bay Area.

Said Lachica: "Many veterans are saying 'What are they waiting for? Are they waiting for us to all die so they won't have to pay?

[liverpool annie]

[QUOTE ]Said Lachica: "Many veterans are saying 'What are they waiting for? Are they waiting for us to all die so they won't have to pay?[/quote]

I hate to say it "but probably" ....
this whole set up is a mess ..... why why do these soldiers ( Filipinos ... Gurkhas .... and all the other men who went to war ) have to wait 60 odd years to get a pittance ? ... it's disgusting ........ !!

I'd better not say what I really think !!

[Antipodean Andy]

Filipino veterans of World War II upset by U.S. rejection of military benefits -- chicagotribune.com

For three months during World War II, Telesforo Yague Sr. and his fellow Filipino guerrillas traveled from village to village in the Philippines hiding an injured American pilot.

The pilot's plane had crashed in the mountains, and they wanted to keep him safe from occupying Japanese soldiers. So as the Japanese military were killing Filipinos for aiding Americans, the soldiers put the pilot in a hay-filled cart pulled by a water buffalo.

"They thought we were just farmers," said Yague, now 86 and living in Chicago. "We were able to save him. That guy should be very thankful."

Yague is one of 250,000 Filipino soldiers who pledged loyalty to the United States during World War II when President Franklin Roosevelt tapped the Philippines—then a U.S. territory—to serve under the U.S. Army. About 18,000 Filipino veterans from the war are still alive. About 6,000 live in the U.S., and 100 live in the Chicago area.

Filipino veterans—now in their 80s and 90s—brim with pride when talking about their service to the U.S. But decades after they served, many feel disappointed, frustrated and, in some cases, betrayed by the U.S.

In September, the House rejected a bill that would give full military benefits to Filipino veterans in the U.S. and overseas. Until that vote, Filipinos thought the bill had a chance because the Senate had approved it in April. A separate bill that would give veterans a lump sum was passed by the U.S. House, but is not expected to be taken up in the lame-duck Senate.

The effort is back to square one, disappointing local Filipino veterans as they commemorated Veterans Day.

"We've never come this far before," said Ben de Guzman, a spokesman for the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity. "We have been fighting for the past 20 years just trying to get the committee to vote. I think for this to have come so close is obviously not good news for the veterans."

Benefits for Filipino veterans were taken away in 1946, when the Philippines was declared independent. De Guzman said soldiers in 67 countries have been ordered to serve under the U.S., and Filipinos are the only ones to be stripped of their benefits.

Nonetheless, many Filipino veterans cherish their medals and American flag pins.

"This is an injustice that should be corrected," said Steve Robertson, legislative director for the American Legion.

The American Legion has supported benefits for Filipino veterans for decades, Robertson said. However, the group voiced opposition to the proposal that was rejected in September because it called for taking benefits away from some U.S. veterans to give to Filipino veterans. Robertson said that would have set a dangerous precedent.

"We did not fight to be compensated," Yague said. "But if other people are being compensated, why not us? It is the duty of the government to help their soldiers."

Some veterans, such as Yague, receive partial disability benefits for injuries suffered during service. He received an eye injury from flying shrapnel.

But many veterans have been denied because they receive benefits for their service in the Philippine Army later in their career. Other Filipino veterans who served under the U.S. Army during the post-war reconstruction, but not during the conflict, have also been denied.

Though some veterans have lobbied to get benefits for themselves, many do not have proof of their service or their names do not appear on military lists.

"I'm disappointed," said veteran Emilio Garcera, 81, who was denied benefits four times. "For so many years, we have not been given a centavo. The sad part is that we are not recognized."

Garcera, who immigrated to Chicago in 1982, started his military career traveling through the jungles of his native Bicol region to deliver messages among military posts. After the war, he was shipped to Japan to assist the U.S. occupation and reconstruction efforts.

"In Okinawa, we were treated well," he said. "The ones I feel bad for are those in the [Bataan] Death March and at Corregidor. They should really receive the benefits."