July 28, 2011
Dear Rich,
Q:. How
did they ( The Filipino World War II Veterans) get excluded? Was the
list put together sloppily? Or were some vets reluctant to put their
name on the list for some reason? Or they got left off just because of
the chaos of the moment?
Answer :
-- Seventy years ago, on July 26, 1941, US President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt formed the United States Armed Forces in the Far East or the
USAFFE.
Roosevelt issued this Military Order, calling into
service and placing under the command of “the armed forces of the
United States for the period of the existing emergency… all organized
military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines.”
By this order, the 120,000 armed forces of
the Commonweath of the Philippines including its unarmed reserves were
merged and placed under the command of the United States who has less
than 40,000 troops in the Philippines. Thus the Philippines became the
largest US garrison outside of the mainland.
So there are
two records. One is with the US army, all US personel in the Philippines
and that includes the old Philippine Scouts of Filipinos serving under
the US Army. Their names are in the Missouri list.
The
second list is with the Philippine Government. It is the Army of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines that includes the Phil. Army.
Navy,Constabulary and Air Force. That exist from 1935-1946. This record
is with the Philippine government which the Archives also list but
refuses to use.
The USAFFE existed for only 11 months. For
the first six months were focused on the training and preparations and
the next five months for intense fighting.
When the war
broke out in December 7, 1941. The USAFFE was placed into alert and war
footing. The USAFFE divisions resisted the Japanese invasion until they
were forced to retreat to Bataan in January 1942.
The
Battle for Bataan lasted from the last week of January to April 1942.
When Bataan fell to the Japanese, it was just a matter of time that the
fort of Corregidor will fall on May 6, 1942. With the fall of
Corregidor, USAFFE as a unit ceased to exists.
But the
Filipinos and some American officers and men refused to surrender and
keep the fight for resistance for the next three years. They became the
core of the liberating forces that helped the US Army to liberate the
Philippines three years later in 1944. In its place the new army of the
commonwealth was formed. It existed from 1945 to 1946. USAFFE just
became a part of history.
Until 1947, the US listed all
guerilla units, personel ( they are called recognized guerillas) who
served under the USAFFE leaders or independent Filipino leaders. It was
led by the US Army. This list is in the archives but was burned together
with 17 million records from 1926 to 1962. But the Philippine
government listed people who served in the guerilla forces until 1948.
This
is the crux of the problem. The DVA refuses to use these list or the
reconstructed list because they say there are too many fake guerillas
during the war. Actually more than 425,000 were listed but the US
recognized only 250,000 including those in the Commonwealth army.
According
to General Delfin Lorenzana of the Philippine Embassy, those 425,00
records are in Missouri but the US DVA refused to use it. ( Lorenzana
was referring to the US Army records that they gathered after the war
until 1947 when they left the Philippines.)
So Philippine
Scouts ( old and new- News scouts enlisted after the war and served
under the US Army on garrison duties in occupied areas ) are safe. They
have records. But most Filipino who served as guerillas have the problem
because even if they are listed, the Missouri list wont provide and
give its list.
So we can say, the chaos of war and expediency of the DVA is the culprit.
That
is a yes but then no—because we know for sure that there is the list
but the DVA won't honor the Philippine list in the PVAO and The AFP GHQ.
They just use the US Army list from 1935-45 or the list they
reconstructed in 1947 before they left the Philippines.
I hope this helps,and answer some of your questions.
For justice, equity and racial equality,
Al P. Garcia
Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV)
.
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