Our Filipino Veterans

I don't know everything about this topic, but I do know bits and pieces of it. The Filipino Veterans who fought for America during the war are not getting paid the same amount of benefits that the rest of the veterans who fought next to them are getting. The Filipino veterans are the ONLY ones who have not received the full benefits of fighting in the war. Some of these veterans depend on the small amount of money that the government does give them to pay rent, purchase necessities, and support their families back in the Philippines. They are barely getting by and don't even have any family here. They cannot move back to the Philippines, which is where many of them would much rather be, because once they leave America, they will no longer receive any money from the government. 

This past Veterans Day weekend, an organization I am a part of called PACE (Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavors) from San Francisco State University went to a house on Capp St. in San Francisco to visit a few of the veterans living there. I was told that last year there were about 20 veterans living there and sadly this year there are only 9 left. We sat and listened to some of the stories they had to tell, and there's no doubt that it touched every person's heart that was sitting in the room with them.

For the past few years, Uncle Roy would take some of us around San Francisco on Thanksgiving Day and we would give out food, whether it was sandwiches made or McD's burgers and fries, to homeless people. Auntie Phoebe brought up a good point, that we should also visit the veterans on Capp St. and spend some time with them on Thanksgiving. She also mentioned that it would be nice to go there around Christmas, and maybe even sing carols for them like old times! I thought it was such a great idea and am really hoping his can happen. It would be great if more people came to visit them too, the more the merrier! I know it would mean a lot to the veterans and it will be good for us, too. It is definitely worth taking the time to go visit and talk with them. I recommend that everyone visit them because they have no other family that will come and see them. My sister, Aica, was staying with me for the weekend so she came along as well. Here is what she had to say after this emotional trip visiting the veteranos: 

We were in a room with 78-year-old veteran, Justino Lauzon telling us his story, answering any questions we had about the war, and just sharing with us the reality of his situation right now. He spoke mostly in Tagalog, and this was like the worst I've ever wanted to understand/speak Tagalog. I wish I knew what he was saying; I know it would've meant so much more to me. He was telling this heartbreaking story in a language that half the people in the room didn't even understand, and then he started crying universal tears that made us all understand what he was saying. I swear, the translators telling me what he was saying couldn't explain it nearly as much as those tears did. Just thinking about it right now makes me tear up. I wanted so badly to just hug him and fix everything. It was so moving; everyone was crying, and I was so glad to be there. He lives with his wife, in this tiny room. Out of their 17 children, 11 are still alive and living in the Philippines with their own children and grandchildren, all asking and hoping that they'll come home. But Manong and Manang are staying in America waiting for the pension that they deserve but are being denied by our government.  You should've heard his story. And most of all, seen his tears. He joined the war after his two brothers had already died fighting in it. His mother had told him not to, because of that reason. He told us about a time when he was hiding underwater, swimming for maybe 4 hours only coming up for air, while being shot at. In that story, all I could understand were his imitations of the sound of the guns. He told us about his first cousin who was beheaded and was still walking for a while. In that story, all I could understand was his action of hanging his hands up to the side, as though pinned to a wall, and it looked like he was telling me the story of Jesus' death. At one point he yelled in English and in tears, "WE FOUGHT SO THAT THIS NATION COULD HAVE INDEPENDENCE." Nation did a good job thanking them, huh? 

I was in tears like a baby; I'm not even kidding. I'm so glad that I got to spend Veterans Day weekend appreciating veterans. I know that we all get excited about these four-day weekends, but we need to never forget the holidays that we are celebrating. I hope you found a way to honor the veterans this weekend, because it's completely worth your time. And I'm not just talking about American veterans; we need to remember that a lot of other people fought our war for us and they need to be honored as much as any other soldiers. This experience gave me a whole new perspective on what my grandpa and other veterans have done for us, and I'm very grateful to them.

From:  Drea Concepcion and Andrea Miraflor Concepcion

>November 14, 2004

Folks:

I thought I'd share this letter co-written by two sisters (18 & 15) about the plight of WWII our veterans.  The grandpa they are talking about is my brother who gave up waiting for his benefits and returned to the Philippines last May for good.  Carmen Miraflor