260,000 Filipinos fought to liberate homeland

COURTESY STEPHANIE CASTILLO

Filipinos who volunteered to be part of the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army, served as Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s eyes and ears, smuggled into the Philippines by submarines to let him know the activities of the Japanese occupiers.

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WASHINGTON >> Just who are the Congressional Gold Medal Filipino veterans?

They fought in the Philippines during World War II, helping Gen. Douglas MacArthur keep his promise to the Filipino people — “I shall return” — after having been forced to flee the country to Australia, from where he commanded U.S. forces in the Far East and planned the retaking of the Japanese-occupied archipelago.

MacArthur’s plan involved a full-scale galvanizing of Filipinos — in the Philippines and in the U.S. — and the mounting of a complex, massive effort to implement a triumphant liberation.

More than 260,000 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans fought alongside allied forces under the U.S. Army Forces Far East commanded by MacArthur. Some 60,000 of these soldiers died in combat, and thousands more were wounded for life or were missing in action.

The Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2015 (Senate Bill 1555) covers any individual who served honorably from July 26, 1941, through Dec. 31, 1946, in an active-duty status in the Far East, and served within the Philippine Commonwealth Army, the Philippine Scouts, the Philippine Constabulary, recognized guerrilla units, the New Philippine Scouts, the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Filipino Infantry Battalion (Separate), or the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion; or commanding or serving in a unit as a United States military officer or enlisted soldier.

Filipino soldiers from the U.S. included 7,000 volunteers from California who were picked for special jobs and missions. Out of the 1st and 2nd infantry units and the Recon Battalion came the spies and infiltrators who were secretly sent into the Philippines by submarines. They became MacArthur’s eyes and ears — radio men, paratroopers, scouts and rangers, mop-up soldiers, civil affairs officers and intelligence officers.

When the U.S. armed forces began the battle for Manila, Filipino soldiers fought alongside them. And when MacArthur stepped back onto Philippine shores, he used Filipinos to establish American control.