Veteran’s Day, a holiday to celebrate American veterans, but at the center of these celebrations are veterans that remain forgotten. These are veterans who fought under the same flag of as many American veterans. They are Filipino veterans who fought for the U.S. Army during World War II while the Philippines were a U.S. territory. These veterans were promised their veteran’s benefits, but went unrecognized shortly after the Philippines was granted independence on July 4, 1946 without a, “thank you for your service.” These veterans continue to die without full recognition for their service after fighting for–the United States of America.

After the Spanish American War 1898, the U.S. acquired the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines from Spain. Veterans who’ve served in the U.S. military from Guam and Puerto Rico have been long recognized as veterans and received veteran’s benefits. Filipino veterans, however, got the short end of the stick. Matter of fact, they weren’t even given a chance. The technicality, Filipinos were not U.S. citizens, but U.S. nationals–unlike their counterparts in Guam and Puerto Rico who were granted U.S. citizenship.

They fought in the U.S. Army, but under the Philippine Scouts. The Philippine Scouts looked like the U.S. Army, smelled like the U.S. Army, and even had the same equipment, uniforms, ranks. awards and medals as the U.S. Army–they were still in the U.S. Army. Even if it was treated as a corps of the U.S. Army much like the U.S. Army Air Corps, they still fought for the U.S. Army. Even the Medal of Honor, the highest military medal to obtain, was awarded to a Filipino legend in the Philippine Scouts, retired Captain Jose Cabalfin Calugas.

Besides the designation of U.S. national, there are two root causes as to why Filipino veterans are not recognized: independence and money. The Filipinos fought against the Japanese to protect their land, and now it was theirs to have, a truly Filipino Philippines. The U.S. made sure to remind Filipinos that they were once once part of the U.S. by coinciding the U.S. and Filipino Independence day, July 4, 1946.

Money was another possible reason, the benefits to compensate veteran’s and their families was upwards to $3.0 billion. Rather than give them their full benefits that they fought for in the U.S. Army, the U.S. decided to not set aside $3.0 billion for their service and to not recognize them, in other words–forget them. They would fade away with time going unrecognized and not properly thanked for their service.

Recent efforts to recognize these veterans were merely attempts to save face after over 50 years of no recognition and benefits for these warriors. That’s over 50 years of medical visits and compensation that some of these veterans may have needed at some point, but lost and will never benefit from.

In 2009, Filipino veterans were given a window to apply through the VA to receive either $15,000 for U.S. citizens and $9,000 for non-U.S. citizens. Think about all the benefits a veteran would normally receive, and few thousand dollars was not enough to compensate them for their losses and damages. Around this time, big banks and the automobile industry were bailed out, and yet some of these veterans still couldn’t get their benefits.

In 2017, some were recognized with highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, an honorable recognition, but wait…these are veterans who served in the military, the U.S. Army, and still are not receiving their benefits.

Thank you for your service, but World War II Filipino veterans deserve benefits and much more.