FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4, 2008
Jollene Levid, Gabnet Secretary General
secgen@gabnet.org Tel: 323-356-4748
GABNet Demands Recognition of Widows', Relatives' sacrifice for War Vets
Los Angeles-- GABNet of the Mariposa Alliance applauds the determination of the widows, wives and relatives of Filipino World War II veterans to
struggle against the official and legitimized racist discrimination embodied by the Rescission Act of 1946, as well as the sexism embodied by the removal of provisions for widows and relatives from the Filipino WWII Veterans Equity Bill.
GABNet extends its support to AWARE, the Association of Widows and
Relatives for Equality. GABNet holds that care and support for those
who are mobilized for wars decided by governments should be a public,
rather than a private, concern.
It is ironic that the US government is always quick to provide funds for the reconstruction of buildings, roads, plants and factories but consistently stalls and delays when it comes to the rehabilitation of peoples. It was quick to provide war damages funds to the property owners of the Philippines, even as it passed the Rescission Act of 1946 which effectively deprived Filipino WWII veterans of equal benefits as the American GI.
Some 300,000 Filipinos were recruited into the US Armed Forces in the
Far East (USAFFE) on the orders of then President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on the promise that they would have the same benefits and active duty status as the American soldier. But ruins of Manila were still smoldering from daily US carpet bombing when the US government moved to disenfranchise, insult and deprive those they had mobilized for the war against Japan in the Philippines.
Only in 1992, or 40 years after the war, were Filipino WWII veterans
allowed to seek medical help from the US Veterans Hospital system. Through those years, the care and support for these vets rested on their wives and family members. Now the US Congress seeks to render invisible all that sacrifice by removing provisions for widows and other family members of the same veterans from the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill.
It is so typical of this government to demand generosity of sacrifice from people of color like Filipinos yet to turn tight-fisted and stingy when it comes to the care to those devastated by the wars it creates. The treatment of Filipino WWII veterans established the pattern of treatment accorded to veterans of all wars. Vietnam War veterans were mistreated by the system; as are the veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Unless and until the historic wrong done to Filipino WWII veterans is rectified, the US will continue to
mistreat war veterans because and simply because it can get away with
it.
Michelle Obama, wife of President-elect Barack Obama, has repeatedly
expressed her concern for military families. Why then are Filipino WWII veterans considered to NOT have families?
GABNet calls on all women of military families to join AWARE's efforts to have wives, widows and other family members directly impacted by war mobilization to have their sacrifices acknowledged and given due
value.
Racism and sexism have the same roots and must be struggled against in
every way in every issue. -- ##
