Mike Honda: “I believe that is why these kinds of opportunities for us to be able to share our history, our involvement, our…”

“I believe that is why these kinds of opportunities for us to be able to share our history, our involvement, our contributions in who we are as Americans are critical. It is also the episode of the Filipino veterans who were asked by President Roosevelt to serve in the U.S. Army and also by General MacArthur who said that participating in the effort against the Japanese Imperial Army would bring them the possibility of citizenship and also full veterans benefits. Six months after the war, two precisely written rescission acts were written in the budget in 1946 specifically eliminating that possibility and that promise to those who had fought side by side with our soldiers in the Philippines. These Filipino veterans fought side by side, protected them against the Japanese atrocities during the Bataan Death March, masterminded the release of the largest amount of POWs from Japanese POW camps in the Philippines, and they still, today, carry the pride and the dignity of a veteran.”