Political Quotes

“In the presentation of the bill before us, the Senator from Arizona singled out one group--Filipino war veterans-- and suggested that these were men from foreign countries and that we are providing funds for them. If I may, I would like to spend a few moments discussing this matter. On January 26, 1941, the President of the United States, Mr. Roosevelt, issued a military order through General MacArthur calling upon Filipinos to volunteer to serve in the Army, to serve in the Navy, to serve in the Air Force, because the President sensed, correctly, that there was much instability and much violence in Asia. He felt the time had come for the United States to be prepared for any eventuality. As a result of that call, 470,000 Filipinos stepped forward and volunteered to serve in the military, under the command of General MacArthur. As we all know, on December 7, 1941, war came to our shores, to my State of Hawaii. Pearl Harbor was bombed, and then the forces of Japan began advancing toward the Philippines. The first major target was the Bataan Peninsula. The 14th Japanese Army surrounded the peninsula. That peninsula contained at that moment 80,000 troops. We all assumed that the 80,000 were American troops. No. About 18,000 were American troops; the rest were Filipinos. Yes, the majority of the troops in Bataan were Filipinos, but somehow, if you look at Hollywood on the Bataan death march, you hardly see a Filipino marching.”