Amado Ante enlisted with the Philippine Scouts in February 1941 at the age of 22. Just five months later, he joins the 12th Quartermaster Regiment, Company B, supporting the U.S. Army's Philippine Division.
Jose Cabalfin Calugas was the only Filipino to earn the Medal of Honor during World War II. He also survived World War II's infamous Bataan Death March and a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp.
Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Coast Guard Veteran Florence Ebersole Smith Finch.
This Sunday, April 9, will be the 75th anniversary of the Bataan Death March, which claimed the lives of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers in World War II. Army Veteran Wayne Carringer, one of the survivors, will be honored at a ceremony this Sunday at the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, N.C., where he is a resident of the Community Living Center.
Army Veteran Wayne Carringer served in World War II in the Philippines. It was there he became a Prisoner of War, and survived the brutal Bataan Death March, a 60-mile march that killed thousands.
This was Skardon's 10th time walking in the march, which he considers a personal pilgrimage. He says it's his sacred responsibility to attend every year and walk with the thousands of others who come to honor his brothers-in-arms who didn't survive the real Bataan Death March or the years of confinement in prisoner of war camps that followed.
Navy and Army Veteran and LGBT Activist Denny Meyer (above) says, “People assume I’m an old straight man and say offensive things.” Like what in a hospital setting? Typically straightforward and to the point, Meyer says that in the past when explaining to a physician that some part of pre-colonoscopy prep at home would be problematic, the response was, “You can ask your wife to help.” That comment is offensive on many levels for Meyer.
VA stands firmly behind the president’s final assessment of the Commission on Care report, and we thank the commission for their hard work.
Ely Borjal spent 21 years in the United States Navy and attained the rank of chief warrant officer.
There is an inherent need for war Veterans to want to talk to other combat Veterans, who are themselves the real deal.
Board member, Vietnamese-American Armed Forces Association
Some 315,000 American Veterans identify as Asian/Pacific Islanders; more than 101,000 wear the uniform today.
Acting Director of VA’s Center for Minority Veteran
The observance of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage month is also an occasion to remember the patriotism of AAPIs that have served, and are currently serving in the United States Military.