Courtesy of Rick Rocamora
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I-Ching Ng
Voices
For 18 years, documentary photographer Rick Rocamora turned his lens to the Filipino soldiers who were hailed as war heroes in their home country but were shunned as second-class veterans in the United States.
During World War II, the Filipino soldiers fought alongside American troops in some of the bloodiest battles in history against the Japanese occupation. Many were injured; some were killed in incidents such as the notorious Bataan Death March. Their efforts were seen as instrumental on the Pacific front of the war.
But ever since the war ended, these veterans have been struggling to gain U.S. citizenship and benefits that were promised by the U.S. government. Filipino American photographer Rocamora documented their plight in poignant black and white photos which formed his new book, “Filipino World War II Soldiers: America’s Second-Class Veterans.”
Since 1992, about 20,000 Filipino veterans have left their families behind and came to the United States. A sizable group descended in the crime-infested Tenderloin district of San Francisco. They came hoping to fulfill the residency requirement to gain their U.S. passports and, eventually, relocate their family members to the dreamland for which they had fought. But their temporary stay turned into decades of frustrated efforts to gain overdue recognition and compensation for their service.
“I felt I lived their lives; my photographs are their combined life experiences,” Rocamora said of the dwindling number of veterans who still live in the United States, which he estimates at about 4,000.
Many of the veterans, who are now in their 80s and 90s, spent their first nights in the country in homeless shelters, he said, and later moved into squalid rooms coated with mildew. They collected cans and garbage for a living.
“I looked after them and became a walking social service agency,” said Rocamora, who took some veterans to their doctor’s visits and got them free meals at soup kitchens and local churches. With no families by their side, some even died while holding Rocamora’s hand.
Many veterans later were dealt another harsh reality – a new immigration regulation enacted nearly a decade ago stipulates they need to earn at least $20,000 per year to be eligible to sponsor their family members from the Philippines. That policy left many of them stranded in the United States.
A former sales manager at the Dow Chemical Company, Rocamora, 62, quit his job and became a full-time freelance photographer in 1991. “I hope my images can remind all of us that we should never forget what they have endured,” he said of his nearly two-decade-long project.
Rocamora rallied with others for years to garner support for legislation that would compensate Filipino veterans. The latest legislation, the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2008, was passed by the House of Representatives, but the bill died on the Senate floor.
The economic stimulus package approved by President Barack Obama in February included the authorization of a one-time compensation of $15,000 for Filipino veterans who have become U.S. citizens, and $9,000 for those who are yet to become U.S. citizens or still living in the Philippines. However, the new policy still awaits funding.
Rocamora also captured the proud moments when the veterans donned their Purple Heart medals and conducted their daily chores. He was keenly aware that U.S. veterans receiving the same decoration were awarded $1,000 in compensation, while the Filipino veterans who fought with them were only entitled to half of the sum.
“With the same bravery and injuries (suffered), a Filipino’s life is only worth half of an American’s,” Rocamora said.
