President Franklin D. Roosevelt wasn’t interested in going to war in the late 1930s and early ‘40s when Europe was under siege by Germany. He signed the Lend-Lease Act as a way of supporting England with supplies, but he resisted Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s pressure to send troops.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941, was a game changer, catapulting the United States into the conflict in both Europe and the Pacific. On Dec. 8, 1941, the Japanese attacked Manila on Luzon island, as well as several other islands, in the Philippines.
The Filipinos immediately rallied, forming guerrilla groups to combat the Japanese on their home territory. For several decades before the outbreak of war, Filipinos had been migrating to the United States, where the majority were able to find work only in menial capacities. They faced discrimination and racial prejudice.
Despite often inhospitable conditions, Filipinos in the United States were anxious to protect not only their native homeland but their new country. They volunteered by the thousands but, at that time, many were unable to enlist because of their status as U.S. residents. However, manpower was needed.
In December 1941, the Selective Service and Training Act was amended by Congress to permit the enlistment of citizens and “every other male person residing in the United States.”
They Were Heroes
It’s against this pivotal time in our nation’s history that author Marie Silva Vallejo writes extensively about the contribution that Filipinos made, in her work “Dauntless.” For Ms. Vallejo, it started on a personal level when she learned that her father, Lt. Col. Saturnino “Tony” Ramos Silva, was involved in secret operations during World War II. Acknowledging that she hadn’t paid that much attention to his military service as a girl growing up, as an adult, she wanted to learn more.
Ms. Vallejo visited museums, libraries, and national archives, and sifted through boxes of military records, as well as conducted interviews; her meticulous and exhaustive research spanned some 10 years.
The result is a labor of love not only bringing her father’s accomplishments to light but also those of countless others who served in these regiments formed under the Roosevelt presidency.
What she unearthed was a number of clandestine operations that were critical during the war effort in the Pacific. Her father, for example, was involved in top-secret submarine fact-finding missions known only to Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his staff.
For readers who prefer lighter reading material, this book may not be for you. It’s weighty. At more than 700 pages, the book is physically heavy.
But to the author’s credit, the subject matter is deep, and her coverage is richly detailed and extensive. She’s a remarkable researcher, and the length and breadth of her narrative is full of historical context and goes even further. She includes specifics, even expressing what individual soldiers were feeling and thinking about their predicaments; this information was garnered from newspaper articles and letters.
The Philippines is a chain of several thousand islands. Many of these were the settings for pivotal conflicts during World War II: Negros, Mindanao, Panay, Samar, Leyte, Luzon, Cebu, and Palawan. All are discussed and savored and given new life because of the author’s commitment to detail. The text includes numerous photographs from that period—many harsh reminders of the pain of war.
According to the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project, more than 260,000 Filipino and Filipino American soldiers defended the United States and the Philippines during World War II. The bravery of these soldiers was crucial to the victory in the Pacific.
Ms. Vallejo said that the completion of this project was often compromised, and she was tempted to stop. For World War II enthusiasts, Filipino American history buffs, and military historians will appreciate that she persevered and put her research into print.
Acknowledgment
For decades, their accomplishments were largely ignored. In 2016, the Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act was signed into law. In October 2017, more than 600 veterans were awarded the Congressional Gold Medals at the Emancipation Hall at Capitol Hill in Washington. After 75 years, Filipino American veterans had earned the recognition that they had long deserved.There are nearly 200 pages of appendixes and source materials. Many of those pages are filled with lists of names: thousands who served, their units, their dates of service, and where they served. It’s a litany of daring lives, well-lived for having served their country.
It’s a legacy not to be forgotten.
