Filipino WW II Vets/Widows Ask for Apology from Obama and US Congress (tags)
A day after the Memorial Day marked by flags and parades, Filipino WW II vets and widows vow to demand a formal public apology from President Barack Obama and the US Congress for 65 years of abandonment, racial discrimination and injustice. ?We deserve full recognition and full compensation. But the wounds of long years of humiliation as second-class American veterans will never completely heal until the US government asks for apology,? says Felino Punsalan, who celebrates 93rd birthday today, without any lump-sum, much less monthly pension, nor any signs that he would be recognized soon as an American veteran. Vets and their families ask California Assemblywoman Fiona Ma to introduce a separate bill demanding for apology. Ma previously sponsored bills supporting HR 210, ?The Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2011,? and the inclusion of the Filipino WW vets in the social studies curriculum of schools in California.