Philippine Scouts - Legacy

Legacy

Many of the former Philippine Scouts went on to serve the United States in military careers of twenty and more years, campaigning in the Korean War, the build-up to the planned invasion of Cuba during the October 1962 Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. Children of the Scouts (known as "Army Soup" in pre-World War II Fort William McKinley days) sometimes carried on their fathers' military traditions and also became US Army soldiers and Marines. Two Philippine Scout children even earned the stars of US Army generals: Lt. General Edward Soriano and Major General Antonio M. Taguba. A third, Brig. General Oscar G. Hilman,a native of Washington state and an armor officer who had started out as an enlisted man, earned his star in a long career in the Army National Guard.

Unlike other non-citizen veterans, veterans of the Philippine Division and other Filipinos that fought as part of the USAFFE were never granted citizenship. Since 1993, various bills have been introduced to the United States Congress under the name Filipino Veterans Fairness Act to rectify this. However, this was a complicated matter as after the liberation of the Philippines members of the Philippine Scouts were offered enlistments and in some applicable cases commissions in the US Army and subsequent citizenship. Large numbers of "old" Philippine Scouts (those enlisting before or during World War II) took advantage of this. However, most "new" Philippine Scouts (those recruited following the war, mostly for occupation duty on Okinawa and elsewhere) were not offered citizenship. Language similar to the aforementioned proposed legislation was inserted by the Senate into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which was signed into law. This provided a one-time payment to those veterans who are recognized as being soldiers or recognized guerrilla members by the United States or their surviving spouse. Even this, however, falls far short of the benefits available to similar veterans of other units.