They Fought and Died for America. Then America Turned Its Back. - Narratively - Pocket

Wow. This intense true story pulls you right in.

"Before the Philippines’ independence in 1946, its citizens were U.S. nationals, and in the lead-up to America’s entry into World War II, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt made a proclamation. He ordered 'all the organized military forces' of the Philippines to serve the U.S. military..."

"In 1946, barely a year after the war’s close, the U.S. government would repeal all the 'rights, privileges, or benefits' given to Filipino soldiers like Ganio, essentially denying that they had been active in the U.S. military at all..."

"The old man’s body contorted before her, assuming every painful position he had been subject to during his torture by the Japanese. Jimiliz Valiente-Neighbours, a Ph.D. student, was visiting Filipino veterans of World War II, hoping to answer a question: What did it mean to have served under the American flag? And now she was getting her answer, carefully reenacted before her, right down to the screams..."

"His name was Patrick Ganio, and he had survived his near-fatal injury to become one of the most prominent activists in the fight for equity between Filipino veterans and their American counterparts..."