After decades of being ignored, Filipino American vets will formally receive the recognition that has been long overdue for more than 70 years.
The Congressional Gold Medal will be presented to these veterans for their service during World War II on October 25.
The medal which is said to have a monetary value of $29,000 will be turned over to the Smithsonian Institute for display and research.
According to Coin World, the medal is 99.95% gold. It weighs nearly 22 ounces and is 0.275 inches thick and three inches in diameter.
Thousands of veterans and their surviving family members are eligible to receive a replica of the medal, but they must register to get one, according to Maui Now.
AARP is urging Filipino American veterans and surviving family members should go to Filvetrep.org. Fewer than 16,000 of the 260,000 Filipino veterans are thought to be alive.
FilAmVet is raising money so that the veterans won’t have to pay for their replicas.
“They have paid for recognition many times over,” Taguba said. “It’s our obligation that we present it to them.”
Recognition of their service will also be represented in grade 11 text books in the San Francisco Bay Area this semester, according to the Inquirer.
We are starting with creation of the lesson plans and hopefully we can disseminate these throughout California then eventually throughout the United States,” said Cecilia Gaerlan, Bataan Legacy Historical Society (BLHS) executive director.
She estimated it will take three to five years to get the lesson plan implemented throughout the state.
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