Filipino World War II veteran Jose Manzano-Somera has been honored with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States’ Congress.
Texas Rep. Roger Williams awarded the medal to Manzano-Somera in a ceremony held in Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, on Oct. 25, according to an article published by the American military newspaper Stars and Stripes.
Manzano-Somera, 92, was accompanied by his wife Elizabeth and daughter Josephine Manzano-Stettler.
Meanwhile, Retired Royal Admiral Guy Richmond Griffiths and David Henry Mattiskie, both members of the Australian Navy when World War II broke out, recently arrived in Surigao City to join the three-day commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Surigao Strait from Oct. 23 to 25.
The Australians were allied with the United States and the Philippines, which were among the allies that fought the Japanese forces.
Griffiths, now 97 years old and Mattiskie, 96, flew to the Philippines to join the event.
“War is a dreadful part of civilization,” Griffiths told PNA in an interview as he expressed gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives for the peace that people are enjoying now.
“You come from peace and suddenly, somebody wants to create war,” Griffiths said.
The conferment of the award to Manzano-Somera was part of the implementation of the Filipino World War II Congressional Medal Act signed by former US President Barack Obama in December 2016.
Manzano-Somera is one of the 260,000 Filipino war veterans who fought alongside American troops during the war between July 26, 1941 and December 31, 1946.
From August 1946 to April 1949, Manzano-Somera enlisted as a private in the New Philippine Scouts of the US Army, a unit that helped track down and eliminate bands of Japanese fighters who refused to surrender.
A decade after his service, Manzano-Somera took advantage of an offer for US citizenship, and he now lives in Georgetown, Texas.
Steven Frank, III Corps command historian, said the sacrifices of Filipino World War II veterans were “immeasurable.”
“They helped save thousands of American and Filipino lives and sped up the liberation of their homeland in countless ways,” Frank was quoted as saying by Stars and Stripes during the awarding ceremony for Manzano-Somera.
To date, around 45 Filipino scouts have received the Congressional Gold Medal, the October article of Stars and Stripes said.