CURRENT EXHIBIT: Filipino Americans in WWI and WWII

Check it out through November 2! Organized by the Filipino American Historical Society of Hawaiʻi, the exhibit’s visit to our campus coincides with Filipino American History Month.

From the exhibitor:

This exhibit recognizes the unsung participation and contributions of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in the military defense of American interests in Hawaiʻi and the Philippines during WWI and WWII. During WWI the majority of people who enlisted for the defense of Hawaiʻi were Filipino migrant workers. Over 4,000 Filipinos in Hawaiʻi were recruited, trained and promised benefits for their service — ultimately, most of these benefits were not forthcoming. During WWII thousands of Filipino Americans and Philippine Filipinos rallied to the call to take back Japan-occupied Philippines. In the Philippines Campaign, Filipino soldiers and guerilla fighters laid the groundwork for the largest ever U.S. land, sea and air operation, an operation which ultimately destroyed Japan’s naval and ground forces and vindicated the loss of Bataan and Corregidor, America’s worst military defeat. Thousands of Philippine Filipinos who fought for the U.S. and were promised veterans’ benefits were eventually denied those benefits.