The Bataan Legacy event will take place on Sunday, May 5 at 2PM at the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library located at 100 Larkin St. in San Francisco, CA. The event is a collaboration between Artis Mundi and the San Francisco Public Library and supported by the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center and the San Francisco Arts Commission.
The price of peace was paid dearly by the defenders of Bataan. But their place in history has been ignored, derided, and even maligned. Five months after the war ended, the benefits for the Filipino veterans were rescinded by President Truman in 1946 and to this day have not been fully restored. The recent decision by the ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals to reject the veterans’ claims has tipped the scales of justice even further. Only a handful of these veterans are left and soon they will pass on without receiving recognition for their great sacrifice. – Cecilia Gaerlan