Colin Moore, a political scientist and associate professor in the College of Social Sciences (CSS), has been researching more than 200,000 Filipino veterans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II. They spent decades fighting for promised benefits that included the naturalization and G.I. Bill benefits that Congress had denied them through the 1946 Rescission Act.
Moore’s several years of research has brought him to the U.S. National Archives, the Clinton Presidential Library and the Senator Daniel K. Inouye Papers housed in Hamilton Library’s Hawaiʻi Congressional Papers Collection.
Moore presented his research in a February 27 public talk titled, “Soldiers of a Forgotten Empire: Filipino Veterans and the Politics of Denial.” The hybrid event was organized by CSS and co-sponsored by UH Mānoa Hamilton Library and the Daniel K. Inouye Institute. Moore’s research was part of the DKI Fellows Program, which is supported by the Daniel K. Inouye Institute.
Moore’s talk considered the plight of Filipino veterans within the broader context of U.S. imperialism and, later, the Cold War. The presentation also traced Senator Inouye’s decades-long effort to obtain justice for the veterans. Letters that they wrote to Senator Inouye reveal their frustration, anger and disappointment.
The talk was followed by a lively discussion among audience members, many of whom had personal connections to Filipino veterans who struggled to access the benefits that were due to them. For the full story, and to view multiple photos of the event, see https://go.hawaii.edu/PpD
