During WWII, Celestino Almeda served in the Anti-Sabotage Unit of the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East from December 1941 to January 1942 and then as a Filipino guerilla from May 1942 to April 1945.
On December 8, 1941, the Japanese bombed Manila. When the war broke out, Almeda was a teacher at Arellano High School. But the city was in total chaos, and eventually he joined the guerilla unit. Along with American troops, he fought hard against the Japanese. The battle never ceased — from daybreak until midnight when everything around them was in complete silence.
Almeda later served in the American Dominion Forces Military Police Company from February 16, 1943 through April 11, 1945. In this operative, he conducted intelligence work.
Almeda was born in the Philippines but was naturalized and became a U.S. citizen in 1996. More than 70 years after the war, Almeda continues to fight another longtime battle of his life: recognition from the U.S. government for his military service.
He had written the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs a number of times since early 2000, requesting to recognize his military service during World War II. But all his requests had been denied. The reason: his name and military service could not be found in the American veterans archive in St. Louis, Missouri.
Undeterred, Almeda responded in detail to each letter of denial he received. He chronicled how he joined the guerilla movement to help Americans in fighting against the Japanese.
The U.S. military promised at the time of World War II to give full veterans’ benefits to every Filipino who volunteered to fight. More than 250,000 Filipinos joined. In 1946, however, President Truman signed the Rescission Act, taking that promise away. Still, Truman wrote to the House and Senate: “The record of the Philippine soldiers for bravery and loyalty is second to none. Their assignment was as bloody and difficult as any in which our American soldiers engaged. Under desperate circumstances they acquitted themselves nobly.”
For many decades, the Filipino veterans were left without any benefits. To date, less than 18,000 Filipino veterans are alive. And, like Almeda, some of them are still fighting for recognition of their military service.
Almeda was among those recognized on October 25, 2017 at Emancipation Hall in the United States Capitol with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress. He accepted the first Filipino Veterans Congressional Gold Medal from House Speaker Paul Ryan and spoke on behalf of thousands of his comrades and their families.
Over the past two decades, Almeda represented the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans Inc. before public officials, Congress and the media.