May 20, 2022
Washington, D.C.
“Naming a future destroyer USS Telesforo Trinidad in honor of a Filipino sailor is a historic event that also honors the service of tens of thousands of Filipinos in the U.S. Navy,” said FilVetREP Chairman Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (Ret.) “As a nation, we are proud to celebrate Trinidad’s heroic actions during Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month.”
Taguba also expressed his thanks and appreciation to the USS Telesforo Trinidad Campaign (USSTTC), led by its Chair, Captain Ronald L. Ravelo, USN (ret) and its Founder/Executive Director Colonel Nonie C. Cabana, USAF-Ret. “Accomplishing this milestone within one year was made possible by the selfless efforts of many supporters who were deeply committed to this historic mission,” Taguba said
“He let his actions speak for himself. And I suppose that’s why he did what he did.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-warship-medal-of-honor-filipino-recipient/
A new Navy destroyer will be named after the first and only Filipino to receive the Medal of Honor, who braved flames and suffocating smoke to rescue his crewmates in 1915.
A future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named the USS Telesforo Trinidad, after Fireman 2nd Class Telesforo De La Cruz Trinidad, according to a Navy press release. The namesake couldn’t be more fitting: Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are “the backbone of the U.S. Navy’s surface fleet,” the release says, and Trinidad was a prime example of selfless service.
Born in the Philippines in November 1890, Trinidad enlisted in the Navy after the Spanish-American War when the Philippines was still a U.S. territory. He was “so eager” to join the service, the Associated Press reported, that he “stowed away on a lifeboat” to get to the main island to enlist.
He served throughout World Wars I and II, according to the Medal of Honor Museum, before he retired in 1945. He lived in the Philippines until he passed at the age of 77, on May 8, 1968. But the heroism that earned him the nation’s highest military honor happened years before, on January 21, 1915.
Trinidad was aboard the USS San Diego in the Gulf of California at the time, when the captain of the ship “conducted a four-hour, full-speed and endurance trial,” according to the museum. At the end of the trials, however, an “obstructed tube of one of the ship’s boilers gave way,” which created a chain reaction of explosions that ultimately killed nine other sailors.
The blasts pushed Trinidad out of fire room two, but he soon realized another sailor was trapped inside. At the risk of his own life, he immediately went back into the smoke-filled room to rescue the injured sailor, Fireman 2nd Class R.E. Daly. As he carried Daly to safety, Trinidad was again caught in an explosion from fire room three, leaving his face “badly burned.” Still, Trinidad kept pushing. He handed Daly off to someone else for more assistance, and then went back into fire room three to rescue another injured sailor.
His Medal of Honor citation notes his “extraordinary heroism” throughout the ordeal. Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels signed off on his medal a few months later on April 1, 1915 — making Trinidad the first and only Filipino to be recognized with the highest U.S. military award for bravery..
“He let his actions speak for himself,” his grandson Rene told the AP of Trinidad, a man of few words. “And I suppose that’s why he did what he did.”
Before the announcement, there was a campaign by veterans and civilians around the U.S. and in the Philippines to name a warship for Trinidad, the AP reported. Supporters of the effort said the move would honor not only Trinidad but the “tens of thousands of Filipinos and Americans of Filipino descent who have served in the U.S. Navy since 1901,” according to the AP.
The effort appeared to find a friend in Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, who said in the service press release that he first learned of Trinidad at the Naval Academy and had hoped to name a ship after him once he was sworn in.
“This ship and her future crew will be a critical piece in strengthening our maritime superiority while also emphasizing the rich culture and history of our naval heritage. … I hope the naming of this ship is a beacon for not only Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders,” Del Toro said, “but for all our Sailors, Marines, and civilians who serve across the Department of the Navy.”
To learn more about Telesforo Trinidad, click the link below to a YouTube video: https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-warship-medal-of-honor-filipino-recipient
The wreath laying ceremony was followed by a reception and unveiling of a portrait of Carlos P. Romulo at the Philippine Embassy. Filipino World War II Veteran Remigio Cabacar commissioned artist Orlando Lagman to do the portrait and donated it on behalf of VFW Post 5471. Before becoming Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Romulo helped lead the joint forces towards Philippine independence during the second world war as a Brigadier General in the Philippine Army and as chief aide to General Douglas MacArthur.
Bataan Memorial Death March
Families of veterans, community leaders and supporters kicked off the 80th anniversary commemoration with their local version of the Bataan Memorial Death March (BMDM) on April 2. More than 100 participated in the 7 to 14-mile trail in Alexandria, VA., including US Air Force Under Secretary Gina Ortiz Jones, Maryland Delegate Kris Valderrama, Virginia State Legislator Kathy Tran and Ben de Guzman, Director of the DC Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (MOAPIA). He read a statement from DC Mayor Bowser proclaiming April 2, 2022 as “Filipino American World War II Veterans Day.”
On its second year in the Washington, D.C. area, BMDM was organized by the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP), and co-sponsored by Bicol Association of Metro DC, Filipino Young Professionals, NaFFAA, Philippine American Chamber of Commerce, Philippine American Nurses Association (PNAMDC), and VFW Post 5471.
To see TV coverage of the Bataan Memorial Death March, go to:
https://www.wusa9.com/video/life/veterans-families-walk-to-mark-80-years-since-the-bataan-death-march/65-b29bdcd3-4017-43c8-942b-cb2f7a9152ea
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The Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP), is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, community-based, all-volunteer national initiative whose mission is to obtain national recognition of Filipino and American WW11 soldiers across the United States and the Philippines for their wartime service to the U.S. and the Philippines from July 26, 1941 to December 31, 1946. For more information about Filipino WWII veterans and how to get involved, visit our website at www.filvetrep.org or find us on Facebook or Twitter.