U.S.A.
November 6, 2017
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 7
Filipino WWII veterans awarded
Congressional Gold Medal
By Matthew Daly
The Associated Press
ASHINGTON — Celestino
Almeda joined the Philippine
Commonwealth Army in 1941,
fought alongside U.S. soldiers during
World War II, and for nearly a decade has
been seeking money the federal govern-
ment had promised.
The 100-year-old veteran got his
recognition and finally his money, too.
Almeda received the Congressional Gold
Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin
also announced at a capitol ceremony that
Almeda was getting a check, 72 years after
the war ended.
Shulkin’s announcement drew gasps
from some of the hundreds in attendance
at the medal ceremony, which house
speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin),
acknowledged was “long, long overdue.”
Almeda, dressed in his military cap, told
the crowd he was glad to be able to accept
the medal, noting that “many have passed
away waiting for 75 years for this time to
come.”
Almeda said he and other Filipino
veterans have long “felt unrecognized for
fighting for our country,” adding, “I
wondered why” since he and his fellow
soldiers had brought “victory during a long
war in the Philippines.”
The gold medal signified that his service
— and that of thousands of other Filipino
veterans — is recognized, Almeda said,
calling himself a warrior who “will never
quit.”
Almeda was a 24-year-old teacher when
he joined the Philippine Commonwealth
Army in 1941. After the war, he resumed
his career as a teacher and was granted
U.S. citizenship in the 1990s. In 2003, he
began receiving medical benefits from the
Department of Veterans Affairs under a
law aimed at Filipino veterans.
But Almeda, now 100 and living outside
Washington, has been fighting for nearly a
decade to receive a $15,000 lump-sum
payment promised to Filipino veterans
under the 2009 economic stimulus law.
Almeda was among more than 250,000
Filipino soldiers who served alongside
W
“HMONG ADELE.” Hmong pop singer Maa Vue smiles in Weston, Wisconsin. Vue has been called the
“Hmong Adele,” but her fame so far has been found only among Asian Americans. (Keith Uhlig/Wausau Daily
Herald via AP)
Hmong pop singer
gains popularity
By Keith Uhlig
Wausau Daily Herald
ESTON, Wis. (AP) — She’s been
called the “Hmong Adele,” but
her fame so far has been found
only among Asian Americans.
A lot more people now know about Maa
Vue’s musical quest.
The Wausau Daily Herald reports that
her singing and music videos in Hmong
have inspired more than 37,000 people to
subscribe to her YouTube channel, and her
music videos are watched millions of
times. One video, “Rov Pom Koj Dua (See
You Again),” a duet with another Hmong
singer, David Yang, has more than 4.8
million views. That online popularity
netted Vue a music recording contract
with a Hmong-owned California company,
Yellow Diamond Records.
Her performances resonate with young
people who, like Vue, straddle the line
between modern life in the United States
and the ancient Hmong traditions that
have been part of the ethnic group’s
culture for generations in southeast Asia.
“My style of music was unique at the
time” she started singing professionally
six years ago, Vue said. “I used a con-
W
temporary style with the Hmong lan-
guage. ... Now there are many people doing
it. There are Hmong rappers, Hmong rock
singers now.”
One of Vue’s primary goals is to preserve
the Hmong language through her music, to
help young people learn to speak it by
approaching them in a way that resonates.
“The Hmong language, to me, is a dying
language,” Vue said.
Along the way, she and other young
musicians who use the same template
ruffled feathers among traditionalists.
Traditional Hmong singing is very
different from western-style music; it’s
more chanting than singing, and is not a
melodic art form. Applying American
musical styles with the Hmong language
was not immediately embraced by elders
who likely viewed Hmong pop as another
form of diluting the culture.
The owner of Yellow Diamond Records,
Tre Xiong, 28, of Merced, California, said
the pushback from the elders has eased as
Hmong pop music has shown its staying
power and is proving to be a way to keep
the language in use.
“Music is a universal language, and
they’ve come to realize a new generation is
Continued on page 8
OVERDUE RECOGNITION. Celestino Al-
meda, a Filipino World War II veteran, speaks during
a ceremony at Emancipation Hall on Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C. Almeda and other Filipino veterans
of World War II were awarded the Congressional Gold
Medal. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
U.S. soldiers in World War II, including
more than 57,000 who died. After the war
ended, President Harry S. Truman signed
laws that stripped away promises of bene-
fits and citizenship for Filipino veterans.
Only recently have the veterans won
back some concessions and acknowledge-
ment, including the gold medal.
Ryan said the capitol ceremony was
more than “a feel-good story of delayed
recognition. We are here to immortalize
the legacy of great liberators, who have
paved the way for generations to follow.”
The ceremony — and the gold medal —
should “serve to ensure that those who
fought for freedom are never forgotten,
and always remembered,” Ryan said.
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) said
Filipino veterans enlisted for World War II
“knowing full well that the enemy could
discover who they were and retaliate
against their families.”
Even after their service “was practically
erased from American records ... these
veterans never gave up,” Hirono said.
“They organized and fought for what they
had earned.”
In 1990, congress awarded U.S. citizen-
Continued on page 13
How to identify
a possible
gas leak.
If you smell
ROTTEN EGGS
it could be a gas leak.
And the best thing to do is leave your home and call
NW Natural. We’ll be out to make sure everything is safe.
Unsure of what to do? Just take a look at our tips to the right.
Smell. Go. Let Us Know.
800-882-3377
If you smell a rotten egg
or sulfur odor, you hear a
blowing or hissing sound,
or you see blowing dirt, it
could be a gas leak.
What to do.
Leave your home and the
area immediately. Don’t use
any electrical device such
as a light switch, telephone,
appliance or garage door
opener. And don’t try to fi nd
the leak yourself.
Who to call.
Go outside and use your
cell phone, or a neighbor’s
phone, and call NW Natural
at 800-882-3377.