WW II veteran Rudy Panaglima, 96
Filipino World War II veteran Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Panaglima, one of only two surviving veterans in the Washington metropolitan area, died on June 12 at the Virginia Medical Center. He was 96.
Panaglima was just 13 when he joined his father in a Filipino guerrilla unit that worked in secret with the U.S. Army during World War II. He helped him sneak past Japanese forces as a courier and scout, bringing back information, food and medicine to U.S. soldiers in the mountains of the Philippines, near his home in Cagayan.
In 1990, after the U.S. granted naturalization benefits to Filipino World War II veterans, Panaglima was among the 26,000 Filipino veterans who availed of the benefit and came to the United States. However, that law did not extend citizenship or even residency to the veterans’ children. With family visa backlogs stretching decades for Philippine-born applicants, many newly naturalized elderly veterans were separated from their families for years.
At a press conference on June 2016, Panaglima shared his family’s experience of waiting 20 years to be reunited with his sons, and his hope that they will finally be able to come to the United States under the FWVP program.
“My two sons in the Philippines, Rolando and Raoul, have had approved immigration petitions since 1995 – and have waited more than 20 years to join us,” said Panaglima. “We need Rolando and Raul to take care of us because of our age. We don’t have relatives in the area. I am a proud American who had served honorably. Hopefully in a few months, my two sons can be with me in America with this parole visa program.”
It took more than 20 years for Panaglima to finally bring his adult children and his wife Pura to the U.S. after President Barack Obama authorized the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program (FWWVP) in 2016. Panaglima, who was already 86 years old at the time, was among 300 veterans who applied. His sons were able to take care of him and their mother. Pura Panaglima died of Alzheimer’s a few years later.
FilVetREP Chairman Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (Ret) said the reunification program begins to right a wrong “deeply rooted in American history,” noting that Filipino veterans who helped win World War II “paid a huge price. The humiliation and indignation they suffered still resonate.”
Saddened by Panaglima’s passing, Taguba paid tribute to “a World War II warrior whose duty to country will never be forgotten.” Panaglima received the Congressional Gold Medal in October 2017.
Panaglima was a member of the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, a national organization which lobbied for Veterans benefits. Panaglima’s story is among the oral histories featured in www.dutytocountry.com, FilVetREP’s online education program.
