Celebrating Philippine American Friendship Day

75 Years of Diplomatic Relations between the Philippines & the United States
120 Years of Faithful & Loyal Service in the
U.S. Armed Forces by Filipinos

July 4 marks the 75th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States, now known as Philippine American Friendship Day. Philippine independence was recognized by the United States on July 4, 1946. In 1955, July 4 was designated as Philippine American Friendship Day by Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay (Proclamation #212). The Philippines has remained as one of the United States’ strongest allies in Asia since 1898 when Commodore George Dewey sailed into Manila Bay to defeat Spain.

Bataan Legacy Historical Society joins the USS Telesforo Trinidad Campaign (USSTTC), the organization spearheading this initiative, in educating the public about Telesforo Trinidad, an American national of Filipino descent who received the Medal of Honor in 1915. Telesforo Trinidad holds the distinction of being the first and only Filipino in the U.S. Navy to receive a Medal of Honor, in accordance with General Order Number 142 signed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on April 1, 1915. It was awarded for extraordinary heroism in the line of duty during boiler explosions onboard the USS San Diego (ACR-6) while the ship was underway in the Gulf of California on January 21, 1915.

No U.S. Navy ship has been named after any Filipino who served in the U.S. Armed Forces despite 120 years of faithful and loyal service by generations of Filipinos since President McKinley authorized the recruitment of Filipinos in the Insular Force in 1901. Even after the Philippines' independence, the U.S. Navy continued its recruitment of Filipinos from the Phlippines under the Military Bases Agreement until 1992. To this day, thousands of Filipino-Americans continue to serve in the U.S. Navy (and U.S. Armed Forces).

The naming of a ship after Trinidad will recognize the long-standing contributions of Filipino-Americans to the security and freedom of our nation, the strong alliance between the U.S. and the Philippines since 1898 and the U.S. Navy’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Moreover, it will resonate strongly with over four million Filipino-Americans who are looking for validation of the seminal contributions of Filipinos to U.S. history.

Please join us in supporting this historic campaign.
WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES (CONGRESS & SENATE) IN WASHINGTON, DC TO SUPPORT THIS INITIATIVE. SAMPLE LETTERS ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH WWW.USSTTC.ORG
FIND EMAIL & TWITTER of YOUR SENATOR/CONGRESSMAN
SHARE THE USSTTC FACEBOOK PAGE AND WEBSITE.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @USSTTC

INSTAGRAM USSTTC

You can also Tweet your Congressman/Senator with the following message:

@(TwitterAddress) Please support Naming of Navy Surface Combatant after Telesforo Trinidad MOH 1915. #SemperFortisUSSTrinidad