Filipino Guerrillas with American Flag

When U.S. forces withdrew from the Philippines in May 1942, General MacArthur famously promised, “I shall return.” For the next three years, Filipino guerrillas risked everything to liberate their homeland from the Japanese. Guerrillas sabotaged Japanese military equipment and infrastructure, and targeted Japanese soldiers on patrol with sniper attacks, hit-and-run skirmishes and kidnappings. Spies gathered intelligence and covertly passed it along to American forces. When the U.S. began its invasion to retake the Philippines on the island of Leyte in October 1944, guerrillas offered reconnaissance and logistical support, while USAFFE forces smuggled in weapons and medicine. Over the next six months, guerrillas joined forces with the returning Americans to defeat the Japanese.

Guerrillas fought the Japanese without knowing whether and how their military service would be formally recognized. But in 1944, as the liberation of the Philippines began, Filipino President Sergio Osmeña and U.S. General Douglas MacArthur issued an order that incorporated about 70,000 guerrillas into the Philippine Commonwealth Army and thus making them official USAFFE soldiers.

Filipinos, whether trained members of the Philippine Scouts, members of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, or guerrillas, served bravely and heroically. By the end of the war, more than 200,000 Filipinos had performed some sort of military service, though many were in unofficial guerrilla groups. At that point, as members of the U.S. armed forces, they were entitled to certain benefits, including pensions and healthcare, other veterans benefits (such as those provided by the G.I. Bill), and, per the terms of the 1940 Nationality Act, the opportunity to naturalize as U.S. citizens if they desired. However, the U.S. betrayed its promise by passing the Rescission Act of 1946. The Rescission Act determined that Filipinos had fought “with” and not “in” U.S. armed forces, and therefore were not eligible for any veterans benefits.

This Explainer uses a photo of Filipino guerrillas holding a U.S. flag to consider the experiences and expectations of Filipinos who served in USAFFE. It can be paired with oral histories and animations from the Under One Flag exhibit to understand the contributions of Filipino guerrillas during the war, or taught with the Rescission Act, to consider the theme of promises made/promises broken.