Photographed in Jacksonville, Florida in 2019

Emilio Teodoro was born on December 11, 1919, in Barrio Twec, Camigin, Tarlac in the Philippines. He grew up in the farmland of Camigin where he helped his father raise crops, corn, rice, beans, and vegetables.

Teodoro was drafted into USAFFE on December 25, 1941 and was assigned in the Philippine Scout. One of the remaining defenders of the epic battles of Bataan and Corregidor, he avoided capture at the fall of Bataan, and joined the guerilla units in the mountains of Tarlac and Zambales. They conducted harassment and skirmish raids against the Japanese units all the way to the Liberation of the Philippines in 1945

His enlistment lasted through the Liberation of the Philippines, thru March 1, 1945. He reenlisted in the service and served a second term from June 25, 1946 thru May 4, 1949, where he was assigned at Camp Rizal in Tarlac, with the Military Police Unit 63MP Company.

After his honorable discharge from the military, he went back to farming and growing crops became his livelihood. He and his wife, Susana were blessed with 9 children. He was able to send his children to school and never gave up in fighting for the compensation he was promised, along with 260,000 men who fought and died in the defense of his country and the United States. Teodoro was able to migrate in the US in 1981, coming to Jacksonville, Florida.