Photographed in San Francisco, California in 2018

As a commonwealth of the United States before and during World War II, citizens of the Philippines were legally American nationals. The 260,000 Filipinos who fought for the U.S. were promised all the benefits afforded to members of the United States Armed Forces.

However, in 1946, Congress passed the Rescission Act, stripping Filipino soldiers of the veterans' benefits they had been promised.

It wasn't until 2009 that the U.S. authorized a small, one-time lump-sum payment to eligible Filipino World War II veterans. In 2016, the Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2015 was passed, awarding a Congressional Gold Medal—collectively—to Filipino veterans of World War II in recognition of their service.