World War I

Nicole

During World War I Asian Americans were not exempt from the participation to fight for their country.  More than 25,000 Filipino Americans served in the armed forces during the years of the war.  This follows the stats of them being the predominant Asian group to serve in the US armed forces without having citizenship.  The reason for the large number of non-citizens fighting for their “host” country is because of the Philippines position as a colony.  Their lack of independence and limitation of rights, allowed for the “recruitment” of Filipino’s.  Also, under the occupation of the US the presence of military bases was a huge influence on those living nearby, and joining the service (mainly the navy) became an economic opportunity.  During the First World War, Filipinos who joined or were recruited to the navy held positions such as petty officers, stewards, attendants, and other low rankings most relating to chores.  After the war the Navy ruled that Filipinos were to be restricted to the ranks of officer stewards and mess attendants, even if they had a college education.  This effectively locked them into domestic roles within the navy.  With this act Filipino Americans were unjustly restrained to the very bottom of the military hierarchy.  In a way this seems to follow the trend of giving the jobs no one else wants to the immigrated groups that can’t do much in their position.  It is a form of taking advantage and in the process forming a standard for discrimination.  Even until the 70’s were these military practices upheld, confining different ethnic groups to the steward class, and placing above them a very low glass ceiling.  Finally, because of the influence of the civil rights movement, were these practices stopped during investigations of the military in the 1970’s.  This goes to show that once a practice like this is started, in a twisted way it becomes viewed as acceptable or normal and can stay in effect for a long time.  Because of the classification of Filipino placement in the First World War, future generations of military occupants were hurt.  Even though they were working to fight for their adoptive country, they were still hurt by its stereotypes.  The large participation of Filipino Americans in the navy had a lasting effect on their communities.  After the war, the sailors had shared a close bond with other Filipino Americans serving and thus formed communities when settling down.  This led to the accumulation of large Filipino American populations around navy towns, and a continuation of the cycle of generations of Filipino Americans serving in the navy.