17 April 2006 – Consul General Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Consulate participated in a special ceremony honoring all Filipino and American prisoners of war (POWs) held at the lobby of the War Memorial building in San Francisco on 8 April 2006.

In her remarks at the ceremony, Consul General Sanchez said, “My greetings go to the former prisoners of war throughout the world – veterans of past conflicts whose survival during their time of captivity is a measure of the worth and ability of the human being to overcome any adversity and under the most trying of all circumstances.”

Consul General Sanchez also highlighted the cause of Filipino war veterans who fought alongside their American counterparts during the World War II, but have not been given recognition by the U.S. Government.

“I am particularly glad that the War Memorial Commission has chosen this occasion to pay tribute also to our American and Filipino Veterans of the epic battles of Bataan and Corregidor, particularly those who survived the brutal Death March that followed the surrender of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East on 9 April 1942,” the Consul General remarked.

Consul General Sanchez reported that the ceremony was also attended by Ms. Dorothy Dore Dowlen, a registered nurse for the USAFFE who subsequently became a POW of the Japanese, and then a guerilla fighter.

In her remarks, Ms. Dowlen detailed the bravery of all those who fought against tyranny and oppression during the War. She said that she survived mainly because her father who was a solider taught her “to think like a soldier, act like a soldier, and live like a soldier.”

The event, hosted by the American Legion War Memorial Commission, honored veterans of World War II and other conflicts, as well as their comrades who had become POWs. The ceremony began with the introduction of the Colors, singing of the American and Philippine National Anthems, as a well as the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. The solemnity of the event was highlighted by the roll call of former Prisoners-of-War that had died and those that were still alive and present at the ceremony.  (Please refer to the accompanying photo release on this subject matter.) END