WHAT could have happened to war veterans nowadays? There were many reports that in the current US administration, war veterans have Kafkaesque struggles to claim their benefits. I met a veteran friend whom I name here as “The Visayan,” a US citizen who once lived in Panay island. He relayed to me that upon the appointment of the new director of the VA Administration, he wrote a letter hoping his last claim will finally come at last after it was ignored by the previous director. To his surprise, his letter dated June 30, 2014 came back unopened with no reason. The first part of the letter is a congratulatory remark for the newly-appointed VA director, Robert McDonald. He relayed how the stress accompanying his attempt to be heard led to his heart attack.

The Visayan relays in this letter that he was one of the thousands recruited as Stewards to replace the black Stewards. The 1953 recruits were doctors, engineers, school teachers, and college students. He reminisced: “When I was stationed in North Island Naval Air Stations, San Diego, California, we were only 40 Stewards in our division, feeding 500 hundred officers every day at least two meals with this great number. Then most of us had to clean the officer's stateroom and take care of some of the officers' personal effects, like shining their shoes. I have 37 staterooms to clean, with 19 bathrooms and we have to finish our work after lunch and before dinner. All of us had to be back to the ward room to serve lunch, and then finish cleaning the rooms before the evening meals. This routine continues for almost three years out of my six years navy career.”

For the next three years, he was then appointed as a Petty Officer 3rd class or Personnel Man and was transferred to USS Boxer CVS-21, a carrier with 3,500 men. Being a minority, “The Visayan” suffered from discrimination where his supervisor gave him all the dirty works he could think of. At sea, the Stewards went through emergency drills. In one of those drills, The Visayan slipped on the ladder. He decided not to report this injury for fear he would be denied of his liberty privilege. One of his shipmates, a medical doctor from the Philippines who worked as Steward, applied a cold compress from iced cubed wrapped in towel and massaged it until the swelling and the pain subsided. He continued the treatment until his legs were healed. (This Filipino doctor later became a real Navy doctor with the ranking of a Captain – equivalent as a Colonel of the Army.)

The Visayan quipped: “About twelve years ago, I had experienced pain in my left hip until I noticed that my left leg is a quarter inch shorter compared to my right leg. I was told to add an insole to my left shoe to relieve the pain. Ever since, my left shoe always has a lift.” It is logical for The Visayan to experience stress from his unresolved claim for what is due. After working as a Steward, he also worked with an insurance company who also cheated him of his pension. Out of his determination to cope, The Visayan resolved that he “will do everything to survive physically and financially in spite of the mistreatment… this is the reason some of my friends who joined the Navy in 1953 will not talked about their past experienced.” The Visayan is one of the many who suffer from injustices after faithfully serving their posts. May leaders remember that they cannot deny their heroes lest societies thrive like heartless systems, which in their goal to be efficient, inhumanely dispense what they have already used. If leaders throw their hearts for the sake of “expediency”, they dispose the reason why they exist.  (Lucell A. Larawan is an associate professor in management, cultural worker, and artist. He erves as an editorial board member of two journals run by the American Research Institute for Policy Development. He is a selected member of the National Commission for culture and the Arts-National Committee on Visual Arts.)