| Photo by Navy Medicine on Unsplash
NEW YORK — Filipino American veterans’ advocates are renewing calls for Congress to honor World War II military nurses—American, Filipino, and other Allied nationals—after a bill seeking to award them the Congressional Gold Medal failed to advance for two consecutive congressional terms.
The proposal, originally filed by former New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, sought to collectively recognize more than 70,000 Army and Navy nurses who served during the war, including those deployed in the Philippines, Guam, China-Burma-India, Australia, and other Pacific battlefronts. The bill never made it past the committee level in either chamber and has not been reintroduced since Stefanik left the House.
Fil-Am veterans’ groups say the lapse is a setback, especially as the number of surviving WWII nurses—now centenarians—continues to dwindle. “Every year that passes is a lost opportunity,” said a spokesperson for a Filipino American veterans’ coalition. “These women served under fire, many as prisoners of war. They deserve national recognition.”
Fil-Am Advocacy Renews Push for Congressional Action
On Saturday, April 11, the Bataan Legacy Historical Society (BLHS), a California-based nonprofit, renewed its call for Congress to reintroduce the stalled Congressional Gold Medal bill for WWII nurses. The organization, led by executive director Cecilia I. Gaerlan, will mark the 84th anniversary of the Bataan Death March with a public appeal urging lawmakers to act before the last surviving wartime nurses pass away.
Gaerlan—whose mother and relatives lived through the Japanese occupation—has been one of the most consistent Fil-Am voices championing the legislation originally filed by Stefanik. She has spent years educating the public about the “Angels of Bataan,” the Navy’s “Sacred Eleven,” and the Filipina volunteer nurses who served without rank or recognition. In a statement, Gaerlan said that during the April 11 commemoration, this year she will emphasize that honoring WWII nurses is “a matter of historical accuracy and equity,” noting that many Filipina and American nurses endured starvation, bombardment, and years of imprisonment.
BLHS has been working with veterans’ families, historians, and community groups to gather documentation and testimony to support a renewed legislative push. Gaerlan said the organization will continue to advocate until a new sponsor emerges in Congress, stressing that “time is running out” as the number of surviving WWII nurses dwindles to only a handful nationwide.
Nurses Who Served in the Philippines and the Pacific
The largest and most documented group of nurses in the Pacific was the “Angels of Bataan and Corregidor,” composed of U.S. Army and Navy nurses who served in field hospitals and the Malinta Tunnel during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. Among them were:
- Lt. Col. Maude Davison, the chief nurse who led the group through captivity
- Lt. Josephine Nesbit, Army nurse stationed in Bataan
- Lt. Laura Cobb, senior Navy nurse among the “Sacred Eleven.”
- Lt. Dorothy Still Danner, Navy nurse imprisoned in Los Baños
Filipina nurses also served, though many were classified as civilian volunteers or auxiliary staff and therefore excluded from U.S. military records. Documented names include Natividad “Naty” San Miguel, a Filipina nurse who assisted U.S. Army medical teams in Bataan, and Felicidad Mendoza, who worked in makeshift jungle hospitals before being captured.
In Guam, Navy nurses such as Lt. (j.g.) Beatrice Chambers, Lt. (j.g.) Kathryn Dooley, and Ens. Rita Palmer were taken prisoner during the 1941 invasion and held until liberation.
Other nationalities also served in the Pacific theater. Australian nurses like Sister Vivian Bullwinkel, the sole survivor of the Bangka Island massacre, and Sister Betty Jeffrey, who chronicled her years as a POW, are among the most recognized. Dutch nurses, including Floortje “Florrie” van der Velde, served in the Netherlands East Indies and were later interned in Japanese camps.
Fil-Am Community Sees Parallels With Veterans’ Fight for Recognition
For many Filipino Americans, the stalled bill echoes the decades-long struggle of Filipino WWII veterans who fought for U.S. recognition and compensation. While Congress eventually approved a one-time payment in 2009, thousands of Filipino soldiers were excluded due to missing or destroyed records.
Advocates say the nurses’ bill represents a similar moral obligation. “Filipino nurses stood shoulder to shoulder with American nurses in Bataan and Corregidor,” said a Fil-Am historian. “Their courage was equal, but their recognition has not been.”
What Comes Next
With no current sponsor, the bill remains dormant. Veterans’ groups are now urging lawmakers—particularly those representing districts with large Filipino American populations—to refile the measure before the last surviving WWII nurses pass away.
For families of nurses who served in the Philippines and across Asia, the push for a Congressional Gold Medal is not only about honoring the past but ensuring that the contributions of women—Filipina, American, Australian, Dutch, and others—are fully acknowledged in the historical record.
