Taguba and His Father: the Empire's Multinational Soldiers

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

Major General Antonio M. Taguba, the author of the "Article 15-6
Investigation of the 800th Military Police Brigade" that probed into
torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, is by all accounts a good
man who is compassionate as well as professional. A New York Times
article gives us a glimpse of the man's character: "'If you want the
truth, he's going to tell you the truth,' said one army general who
has served under Taguba. 'He's not bullied; he's a stand-up guy.' . .
. 'He's a straight shooter, very professional, and comes across as
very empathetic,' said Eric Lachica, executive director of the
American Coalition for Filipino Veterans. 'When you talk, he doesn't
interrupt you. He really tries to understand what you say'" (Douglas
Jehl, "Head of Inquiry On Iraq Abuses Now in Spotlight," New York
Times, May 10, 2004, p. A1+). The same New York Times article also
hints at the ambivalent social position in which men like Maj. Gen.
Taguba find themselves in the complex history of the sprawling
American empire: "During World War II, his father had served as a
Philippine Scout, a member of a native Philippine unit under the U.S.
Army. After he was taken prisoner by the Japanese, he escaped and
fought in the resistance against them, but was not repatriated until
the war's end" (Jehl, May 10, 2004). Taguba's insistence on pulling
no punches in exposing all the excruciating details of Abu Ghraib
torture may have been informed by his father's memory of torture at
the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army, as a number of journalists
noted. It may also have been colored by his own memory of
Washington's injustice to his father and other Filipino men who
served in the US military. Taguba's and his father's relationship to
the US military certainly suggests a mixture of loyalty (to the
institution) and resentment (against the elite who control it) --
proud to serve in the military whose leaders have blatantly denied
them equal rights:

Taguba went out of his way in 2001 to call attention to what he
described as the injustice the army had accorded to his father after
a two-decade career that began in the Battle of Bataan in 1942, where
he fought alongside U.S. forces. He was captured by the Japanese,
whose cruelties toward many of their prisoners have been well
documented.

Staff Sergeant Tomas Taguba left the army "without so much as a
retirement ceremony to thank him for those 20 years of hard work and
faithful service," Taguba recalled with evident bitterness in a
Veterans' Day speech. . . .

"I am proud to serve in the world's best Army," General Taguba said
in Congressional testimony in 2001. Still, "if we are to remain the
best," he continued, "the well-being of its soldiers and families
must be its principal focus." . . .

His father was among about 100,000 Filipinos who were essentially
drafted into American service after the outbreak of World War II. But
it was not until 1999, General Taguba said in the 2001 speech, that
the Army finally recognized his father with medals, and his mother,
Maria, with a ceremony and a letter of appreciation.

"It took over 54 years to gain my parents their due recognition," he
said. "They sought not to be recognized, only to be appreciated."
(Jehl, May 11, 2004)

Though the New York Times neglected to mention in the article above,
it is only last year when Washington finally granted
Filipino-American WW2 veterans "complete health care benefits" -- the
benefits still denied Filipino veterans who are neither US citizens
nor US permanent residents. . . .

The rest of the posting at
<http://montages.blogspot.com/2004/05/taguba-and-his-father-empires.html>.
--
Yoshie

* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
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<http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>,
<http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/>
* Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/>
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