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Asian Americans rally to name Navy ship in honor of Filipino Vet

by Janie Har, Associated Press from USA

149569President Harry S. Truman (third row, second from right) is crowded by a group of unidentified Filipino stewards in Germany, Aug. 1, 1945. A campaign led by Asian Americans wants to name a U.S. Navy ship for a Filipino sailor who bravely rescued shipmates in 1915.President Truman Library/AP/File

In 1915, Telesforo Trinidad earned the Medal of Honor when he rescued two crewmates on the USS San Diego after its boiler room exploded. Now a group

is campaigning to name a U.S. Navy ship after Trinidad. But who decides the names of Navy ships?

 

SAN FRANCISCO

Asian Americans, veterans, and civilians in the United States and the Philippines are campaigning to name a Navy warship for a Filipino sailor who bravely rescued two crew members when their ship caught fire more than a century ago, earning him a prestigious and rare Medal of Honor.

Supporters say naming a ship for Telesforo Trinidad would honor not just the only Asian American in the U.S. Navy granted the nation’s highest award for valor, but the tens of thousands of Filipinos and Americans of Filipino descent who have served in the U.S. Navy since 1901, when the Philippines was a U.S. territory.

“I don’t believe it’s a long shot at all; it may be a long timeline, but we’re hoping it’s not,” said retired Navy Capt. Ron Ravelo and chair of the campaign. “We’re going to be making Navy ships into the foreseeable future, and there’s no reason one of those can’t bear the name of Telesforo Trinidad.”

Mr. Trinidad, who died in 1968 at age 77, was so eager to join the U.S. Navy that he stowed away on a lifeboat from his home island of Panay to the main island to enlist, said grandson Rene Trinidad. In 1915, while on patrol on the USS San Diego, he risked his life and suffered burns to rescue two crewmates when boilers exploded, killing nine. He received the medal that year, at a time when the honor could be awarded for non-combat valor.

Rene Trinidad, a real estate agent in Southern California, recalls his grandfather was a man of few words.

Page created on 9/30/2022 5:04:45 PM

Last edited 9/30/2022 5:25:06 PM

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