AMERICA'S SECOND-CLASS VETERANS: How to order books

Thursday, September 17, 2009

How to order books - America's Second-Class Veterans

My apologies. Before an online ordering service is set up, please consider the following if you like to order a copy. Many thanks for your support.

PLEASE SEND YOUR ORDERS TO:

Rick Rocamora
c/o San Francisco Veterans Equity Center
1010 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

with your check or money order and shipping instructions for: (Please include your phone number or email address to confirm receipt of your order)

Hard-bound book - $50.00 each
Paper-bound book - $30.00

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ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS

Please send your orders to;

Rick Rocamora
c/o San Francisco Veterans Equity Center
1010 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

with your check or money order and shipping instructions for: (Please include your phone number or email address to confirm receipt of your order)

Hard-bound book - $50.00 each
Paper-bound book - $30.00

Hard-bound book with one exhibition print - $145.00
(will be available later)

My prints are now being bought by collectors, museums and galleries starting at $300.00 - $750.00 each.

ARTIST STATEMENT

For those who died waiting, I will wait in their place. They deserve justice, even after death.

My journey with Filipino WW II veterans began long before I had my first SLR camera. It started in the 60s when I participated in demonstrations in front of the US Embassy in Manila against the Vietnam War and on the streets of San Francisco against the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines, apartheid in South Africa and in support of national liberation movements around the world. These events fostered my belief that fighting injustice is a noble deed.

This project anchored my transition from the corporate perks of a career in sales to the life of a committed documentary photographer—one among those who care more about how our work will help our subjects than how it will improve our resume.

From my investigative work on the abuse of veterans in North Richmond, California to the Medicare scam that used them, exhibitions in the US Congress and other venues, to countless
presentations and photo essays about their plight, my pictures have become a part of their struggle. I have often been told that my images have inspired others to advocate for equity for the veterans.

I feel that I live the life of Filipino veterans waiting for equity. I have photographed many of them from their early days in America to the funeral services at their passing, and their lives in between. I have heard stories of veterans selling properties and borrowing money at a very high interest in order to come to America. I heard of many fraudulent schemes like fake travel papers, power-of-attorneys, and marriage. Some Filipinos took advantage of their vulnerabilities.

Many were never warned of the difficult life they could expect here while waiting for equity. Many lived on false hopes until the end of their lives. Many were surprised to learn that their petitions for their families to immigrate expired upon their death.

In 1947, Major Austin C. Shofner of the US Marine Corps wrote to Magdaleno Duenas, “ I can never repay you for all you did for me in Mindanao.” Duenas assisted Austin Shofner and nine other soldiers on their long trek to freedom after their escape from the Davao Penal Colony on the island of Mindanao. Shofner and his group of escapees told the world about the atrocities and pain of the Bataan Death March. The escapees retired from the service as heroes with full benefits and are recognized every year on Veterans Day.

Magdaleno Duenas’ name became synonymous with the plight of all the veterans and has been mentioned in the halls of Congress in a tragic light. He died longing for the recognition of his service during the war.

Many of the veterans have untold stories of bravery and sacrifice. One who always comes to mind is Pablo Dungo, a member of the Banal Regiment, who became famous for his heroism against the Japanese forces. He said, “I fought the Japanese not because of personal reasons, I fought them to defend the proletariat.”

I was in no rush to finish this book despite having prepared its content and secured funding for its publication. I was waiting for the time when Filipino veterans who lost limbs, life and made sacrifices during the war would be treated of equal value to an American soldier. It is unfair and unjust that a Filipino soldier’s life is only worth fifty cents to a dollar. I have decided to publish these images now in recognition of the long years the veterans continue to endure waiting for justice.

I hope that my work will remind future generations of Filipinos and Americans that Filipino WW II veterans were unjustly treated by the country they served with honor and blood.

Without full equity, they will remain America’s Second-Class Veterans.

RICK ROCAMORA

Rick Rocamora has traveled the globe with his camera, capturing the smiles of children, the determination of freedom fighters, and the swift grace of dancers from his native Philippines, to El Salvador and South Africa. In America, he documents issues about immigrants and civil liberties, including Japanese-Americans who were incarcerated in World War II, Muslim-Americans after 9/11, Silicon Valley’s immigrant entrepreneurs, and Filipino Diaspora. His photographs have been exhibited in San Francisco City Hall, U.S. Embassies in London and Tokyo, the Smithsonian, the Center for Photographic Arts, Oakland Museum, and Gorman Museum. He was recognized as a “Local Bay Area Hero” by KQED and Union Bank of California for his work about the Filipino veterans. “Second-Class Veterans” a documentary film profiling his work about the veterans was broadcast on many PBS stations in 2003 and 2004. He has won awards from Asian American Journalist Association, SF Bay Area Press Photographers Association, California Arts Council, and New California Media. Rocamora, who lives in Oakland, CA, also teaches photography and runs the Exposure Gallery in San Francisco.