Oscar Bangui, 97, sat in the front row at a ceremony Friday outside the Waipahu Public Library as a new monument honoring Filipino veterans of World War II was unveiled.
Bangui was a guerrilla in the wartime resistance movement, working with U.S. soldiers in the Philippines against the brutal Japanese occupation.
“I hope American people recognize our service, and they should also remember our sacrifices during World War II,” he said.
More than 100 people attended the dedication ceremony for the Filipino Veterans of World War II monument, which pays tribute to the heroic efforts of veterans of Filipino descent and the civilian resistance who fought against Japan in the Philippines.
The bronze sculptures represent members of the Philippine Constabulary, 1st Filipino Division, Filipino Scouts, Filipino Guerillas and the 1st and 2nd Filipino Regiments from Hawaii and the mainland.
Drizzle turned into a brief bout of heavy rain as cadets from the Waipahu High School JROTC and Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy removed the plastic coverings to reveal the monument.
The sculptures are affixed to concrete bases that resemble natural rock with images relating to the war, including one depicting Filipino guerrilla leader Nieves Fernandez.
The project was initiated in 2017 after then-Gov. David Ige enacted a measure authorizing the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to select an artist to design and build a monument to honor Filipino veterans of WWII. Approximately $200,000 was allocated for the project.
An advisory committee comprising Filipino veterans and community leaders selected artist Kelley Hestir to create the monument after seeing photos of her Bataan Death March Memorial in Las Cruces, N.M.
Hestir earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and taught sculpture classes at the UH Art Department for five years before returning to New Mexico in the mid-1990s.
As part of her design process, the artist traveled to Hawaii to interview Filipino veterans, including the late educator Domingo Los Banos.
“He was a remarkable man. They all are,” Hestir said Friday during a phone interview from Las Cruces.
She said she found a photo of Los Banos in uniform before he deployed to the Philippines and used his face as a model for the soldier depicted at the front of the monument.
“I only had one photograph to work off, but I remembered him because I met him,” she said. “Hopefully, his family will see the likeness. As an artist, I just thought his face was so beautiful.”
Born in Wahiawa, Los Banos joined the U.S. Army when he was 19. He was assigned to the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment and was part of mop-up operations in the Philippines. Following the Japanese surrender in 1945, he returned to Hawaii where he promoted peace and became a teacher, principal and Leeward district superintendent with the state Department of Education.
He advocated for recognition of Filipino veterans of WWII until his death in 2019 at age 93.
Amy Agbayani, who served on the monument advisory committee, said the sculptures acknowledge the history of the veterans’ service and sacrifice.
“Most people don’t know about these folks,” she said.
In 2016, President Barack Obama signed a measure into law that collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal — the nation’s highest civilian award — to more than 260,000 Filipino and Filipino American veterans who served in WWII.
Hestir said the three figures in the background of the monument depict action during the war. The concrete bases the sculptures are affixed to represent the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippine archipelago, and the figure in the front that resembles Los Banos represents the aftermath of the war, showing the soldier in a state of exhaustion and reflection.
“It’s not a glorification of war in any way,” she said.
It took the artist almost five years to complete the project, with a two-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic along with material and labor shortages and shipping issues. The figures and concrete bases were eventually shipped to Hawaii from a studio in Portland, Ore.
Hestir said she hopes the monument evokes an emotional response in those who feel a connection to it.
Although unable to attend the ceremony, her remarks in the program read, in part, “In listening to (veterans’) stories, what inspired me most became clear: skill, ingenuity, strength, alliances, a common purpose, an indomitable spirit.”
Karen Ewald, interim director of the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, said it was an honor for the agency “to commission a work of art like this that is so important to the community, the veterans community.”
During the ceremony, Bangui sat next to fellow veterans Art Caleda, 99, and Faustino Garcia, 100. Afterward, he was joined by his son, Pat Bangui, who said, “It’s a very good reminder of Filipino service, Filipino heroism and Filipino determination to preserve democracy.”
Leon Florendo, president of the Sariling Gawa Youth Council, a nonprofit organization founded by Los Banos in 1980 that fosters cultural awareness and leadership skills in Filipino youth, brought maile lei donated by the council that were placed on each of the monument figures.
Florendo said it was “awesome” that the artist used a likeness of Los Banos for one of the figures, adding that Los Banos perpetuated a commitment of giving back to the community.
“That’s what I learned from Mr. LB, you got to do something bigger than yourself,” said Florendo, who works as a counselor at the Leeward Community College- Waianae Moku.
Christine Madayag, branch manager of the Waipahu Public Library, said, “I think it’s going to be a major landmark for Waipahu and something that will be very meaningful for the community, especially the Filipino community.”
The sculptures are so lifelike, she added.
She hopes younger generations will learn of the major role Filipinos played during WWII.
“It should always be part of our memories that should never be forgotten,” Madayag said.
