Ship and Shipmates Before Self: The Heroism of Telesforo Trinidad
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Telesforo Trinidad and family (Photo from the Trinidad family)
It was only a few years ago that I learned about his heroic deed and that of another Filipino MOH recipient Jose Nisperos (1905) who served in the Philippine Scouts. I had known about Jose Calugas (1942) of the Philippine Scouts (U.S. Army) for several years because of my work with Bataan Legacy Historical Society.
It was serendipity that I spoke to a colleague, Col. Nonie Cabana, USAF, Ret. of San Antonio, Texas, who told me that one of his dreams is to have a U.S. Navy ship named after Telesforo Trinidad. My interest was piqued after I learned that he lived and died in Imus, Cavite. Fortunately, a relative from Imus was a high school classmate of one of his grandsons, Rene Trinidad, and we eventually established contact. Rene has fond memories of going to the “sabong” (cockfights) with his “Lolo Porong” and remembers the latter massaging his prized roosters while blowing cigar smoke on them. He relished his family’s weekly visits to his grandparents’ home in Imus, where they had a steady supply of Hershey bars, Sanborn coffee and Dial soap. He often wondered why his grandparents always had “Stateside” goods. It was only later that he heard of the Medal of Honor, but even then it did not strike a chord until he came to the United States as an adult.
The Trinidad Family (Photo from the Trinidad family)
Telesforo dela Cruz Trinidad, born on November 25, 1890, came from very humble beginnings in New Washington, Aklan Province, Panay, Philippines. As a young man, he heard of the U.S. Navy’s Insular Force based in Cavite.The thought of making good money while traveling in faraway places he could only dream of induced him to leave the small island of Panay.But he did not have the money to buy a ticket for the local ferry to Luzon.So, he hid under a lifeboat of a ferry and eventually made his way to the Cavite Navy Yard (Sangley Point).He enlisted in1910 and while in Cavite, he met and married Eufemia Pagtakhan from the barrio of Tinabunan in Imus, Cavite.
The event that put Trinidad’s place in history occurred only five years after he enlisted.The 24-year-old Trinidad was serving on board the USS San Diego (Armored Cruiser No. 6) on 21 January 1915. The ship was steaming off the coast of La Paz, Mexico in the Gulf of California as part of the naval patrol to protect U.S. interests and citizens in México.The USS San Diego was the flagship of Rear Admiral Thomas Benton Howard, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and it was skippered by Capt. Ashley H. Robertson.Capt. Robertson decided to conduct a four-hour, full-speed endurance trial to determine if the cruiser could still maintain its officially rated flank speed. At the end of the trials an obstructed tube of one of the ship's boilers gave way, creating chain explosions in other boilers, killing nine men and injuring several others.
USS San Diego (ACR-6) (Photo from Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC))
From the May 1915 (Vol. IX) issue of “Our Navy,” the Standard Magazine of the United States Navy:
“At the time of the explosion, Trinidad was driven out of fireroom No. 2 by the force of the blast, but at once returned and picked up R.E. Daly, Fireman Second Class, whom he saw to be injured and proceeded to bring him out.While passing into Fireroom No. 4, Trinidad was just in time to catch the explosion in No. 3 Fireroom but without consideration for his own safety, although badly burned about the face, he passed Daly on and then assisted in rescuing another injured man from No. 3 Fireroom.Telesforo Trinidad, fireman second class, not only received a letter of commendation but also the much-prized Medal of Honor and a gratuity of one hundred dollars.”
Medal of Honor – Telesforo Trinidad (Front & Back) (Photo from the Trinidad Family)
After the 1915 accident, Trinidad continued to serve in the U.S. Navy during WWI and WWII until his retirement in 1945. He and Eufemia had 11 children, eight of whom survived into adulthood. His pension was supplemented by his entrepreneurial wife, who sewed loose fitting women’s outfits made from the sackcloth of animal feed and sold them in Paranaque market. She invested money in land in Imus where the family grew fruit trees, rice and raised chicken and pigs. Most of the children finished university and two boys followed in their father’s footsteps by serving in the U.S. Navy. He lived in Imus until his passing on May 8, 1968, at the age of 77.
After my conversation with Col. Cabana about Telesforo Trinidad, I mentioned the subject to Capt. Ronald Ravelo, USN, Ret. who was the former Commander of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN72) and the first Filipino American to command an aircraft carrier.Not long after, the USS Telesforo Trinidad Campaign (USSTTC) was formed as a U.S. registered non-profit (501c3) committed to naming a U.S. Navy Warship after Trinidad.Some of its members include retired Navy veterans Capt. Dan Gruta, Capt. Doy Heredia, Lt. Commander Ray Regis, Lt. Commander Louie Maligat, myself and many others.Among its advisers are General (Ret.) Antonio Taguba (Congressional Gold Medal for WWII Filipino Veterans/Filvetrep), Rear Admiral (Ret.) Dan McKinnon (Balanginga bells), Capt. (Ret.) Brian Buzzell (Balanginga Bells) and many other high-ranking Filipino American veterans. Capt. Ravelo serves as its Chairman and Col. Nonie Cabana serves as its Executive Director.
Capt. Ronald Ravelo, former Commander of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN72) (Photo from Manilalivewire.com)
One-hundred six years after he received the Medal of Honor, Trinidad still holds the distinction of being the first and only Asian American (and first Filipino) in the U.S. Navy to receive a Medal of Honor, in accordance with General Order Number 142 signed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on April 1, 1915.
Role of the Filipinos in the U.S. Navy
The Philippines has been one of the United States’ strongest allies in the Pacific and both countries have maintained uninterrupted economic, cultural, and military ties through the years. After the Spanish-American war in 1898, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico, were ceded to the United States for $20 million in accordance with the Treaty of Paris.
Filipino Sailors (Photo from the Filipino American National Heritage Society (FANHS))
In 1901, President McKinley signed an executive order allowing the recruitment of 500 Filipinos in the Navy and 6,000 Filipinos in the Army to serve as part of the Insular Force of the War Department.
During WWI, 6,000 Filipinos enlisted in the U.S. Navy and thousands more were recruited through the interwar years. During WWII, thousands of Filipinos served under the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East and the U.S. 16th Naval District.
After the Philippines obtained its independence from the United States in 1946, more than 35,000 Filipinos were recruited into the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1992 under a provision of the Republic of the Philippines-United States Military Bases Agreement. In addition, thousands of Americans of Filipino descent enlisted during this same 40-year period and continue to do so until today.There is no ship in the U.S. Navy with a name that recognizes this strong alliance forged in war and peace.
Many Filipino Americans who have served in the U.S. Navy come from a long line of Navy veterans like Capt. Ravelo whose own father, Ruben (originally from Kawit, Cavite) enlisted in the U.S. Navy under the Republic of the Philippines-United States Military Bases Agreement.
President Truman during the Potsdam Conference in 1945 in Germany with Filipino Stewards (Photo from the Harry S. Truman Library)
The naming of a warship after Fireman Second Class Trinidad will be a historic moment not only because he was the first Filipino sailor to have this distinguished honor, but more importantly, it recognizes the commitment, distinction, and valor of thousands of Filipinos who have served faithfully and loyally for the past 120 years.
To support the project please write your local Congressman and State Senator to ask for their help. For more information, please visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/USSTTC or contact Cecilia Gaerlan at cecilia@bataanlegacy.org or (510) 520-8540.
Cecilia Gaerlan
Cecilia Gaerlan is a member of USSTTC. She is the founder and Executive Director of Bataan Legacy Historical Society, which worked successfully with the California Department of Education to include WWII in the Philippines in the Grade 11 U.S. History (approved on July 14, 2016). For more information, visit www.bataanlegacy.org.
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