My Father was a Dental Officer in the USAFFE

Dr. David Jamili Katague, Dental Officer, USAFFE

Today is Veterans Day, here in the US. It reminded me of my Father who was a Dental Officer in the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) during the Japanese-American War in the Philippines. His assignment covered the islands Of Panay and Romblon.   As a USAFFE officer, he received a back pay after 1946.  My Mother and Dad used his back pay money as payment for a commercial lot at Iznart St, Iloilo City where they later built the KATAGUE Building.

The Katague Building, Iznart St. Iloilo City, Philippines

Chapter 2 of my autobiography described my experiences as a child accompanying my father during his dental visits in Romblon Island,

https://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/2011/12/chapter-2-memories-of-romblon-1945.html

Here's an excerpt: 

Marble Cliffs of Romblon Island

"In late 1945, just after the end of American-Japanese War in the Philippines, my father who was a captain and dental officer for the Philippine-US army took me and my Mom for a month to Romblon Province. He was in-charged of all the dental needs of army personnel in the whole island of Panay as well as in Romblon. I remember we took a PT boat owned by the US navy from Iloilo to Romblon. I was only about 11 years old that time, but very knowledgeable of US history. One of my hobbies was to read US history. I have memorized all the 48 capitals of US states( yes, at that time there are only 48 states in US).

My father's dental assistant was a white sergeant from Oklahoma City. He used to quiz me of my knowledge of the capital city of all the US states. If I get it right he gave me chocolates and cookies as a prize. There came a time when he ran out of chocolates, since I have never made a mistake. One capital I almost made a mistake was the capital of California. Most people think at that time the capital city is either LA or San Francisco. Even today, there are still a lot of Filipinos that do not know that Sacramento is the capital of California. The same thing with the capital of Illinois. Most Filipinos at that time believe it is Chicago( the biggest and most populated city in Illinois-not Springfield)" .


Here's some information on USAFFE from Wikipedia:
 
United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) (Filipino: Hukbong Katihan ng Estados Unidos sa Malayong Silangan/HKEUMS) was a military formation of the United States Army active from 1941 to 1946.  The new command's headquarters was created on 26 July 1941, at No. 1, Calle Victoria, Manila, Luzon, the Philippines, with General Douglas MacArthur as commander. The Chief of Staff was Brigadier General Richard K. Sutherland and the Deputy Chief of Staff was Lieutenant Colonel Richard J. Marshall. The core of this command (including MacArthur, Marshall, and Sutherland) was drawn from the Office of the Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government.

Creation of this command led to the subordination of the headquarters of the Philippine Department of the U.S. Army, as a service command, since planning and tactical control were now under USAFFE control. MacArthur recommended that Philippine Department commander Major General Grunert be reassigned, as his services were no longer needed. On 23 October, Grunert returned to the United States and MacArthur was temporarily appointed as the Philippine Department's commander.  USAFFE was formally dissolved in the lead-up to Philippine independence on 4 July 1946.

Here's a related topic on Filipino Veterans of World War 2.

https://priceonomics.com/how-filipino-soldiers-were-written-out-of-the/

Happy Veterans Day to All!