filipino veterans still waiting for payments

Last February, the U.S. said it would pay a lump sum -- $9,000 or $15,000 -- to Filipino veterans who fought for the United States during World War II, in lieu of pensions it had promised during the war but later reneged on paying.

Since then, more than 11,000 surviving veterans have received this much delayed monetary recognition of their service and sacrifice. But thousands of others are still waiting to receive their money: Filipino WWII veterans still waiting for payments.

Blame the backlog of applications the Department of Veterans Affairs has had to deal with. While it's great to see this injustice finally made right after all these decades, this is not something the government should be taking their time with.

Frankly, a lot of these veterans, now in their 80s and 80s, are running out of time. Some fought and waited all this time to finally be recognized, only to die in the last year while waiting for their payment. That's an injustice all over again.