How to Honor a Hero

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the meaning of DUTY.

To be dedicated to a mission that is beyond yourself. For the greater good. For a cause that could change the world.

When chosen, does duty become a labor of love? Or something you’re passion about? A life’s purpose?

Recently, I had learned that a Navy warship was going to be named after a Filipino-American hero for the first time EVER. 

As you can imagine, the naming of this ship is an incredible accomplishment for the Filipino community, because it recognizes the importance of Filipinos in shaping U.S. American history.

A long, complicated history between our two countries led to tens of thousands of Filipinos in the Philippine Islands enlisting with the American armed forces throughout the 20th century.

Telesforo Trinidad is one of those Filipinos who joined the U.S. Navy in 1910. Soon after enlisting, he became the only Filipino to receive the Navy Medal of Honor for running into a blazing fire not once but TWICE to save the lives of his comrades.

What’s even more remarkable is that over one hundred years later, Telesforo’s story of duty and heroism is far from over.

When I decided to learn more about the Navy Destroyer that would be known as the USS Telesforo Trinidad, I had no clue I would end up meeting some of the highest-ranking Filipino Americans to serve in the U.S. military.

From them, I learned that duty, when chosen, becomes something powerful that drives you. Beyond any sense of obligation.

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