"And, of course, in the Philippines, there were so many thousands of Americans that were captured by the Japanese and held, and who were rescued by Filipino Americans, or Filipinos, I should say, and by U.S. troops near the close of the war"
About this Quote
But the mechanics of the line betray him. “So many thousands” is both vague and performative, the kind of scale-language politicians use when they want emotional magnitude without the burden of precision. Then comes the rhetorical stumble: “rescued by Filipino Americans, or Filipinos I should say.” That midstream correction isn’t just a verbal tic; it’s an identity tell. He initially frames the rescuers through an American lens (Filipino Americans) before backtracking to the more historically plausible “Filipinos.” The subtext is assimilation as default: if someone is admirable in an American story, the mind reaches first for “Americans” as the primary category.
Context matters because WWII in the Philippines is not merely a rescue narrative; it’s also the Bataan Death March, guerrilla resistance, brutal occupation, and a colonial history in which Filipinos fought alongside - and sometimes for - U.S. power. Rohrabacher’s phrasing compresses that complexity into a feel-good rescue beat, with Filipinos cast as supporting characters in an American ordeal. The result is a sentence that wants to honor allies, yet inadvertently recenters the U.S. even when attempting to share credit.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Rohrabacher, Dana. (2026, February 19). And, of course, in the Philippines, there were so many thousands of Americans that were captured by the Japanese and held, and who were rescued by Filipino Americans, or Filipinos, I should say, and by U.S. troops near the close of the war. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-of-course-in-the-philippines-there-were-so-45333/
Chicago Style
Rohrabacher, Dana. "And, of course, in the Philippines, there were so many thousands of Americans that were captured by the Japanese and held, and who were rescued by Filipino Americans, or Filipinos, I should say, and by U.S. troops near the close of the war." FixQuotes. February 19, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-of-course-in-the-philippines-there-were-so-45333/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"And, of course, in the Philippines, there were so many thousands of Americans that were captured by the Japanese and held, and who were rescued by Filipino Americans, or Filipinos, I should say, and by U.S. troops near the close of the war." FixQuotes, 19 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-of-course-in-the-philippines-there-were-so-45333/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
