Joaquin "Jack" Tejada: The Jolly Vet (1923-2008)
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WASHINGTON DC – The clock ran out on 85-year-old Filipino WWII veteran and the highly visible equity bill
fighter Joaquin Taopa Tejada. He died quietly in his sleep at about five in the morning Monday, December 1
beside his loving wife Eppi.
Mrs. Epitacia “Eppi” Tejada called 911 from their modest one-bedroom apartment on Randolph Street. Jack
was rushed in a DC City ambulance to the closest hospital with Eppi at his side. Sadly, Jack expired
apparently from cardiac arrest due to complications from pneumonia over the Thanksgiving week. He had
been discharged two days earlier from the VA Hospital.
Jack, as he is fondly called by the friends, was a frequent jolly visitor on Capitol Hill, at the VA headquarters
and at the White House. With his regular comrades Celestino Almeda, Albert Bacani, Tomas Culanag, Rudy
Panaglima, Guillermo Rumingan and Amadeo Urbano, they wore colorful American flag ties and WWII
veterans caps as they walked the halls of the U.S. Congress.
Jack was also well-known to Capitol Hill and White House police for his being arrested in protests against
the lack of progress on the Filipino veterans bill in 1997 and 1998.
Tejada, whenever he had a chance, regaled his comrades, congressional aides and VIPs with his
adventures during WWII and the Vietnam War.
In his teens, Jack joined the guerrilla movement when Japanese invaders occupied his Catanduanes
hometown in the Philippines. However, he and his comrades were caught, tied up and marched for
possible execution in the night by captors. Jack escaped in the darkness, apparently because he looked like
a young Japanese soldier.
Before the end of WWII, he enlisted as a Special Philippine Scout for U.S. Army guard duty in Okinawa and
was discharged as a private in 1949. He then enlisted with the Philippine Army.
During the Vietnam War, Jack worked as a civilian “auto tech supervisor” with the US Army Special Forces,
fixing their transport and construction equipment near the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Jack received a certificate of appreciation from the Green Berets for his courage under fire. When their base
camp came under heavy attack from the Vietcong, Tejada took the initiative and manned a mortar launcher
and fired several rounds until it became red hot. Fortunately, the incoming fire stopped quickly as it started.
Later in the 1990s, he immigrated to the United States and joined veteran advocates on the frontlines in
Washington. They fought to restore the full recognition of Filipino soldiers' US military service in WWII and
their burial, medical and pension benefits which were stripped by the 1946 "Rescission Acts."
His story of living frugally on $600 per month exemplified the lives of poor and sickly Filipino veterans in the
United States. He was a joiner: American Legion, VFW, DAV, and became a founding member of the
American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, Inc. in 1996.
Over the years, Jack delighted in personally meeting VIPS like President Bill Clinton, Sen. Hillary Clinton, VA
Secretaries Anthony Principi and Jim Nicholson, as well as other senators and congressmembers like
Reps. Bob Stump, Bob Filner, Darrell Issa and Mike Honda. (See photo album that follows.)
Next week, during the lame-duck session of congress, his comrades and supporters will carry on Tejada's
fight for equity and honor.
They will march again in the halls of congress to try to remove the roadblock to their bills from being passed
before Christmas. Sen. Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), ranking Senate VA Committee member, had
placed a legislative "hold" on their senate pension bill and house lumpsum payment bills from being
reconciled.
Jack is survived by his widow Epitacia Tejada, 77, two daughters: Patricia H. Tejada, a dentist in Saudi
Arabia, and Violeta T. Alejandro, homemaker in Cubao, Philippines, his son Joaquin “Boy” Jr. of North
Brunswick NJ, and seven grandchildren.
The Filipino American community leaders will celebrate his life and adventures at 6:30 PM on Monday,
December 8, 2008 in the Romulo Hall of the Philippine Embassy, at 1600 Mass. Ave., NW.
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VIEWING:
December 6, 2008 (Saturday) -
4:00PM to 7:00PM
McGuire Funeral Service
7400 Georgia Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20012
Phone: (202) 882-6600
Church Mass:
December 12, 2008 (Friday) - 11:00AM
Church of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus
6000 Georgia Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20011
Phone: (202) 726-6262
Interment:
December 12, 2008 (Friday) - 2:00PM
Quantico National Cemetery
18424 Joplin Road (Route 619)
Triangle, VA 22172
Phone: (703) 221-2183
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