American triumph finally told

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

There were a number of distractions that might have marred the experience: a large crowd in a small room, a fussy baby in the audience, the constant gurgle of an oversized aquarium, a relatively small screen. Even the chairs weren't very comfortable.

But the first screening of the unfinished documentary "An Untold Triumph" was a success on so many levels that none of that mattered. Even the apologies that came before and after the film were washed away by the power of the story being told.

There on the 30-inch TV screen were heroes of World War II, members of the 1st and 2nd Filipino Infantry regiments of the U.S. Army, men who fought for democracy, but first had to fight to serve in America's Army. There in the audience were some of these very men. This was the first time they saw their experiences, their horror and pain, their bravery and triumph, culled together in a historical piece. There was much at stake.

Award-winning filmmaker Stephanie Castillo, who is co-writer and associate producer on the documentary, made the decision to show the rough cut of the piece — something she says filmmakers rarely do — because time is running short for these heroes. She embarked on the project six years ago, never dreaming it would take this long.

Domingo Los Ba–os, a veteran of one of the Filipino regiments and the guiding force behind the documentary project, recently took a copy of the rough cut into the hospital room of an ailing compatriot. "After he saw it, he looked at me and went like this," said Los Ba–os, demonstrating a weak but undeniably spirited shaka. "And the next day, he died."

Castillo and Los Ba–os explained to the veterans and their families, who gathered at Hawaii's Plantation Village in Waipahu for the private preview, that the finished piece will be shorter, that there will be different music, a different narrator, better quality photos.

But no one there needed any of that kind of convincing.

Not after what they saw.

There were tears in the audience as a survivor described the Bataan Death March. There were gasps as Los Ba–os told of the first time he encountered the enemy face-to-face. There was laughter at a story about the Army's concern that the Filipino paratroopers were too small to land, that they might float away without extra weight in their belts.

Castillo, whose father was a member of the 2nd Regiment, is aiming to finish the documentary this spring. After a Hawai'i premiere, the piece is destined for a national viewing audience on PBS.

Los Ba–os summed up the project in words that could well be on a movie poster:

"This is our story. This is an American story. We are part of America's history."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.