17 July 2013 – The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles attended the 27th Anniversary of the Old Fort MacArthur Days held at the Fort MacArthur Museum and the Historic Osgood-Farley Battery Site in San Pedro, Los Angeles County on July 13.  

The Consulate representatives were led by Deputy Consul General Daniel R. Espiritu and Vice Consul Mary Joy Ramirez in a strong show of support for the Filipino-American participants. They were accompanied by Cultural Officer Wilma Bautista, Information Officer Cesar Angeles and consular staff officers Carryn Espiritu, Mila Versosa and Pete de Pacina.

The Old Fort MacArthur Days is one of the longest running Living Military History events in all of Southern California, annually re-enacting and simulating a series of historic battles from the Roman times through the American Revolution and Civil War, to the First and Second World Wars and the Vietnam War, all in a colorful two-day long affair full of sound and fury.  The re-enactments are done complete with accurately uniformed platoon-size units, period swords and firearms, artillery pieces, tanks and half-tracks.

The Philippine Scouts Heritage Society (PSHS), led by Mr. Gil Mislang and Mr. Donald Plata, award-winning director of the military documentary Philippine Scouts: The Forgotten Soldiers, participates in the event every year, usually by re-enacting the Battle of Bataan.

This year, for the first time, the Filipino-Americans, led by Mr. Marc Lawrence of the PSHS Lt. Nininger Chapter and formerly of Northrop Grumman, also re-enacted the Philippine-American War's Battle of Manila, which immediately followed the re-enactment of the Spanish-American War's Charge of San Juan Hill.

This year’s event especially commemorated the 115th Anniversary of the Spanish-American War and the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863) of the American Civil War. END