I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to since all the news of the super typhoon (Yolanda in the Philippines, Haiyan, internationally).
And here’s what astounds me. Most people just didn’t know much at all about the Philippines and its historical connection to the U.S.
I’m not even making the “global warming makes this our crisis too” argument.
I’m just saying that the storm in the Philippines exposes a staggering ignorance of American history among Americans.
Philippines a former colony? (The very first after the Spanish American War).
Philippines an ally? (Gulf War)
General Douglas MacArthur was in Leyte? And he didn’t stay away—he actually returned. (Oct. 20, 1944).
