SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Asian Americans, veterans and civilians in the U.S. and the Philippines are campaigning to name a Navy warship for a Filipino sailor who bravely rescued two crew members when their ship caught fire more than a century ago, earning him a prestigious and rare Medal of Honor.

Supporters say naming a ship for Telesforo Trinidad would honor not just the only Asian American in the U.S. Navy granted the nation’s highest award for valor, but the tens of thousands of Filipinos and Americans of Filipino descent who have served in the U.S. Navy since 1901, when the Philippines was a United States territory.

“I don’t believe it’s a long shot at all; it may be a long timeline, but we’re hoping it’s not,” said retired Navy Capt. Ron Ravelo and chair of the campaign. “We’re going to be making Navy ships into the foreseeable future, and there’s no reason one of those can’t bear the name of Telesforo Trinidad.”

Trinidad, who died in 1968 at age 77, was so eager to join the U.S. Navy that he stowed away on a lifeboat from his home island of Panay to the main island to enlist, said grandson Rene Trinidad. In 1915, while on patrol on the USS San Diego, he risked his life and suffered burns to rescue two crewmates when boilers exploded, killing nine. He received the medal that year, at a time when the honor could be awarded for noncombat valor.

Rene Trinidad, a real estate agent in Southern California, recalls his grandfather was a man of few words.

“He let his actions speak for himself,” he said, “and I suppose that’s why he did what he did.”

The campaign has grassroots enthusiasm, and support from Democratic Congress members who sent a letter last month to Thomas Harker, acting secretary of the Navy.

Traditionally, different types of ships have different naming conventions, but there are exceptions, said Samuel J. Cox, retired rear admiral and director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, which suggests names and has previously submitted Trinidad’s for consideration. The secretary of the Navy has final authority and discretion to name and rename ships, he said.

Some memorialize states, U.S. cities, Navy heroes or distinguished Americans. The number of Navy ships receiving names varies widely by year but averages roughly to about eight, of which three or four are named for people, Cox said.

“There simply are far too many heroes compared to the number of ships to be named,” he said.

Norman Polmar, author and naval analyst, agrees.

“And I hate to say this, I’m getting a little pain when I say this: Increasingly it becomes political — what party you’re in and who’s in the White House, and occasionally the White House gets involved,” Polmar said.

Former U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus drew controversy after naming naval ships for former U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords; the late gay civil rights leader Harvey Milk of San Francisco; and the late farmworker activist Cesar Chavez. The honoring of Giffords broke more modern traditions that the person be dead or old.

Critics also said there were plenty of heroic service members to choose from. Mabus said his picks also demonstrated heroism.

In January 2020, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly named a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier after Doris “Dorie” Miller, an African American enlisted sailor who received the Navy Cross for his actions during Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.

The naming did not sit well with critics who say Miller deserves to have a ship named after him, but not an elite aircraft carrier bearing the names of presidents. There’s also ongoing debate over ships named for the Civil War Confederacy.

Cecilia Gaerlan, Trinidad campaign board member, said they would like a Navy surface combatant, such as a destroyer or frigate, named for the fireman second class. The naming would be a symbol of the Navy’s commitment to “diversity, equality and inclusion during this time of national racial tensions and unwarranted violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs of California, in a May letter to Harker signed by 10 others.

There are other Navy vessels named for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including the USS Daniel Inouye, a destroyer. The former U.S. senator received the Medal of Honor as part of the celebrated 442nd Infantry Regiment, made up of Americans of Japanese descent whose families were incarcerated in camps during World War II.

There was a U.S. Navy a ship named for a Filipino person, but Gaerlan says the USS Rizal, a destroyer in service from 1919 to 1931, was donated by the Philippine Legislature and honors José Rizal, a national hero who never served in the military.

More than two dozen Asian and Pacific Americans have been awarded the Medal of Honor since its creation during the Civil War, mostly in the U.S. Army, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. There are roughly 3,500 recipients.

Telesforo Trinidad, born in 1890, enlisted in 1910 in the Insular Force established by then-President William McKinley and served in both world wars. More than 250,000 Filipino soldiers served in World War II, and thousands died during the brutal 1942 Bataan Death March in the Philippines.

Rene Trinidad, 65, said it goes against his cultural upbringing to call attention to his grandfather’s heroism, but his late father wanted the recognition for his father, who overcame hardship, merited a medal and worked hard to provide for his family. Two sons followed him into the U.S. Navy.

“The bottom line is that Filipinos be recognized for their contribution to the United States, and that every Filipino should be proud of that as well,” he said.

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — A man accused of piloting a boat overloaded with migrants that crashed into rocks off San Diego’s coast and killed three people kneed a U.S. Border Patrol agent in the face who was trying to put a leg shackle on him on the beach, authorities said.

Investigators said in an affidavit filed Tuesday in federal court in San Diego that the agent was not seriously injured but the hit left a red mark on his forehead.

A total of 33 people were pulled from the water after the 40-foot (12-meter) trawling-style boat smashed into rocks and broke apart Sunday, tossing people into the rough sea off Cabrillo National Monument. Besides the three who died, two others were still hospitalized, including one in critical condition.

Investigators say Antonio Hurtado, a U.S. citizen, was piloting the boat, and he was arrested on suspicion of bringing in or harboring undocumented immigrants and assaulting an officer, according to the affidavit. Twenty-one passengers identified Hurtado in a photo lineup as the captain of the vessel.

He was treated in a hospital and turned over to immigration authorities. His lawyer, Melissa Bobrow, declined to comment.

The migrants told investigators they paid between $15,000 and $18,000 each to be smuggled into the U.S. on the boat.

All but one were Mexican citizens, including two 15-year-olds who were traveling alone, a boy and a girl. A Guatemalan man remains hospitalized.

Maria Eugenia Chavez Segovia, 41; Maricela Hernandez Sanchez, 35; and Victor Perez Degollado, 29, drowned after suffering blunt-force injuries to their heads, according the San Diego County medical examiner’s office.

Navy rescue swimmer Cale Foy did his best to save them. He was hiking with his wife and three kids when he noticed the vessel approaching the rocky, wind-swept San Diego coastline as 5- to 8-foot (1.5- to 2-meter) waves were crashing.

A moment later, a wave slammed the boat, and Foy saw it hit the rocks. He spotted people tossed into the rough sea before the vessel broke into pieces.

“All of a sudden, we see people jumping into the waves and on top of the rocks, and it was: ‘I have to be there. I have to help,'” Foy said.

He immediately ran toward the shore in what would become the most dramatic rescue mission of his 17-year career. Foy and another young sailor who was also out hiking and is in basic training as a Navy SEAL recruit were among the first to respond.

“We could hear people frantic, kind of chaos, screaming,” Foy said.

In a T-shirt, pants and hiking boots, Foy ran into the waves, took a chance and dove under, praying that he would not be slammed into rocks below.

After Foy and the Navy SEAL recruit got past the pounding surf, they came upon a large piece of the boat’s cabin and grabbed it to rest.

Then the two headed toward the screams. They helped three men who survived get to the wreckage.

Then Foy saw a woman face down in the water, wearing a life preserver. She was unconscious.

Foy used his body to keep her head out of the water, carrying her on his chest as he swam toward the floating debris. He placed her on it and then pulled it toward a lifeguard boat that had arrived.

He got her into the boat, hopped in and started CPR on her as they rolled over the waves.

Foy traveled with the lifeguard boat back to land and continued to do CPR for 20 more minutes.

Despite his efforts, she died, he said.

Foy stayed for another two hours on the dock, helping tend to people brought in on the lifeguard boats.

In the end, Foy and the Navy SEAL recruit got six migrants to the floating wreckage. Four of them survived.

“We just jumped in and helped out with what we could,” Foy said.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Navy veteran who was going through an episode of paranoia died after a Northern California police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, his family said Tuesday.

The family of Angelo Quinto called police on Dec. 23 because the 30-year-old was suffering a mental health crisis and needed help. His family says a responding officer knelt on Quinto’s neck for nearly five minutes while another officer restrained his legs. Quinto lost consciousness and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died three days later.

“He said ‘Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me,’ as they were putting him on the ground. They handcuffed him and one officer put his knee on the back of his neck the whole time I was in the room,” said Quinto’s mother, Cassandra Quinto-Collins.

Quinto-Collins said she had been hugging her son and he was calm when officers arrived at their home in Antioch, 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of San Francisco.

“I trusted the police because I thought they knew what they were doing but he was actually passive and visibly not dangerous or a threat so, it was absolutely unnecessary what they did to him,” she said.

A video recorded by Quinto-Collins shows her son listless, with a bloodied face and his hands cuffed behind his back. She said she began recording after seeing her son’s eyes were rolled up in his head.

The family filed a legal claim against the Antioch Police Department last week, which gives the department 45 days to respond. After that time has elapsed, the family will file a federal lawsuit, said John Burris, the Quintos’ attorney.

“I refer to it as the George Floyd technique, that’s what snuffed the life out of him and that cannot be a lawful technique,” Burris said. “We see not only violations of his civil rights but also violations against the rights of his mother and sister’s, who saw what happened to him.”

Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 in Minneapolis after a police officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed and saying he couldn’t breathe.

Burris said there were other issues with the officers’ response, including how they didn’t try to de-escalate and first talk to Quinto, and how they failed to turn on their body cameras and the camera in their patrol car.

A cause of death has not been released by authorities and an independent autopsy is pending, Burris said.

The Antioch Police Department didn’t respond Tuesday to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

The department didn’t inform the public of Quinto’s death until Jan. 25 when it answered inquiries made by East Bay Times.

After the legal claim was filed Thursday, Antioch Police Lt. Tarra Mendes told the newspaper that “the investigation is still ongoing. We want it to be completed. As soon as it is completed, we will be able to provide the public with more information.”

Quinto, who was born in the Philippines, was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2019 because of a food allergy, said his sister, Bella Collins.

He suffered from depression most of his life, but his behavior changed after an apparent assault in early 2020, when he woke up in a hospital not remembering what had happened and with stitches and serious injuries. After that, he began having episodes of paranoia and anxiety, she said.

Collins, 18, said she now regrets calling the police after worrying her brother, who before police arrived was tightly hugging her and their mom, could hurt their mother.

“I asked the detectives if there another number I should have called, and they told me that there wasn’t and that I did the right thing. But right now I can tell you that the right thing would not have killed my brother,” she said.

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Johnny Sandoval was just 17 when the first taken, in October 1984.

His mother had to sign a wavier for him to enlist in the United State Navy boot camp in Great Lakes Illinois. He went on to be stationed at the long Beach Naval Base and did three tours overseas at Western Pacific Deployment as a 3rd class Engine-man on board the U.S.S. Cayuge. He received an honorable discharge October 11, 1988.

February 3, 2001 his life would be forever changed.

Sandoval was in Tijuana Mexico and was involved in a vehicle roll over accident.  The Red Cross in Tijuana said he had two broken legs.  He mentioned he could not feel anything and they sent him to an American doctor, did a CT Scan and found he had broken his T-12 (12th Thoracic Vertebra ) and L-1( first lumbar Vertebra) a spinal cord injury which left him a paraplegic.

He will tell you it wasn’t easy; he had to deal with depression, “…but you got to press through it,” says Sandoval. He uses a manual wheelchair as much as possible to keep his strength up and stay in shape. Thanks to two Recreational Therapists (RT) at the San Diego VA Hospital RT Kelly Kalizewski and intern Jena Van Fossan , they got him involved with sports. He did it all: basketball, 9-ball , table tennis. Sandoval always has a great attitude and a good disposition: he is a leader among veterans and he’s always ready to help.

RT Kelly Kalizewski introduced him to the National Wheelchair Games in New York. Power Soccer didn’t come around till 2006: it first was held in Alaska and then in 2018, Sandoval heard from his good friend Willie Hendrickson about a power- soccer team: Veteran Warriors, right here in his home town of Hemet. This changed his life. When Sandoval is at the VA, he can be found giving newly-injured Veterans and children hope and letting them know that they can be useful, productive citizen and live a fulfilling life.

Since Sandoval has come to the team, they have been to Louisville Kentucky for the National Veteran Soccer Games and Sandoval brought home a bronze medal in basketball. Sandoval and Hendrickson, along with the Veteran Warriors went to Berkley California to the 1st Kathryn Black Invitational Power Soccer Tournament. Our very own Veteran Warriors dominated the events 4 – 0 and brought back the Championship Trophy.

Now Sandoval is the Team Captain and Hendrickson is team Ambassador: this duo are like brothers and have put an amazing total five man power soccer team together called the Veteran Warriors Adaptive Sports Club Team. They practice here in Hemet.  If you are a disabled veteran and want to know more about power-soccer and other sports, et in touch with me and I will get you connected. These guys live to help other veterans enjoy life to the fullest and are so much fun to hang out with.

At adaptive sports-events, Johnny can alway be found giving help and inspiration to teammates and even crosses the field to help the opposing team. For Sandoval it is not about winning, it is about being competitive and making a difference in the lives of others.

I asked Sandoval what he’d tell a new veteran finding out they have a spinal cord injury. “It does get better, I can do anything an able-bodied person can do, just from a sit-down position. and I just learned how to ski”. Talking with Johnny just makes you feel good: he has a great outlook on life and reminds you to be grateful for the body you have.

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