But in reality, Antonio said, the veterans are receiving the standard welfare available to every indigent U.S. citizen who is over 65. Many stay in the U.S., despite their poor living conditions and their separation from family, because they want to keep their Medicaid and food stamps, which they would lose if they went back to the Philippines. Others have decided to give up and go home, like Roger Laguerder's roommate Falipe Rodriguez, who says that in December he will leave the United States to return to his wife. Laguerder will miss his friend, but he will stay so he can collect his SSI and support his wife overseas. Laguerder often visits his friend Ireneo Chavez down the street at the Aranda Hotel.
Stains smear the hotel hall's mint green walls and brown carpet.
The stagnant air reeked of must and mildew. Chavez served in the war from 1941 to 1946. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1993, leaving his wife and five children behind. Proud to show that he too was a soldier in the war, Chavez excitedly rifled through an old paper bag and unearthed a neatly pressed white hat. But he is proud of his new coat, he said , because it is thick and it keeps him warm.