Many Filipinos no longer remember their ancestors who served in the U.S. Army during WWI and many of the Filipino soldiers died or were injured in combat in the European "trench warfare."

The Saga of Filipino Soldiers Drafted to Serve the American Expeditionary Force to Europe during World War I (as discussed in one of the monthly meetings of the Philippine History Group of Los Angeles in the late 1990s):

Y oung Filipinos were hired from the Philippines to work as contract workers in the sugar and/or pineapple plantations of Hawaii starting in the early 1900s. On April 6, 1917, when the United States got involved in World War I on the side of Great Britain, France and their allies, Filipino workers were required to register for the U.S. military drafts in 1917 and 1918. The Filipinos were drafted as they were "American nationals." More often than not, the Filipino draftees were assigned in the kitchen (often referred to as the "KP or Kitchen Police") and mess hall. The musically-gifted served in the army bands. Those that had experience in fixing farm vehicles were assigned to work in the motor pool.

It was estimated that more-than four thousand Filipino workers were drafted to serve in the Hawaiian Infantry regiments or the equivalent of the state national-guard units.

Some Filipinos working in the agricultural fields in California and other states such as Alaska (where they were fishermen) were also drafted by the U.S. military. Many of the Filipino agricultural workers in the U. S. Mainland and in Hawaii came from the Ilocos Region, Pangasinan and also from the other regions in Luzon such as the Bicol Region and the Visayan islands.

The U.S. Army sent also Filipino soldiers serving in the Philippine Constabulary and army units in the Philippine Islands to the U. S. mainland for further training. The more-experienced ones, especially those that had combat experience in the so-called "Moro Wars" in Mindanao, were sent without much stateside training to the European front lines.