Jose Antonio Vargas

Country of origin: Philippines

Jose Antonio Vargas (born February 3, 1981) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Filipino journalist and documentary filmmaker known for his coverage of HIV, the Virginia Tech shootings, and the influence that politics and the Internet have on each other. Raised in the United States from the age of 12, Vargas has worked for The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Daily News, The Washington Post, and The Huffington Post.

To read more about Jose Antonio Vargas,visit his page on Wikipedia. Mr. Vargas has just recently admitted that he is an undocumented immigrant; to find out more about his amazing story see this story at the New York Times. You can also see an interview with Mr. Vargas here on Youtube.

Jose Calugas

Country of origin: Philippines

Jose Calugas (December 29, 1907 – January 18, 1998) was a member of the Philippine Scouts during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of Bataan.

At the age of 23, Calugas joined the Philippine Scouts of the United States Army and completed training as an artilleryman and served with different artillery batteries of the Philippine Scouts until his unit was mobilized to fight in World War II. After noticing one of his unit's gun batteries had been destroyed and its crew killed, he gathered several members of his unit together, dug in and attempted to defend the line. He was captured along with other members of his unit and forced to march to a distant enemy prison camp, where he was held as a prisoner of war. When he was released in 1943, he was secretly assigned to a guerilla unit [in] the Philippines where he fought for the liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese.

After retiring from the Army he settled in Tacoma, Washington and became a United States citizen.

To read more about Jose Calugas, visit his page on Wikipedia.