Ted Cruz explains he was trying to thank the people that had been with him in the Senate during his filibuster when he analogized their having been through a ‘Bataan Death March,’ meaning his filibuster. Below he is apologizing for that remark to the Filipino Veterans who actually had to endure the ‘Bataan Death March’:
US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), of the Senate Armed Services Committee, apologized to US Filipino WWII veterans and their supporters for his “offensive” comment comparing his 21-hour filibuster to the “Bataan Death March.” Mr. Celestino Almeda, 96, spokesman, and Maj. Jesse Baltazar, 93, a Bataan defender & POW, presented their written demand of the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans for his public apology and to support their bills in the Senate. Retired military chaplain Georgette Beltran, Angelyn Tugado-Marzan, daughter of a vet, and Eric Lachica, coalition executive director, assisted at their meeting in the senator’s Washington DC office, Sept. 30, 2013.