Among the outcomes of the Spanish-American War of 1898 was the transfer of the Philippine Archipelago from Spain to the United States. It was followed by another war when Filipinos led by Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, who had rebelled against the Spanish in 1896 in hopes of establishing an indigenous republic, found their country seized by the U.S. instead.
After yet another brutal conflict, fought between 1899 and 1902, Aguinaldo and his forces were defeated and the Philippines became the strategic protectorate of a new conqueror.
Within a few years, the predominantly Catholic, Tagalog-speaking Filipinos in the northern islands resigned themselves to the current situation and some became part of the U.S. military forces enforcing order there.
As early as 1901 the U.S. Army had organized the first Philippine Scouts, whose familiarity with their home terrain made them an invaluable asset. In the years leading up to World War I, the principal enemy these units still had to fight were various Islamic sultanates in southern islands such as Mindanao, Jolo and Sulu, collectively dubbed Moros. Under their previous overlords, the Moro sultans had enjoyed a degree of autonomy from the Spaniards, who found that policy preferable to provoking unnecessary trouble. The Americans, however, were more serious about assimilating the entire archipelago under their rule, resulting in a series of the sort of savage campaigns that the Spanish had tried to avoid. It was amid those violent years that Pvt. José Nisperos had his moment in military history.
José Nisperos Balítón was born on Dec. 30, 1887, in San Fernando, La Union province, on the island of Luzon. He enlisted in the 34th Company of Philippine Scouts in December 1907, altering his name to be less confusing to the Americans (in its Spanish-based form, Balítón was his mother’s family name, while Nisperos was his father’s). He finished his tour of duty in 1911, but a few months after his discharge, he reenlisted, citing his occupation as “soldier.”
On Sept. 24, 1911, Nisperos was attached as an interpreter to a small naval detachment involved in a multipronged operation against Moros on Basilan, the largest and northernmost island in the Sulu Archipelago. Disembarking at Semut from the gunboat Pampanga, the squad, led by Ensign Charles Hovey, with a local guide, Hospital Apprentice Fred McGuire and Nisperos, advanced toward the town of Lapurap ahead of four other enlisted seamen: Jacob Volz, John Catherwood, Bolden Harrison and George Henrechon.
As the four-man vanguard approached their objective, they came upon a village of nipa huts, from which shots suddenly rang out, instantly killing the guide, grievously wounding Hovey and wounding Nisperos and McGuire. About 20 Moros then burst from hiding behind the huts, armed with obsolete muskets, spears and kris knives, and charged the party.
In spite of his wounds, McGuire countercharged, emptying his rifle into his assailants and then using it as a club while placing himself between their assailants and Hovey. Nisperos, who was shot in the left elbow and speared through the body, fought on, propping himself on his disabled arm as described in his citation:
“Having been badly wounded (his left arm was broken and lacerated and he had received several spear wounds in the body so he could not stand) continued to fire his rifle with one hand until the enemy was repulsed, thereby aiding materially in preventing the annihilation of his party and the mutilation of their bodies.”
The seamen bringing up the rear charged to assist the advance party. Catherwood was wounded early on but fought on from the prone position, Volz assaulted his adversaries, Harrison killed three Moros with a double barrel shotgun and Henrechon, after suffering a gun jam and breaking his rifle butt over a Moro’s head, drew a service pistol and continued fighting. With other landing parties moving up to aid Hovey’s, the surviving Moros retreated.
As McGuire reverted to his proper role, tending to the wounded, Nisperos insisted that Hovey be taken care of before himself. Hovey died of his wounds shortly thereafter, however.
All five of the Navy enlisted men were subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor. Later, as more details of the fight near Lapurap came to light, on March 19, 1912, Nisperos’ immediate superior, 2nd Lt. Arthur Cody recommended him for the medal as well. Consequently, on Feb. 3, 1913, the wife of Maj. Gen. J. Franklin Bell (himself a Medal holder) made him the first Filipino and Asian Medal of Honor recipient.
Although promoted to corporal, Nisperos did not remain long in the Army. He was discharged in June 1912, and appointed a deputy sheriff of Basilon by the commander of the 28th Infantry Regiment and given a lifetime disability pension of $55 per month. On Sept. 1, 1922, however, he died in his hometown of San Fernando at age 34. He is buried at Lingsat Public Cemetery.
Later, his Medal of Honor was stolen and sought out by his family until 2010, when his great-granddaughter learned of it being auctioned in Manila. After further negotiation, the buyer finally returned it to the Nisperos family on June 7, 2012.
J.D. Simkins is the executive editor of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.
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