The Philippine Thermopylae at Tirad Pass

A modern illustrator’s vision of the Battle of Tirad Pass (Source: Comic Art Fans)

Most Americans do not know that the Philippines were part of the United States from 1898–1946. Even fewer remember how our involvement began there.

Some dimly recall learning about the Spanish-American War, an ignominious mugging of a crumbling colonial power that netted the US de facto control of Cuba and outright ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.