LOS ANGELES, California—The son of a Filipino doctor who fought alongside US forces in the Philippines during World War II has won the seat for Ohio’s 7th congressional district.
Steve Austria, a state senator from Beavercreek, becomes the second American of Filipino descent to serve in the US Congress, after Robert Cortez Scott, who is currently serving his eighth term as Virginia’s 3rd district representative.
Austria, a Republican, beat Democratic candidate Sharen Neuhardt in the Nov. 4 US elections, capturing 59 percent of the votes against 41 percent for Neuhardt.
Austria was born in Cincinnati and grew up in Xenia as the oldest of nine children. He has lived in Beavercreek for the past 20 years with his wife Eileen, and their three sons Brian, Kevin and Eric.
A sports lover, Austria coached all three of his sons in basketball, soccer and baseball.
He has been part of the annual Dr. Clement G. Austria Senior Citizen Christmas Party, which was named after his father, who passed away in 1986.
Books and guns
The elder Austria was a physician who was born in Tiaong, Quezon. He joined the guerrilla forces and fought the Japanese side by side with American soldiers during World War II while he was pursuing his medical studies at the University of Santo Tomas.
The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) hailed Austria’s victory and urged Fil-Ams to send him congratulatory letters.
A stowaway
“His victory is also a victory for the Filipino Americans,” said Ed Navarra, chair for NaFFAA’s Region 3, which covers midwestern states.
Scott, a Democrat, is a key supporter of President-elect Barack Obama and a longtime member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
Scott’s maternal grandfather is a Filipino, identified in an online article in Asianjournal.com written by Cynthia de Castro, as Valentin Cortez Hamlin.
According to Asianjournal.com, the website of a Filipino-American community newspaper in Los Angeles, Valentin stowed away on a ship bound for the United States from the Philippines.
The captain’s name
The ship’s captain, an American named Hamlin, discovered the young lad and decided to adopt him.
The lad grew up in North Carolina with his adoptive father, and got a good education. Taking the name of the captain, he became known as Valentin Cortez Hamlin, the article said.
Valentin became a pharmacist and married an African-American. His daughter, Mae Hamlin Scott, is the veteran US congressman’s mother. With a report from Inquirer Research
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