Asian-Americans in the U.S. Military

     I think most people will be surprised to learn that Asians have had a long history of serving in the U.S. military.  It didn't begin with the Revolutionary War, but it did start shortly after, during the War of 1812.  The first officially recorded Asian in the U.S. military was a Filipino by the name of August Feliciano.  There was another Filipino that Andrew Jackson himself referred to in the Battle of New Orleans as the "Manilaman," but he was never identified by name.  Obviously, record keeping was not the strong point of the U.S. Army in those days.
     The next time that you hear of Asians in the U.S. military is during the American Civil War.  In 1861, a Chinese by the name of John Tomney (more than likely it was Anglicized from Tom Ni or something similar) enlisted in the New York Infantry Regiment and eventually died in the Battle of Gettysburg.  Army's record keeping was much better by this time!  Another Chinese by the name of John Pierce (he was adopted by an American Sea Captain by the name of Pierce) enlisted in the 14th Connecticut Infantry in 1862.  Still another Chinese, William Ah Hang served in 1863.  In total, there were more than 50 known Asians serving in the Union Army.  Interestingly, although they were not identified by name, there were apparently a few Filipinos serving in the Confederate Navy!  In 1860, Matsumura Junzo became the first Asian graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.  However, he went back to Japan upon graduation and served in the Japanese Imperial Navy.  Note that I refer to all of these who served in the U.S. Army and Navy as Asians, not Asian-Americans.  That is because our laws at the time did not permit the granting of citizenship to Asians!
     In 1909, Albert Lyman, a Chinese-Hawaiian, graduated from West point.  Lyman went on to become a Brigadier General, first Asian-American to reach that rank.  In 1914, Vincent Lim became the first Asian to graduate from West Point. Although Lyman was Chinese-Hawaiian, he was not considered an Asian-American at the time, however, Lim was considered an Asian.
     In 1911 in Philippines, during the "Philippine Insurrection," Private Jose Nispero of the Philippine Scouts (a U.S. Army unit composed of Filipino volunteers) was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism.  In 1915, Fireman 2nd Class Telesforo Trinidad was awarded the Medal of Honor.  Filipinos at this time were considered U.S. nationals, but not citizens.  There are also numerous anecdotal accounts of Japanese serving with the U.S. Navy during the Spanish-American War, both in Cuba and in Philippines, but no accurate records.
     There were a number of Asians, particularly of Chinese descent who served during World War One.  Several served in the now famous "Lost Battalion" in France, others served in various units.  There were also, by this time, quite a few Filipinos in the U.S. Navy.  At the time, Filipinos were not restricted to serving only as stewards, that restriction came about later.
     1934 saw Gordon Chung Hoon, the first Asian-American of Korean descent (U.S. citizen) to graduate from the Naval Academy.   Hoon went on to become a Rear Admiral.   In 1940, just before we entered World War Two, Win Fook Jung, the first Asian-American of Chinese descent graduated from West Point.
     I think just about everyone is aware of the heroics and the superb service rendered by the 442nd Infantry Regiment out of Hawaii, becoming the most highly decorated U.S. military unit of its size in history.  The 442nd was primarily made up of Nisei (second generation Japanese-Americans) from Hawaii as well as those who volunteered out of internment camps on the mainland.  There were, however, Korean-Americans in the unit as well, especially those who came out of internment camps.  Koreans prior to World War Two were considered Japanese nationals, since Korea was a Japanese colony.  The same can be said of Taiwan.  So any Korean or Chinese from Taiwan was subject to internment under the law!
     Another little known fact is that the first air ace of World War Two was Arthur Chin, a Chinese-American with 8 aerial combat victories and a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross (Later this award was renamed for flyers to Distinguished Flying Cross).  Chin was the very first U.S. ace of World War Two, although his accomplishment was never advertised and his name is rarely if ever mentioned in discussion of America's Flying Aces.
     By the end of World War Two, several Asian-Americans had reached the rank of flag officers, i.e., generals in the army and admirals in the navy.  So, despite the rather small number (in contrast to other minority groups), Asians have fared well in the U.S. military despite earlier prejudices and restrictions imposed on them.  Currently there are a number of Asian-American Generals and Admirals serving on active duty.
     Today, in the military academies at West Point, Annapolis, and Colorado Springs, Asian-Americans usually make up about 10% of the cadet student body.  That is a very high number considering the Asian-American population over all!  Of the minority population in America, Hispanics make up the largest group with about 17% of the total population.  African-Americans make up about 14%, and Asians make up less than 6%!  So, to have 10% of the student body in the military academies is a disproportionately large number.