Webinar: “Operation: Chinese American G.I.”
Starts: August 29, 2020 at 1:15 pm
Ends: August 29, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Admission: Free
Webinar: August 29th (Saturday) 1:15 – 3:00 pm; Fireside chat, briefing room video, webinar and panel.
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/WWII-Webinar (seats limited so register now)
Registration Questions: Gail Chong, gailchong1970@gmail.com
Recommended Reading. It is impossible to answer every question submitted to our panel. But many can be answered with an article Major General William Chen has graciously allowed us to post summarizing the involvement and contributions of Chinese American Veterans in WWII: https://tinyurl.com/ChiAmWWIIVets
Our August webinar will be “Operation: Chinese American G.I.” This webinar is recognized by the Department of Defense as a Commemorative Partner, as it celebrates the 75th Anniversary of the end of WWII. The webinar precedes a September ceremony to honor Chinese American WWII Vets. The keynote speaker is Montgomery Hom, the Executive Producer for the California Ceremony, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, author, and military historian. We will give you an update on the September ceremony, which includes military honors and USO entertainment.
We are taking a different approach to explore Chinese American WWII history. Yes, you will get all the obligatory dates and places. But we will look at the war through the lens of the world’s largest private collection of Chinese American military memorabilia. For example, we show a pair of boots, with a medal beside it, and then tell the rest of the story … about the hero who filled these shoes. We will roll a film clip from “We Served with Pride,” featuring 15 Chinese American WWII Vets, who served with uncommon valor as a common virtue.
If you want to get a rare glimpse of the contributions of Chinese American Veterans, hear about women at war and on the home front, or just have a good time, don’t miss this session.
About the Panelists
Keynote Speaker – Montgomery Hom
Monty is an independent producer and a long time production and historical military subject matter specialist. Monty consults on many Hollywood film and TV productions. His work can be seen in the Academy Award nominated film,“Ford V. Ferrari.” His Emmy-nominated PBS film, “We Served with Pride, Chinese American Experience in WWII” will be relaunched as a new re-mastered version for its 20th anniversary in 2021. As a young boy, hearing stories of an uncle who was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne during the invasion of Normandy, kick-started his deep passion for researching and collecting artifacts and data on Chinese Americans in WWII. Today, this collection is the largest, privately held grouping of its kind. His wife is a long serving United States Naval officer, presently deployed in Northern Afghanistan.
Major General William Chen, United States Army, (Retired)
William S. Chen (retired), better known as Bill Chen, is a third-generation Chinese American. Bill served as a career U.S. Army officer for over 32 years and retired as a Major General — the first Chinese American to wear 2-star rank in the U.S. Army. As a Major General he commanded the U.S. Army Missile Command during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, the Army’s largest deployment and subsequent combat use of Army missiles in history. Later he served as the Army’s first Program Executive Officer for Missile Defense – directing all the Army’s theater and national missile defense programs.
Connie Young Yu
Connie Young Yu, a 4th generation Californian, is an author and historian. She was featured in the five-part PBS series “Asian Americans” that aired in May. She is a trustee of Hakone Foundation and board member emeritus of the Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA). She was a founding member of the Angel Island Immigration Station Historical Advisory Committee that saved the detention barracks for preservation. She is the author of “Chinatown, San Jose, USA” and co-editor of “Voices from the Railroad: Stories by Descendants of Chinese Railroad Workers.” She was co-producer of the exhibit “Called to Rise: Chinese Americans in CBI.” Her father, the late Col. John C. Young, served in China-Burma-India theatre of operations and was on the ordnance team at the battle of Songshan, detonating the TNT that freed the Burma Road. During the Korean War, as Commander of the Cathay Post American Legion, Lt. Col. Young spearheaded the project for the War Memorial at St. Mary’s Square in San Francisco honoring Chinese American servicemen who made the ultimate sacrifice in WWI and WWII. Connie has given presentations on WWII for CHSA and the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project (CHCP) with her father’s collection of U.S. Signal Corp photos, his WWII diaries, and other memorabilia.
WWII Chinese American G.I. Project: For more information regarding the 75th Anniversary Commemoration of the ending of WWII, commemorative book, movie “We Served With Pride”, and virtual exhibit, go to https://chsa.org/wwii-chinese-american-gi/
Thank you for your interest.
Ron Chan, Executive Director, Bay Area Chinese Genealogy Group (BACGG)
https://bacgg.org
David Yick, Board President, Chinese Historical and Cultural Project (CHCP)
http://archive.chcp.org
Pam Wong, Interim Executive Director, Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA)
https://chsa.org
