Asian Americans and Military Service

Asian Americans have served in all branches of the US military since the birth of the country. In some conflicts, they served in segregated units and faced discrimination from the government, fellow troops, and the public they protected. This was particularly true of Japanese Americans during World War II, when the approximately thirty-three thousand who voluntarily enlisted had been imprisoned in internment camps. Asian Americans comprise about 10 percent of active-duty military housed under the Department of Defense (DoD): Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.

Background

The first known Asians to settle in lands that later became the United States were Filipino sailors who arrived on Spanish ships in the late sixteenth century. The conditions of the voyage were terrible, and half the passengers died before reaching colonial Mexico. Many of those who survived refused to make the return journey, settling instead in Acapulco. Some later traveled north and established a fishing village in Louisiana.

In the colonial era, men from China, India, Japan, and Korea traveled to the British West Indies, Hawaii, and what became the Deep South of the United States seeking work and an escape from drought and famine in their homelands. Many worked on sugar cane and tobacco plantations as indentured laborers. When their time of service ended after five or more years, some did not return home because they had not earned what they expected or had married women that they could not take with them. Some of these migrants established Chinese communities along the West Coast. The 1849 Gold Rush in California prompted more Chinese migration, and legislation was passed to reduce their opportunities.

Migrants of various ethnic groups have often arrived in the United States in waves based on events such as the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, wars, and a high demand for laborers. For example, the first Japanese migrants arrived in the islands of Hawaii in the nineteenth century to work on plantations. However, exclusionary immigration policies passed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries limited migration from the Asian continent. The number of migrants from this region to the United States increased dramatically following the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Before this, most migrants from Asia were low-skilled laborers. However, in the twentieth century, those born in Asia were more likely than the general US population to be highly educated, earn higher incomes, and work in management. China and India were the leading origin countries for immigrants from 2013 to 2019.

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing major ethnic or racial group in the nation. Most are of East Asian, Southeast Asian, and Indian origin. Although they are grouped together under the umbrella term in US Census and other data, they are very diverse. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2019, 85 percent of Asian Americans were of six origin groups: Chinese (24 percent), Filipino (19 percent), Indian (21 percent), North and South Korean (9 percent), Japanese (7 percent), and Vietnamese (10 percent). Those of Cambodian, Pakistani, and Thai origin each accounted for 2 percent of the population, while Americans of Bangladeshi, Burmese, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Nepalese, and Taiwanese ancestry each comprised 1 percent of the population. Another five Asian origin groups—Bhutanese, Malaysian, Mongolian, Okinawan, and Sri Lankan—each accounted for less than 1 percent.

Overview

Historians have documented several people of Asian heritage who fought during the American Revolution (1765–1783). For example, Charles Peters was born in Madras, modern-day Chennai, India, and enlisted in the Continental Army in North Carolina’s 5th Battalion, while New Jersey resident John Newton was said to be from “Bengaul,” the Bay of Bengal region of modern-day Bangladesh or India, according to the Museum of the American Revolution.

Segregation was not widely practiced in the Union and Confederate Armies during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Military officials relied on the 1850 Census Act’s color categories: White, Black, or mulatto. Asian Americans might be classified as White, mulatto, or nothing at all and thus many Chinese Americans served with White troops while people of East Indian descent were permitted to serve with Black troops.

The most well-known Asian American military era is that of Japanese Americans who served during World War II. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry lived in the mainland United States. The US government responded by sending them to prison camps. Though initially barred from service, Japanese Americans were eventually permitted to serve in segregated US Army units. About six thousand served with the Military Intelligence Service as interpreters and translators. Many others served in segregated units such as the more than 1,400 Nisei, or second-generation Japanese Americans, in the 100th Infantry Battalion. Many of them had previously served in the Hawaii National Guard and been involved in aiding the wounded and clearing away wreckage after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The battalion was later integrated into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which fought in France and Italy. Other Asian Americans including those of Chinese, Korean, and Filipino ancestry also served during World War II (1939–1945), though again often in segregated units such as the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment of the US Army.

Many WWII service members were promoted and honored for their service. Brigadier General Albert Lyman, whose ancestry was Chinese and Native Hawaiian, was the first person of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) ancestry to reach general officer rank. Eric K. Shinseki, who served as Army Chief of Staff, was the highest ranking AANHPI. In 1946 US Army Private First Class Sadao S. Munemori was the first Japanese American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He died in 1945 while throwing a grenade that had landed near troops back toward the enemy line. However, many Japanese American troops were passed over for the Medal of Honor. After Congress and the military examined military records in the 1990s, President Bill Clinton awarded twenty-two Asian American WWII veterans the Medal of Honor. Among them was Daniel Inouye, who later represented Hawaii in the US Senate.

After 1946, the US military was required to integrate troops. Wars in Vietnam and Korea were particularly difficult for many Asian Americans because they were both fighting Asians and discriminated against. Discrimination remains an issue in the twenty-first century as some Asian American service members report having experienced racial discrimination or harassment.

Bibliography

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Akers, Regina T. “Asian Americans in the US Military with an Emphasis on the US Navy.” Naval History and Heritage Command, Apr. 2017, www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/diversity/asian-americans-pacific-islanders-in-the-navy/asian-americans-us-military.html. Accessed 16 June 2023.

“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in World War II.” The National World War II Museum, www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/asian-pacific-american-world-war-ii. Accessed 19 June 2023.

“Asian Americans in the American Revolution.” Museum of the American Revolution, 17 May 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDm8zpWZzh0. Accessed 16 June 2023.

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Sieh, Daniel. “Looking Through the Silk Screen: Asian People in the American Revolution.” Museum of the American Revolution, May 2021, www.amrevmuseum.org/looking-through-the-silk-screen-asian-people-in-the-american-revolution. Accessed 16 June 2023.