CHINESE AMERIcANS IN THE WWII CHINA-BURMA-INDIA tHEATER

During World War II, the majority of Chinese Americans in the U.S. armed forces served in non-segregated units, unlike other Asian American groups, such as the Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Battalion, and the 1st & 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiments. However, there were ten Chinese-American-majority units within the armed forces, nine of which were in the 14th Air Service Group. The last segregated unit was the 987th Signal Company. It was the U.S. Army’s plan that these units, of Chinese Americans serving in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater, would be able to bridge the gap between their own troops and their Nationalist allies.

The 14th Air Service Group was formed before the United States entered the war, when the American Volunteer Group (AVG; “Flying Tigers”) under Gen. Claire Chennault assisted Chinese forces in fighting the Japanese. After the U.S. joined the war, the AVG became the 14th Air Service Group; Chennault helped establish the Chinese American Composite Wing (CACW), consisting of White Americans, Chinese Americans, and Chinese Nationalists.

Many Chinese Americans in the CACW felt a gap between themselves, the Chinese people living in China, and White Americans. Unexpectedly, Chinese Americans from Hawai’i had difficulty with both White Americans and mainland Chinese Americans.

The 987th Signal Company, activated in 1943, was an all Chinese-American U.S. Army unit, including officers. The 987th provided communications links and liaison between American forces and Chinese allies in the CBI theater.

Legislation authorizing the Congressional Gold Medal (CGM) for WWII Chinese American veterans was signed on December 20, 2018. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese American veterans were collectively awarded the CGM in an online ceremony on December 9, 2020, with both Senate and House leaderships present. The CGM, Congress’ most prestigious civilian award, commemorates the more than one in ten Chinese Americans who enlisted in all branches of the armed forces between 1941 and 1946, and served in all WWII theaters, despite being subjected to racial discrimination for decades; the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was finally repealed in 1943.

By Robert Ragsac, Military Historian