Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders have served with honor in every American conflict since the Revolutionary War. Several Filipino-Americans fought in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. In the American Civil War, soldiers on both sides of the conflict listed birthplaces in present-day China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, as well as the Kingdom of Hawaii. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, several thousand Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipinos served in segregated units in the U.S. military. Yet when the stories of American conflicts are told and their veterans honored, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders are often left out of the conversation, their stories unheard.
The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New Windsor is a New York State historic site under the jurisdiction of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, and is devoted to telling the stories of all who received the Purple Heart. Its mission is to collect, preserve and share the stories of Purple Heart recipients from all branches of service and across all conflicts for which the award has been available. This is most visibly demonstrated by the Roll of Honor database of Purple Heart recipients, which can be viewed both at the Hall of Honor and online. There is no comprehensive list of Purple Heart recipients maintained by the government. The Roll of Honor is comprised of voluntary enrollments provided by the recipients, or their families or friends.
In recognition of Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Purple Heart Hall of Honor shared these stories of AAPI members in the Roll of Honor to recognize their service, courage, patriotism, and sacrifice.
Private First Class Anthony T. Kaho’ Ohanohano, Company H, 2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, U.S. Army, Korea
On September 1, 1951, Hawaiian native PFC Kaho’ohanohano was in charge of a machine-gun squad supporting the defensive positioning of another company when a larger enemy force launched a fierce attack. The weight of the attack forced the U.S. troops to withdraw. As his men fell back, Kaho’ohanohano ordered them to take a more defensive position to provide cover fire for the other soldiers. Although seriously wounded in his shoulder, he gathered grenades and ammunition and returned to his original position, facing the enemy alone. The enemy concentrated their attack on Kaho’ohanohano’s position, but his deadly and accurate fire stalled their attack. When he ran out of ammunition, he fought them hand-to-hand until he was killed. His actions inspired his men to counterattack and retake the position. They found 11 dead enemy soldiers outside the position and two killed inside the position. In 2011, Kaho’ohanohano was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest award for military valor in action.
Specialist 4th Class Wallace K. Matayoshi, B Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army, Vietnam
On January 29, 1966, Spc Matayoshi and two others were manning a listening post forward of their company perimeter. At 8 p.m., a grenade was thrown into their position, destroying their radio and seriously wounding Matayoshi. They also were shot at and pinned down. Realizing that any sound would alert the Viet Cong to their position, Matayoshi told his fellow soldiers that he was not seriously injured. He administered first aid to himself, silently suffering his wounds for 10 hours until a relief team arrived in the morning. However, by that time, Matayoshi was beyond help. For his sacrifice, he was awarded the Bronze Star, which is given for heroic or meritorious service or achievement in a combat zone.
Airman 1st Class (A1C) David O. Chung, Detachment 1, 377th Air Base Wing, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam
A1C Chung was assigned to transport classified documents between the Bien Hoa and Ton Son Nhut airbases on December 3, 1972. On the return trip, because of his Asian features, he was detained for an hour by Vietnamese Security Forces. When released, Chung caught up to his convoy, only to find it under attack. They were taking mortar rounds and small arms fire from the Viet Cong. He rescued several wounded South Vietnamese soldiers, sustaining shrapnel wounds to his right hand, arm, face, and chest in the process. Upon returning to his own base, he was once again stopped at the gate, as the Security Force thought he had stolen an American uniform. Chung was cleared and treated for his injuries, but was not awarded the Purple Heart until 2012.
Lance Corporal June N. Ramos, C Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, 2nd Marine Division, Operation Iraqi Freedom
Lance Cpl Ramos, a native of the Philippines, was in a seminary prior to joining the Marine Corps in 2003. Because of his religious training, his fellow Marines nicknamed him the “warrior monk.” On October 18, 2004, Ramos was on vehicle patrol in Al Iskandariyah, Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded, sending shrapnel into his neck just below his right ear, narrowly missing his jugular vein. He was treated and returned to duty, spending 15 months in Iraq. In 2004, Ramos became a U.S. citizen and three years later he was discharged from the Marine Corps. He never lost his desire for a religious vocation and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2010. Today, Father Ramos serves in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Lieutenant Florence B. Choe, Medical Embedded Training Team, U.S. Navy, Operation Enduring Freedom
Lt. Choe joined the Navy shortly after the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. While on a one-year deployment in Afghanistan, she went on a six-mile run on March 27, 2009, with Commander Kim M. Lebel, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Francis L. Toner and two other officers. They were running along the perimeter of their camp when ambushed by an Afghan National Army soldier who began shooting at them. That soldier wounded Cmdr. Lebel, then fatally shot Choe and Toner. The Afghan soldier then turned the gun on himself.
Choe, Lebel and Toner are all in the Roll of Honor. Cmdr. Lebel enrolled her two colleagues and was in turn enrolled by her own daughter.
Lt. Choe left behind her husband and 3-year-old daughter, plus a precious reminder of her life. While in Afghanistan, Choe took part in the United Through Reading program, in which military personnel create storytime video recordings for their children. Those videos are sent home, along with a copy of the book. The videos have helped her daughter keep her mother’s memory alive.
A story map created by the Library of Congress explores the broader history of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in the military. Additional resources for Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month are available at asianpacificheritage.gov.
— Written by Peter Bedrossian, Program Director, National Purple Heart Hall Of Honor
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