Monterey Park exhibition honors Asian American veterans during US 250th anniversary

A monthlong exhibition at Monterey Park’s Bruggemeyer Library is using America’s 250th anniversary to highlight Asian American military service across nearly two centuries of U.S. history. “Duty, Honor, Country, Courage,” which opened on July 3 in the Library Friends Room, features veterans’ stories spanning from the Civil War to the present.

The exhibition highlights the service of Chinese American, Filipino American, Japanese American, Korean American and Vietnamese American veterans. Its displays combine military artifacts and multimedia presentations with accounts of Asian Americans who served from the Civil War through the modern era.

According to the City of Monterey Park, the project grew out of a collaboration between Peter Chow, a Vietnam War veteran and founder of the National Organization of Asian American Veterans, and Montgomery Hom, founder of the Chinese American G.I. Project and curator of military history exhibitions at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in Los Angeles.

Chow and Hom “envisioned a national project dedicated to preserving, sharing and honoring the stories of Asian American veterans, past and present.” The display remains in the library lobby through July 31.

The exhibition includes the story of Delbert Wong, who served as a B-17 navigator during World War II. Wong later became the first person of Chinese descent appointed to the bench in the continental U.S. when California Gov. Pat Brown named him to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1959. He was elevated to the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1968.

Vincent Okamoto, another veteran featured in the exhibition, served as a platoon leader in the Army’s 25th Infantry Division during the Vietnam War. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second-highest military decoration, for his actions during an August 1968 battle. Okamoto later became a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney and a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge.

Councilmember Vinh T. Ngo, who supported bringing the project to the city, said the commemoration should reflect the country’s diversity. “When we celebrate 250 for the states, we need to showcase the contributions of all the diverse people in it,” Ngo said. “Monty’s exhibit shows Asian Americans’ service has contributed to the melting pot of America.”