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Opening of Opportunities: Chinese Railroad workers, and Chinese Americans in world War II (OoO: CRW, CAWWII)

This is the title used by Major General William Chen (retired) in his address to a forum sponsored by the Chinese American Association of Lexington (CAAL) and the Lexington Historical Society on April 15, 2019. The venue of the talk was changed three times to accommodate an overflowing crowd. General

Chen did not disappoint his audience in a talk full of enthusiasms, historical facts, and family lineage in the 170+ years of history of Chinese immigration to the US, he was a unique person to tell this fascinating story

1.        Starting with his grandfather being a worker on the transcontinental railway where 90% of the worker were Chinese but with their contributions totally suppressed and the Chinese Exclusion Act passed

2.        His father being a US fighter pilot in the famed Flying Tiger squadron during WWII (his father  flew C-46 & C-47 aircraft with the 14th Air Force under Gen. Claire Chennault; and he was also Gen. Chennault’s personal representative and liaison officer to Chinese Air Force.)

3.        His own success as a first CA rising to a 2-star general rank in the US Army (Google his name and you will find 360,000 webpages dealing with his name.)

Many of the Chinese American youths in the audience probably heard for the first time their cultural heritage and racial history. After the talk, a reception was held in our home to continue the conversation with invited guests well into the evening. We not only thank General Chen for this inspiring talk but also admired his stamina to be on his feet continuously for several hours talking to people at his age which is only a few years younger than mine. Local Chinese newspaper also send reporters to cover the event. A video of the event will be available from LexMedia for those of you missed the talk.

Site of all the photos taken for the event

https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/o77VJXOGTRmALa42teSxag.9q7fTLnZynJI97JBu6uywN

As the video of the event became available, I’ll post it for SciencenNet readers.