A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD.

TM

Our Nation is diverse; our Navy must be no less so. 

—Vice Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., 2009

Asian pacific

AmERICANS

in the united states navy

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When he was a small boy in Shanghai on the eve 

of World War II, Ming E. Chang sat for hours on 

the bank of the Whangpoo River, watching U.S. Navy 

ships of the Asiatic Fleet steaming up and down the 

Opposite page: Lt. Manuel Querido shows an Afghan citizen how to use a 

radio during a civic action mission in Helmand Province. Querido is the chaplain with the 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, conducting counterinsurgency operations with Afghan national security forces, September 2009.

Left: Rear Adm. Ming E. Chang, Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group Two, 

right, salutes Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman Jr., as he gets ready to 

depart the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 

69), August 1983. 

Asians and Pacific Islanders of various nationalities and ancestry—

Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Southeast Asian, Asian Indian, 

Polynesian—have been serving in the Navy since the early 19th century.
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crowded channel as they had been doing since the early 

1900s. His father was a petty officer and cook on board 

one of those ships. Chang determined that someday he, 

too, would be a Sailor. Eventually, he became a naturalized 

U.S. citizen and joined the Navy. 

Chang’s foreign birth presented obstacles to 

advancement early in his career, but changes in U.S. law 

Left: Following in her family’s tradition of naval service, the newly commissioned Ens. Donalda Charlotte Chang stands with her father Rear 

Adm. Ming E. Chang, October 1982. 

Top right: The U.S. gunboat Ashuelot—part of the Asiatic Squadron, 

which operated along the coast of China, up the Yangtze River, and 

among the Japanese treaty ports—carried a crew in 1883 that was 

four-fifths Asian-born from Thailand, Japan, or China. 

Bottom right: An artist’s depiction of the explosion aboard battleship Maine.

governing naturalized citizens eventually permitted him to 

command warships as well as cruiser and destroyer 

divisions during his 34-year career. In 1980 the Navy 

promoted him to rear admiral, making him the first 

naturalized Asian Pacific American naval officer to reach 

flag rank. Seven years later the Navy appointed him 

Inspector General. In that position he adopted the motto 

“defending the rights of every Sailor and Marine” and 

helped improve the environment for women and minorities. 

The U.S. Navy had maintained a presence in East 

Asia since the 1830s to safeguard American interests 

during Chinese civil unrest. Ships whose crews counted 

men of Asian descent on the Asiatic Station protected 

U.S. commerce, missionaries, and diplomats in the 

region. During the American Civil War, Chinese men 

served on dozens of Union vessels. For the rest of the 

century Asians continued to turn up on the rolls of U.S. 

warships. 
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“It was thanks to the ship’s damage control 

group that we saved her [USS Sigsbee].”

Gordon Paiea Chung-hoon

Gordon Paiea Chung-Hoon, a star halfback on the Navy football team, 

graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1934. Ten years later, 

he took command of the destroyer USS Sigsbee (DD 502) and led 

his Sailors through harrowing combat in the Pacific, which earned 

him the Silver Star, the third highest combat award. On 14 April 

1945, when kamikazes attacked Sigsbee and five other destroyers 

off Okinawa, one plane crashed into Sigbee’s stern, causing a 

tremendous explosion that flooded parts of the ship. Once the rest of 

the enemy planes had been shot down, Chung-Hoon concentrated on 

directing damage control, enabling the crew to save the ship, which 

limped to Hawaii for repairs. For his actions, Chung-Hoon received the 

Navy Cross, the Navy’s highest medal and the nation’s second highest 

combat decoration. He retired in 1959 as a two-star admiral and the 

Navy’s first Asian Pacific American flag officer. 

Cmdr. Gordon Paiea Chung-Hoon, c. November 1945.
In 1898 the battleship Maine exploded and sank in 

Havana harbor. The blast, which killed 266 men, including 

those of Japanese and Chinese extraction, provided the 

catalyst for a war with Spain that spread to its colonies in 

the Far East where the U.S. Asiatic Squadron, commanded 

by Commodore George Dewey, defeated the Spanish fleet 

in the Battle of Manila Bay. As a result of the war, the 

United States gained the Philippines as a territory as 

well as other island possessions in the Pacific and the 

Caribbean. These events enabled large numbers of 

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Filipinos and other Pacific Islanders to join the U.S. Navy. 

In the decades since, this group has traditionally made 

the Navy their service of choice.

During World War II, Chinese and Japanese American 

men and women enlisted for military service in great 

numbers. More than 20,000 Chinese Americans—or one 

out of every five in the United States—served in the U.S. 

Armed Forces. Although barred from the naval service, 

Japanese Americans fought in some of the Army’s most 

highly decorated units. Filipino Americans and Korean 

Americans also participated in the nation’s war effort. 

Among the many Asian Pacific Americans who distinguished 

themselves during World War II was Commander Gordon 

Paiea Chung-Hoon of Chinese-Hawaiian parentage (see 

sidebar on page 3).

Asian Pacific American Navy men and women 

continued to serve honorably throughout the Cold War, 

a time when the U.S. Navy successfully faced down its 

Soviet adversary time and again. Starting in the 1950s, 

they also took advantage of expanded opportunities for 

advancement of minorities. One of the most outstanding 

to do so was native Hawaiian Vice Admiral Robert K. U. 

Kihune (see sidebar on page 5).

Top: U.S. Sailors man the rails of the guided 

missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 

93) as the ship pulls into Naval Station Pearl 

Harbor, Hawaii, July 2009. The ship is named 

in honor of Rear Adm. Gordon Chung-Hoon 

for his extraordinary naval service.

Bottom left to right: Armored cruiser USS San 

Diego; Medal of Honor citation for Navy Fireman 

1st Class Telesforo de la Cruz Trinidad, a Filipino, 

who rescued two men after a boiler exploded 

on board San Diego on 21 January 1915. 
“Let us not forget that it was [Japanese American 

veterans] that gave us the opportunity to compete 

on a level playing field with other Americans.”

robert k. u. kihune

Like many Asian Pacific Americans of his generation, Vice Admiral 

Robert K. U. Kihune drew inspiration from the heroics of the 

segregated Japanese American Army units of World War II. But he 

set his sights on a career in the Navy. The 1959 U.S. Naval Academy 

graduate distinguished himself during a 35-year career in which he 

commanded two carrier battle groups and took part in the Navy’s 

response to the Lebanon crisis, the capture of terrorists in the Achille 

Lauro hijacking, and the antiterrorism air strikes against Libya. 

Promoted to vice admiral in 1988—the first native Hawaiian to wear 

three stars—he took charge of the Pacific Fleet Naval Surface Forces, 

commanding 200 ships, 10 naval stations, a combined military and 

civilian personnel force of 80,000, and a $4 billion budget. Kihune’s 

command provided half of the naval forces in support of the First 

Gulf War.

As commander of the Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Battle Group, Rear Adm. Robert Kihune sits in 

the cockpit of an E-2C Hawkeye surveillance aircraft on board the carrier, April 1987.

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As demonstrated by Kihune’s career, the 1960s 

and 1970s began a new, more favorable chapter for the 

advancement of Asian Pacific Americans in the Navy. 

The watershed 1965 Immigration Act lifted the heavy 

restrictions on Asian immigration that had prevailed for 

most of the 20th century. Other changes strengthened the 

Navy’s antidiscrimination and affirmative action efforts. In 

1971 the Navy formally lifted the restrictions that limited 

Philippine-born recruits in the service to the steward 

rating. As a result, many children of Filipino sailors 

carried on the family tradition of service in the Navy but 

could now advance far beyond the ranks that their fathers, 

mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers had attained. 

A notable example of a Filipino who followed in her 

father’s footsteps in choosing a Navy career is the 

Left: The native Samoan naval guard force stands at 

attention, March 1943. The U.S. Navy, which administered 

the Samoan Islands from 1900 to 1952, recruited these 

men into the Naval Reserve unit known at the Fita-Fita 

Guard to help maintain law and order. 

Top center: The destroyer USS Rizal, newly commissioned 

in 1919, was donated to the U.S. Navy by the Philippine 

legislature and named in honor of the martyred 

Philippine patriot Dr. Jose Rizal (1861–1896). Her 

crew was predominantly Filipino American.

Bottom center: The three Ahn siblings, Ralph, Philip, 

and Susan, from one of California’s first Korean immigrant 

families, enlisted in the U.S. military in 1942. Susan Ahn 

Cuddy was the first Korean American woman in the U.S. 

military and the first female Navy gunnery officer. For her 

service in the WAVES (the women’s reserve component 

of the Navy), she reached the rank of lieutenant. 

Right: As head of the White House medical unit, Dr. Eleanor 

Concepcion Mariano treated President Bill Clinton after 

his 1997 surgery. 
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Eleanor Concepcion mariano

Born at Clark Air Base in the Philippines in 1955, Dr. Eleanor 

Concepcion Mariano is the daughter of a Filipino master chief 

petty officer who served 29 years in the Navy’s steward branch. She 

immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of two. 

After receiving a medical degree in 1981 from the Uniformed 

Services University in Bethesda, Maryland, Dr. Mariano joined the 

Navy, where she quickly rose from ship’s surgeon to become attending 

physician to the President at the White House. She served in that 

billet for more than eight years during the George H. W. Bush and 

Clinton administrations. President Clinton promoted her to rear admiral 

in 2000, making her the first female Filipino to achieve flag rank. 

“I came from a family of Navy stewards,” she said at her promotion 

ceremony. “The first Mariano who served in the United States Navy 

joined in the 1920s. . . . The Mariano men served with pride and 

accumulated a total of over 100 years of service among them.”

“The Navy meant the opportunity to succeed. 

. . . [and] all the good things America had 

to offer.”

Rear Adm. Eleanor Concepcion “Connie” Mariano, MD., c. 2000.
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former White House chief physician, Rear Admiral 

Eleanor Concepcion “Connie” Mariano, MD (see sidebar 

on page 7).

In the 21st century the Navy’s leadership remains 

strongly committed to diversity. Chief of Naval 

Operations Admiral Gary Roughead declared that the 

Navy “must embrace the demographic changes of 

tomorrow and build a Navy that always reflects our 

country’s makeup.”

Top left: Capt. David Yoshihara, Commander Destroyer Squadron 9, 

embarked on the nuclear-powered carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), 

escorts his parents on the carrier’s flight deck in 2003. His father, 

retired Navy Captain Takeshi Yoshihara, was the first Japanese 

American to attend the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.

Top, lower left: Deputy Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Rear Adm. 

James E. Beebe addresses Japanese sailors at a welcoming ceremony on board Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, May 2005. The 

visitors were there to develop the seamanship and leadership skills 

of Japan’s future leaders as well as to broaden the mutual understanding and friendship between the United States and Japan.

Top right: Capt. Tem E. Bugarin, the son of a retired senior chief 

radioman, was the first Filipino to command a surface combatant 

ship, USS Saginaw (LST 1188), in August 1989.

Bottom: Suni Williams takes one of her four walks in space.
sunita l. williams

Navy Captain and astronaut Sunita L. Williams epitomizes the wide 

range of opportunities for all minorities in the Navy. Of Asian Indian 

parentage, Williams graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1987 

and became a Navy helicopter pilot and test pilot. Selected as an 

astronaut, she traveled on the space shuttle in late 2006 to serve as 

flight engineer and science officer on the International Space Station. 

Her four spacewalks as an Expedition-14 crew member established 

a record for women at the time. She also set a record for women by 

spending more than six months in Earth orbit. Speaking of her space 

shuttle crew, she expressed appreciation of its diversity, referring to the 

“colorful crew” as “cool.” Her shipmates included an African American 

man and woman and a Swede from the European Union. “It’s a slice 

of America and the world,” Williams said.

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“I hope . . . that people see that anybody from 

any background, really, can do this job.”

Astronaut Sunita L. Williams, September 2004.
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A person who is motivated and hardworking, and 

has the honor, courage, and commitment to serve, can 

achieve his or her dreams, regardless of gender, race, 

creed, color, or ethnic origin.

Far left: Seaman Daniel Nguyen stands ready to chock and chain 

an incoming helicopter aboard the dock landing ship USS Carter 

Hall (LSD 50) during maritime security operations in the U.S. Fifth 

Fleet area of responsibility, December 2008.

Left: Lt. Cmdr. Elysia Ng, staff judge advocate for the commander of Logistics Group Western Pacific, observes maneuvers 

from the dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) during 

bilateral exercises in Southeast Asia, July 2009.

Bottom: Rear Adm. Peter Gumataotao, the first Guam native to 

achieve flag rank, receives his new flag officer combination cover 

from a family member in September 2009. A 1981 graduate of 

the U.S. Naval Academy, Gumataotao became Commander, U.S. 

Naval Forces Korea after his promotion.
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Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet, February 2010.

“America’s greatest asset is not our assembly 

lines or weapons systems, or even our great 

ships, submarines, and airplanes . . . it’s 

our people.”

Vice Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., a naval aviator who logged 4,400 

flight hours and who became Commander, Sixth Fleet in 2009, is the 

Navy’s highest-ranking Japanese American. The Sixth Fleet, one of the 

Navy’s largest commands, consists of approximately 40 ships, 175 

aircraft, and a diverse force of 21,000 officers and enlisted men and 

women. The Fleet’s mission encompasses the full range of maritime 

and theaterwide operations with other U.S. forces and allies to advance 

security and stability in Europe, the Mediterranean, and Africa. Given 

such a diverse area of responsibility, sensitivity to many different 

cultures remains paramount. “When we recognize and capitalize on 

the strength that diversity brings to the Navy,” Vice Admiral Harris 

declared, “we are better able to develop new ideas and reach out to 

partners around the world.”

harry b. harris jr.
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Photo credits: Susan Ahn Cuddy family, William J. Clinton 

Presidential Library & Museum, Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris 

Jr., Japanese American Veterans Association, Library of 

Congress, NASA, Naval History & Heritage Command, 

and NAVY.mil.

Front cover: Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class 

Rowel Delacruz waits for flight operations to begin aboard 

the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) in the western 

Pacific, April 2008.

Top left: U.S. Seventh Fleet Command Master Chief Marcos 

Sibal hosts students and instructors from the Japan Maritime 

Self-Defense Force on board the fleet’s flagship USS Blue 

Ridge (LCC 19), January 2010.

Top right: Filipino American Rear Adm. Eleanor V. Valentin, 

commander of the Navy Medical Support Command, 

became the first female director of the U.S. Navy Medical 

Service Corps on 1 October 2009.

Bottom left: Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Floro 

Sellona, a Guam native attached to the Medical Treatment 

Facility aboard the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), 

teaches English to patients waiting for medical and 

dental treatment, August 2008. Mercy’s crew treated 

thousands of people during a 5-month humanitarian and 

civic assistance deployment to South and Southeast Asia. 

Bottom right: U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman 3rd Class 

Melody Lee fires an M-16 down range from the flight deck 

of USS Nassau (LHA 4) as part of her summer training 

cruise, July 2009. 
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Top left: In 2009 Capt. Enrique “Rick” Sadsad, 

a Philippine-born American citizen, became 

the commanding officer of Naval Support 

Activity Bahrain, which supports our naval 

forces in the Middle East. 

Top right: Cmdr. Michael V. Misiewicz, command-

ing officer of the guided missile destroyer USS 

Mustin (DDG 89), is greeted by family members 

as Mustin arrives in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, for 

training with the Royal Cambodian armed forces, 

December 2010. This was Misiewicz’s first visit to 

his native country since he immigrated to the 

United States in 1973.

Bottom left: Aviation Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class 

Charles Wang, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 

41, performs maintenance on a Super Hornet engine 

aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), 

February 2008.

Bottom right: Rear Admiral Brian L. Losey, left, 

assumed command of Combined Joint Task 

Force–Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, 

on 27 March 2010. Vice Admiral Harry B. Harris 

Jr., right, Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet, attended 

the change-of-command ceremony. Both men are 

of Japanese American heritage. Admiral Losey is 

also the first Asian Pacific American flag officer 

from the SEAL community.”
Navy Diversity Directorate (N134)

Chief of Naval Personnel

www.npc.navy.mil/CommandSupport/Diversity

www.history.navy.mil

A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD.

TM