I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2358 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the Chinese American 
Veterans of World War II, in recognition of their dedicated service 
during World War II. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2017 
Mr. ROYCE of California (for himself, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. ABRA-
HAM, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mrs. 
RADEWAGEN, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. AL GREEN of 
Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. ISSA, Mr. KINZINGER, Ms. LEE, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Ms. MENG, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Ms. 
VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. WAGNER, Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California, and Mr. 
WILSON of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the 
Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 
Chinese American Veterans of World War II, in recogni-
tion of their dedicated service during World War II. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chinese American 
World War II Veterans Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Chinese Americans served the United States 
in every conflict since the Civil War, and distin-
guished themselves in World War II, serving in 
every theater of battle and every branch of service, 
earning citations for their heroism and honorable 
service, up to and including the Congressional Medal 
of Honor. 
(2) Chinese nationals and Chinese Americans 
faced institutional discrimination in the United 
States since before World War II, limiting the size 
of their population and their ability to build thriving 
communities in America. 
(3) The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the 
first Federal law that broadly restricted immigration 
and a specific nationality, making it illegal for Chi-
nese laborers to immigrate to the United States, and 
limiting the Chinese population in America for over 
sixty years. 
(4) Major court decisions such as the decisions 
in Lum v. Rice and People v. Hall found ‘‘yellow’’ 
races to be equal to African Americans with regard 
to ‘‘separate but equal’’ school facilities, and prohib-
ited Chinese Americans, along with ‘‘Black, mulatto, 
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or Indian’’ persons, from testifying against White 
men. 
(5) Chinese Americans were harassed, beaten, 
and murdered because of their ethnicity. The worst 
instances include the Chinese Massacre of 1871, 
where 17 Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia, were tortured and murdered; the Rock 
Spring Massacre of 1885 where White rioters killed 
28 Chinese miners and burned 75 of their homes in 
Rock Springs, Wyoming; and the Hells Canyon Mas-
sacre of 1887 where 34 Chinese goldminers were 
ambushed and murdered in Hells Canyon, Oregon. 
(6) There were only 78,000 Chinese Americans 
living on the United States mainland, with 29,000 
living in Hawaii, at the start of World War II as a 
result of Federal and State legislation and judicial 
decisions. 
(7) Despite the anti-Chinese discrimination at 
the time, as many as 20,000 Chinese Americans 
served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War 
II. Approximately forty percent (40 percent) of those 
who served were not United States citizens due to 
the laws that denied U.S. citizenship for persons of 
Chinese descent. 
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(8) Chinese Americans, although small in num-
bers, made important contributions to the World 
War II effort. 
(9) Of the total Chinese Americans serving, ap-
proximately 25 percent served in the U.S. Army Air 
Force/Corps, with some sent to the China-Burma- 
India (CBI) theater with the 14th Air Service 
Group. 
(10) The remainder served in all branches of 
the U.S. Armed Forces in all four theaters of war. 
(11) The first all Chinese-American group was 
the 14th Air Service Group, 859th Signal Corps in 
the CBI theater which enabled extensive and effec-
tive operations against the Japanese military in 
China. 
(12) Chinese Americans are widely acknowl-
edged for their role in the Army’s 14th Air Force, 
23rd Fighter Group, widely known as the Flying Ti-
gers. 
(13) The Flying Tigers eventually established 
American air superiority in China and supported 
cargo flights from India to China over ‘‘The Hump’’. 
(14) Chinese Americans assigned to the CBI 
theater made transoceanic journeys through hostile 
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territories, and were subject to enemy attack while 
at sea and in the air. 
(15) In the Pacific Theater, Chinese Americans 
were in ground, air, and ocean combat and support 
roles throughout the Pacific including New Guinea, 
Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, 
Philippines, Marianas, and Aleutian Islands. 
(16) Throughout the Pacific and CBI theaters, 
they performed vital functions in translating; coordi-
nating National Chinese and American combat oper-
ations; servicing and repairing aircraft and arma-
ments; training National Chinese troops and sailors; 
delivering medical care; providing signal and commu-
nication support; gathering and analyzing intel-
ligence; participating in ground and air combat; and 
securing and delivering supplies. 
(17) Chinese Americans also served in combat 
and support roles in the European and African thea-
ters, serving in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, the Nor-
mandy D-Day invasion which liberated Western Eu-
rope, and the Battle of the Bulge, occupying West-
ern Germany while helping to liberate Central Eu-
rope. 
(18) Chinese Americans flew bomber missions, 
served in infantry units and combat ships in the 
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Battle of the Atlantic, including aboard Merchant 
Marines convoys vulnerable to submarine and air at-
tacks. 
(19) Chinese-American women left traditional 
domestic duties for patriotic service, serving as 
translators who interpreted Japanese documents 
containing military plans. 
(20) Many Chinese-American women served in 
the Women’s Army Corps (WACs), the Army Air 
Force, and the United States Naval Reserve Wom-
en’s Reserve (WAVES), and some became pilots, air 
traffic controllers, flight trainers, weather fore-
casters, occupational therapists, and nurses. 
(21) Captain Francis B. Wai is the only Chi-
nese American serving in World War II to have been 
awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor, the high-
est military award given by our Nation. His post-
humous Distinguished Service Medal, awarded in 
1944 was upgraded in 2000 to a Congressional 
Medal of Honor. 
(22) Chinese Americans also earned Combat In-
fantry Badges, Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars, Silver 
Stars, Distinguished Service Medals and Distin-
guished Flying Medals. Units with Chinese Ameri-
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