page_title: Military history of Asian Americans
section_title: Leadership
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of Asian Americans / Leadership
caption_attribution_description: English: Albert Kualiʻi Brickwood Lyman was born May 5, 1885, graduated from West Point in Engineering in 1909, and became an officer of the U.S. Army the rest of his life. He commanded the Engineers who salvaged Wheeler Field after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first native Hawaiian to be promoted to General or Admiral rank in the U.S. military. He died only a few days after his promtion, August 13, 1942. The terminal of Hilo airport is named for him.
context_page_description: Asian Americans, who are Americans of Asian descent, have fought and served on behalf of the United States since the War of 1812. During the American Civil War Asian Americans fought for both the Union and the Confederacy. Afterwards Asian Americans served primarily in the U.S. Navy until the Philippine–American War.
  At the beginning of the 20th century, Asian Americans began to attend U.S. military academies, and the first Asian Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor. World War I saw Asian Americans serving as "non-whites" in the National Army. After World War I, Asian American service fell into obscurity until World War II when significant contributions by Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Korean Americans were documented.
  With the desegregation of the U.S. military in 1948, segregated Asian American units ceased to exist, and Asian Americans served in integrated armed forces. Asian American combatants in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts were awarded the Medal of Honor, and Asian Americans have continued to serve into the present day.
context_section_description: The first Asian American general was Brigadier General Albert Lyman, who was part Chinese and Hawaiian American. He was followed by Rear Admiral Gordon Chung-Hoon, the first Asian American flag officer.   The highest ranked is former Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki, who was a four-star general, and Army Chief of Staff.
  In recent years, Asian Americans have been significantly overrepresented at the military academies compared to their share of the national population.  Although Asian/Pacific Islander Americans are 3.49% of the national population aged 18–24, they are about 9–10% of the classes of 2014 at West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy.
caption: Brigadier General Albert Lyman, first Asian American general officer was of part Chinese and Hawaiian roots
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