Chinese immigrant Vietnam War vet Fang Wong becomes head of American Legion veterans association
When Fang Wong left Hong Kong as a kid to live and toil in a Harlem Laundromat 50 years ago, he never dreamed he’d become the most important veterans’ advocate in the United States.
But on Sept. 1, the Chinese immigrant was elected National Commander of the American Legion, a mutual aid organization 2.4 million-vets strong.
“I feel humble and honored,” said Wong, 63, a gray-haired Vietnam vet with an easy smile. “I really don’t feel different. I’m still me – I want to do my utmost to help however I can.”
During the Vietnam War, that meant working undercover for the Army as a Chinese language expert. Later, in New York, it meant helping Chinatown recover from the upheaval of 9/11.
Now that Wong is the legion’s first-ever Asian-American National Commander, it means lobbying President Obama to create jobs for soldiers returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The unemployment rate for returning veterans is 28%,” he said. “We need the government sector and the private sector to understand that when you hire a veteran you get a very good employee.”
Born in Canton, China, in 1948 – one year before the Communist Party took power there – Wong moved with his mother and brother to Hong Kong.
They immigrated to New York in 1960 to join Wong’s father, who was running a Laundromat on W. 148th St.
“I was 12 years old, meeting my father for the first time,” said Wong, chatting last week at the American Legion Lt. Kimlau Chinese Memorial Post 1291 on Canal St. in Chinatown.
The Wongs lived in Harlem and later moved to Chinatown. At Public School 90 in Harlem, every other student was African-American.
“I really stuck out and I spoke no English,” he recalled. “But everybody treated me well.”
Wong was drawn to the military as a teen after he was awarded a scholarship by Post 1291 to study Chinese after school.
“I was so impressed,” he chuckled, speaking over a tai chi class at Post 1291. “I had no idea what the American Legion was, but I liked the money and I liked the legion’s style. It stayed in the back of my mind.”
Drafted in 1969, Wong served 25 months in Vietnam. He felt strongly about the war, having fled Communist China as a boy.
He retired from the Army in 1989 as a chief warrant officer and joined Post 1291, hoping to serve the Chinatown community.
Founded by Chinese-American vets returning from World War II, Post 1291 was named after an Army Air Corps pilot killed over the Pacific Ocean.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Post 1291 members worked to integrate Chinese immigrants with the rest of New York.
“The World War II veterans spoke English and they had the G.I. Bill,” said Wong, wearing a blazer with an American flag lapel pin and an American Legion necktie. “They helped expose people to the world beyond Chinatown. They deserve a lot of credit.”
Following 9/11, Post 1921 members volunteered as Chinese interpreters at emergency centers in lower Manhattan.
Although Wong was the only Chinese-American in his unit in Vietnam and is the first Asian-American to head the legion, the East Brunwick, N.J., resident has never encountered serious discrimination, he said.
“Maybe it has to do with my attitude,” said Wong. “As long as you do what you’re supposed to do and treat everybody the way you want to be treated, they should treat you the same.”