Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month

pcdcstaff Planning June 4, 2019 | 0

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month

(Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao with the five Chinese-American veterans honored with the Congressional Gold Medal. Left to Right: James Eng, Harry Jung, Henry Lee, Robert M. Lee and Elsie Seetoo) Photo Credit: Lynn Lin, The Epoch Times

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month! We celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of the many Asian American and Pacific Islanders that have enriched our country and helped define our history. This year PCDC highlights the special honor, which was bestowed upon Philadelphian, Harry Jung on January 29, 2019. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States Congress. He was one of the five people selected to represent more than 20,000 Chinese-Americans veterans who bravely served during the World War II despite prevalent discrimination at the time. Jung served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and was dispatched to fight in Belgium, the Netherlands and other countries in Europe.

The Chinese-American World War II Veterans Congressional Gold Medal Act was introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2017, as a result of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A.) started a campaign called the Chinese American WWII Veterans Recognition Project. The act ordered for the creation and awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal for Chinese-American Veterans of World War II in recognition of their dedicated service. It was unanimously passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2018 and signed into law by President Donald Trump last December.