Asian Heritage Month 2021: Heroes Remember – Chinese-Canadian Veterans

Sharing Knowledge:
May is Asian Heritage Month

Humber College and the University of Guelph-Humber (the College) is committed to providing an accessible learning, working, and living environment for the Humber community. It is the College’s goal to create a community that is inclusive of all persons and supports all members of the community in an equitable manner. In creating such a community, the College aims to foster a climate of understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of all persons.

Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity for all Canadians to learn more about the many achievements and contributions of Canadians of Asian descent who, throughout our history, have done so much to make Canada the amazing country we share today.

May: Asian Heritage Month

Asian Heritage Month 2021: Heroes Remember – Chinese-Canadian Veterans1

Uncommon valour. Reluctant heroes. Unsung soldiers.1

These are the phrases that describe the Chinese-Canadian men and women who took part in the Second World War. It is a little known story and reminds us of racist times when the government simply didn't want Chinese-Canadians in the war effort. Regrettably, it is also a story that is fast-disappearing as our war Veterans reach their late eighties and their remembrances pass with them.1

Most Canadians cannot even fathom there was a time in this country when Chinese-Canadians were denied the right to vote and banned from entering the professions. But this was the reality for the young men and women of Chinese-Canadian descent, the majority born on Canadian soil, at the outbreak of the Second World War. Why then, did they volunteer and risk their lives for a country that denied them the fundamental rights we now take for granted? 1

You are invited to share the recollections of these courageous men and women. Heroes Remember presents twenty-one war Veterans who speak candidly of their wartime efforts. Some of their stories have seldom been told because they evoke dark, buried memories, while others brim with a youthful “can-do” spirit. There are also stories from the politically astute; those determined to win the vote for Chinese-Canadians by proving their loyalty and serving. Together, these remarkable recollections lay testimony to the Chinese-Canadians who knowingly or not, created fundamental political and social change in Canada.1

Resources:

  1. Canada, V. A. (2019, July 30). Heroes Remember - Chinese-Canadian Veterans. ARCHIVED - Heroes Remember - Canadian Chinese Veterans - Remembering those who served - Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/chinese-canadian-veterans

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