The Marmot’s Hole

7 Comments

1. dogbertt
   Posted December 28, 2006 at 2:23 pm | Permalink

   That is quite a story.

2. baduk
   Posted December 28, 2006 at 3:12 pm | Permalink

   Every successful KoreanAmerican makes another KA’s life little bit easier. Someday, KAs will be looked at as the equals, not better nor worse than average Americans.

   I just hope that Korea and the US stay friendly. If Korea goes to China camp, China may use Koreans to attack Japan and the US. Then, KA’s life will be very difficult.

   And, I tell every KA that the US is our home. We must kill the enemy, even if Korea becomes the enemy of America.

   Yes, we are Americans.

3. Breaktrack
   Posted December 28, 2006 at 4:20 pm | Permalink

   Great story. Being half aboriginal, I can understand his situation. I hope all the people of mixed ethnicity in Korean will be able to achieve 0.00001% of what he did in the US. I highly doubt it though. I ain’t talking about athletes or entertainers of mixed ethnicity from Western countries becoming popular here either. I mean just the every day average joe/jill blows.

4. lirelou
   Posted December 28, 2006 at 5:30 pm | Permalink

   Some insight as to what it was to be a Chinese-American in the U.S. Navy in China during the 1920s can be gleaned from Dennis L. Noble’s “The Eagle and the Dragon: The United States Military in China, 1902-1937″. One of the sailors is Radioman First Class Henry J. Poy, a first generation Chinese-American from Portland, OR. Proof that not all Orientals were in the mess, and indeed, Radioman First Class was a high rank for an enlisted man. The stripes he’s wearing are for a grade E-6, back when E-7 was the highest enlisted rank, but those may have been the stripes of an E-5 in 1924, still a pretty high rank in that it was just below Chief Petty Officer. (Grades E-8 and E-9 did not exist prioor to 1958, though the ranks associated with them did.) On China duty, the mess duties were generally handled by Chinese nationals who lived and worked on the ship, but some were allowed to enlist in the Navy and serve in other Asiatic ports. Of interest, given that the Chinese Exclusion Act was in effect, they could not return to the United States, but could serve on in the Navy until retirement, which several did. In 1923, there were 165 Chinese and Chinese-Americans among the 6,356 minority group sailors versus 75,899 white sailors worldwide. Poy’s seniority insulated him against the term “chink” or “slopehead”, but his lower rankers often referred to him as “Confucius”, which he considered a polite slur.

   Breaktrack, Get up to Kapyong around April 25th when the Aussie’s commemorate it. Reg Saunders commanded one of the 3 RAR’s companies there.

5. Origami
   Posted December 29, 2006 at 4:46 pm | Permalink

   What an interesting story. Korean version of Forrest Gump.

6. Breaktrack
   Posted December 29, 2006 at 8:06 pm | Permalink

   Lirelou:
   Thanks for the info, but actually I’m what most call a Native American or what Koreans call a half-breed. I wonder what Koreans call foreigners or use half breeds in their military, school systems and so on? Oh yeah, I remember now…

7. Corpy Carly
   Posted December 29, 2006 at 11:09 pm | Permalink

   God I love America.