Fang A. Wong was born in Canton, China and immigrated to the United States in November 1960 at the age of twelve. He attended New York City public schools and has been a naturalized citizen since January 1963. Mr. Wong volunteered for the U. S. Army in May 1969 and served 25 months in Vietnam. He retired from the Army in May 1989 as a Chief Warrant Officer (CW3). In addition to his Vietnam service he also served tours of duty in Germany, Korea, and several stateside military bases. His military decorations among others included the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (3rd Award), Republic of Vietnam Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal (6 Campaign Stars). Mr. Wong completed 2 degrees while serving on active duty – BS in Business Administration from New York Institute of Technology (1978) and MA in Management from Central Michigan University (1981).

Following his retirement, Mr. Wong joined The American Legion, Lt. B. R. Kimlau Chinese Memorial Post #1291 in New York City and has been a member for the past 19 years. He has held appointed and elected offices at Post, County and District levels, serving as Post Adjutant from 1996 to 2009, New York County Commander 1995-1997. He was awarded an Honorary Life Membership by his Post in 2001. In 2002 Mr. Wong was elected Commander of the Department (State) of New York American Legion.

Mr. Wong served The American Legion, Department of New York as Chairman, Americanism Committee for three years. He has served as Department Commander’s Aide and as member of the Department Resolutions Committee. Mr. Wong is the Department of New York Membership Consultant for the last three years. He also served as a Director of the New York Empire Boys’ State Program and as a member of the planning committee for the creation of the New York State American Legion College. He has been a delegate to Department Conventions every year since 1995.

On the national level, Mr. Wong has been a delegate to National Conventions since 1995. He has served on several committees/Commission and has been the Chairman, National Security Commission since 2007. He is a Past President of the Department Commanders Club, a life member of Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada U.S. Chapter (ANAVICUS), and a member of the Past national Vice Commanders Club. He also serves on the Policy Coordination and Action Group. Mr. Wong was elected as The American Legion National Vice Commander for 2003-2004.

In other activities, Mr. Wong is a member of the Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Employment, Training, and Employer Outreach (ACVETEO) of the U.S. Department of Labor since 2006. He served as Chairman of Special Investigation Committee for the Chinese Community Benevolent Association (NYC) and the Office of the Attorney General, State of New York in 2005. Mr. Wong was honored by the New Jersey State Assembly with a proclamation for his services and achievements with The American Legion in 2003 and the U.S. Citizenship & Naturalization Service, Department of Homeland Security with the “Outstanding American By Choice Award” in 2006. In February of 2007 he was invited by the National Organization of The Jewish War Veterans to participate in their 22nd Annual Allied Veterans Mission to Israel.

Since his retirement from the U.S. Army, Mr. Wong has been employed as a Senior Operations Specialist by L-3 Communications, Command & Control Systems & Software (C2S2) Division in support of the Army Software Engineering Center (SEC) at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey for over twenty years. He has been married to the former Barbara Lam for over 33 years and has one son, Eric.

Immigrant of The Day - Dec. 7, 2007

Wong was born in China and came to the United States in 1960. He entered the U.S. military in 1969 as an enlisted soldier. Wong's distinguished military career spanned 20 years and included a 25 month long tour in Vietnam. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, three awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendations and Achievement Medals, and Republic of Vietnam Service and Campaign Medals. He retired from active service in 1989 as a chief Warrant Officer-3.

Wong's contributions within the American Legion include becoming Commander of the New York County/First Legion District, Department of NY Commander, National American Legion Vice Commander, and other volunteer positions. Notably, his legion post was the closest one to Ground Zero, site of the 9/11 disaster in New York City. He and his Post assisted in organizing and providing relief support and translator services to the community in need after the tragedy.
Fang Wong is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Comments:


Many Chinese and other Asian American immigrants served and continue to serve in the US military today. Yet, we rarely hear about them. Thank you for featuring Warrant Officer (ret.) Wong as one of your immigrant of the day. I hope he will be a proud inspiration for the immigrants of today looking for a way to serve our great nation.
Posted by: Vincent | Dec 10, 2007