RESEARCH STARTER

Asian Americans and Military Service

Asian Americans have a long and diverse history of military service in the United States, dating back to the American Revolution. Throughout this history, they have faced significant challenges, including segregation and discrimination, particularly during major conflicts such as World War II. During the war, approximately 33,000 Japanese Americans served despite being incarcerated in internment camps, highlighting the complexities of their loyalty and the struggle against societal prejudice. Asian Americans currently represent around 10% of active-duty military personnel across all branches, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.

Notable figures in Asian American military history include Daniel K. Inouye, a member of the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Sadao S. Munemori, the first Japanese American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The military has gradually evolved to become more inclusive, with integration mandated after World War II. However, discrimination persists, as many Asian American service members today report experiences of racial bias within the armed forces. The growing presence of Asian Americans in the military underscores their commitment to service, while also reflecting ongoing challenges related to identity and acceptance.

Full Article

Asian Americans have served in all branches of the US military since the country's founding. In some conflicts, they served in segregated units and faced discrimination from the government, fellow troops, and the public they protected. This was particularly true of Japanese Americans during World War II, when the approximately 33,000 who voluntarily enlisted had been imprisoned in internment camps. According to the Department of Defense’s (DoD) 2024 demographics report, Asian Americans accounted for 5.4 percent of active-duty military housed under the DoD: Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Marine Corps.

Background

The first known Asian people to settle in the lands that later became the United States (US) were Filipino sailors who arrived on Spanish ships in the late sixteenth century. The conditions of the voyage were terrible, and half the passengers died before reaching colonial Mexico. Many of those who survived refused to make the return journey, settling instead in Acapulco. Some later traveled north and established a fishing village in Louisiana.

In the colonial era, men from China, India, Japan, and Korea traveled to the British West Indies, Hawaii, and what became the Deep South of the US seeking work and an escape from drought and famine in their homelands. Many worked on sugar cane and tobacco plantations as indentured laborers. When their time of service ended after five or more years, some did not return home because they had not earned what they expected or had married women who they could not take with them. Some of these migrants established Chinese communities along the West Coast. The 1849 Gold Rush in California prompted more Chinese migration, and legislation was passed to reduce their opportunities.

Migrants of various ethnic groups have often arrived in the US in waves based on events such as the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, wars, and a high demand for laborers. For example, the first Japanese migrants arrived on the islands of Hawaii in the nineteenth century to work on plantations. However, exclusionary immigration policies passed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries limited migration from the Asian continent. The number of migrants from this region to the US increased dramatically following the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Before this, most migrants from Asia were low-skilled laborers. However, in the twentieth century, those born in Asia were more likely than the general US population to be highly educated, earn higher incomes, and work in management. In the 2020s, China and India were among the leading origin countries of Asian immigrants in the United States.

Asian Americans are among the fastest-growing major ethnic or racial groups in the nation. Most are of East Asian, Southeast Asian, and Indian origin. Although they are grouped together under the umbrella term in the US Census and other data, they are very diverse. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2023, 86 percent of Asian Americans were of six origin groups: Chinese (22 percent), Filipino (19 percent), Indian (21 percent), North and South Korean (8 percent), Japanese (7 percent), and Vietnamese (9 percent). Those of Cambodian, Pakistani, and Thai origin each accounted for 2 percent of the population, while Americans of Bangladeshi, Burmese, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Nepalese, and Taiwanese ancestry each comprised 1 percent of the population. Another five Asian origin groups—Bhutanese, Malaysian, Mongolian, Okinawan, and Sri Lankan—each accounted for less than 1 percent. The US Census Bureau estimated that 6.7 percent of the US population was Asian alone in mid-2025.

Overview

Historians have documented several people of Asian heritage who fought during the American Revolution (1765–83). For example, Charles Peters was born in Madras, modern-day Chennai, India, and enlisted in the Continental Army in North Carolina’s 5th Battalion, while New Jersey resident John Newton was said to be from “Bengaul,” the Bay of Bengal region of modern-day Bangladesh or India, according to the Museum of the American Revolution.

Segregation was not widely practiced in the Union and Confederate Armies during the American Civil War (1861–65). Military officials relied on the 1850 Census Act’s color categories: White, Black, or mulatto. Asian Americans might be classified as White, mulatto, or nothing at all, and thus many Chinese Americans served with White troops while people of East Indian descent were permitted to serve with Black troops.

The most well-known Asian American military era is that of Japanese Americans who served during World War II. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry lived in the mainland US. The US government responded by sending them to prison camps. Though initially barred from service, Japanese Americans were eventually permitted to serve in segregated US Army units. About 6,000 served with the Military Intelligence Service as interpreters and translators. Many others served in segregated units, such as the more than 1,400 Nisei, or second-generation Japanese Americans, in the 100th Infantry Battalion. Many of them had previously served in the Hawaii National Guard and been involved in aiding the wounded and clearing away wreckage after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The battalion was later integrated into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which fought in France and Italy. Other Asian Americans, including those of Chinese, Korean, and Filipino ancestry, also served during World War II (1939–45), though again often in segregated units such as the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment of the US Army.

Many World War II service members were promoted and honored for their service. Brigadier General Albert Lyman, whose ancestry was Chinese and Native Hawaiian, was one of the first persons of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) ancestry to reach the general officer rank. Eric K. Shinseki, who served as Army Chief of Staff, was the highest-ranking AANHPI. In 1946, US Army Private First Class Sadao S. Munemori was the first Japanese American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He died in 1945 while throwing a grenade that had landed near troops back toward the enemy line. However, many Japanese American troops were passed over for the Medal of Honor. After Congress and the military examined military records in the 1990s, President Bill Clinton awarded twenty-two Asian American WWII veterans the Medal of Honor. Among them was Daniel Inouye, who later represented Hawaii in the US Senate.

After 1948, the US military was required to integrate troops. Wars in Vietnam and Korea were particularly difficult for many Asian Americans because they were simultaneously fighting Asians and experiencing discrimination. Discrimination remains an issue in the twenty-first century, as some Asian American service members report having experienced racial discrimination or harassment.


Bibliography

“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in World War II.” The National World War II Museum, www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/asian-pacific-american-world-war-ii. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

“Asian Americans in the American Revolution.” Museum of the American Revolution, 17 May 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDm8zpWZzh0. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Barroso, Amanda. “The Changing Profile of the US Military: Smaller in Size, More Diverse, More Women in Leadership.” Pew Research Center, 10 Sept. 2019, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/09/10/the-changing-profile-of-the-u-s-military/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Batalova, Jeanne, and Alejandro Urbina-Bernal. “Immigrants from Asia in the United States.” Migration Policy Institute, 17 Apr. 2025, www.migrationpolicy.org/article/immigrants-asia-united-states. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Budiman, Abby, and Neil G. Ruiz. “Key Facts About Asian Origin Groups in the U.S.” Pew Research Center, 29 Apr. 2021, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-origin-groups-in-the-u-s/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Geiger, Abigail. “Key Facts about Asians in the U.S.” Pew Research Center, May 2025, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/05/01/key-facts-about-asians-in-the-us/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

González, Jennifer. “Asian Americans in the Military.” U.S. Library of Congress, 14 Nov. 2022, blogs.loc.gov/law/2022/11/asian-americans-in-the-military/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

“How Many People Are in the US Military?” USA Facts, 5 Mar. 2026, usafacts.org/articles/how-many-people-are-in-the-us-military-a-demographic-overview/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Lee, Jennifer et al. “Presumed Competent: The Strategic Adaptation of Asian Americans in Education and the Labor Market.” Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 50, 2024, pp. 455–74, doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-090523-051614. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Nalewicki, Jennifer. “In Military History, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Leave Legacy.” Team Rubicon, 20 May 2024, teamrubiconusa.org/news-and-stories/asian-american-pacific-islanders-military-heroes/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

“New Estimates Highlight Differences in Growth between the U.S. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Populations.” US Census Bureau, 27 June 2024, www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/population-estimates-characteristics.html. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

“Quick Facts: United States.” United States Census Bureau, 2025, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045225. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Sieh, Daniel. “Looking Through the Silk Screen: Asian People in the American Revolution.” Museum of the American Revolution, May 2021, www.amrevmuseum.org/looking-through-the-silk-screen-asian-people-in-the-american-revolution. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Full Article

Asian Americans have served in all branches of the US military since the country's founding. In some conflicts, they served in segregated units and faced discrimination from the government, fellow troops, and the public they protected. This was particularly true of Japanese Americans during World War II, when the approximately 33,000 who voluntarily enlisted had been imprisoned in internment camps. According to the Department of Defense’s (DoD) 2024 demographics report, Asian Americans accounted for 5.4 percent of active-duty military housed under the DoD: Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Marine Corps.

Background

The first known Asian people to settle in the lands that later became the United States (US) were Filipino sailors who arrived on Spanish ships in the late sixteenth century. The conditions of the voyage were terrible, and half the passengers died before reaching colonial Mexico. Many of those who survived refused to make the return journey, settling instead in Acapulco. Some later traveled north and established a fishing village in Louisiana.

In the colonial era, men from China, India, Japan, and Korea traveled to the British West Indies, Hawaii, and what became the Deep South of the US seeking work and an escape from drought and famine in their homelands. Many worked on sugar cane and tobacco plantations as indentured laborers. When their time of service ended after five or more years, some did not return home because they had not earned what they expected or had married women who they could not take with them. Some of these migrants established Chinese communities along the West Coast. The 1849 Gold Rush in California prompted more Chinese migration, and legislation was passed to reduce their opportunities.

Migrants of various ethnic groups have often arrived in the US in waves based on events such as the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, wars, and a high demand for laborers. For example, the first Japanese migrants arrived on the islands of Hawaii in the nineteenth century to work on plantations. However, exclusionary immigration policies passed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries limited migration from the Asian continent. The number of migrants from this region to the US increased dramatically following the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Before this, most migrants from Asia were low-skilled laborers. However, in the twentieth century, those born in Asia were more likely than the general US population to be highly educated, earn higher incomes, and work in management. In the 2020s, China and India were among the leading origin countries of Asian immigrants in the United States.

Asian Americans are among the fastest-growing major ethnic or racial groups in the nation. Most are of East Asian, Southeast Asian, and Indian origin. Although they are grouped together under the umbrella term in the US Census and other data, they are very diverse. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2023, 86 percent of Asian Americans were of six origin groups: Chinese (22 percent), Filipino (19 percent), Indian (21 percent), North and South Korean (8 percent), Japanese (7 percent), and Vietnamese (9 percent). Those of Cambodian, Pakistani, and Thai origin each accounted for 2 percent of the population, while Americans of Bangladeshi, Burmese, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Nepalese, and Taiwanese ancestry each comprised 1 percent of the population. Another five Asian origin groups—Bhutanese, Malaysian, Mongolian, Okinawan, and Sri Lankan—each accounted for less than 1 percent. The US Census Bureau estimated that 6.7 percent of the US population was Asian alone in mid-2025.

Overview

Historians have documented several people of Asian heritage who fought during the American Revolution (1765–83). For example, Charles Peters was born in Madras, modern-day Chennai, India, and enlisted in the Continental Army in North Carolina’s 5th Battalion, while New Jersey resident John Newton was said to be from “Bengaul,” the Bay of Bengal region of modern-day Bangladesh or India, according to the Museum of the American Revolution.

Segregation was not widely practiced in the Union and Confederate Armies during the American Civil War (1861–65). Military officials relied on the 1850 Census Act’s color categories: White, Black, or mulatto. Asian Americans might be classified as White, mulatto, or nothing at all, and thus many Chinese Americans served with White troops while people of East Indian descent were permitted to serve with Black troops.

The most well-known Asian American military era is that of Japanese Americans who served during World War II. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry lived in the mainland US. The US government responded by sending them to prison camps. Though initially barred from service, Japanese Americans were eventually permitted to serve in segregated US Army units. About 6,000 served with the Military Intelligence Service as interpreters and translators. Many others served in segregated units, such as the more than 1,400 Nisei, or second-generation Japanese Americans, in the 100th Infantry Battalion. Many of them had previously served in the Hawaii National Guard and been involved in aiding the wounded and clearing away wreckage after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The battalion was later integrated into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which fought in France and Italy. Other Asian Americans, including those of Chinese, Korean, and Filipino ancestry, also served during World War II (1939–45), though again often in segregated units such as the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment of the US Army.

Many World War II service members were promoted and honored for their service. Brigadier General Albert Lyman, whose ancestry was Chinese and Native Hawaiian, was one of the first persons of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) ancestry to reach the general officer rank. Eric K. Shinseki, who served as Army Chief of Staff, was the highest-ranking AANHPI. In 1946, US Army Private First Class Sadao S. Munemori was the first Japanese American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He died in 1945 while throwing a grenade that had landed near troops back toward the enemy line. However, many Japanese American troops were passed over for the Medal of Honor. After Congress and the military examined military records in the 1990s, President Bill Clinton awarded twenty-two Asian American WWII veterans the Medal of Honor. Among them was Daniel Inouye, who later represented Hawaii in the US Senate.

After 1948, the US military was required to integrate troops. Wars in Vietnam and Korea were particularly difficult for many Asian Americans because they were simultaneously fighting Asians and experiencing discrimination. Discrimination remains an issue in the twenty-first century, as some Asian American service members report having experienced racial discrimination or harassment.


Bibliography

“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in World War II.” The National World War II Museum, www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/asian-pacific-american-world-war-ii. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

“Asian Americans in the American Revolution.” Museum of the American Revolution, 17 May 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDm8zpWZzh0. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Barroso, Amanda. “The Changing Profile of the US Military: Smaller in Size, More Diverse, More Women in Leadership.” Pew Research Center, 10 Sept. 2019, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/09/10/the-changing-profile-of-the-u-s-military/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Batalova, Jeanne, and Alejandro Urbina-Bernal. “Immigrants from Asia in the United States.” Migration Policy Institute, 17 Apr. 2025, www.migrationpolicy.org/article/immigrants-asia-united-states. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Budiman, Abby, and Neil G. Ruiz. “Key Facts About Asian Origin Groups in the U.S.” Pew Research Center, 29 Apr. 2021, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-origin-groups-in-the-u-s/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Geiger, Abigail. “Key Facts about Asians in the U.S.” Pew Research Center, May 2025, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/05/01/key-facts-about-asians-in-the-us/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

González, Jennifer. “Asian Americans in the Military.” U.S. Library of Congress, 14 Nov. 2022, blogs.loc.gov/law/2022/11/asian-americans-in-the-military/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

“How Many People Are in the US Military?” USA Facts, 5 Mar. 2026, usafacts.org/articles/how-many-people-are-in-the-us-military-a-demographic-overview/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Lee, Jennifer et al. “Presumed Competent: The Strategic Adaptation of Asian Americans in Education and the Labor Market.” Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 50, 2024, pp. 455–74, doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-090523-051614. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Nalewicki, Jennifer. “In Military History, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Leave Legacy.” Team Rubicon, 20 May 2024, teamrubiconusa.org/news-and-stories/asian-american-pacific-islanders-military-heroes/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

“New Estimates Highlight Differences in Growth between the U.S. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Populations.” US Census Bureau, 27 June 2024, www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/population-estimates-characteristics.html. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

“Quick Facts: United States.” United States Census Bureau, 2025, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045225. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

Sieh, Daniel. “Looking Through the Silk Screen: Asian People in the American Revolution.” Museum of the American Revolution, May 2021, www.amrevmuseum.org/looking-through-the-silk-screen-asian-people-in-the-american-revolution. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.

More Like ThisRelated Articles

Related Articles (5)

Related Articles (5)