Wing O. Hom was born on January 10, 1924 in Hoi Ping, China. He came to the United States in the 1930s and resided in Boston. Having departed China in search of a better life, Hom’s family was grateful that America was giving them a chance to start a new life. Wing Hom started to get assimilated to American life. When WWII broke out he answered the call of duty and enlisted in the US Army. In February of 1944, Hom was assigned to B Company, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. Pvt. Hom was later deployed to Italy.
On January 30, 1944, as part of the Battle of Anzio, Hom went missing while his unit was engaged in defensive fighting against German forces near the town of Cisterna di Latina, Italy. His body was not recovered and he wasn’t reported as a prisoner of war, so the War Department declared Hom missing on February 3, 1944. In 1946, a set of remains were found three miles west of Cisterna di Latina. Unable to positively identify the remains, they were interred at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy.
Back home, Wing Hom’s parents had not received any updates as to where their son fought, when he died or even how he died. Due to Hom’s parents’ English deficiencies, the decades-old Chinese Exclusion Act and institutionalized discrimination, the War Department had not been active in reaching out to give updates to the Hom family. Although the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943, around 20,000 Chinese Americans served in WWII but their acts of patriotism and sacrifice were never recognized. Wing Hom’s parents passed away without ever knowing the whereabouts of their deceased son.
Fast forward to 2016, the National Chapter of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (CACA) initiated the Chinese American WWII Veterans Recognition Project, which advocated for the passing of S.1050 and H.R.2358 Chinese American World War II Veterans Congressional Gold Medal Act. This act allows Chinese Americans who served in WWII to receive the Congressional Gold Medal for their WWII services to their country. On December 20, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed the Chinese American WWII Veteran Congressional Gold Medal Act into law.
Ken Hom, a nephew of Wing Hom, heard of the CGM project and soon registered and applied for the CGM for his uncle. Ken got interested in the CACA WWII issue, posted on social media on 2019, and got noticed by a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) historian. The office contacted Ken Hom several times, had to tell him that it wasn’t a scam and they finally connected, and made the match through DNA sampling.
On December 18, 2021, the New York lodge of CACA hosted a ceremony in Manhattan’s Chinatown and awarded 280 CGM medals to living veterans or descendants of veterans who served in WWII. Ken Hom received the medal on behalf of his uncle, Pvt. Wing O. Hom.
Pvt. Wing Hom’s remains flew home on Oct. 5th and received a hero’s welcome at the tarmac by the members of NYPD, FDNY, and PANY/NJ. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, his name is permanently inscribed on the “Tablets of the Missing” at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, and in the Heroes’ Square in Boston’s Chinatown. Wing Hom’s remains were interred next to his parents’ in Brooklyn’s Cemetery of the Evergreens this past October 11th.
Rest in peace, Pvt. Hom, and welcome home
Phil Wong is the current President of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Greater New York
