Asian American vets can't forget Vietnam War racism

The psychological wounds suffered by Vietnam War veterans are well documented. But the traumas of Asian American soldiers - fighting in an unpopular war against an enemy who looked like them - are just now emerging.

They had to protect themselves not only from Viet Cong guerrillas but also from racist abuse, both verbal and physical, within their own ranks.

"We discovered Asian Americans had unique problems - discrimination, getting beat up, getting called names, getting shot at," said Lily Lee Adams, a Veterans Administration nurse who has counseled numerous Asian American vets.

To fully understand the race factors in the Vietnam War, the VA is conducting its first race-related study, interviewing Asian American vets in Hawaii, Guam and Northern California.

Adams said the VA did not agree to the study right away. However, after the third proposal, it finally committed $276,000 for a three-year study in a limited geographical area.

It has found 250 subjects so far, including 60 in Northern California, and hopes to have a total of 300 by next month. Results are expected this fall.

Although not all the subjects experienced discrimination - officers and those of higher rank usually had no complaints - the effect on those who did often was overwhelming.

"For some of them, their identity's crushed," Adams said. "They've been American all their life, then they go into the military and are told they're not American. Their whole view about themselves is shattered."

Adams, who is Chinese American, was an Army nurse in Vietnam. She said she often was mistaken for a Vietnamese prostitute by other Americans in the compound.

When David Oshiro, who is Okinawan American and grew up in Hawaii, lay wounded and bleeding in Vietnam, his fellow Americans were reluctant to put him on the helicopter.

"I had to whip out my dog tag and say, "I'm an American,' " he said. "They'll get all the black and white guys before they get the Asians out."

Oshiro, now 50 and a San Rafael resident, served in the elite Special Forces and said he had a good relationship with all the soldiers in his unit, but that soldiers from other units were not as enlightened.

"I've been called "gook' more times than I care to think about," he said.

While he was at basic training in Fort Ord, a sergeant asked him and several other Asian Americans to dress up in black pajamas, the get-up of the Viet Cong, to show recruits what the enemy looks like. Oshiro refused.

Adams said that was a common occurrence.

Lance Luke, 48, had been in the ROTC for two years at Galileo High in San Francisco and had planned on making a career out of the Army.

"I thought the Army was: Everybody was only one color, and that was green, and that everybody worked as a team just to accomplish the mission," said Luke, who is Chinese American and lives in Pinole.

Six months after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Army. It didn't take long for him to realize how wrong his conceptions were.

"Before I got to Vietnam, the disillusion started," he said. "When I got to Vietnam, the disillusion was completely there."

While still at basic training at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, he said he was picked on continually.

"I experienced a lot of rednecks," he said. "It wasn't only to blacks; the Asians took a lot of hits, for obvious reasons. We were in an Asian war."

Once he got to Vietnam, he said one sergeant seemed to have it in for him, calling him racist slurs, threatening him with a gun, even waking him up in the middle of the night with a bayonet at his throat.

"I still have a lot of anger and rage toward whites who come off with that attitude, a lot of prejudiced attitude," Luke said.

Adams said that many of the subjects in the study forged relationships with black soldiers.

"A lot of times, black soldiers took them in, protected them, made friends with them, versus people of other ethnic backgrounds who were not as understanding of what was going on," she said.

Although it's hard to separate the trauma of the war from the trauma of racial discrimination, it all adds up, Adams said.

"Post-traumatic stress becomes more severe because there's more traumatic effects they have to deal with," she said. "There's an accumulation effect."

Researchers have had difficulty finding willing subjects. Only a few of the participants so far are female.

Anyone interested in participating in the study can call Adams at (415) 221-4810, ext. 4589.<