Uncle Sam's Latest Spike in Enlistees is Asian

Among Asian-Americans, suddenly, army enlistment is booming. In Los Angeles alone, the number of enlistees of Asian descent increased by 80% in a single year. In 2009, Asian-Americans made up 22% of all military recruits in the City of Angels, which is twice their proportion in the city's population.

And in Asian-American population centers across the country, from Seattle to New York, the number of Asian-American enlistees is skyrocketing.

Why? Some chalk it up to a combination of a poor economy and Asians' traditional emphasis on education. With the cost of public universities spiking in California, perhaps it's not surprising that Asians are turning to the military in droves.

To pay for college, more Asian-Americans are first paying their dues in the armed forces. In fact, in order to bolster the number of Asian-Americans in the army, Los Angeles-area recruiters have recently begun emphasizing the army's educational benefits.

But Ken Mochizuki, co-editor of A Different Battle: Stories of Asian Pacific American Veterans, thinks something else is behind this rise.

"In the present war, they're not fighting against Asians like in WWII or Vietnam," Mochizuki recently told National Public Radio. Mochizuki pointed out that today's young soldiers were born after the Second World War, Korea and Vietnam — all wars in which the U.S. fought against Asians.

In fact, the 20th century was complicated for Asian-Americans in the U.S. military, because of the number of conflicts in Asia. While heroic Japanese-Americans in the 442nd "Go for Broke" Infantry Regiment distinguished themselves during World War II, many other potential Japanese-American enlistees resented being treated as second-class citizens. Holed up in U.S. internment camps, some of these dissenters earned the designation "No-No Boys" for refusing to serve.

Filipinos who served in the U.S. military during World War II are just now, unbelievably, getting the pay they were promised decades ago. (The pay had to be attached to the stimulus package signed by President Obama in order to get past the congressmen who were still opposed to it.)

Meanwhile, in subsequent conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, Asian-American soldiers faced both subtle and blatant prejudice from within their own ranks.

Which brings us to our nation's current military involvements, which are primarily in the Middle East. This generation of Asian-Americans "wants to prove their loyalty to this country and [that] they're as American as anybody else," Mochizuki said.

Still others think the spike in Asian enlistment is due to the higher visibility of Asian-Americans in the military, including high-profile decision-makers  like the Hon. Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veteran Affairs, and Major General Antonio Taguba, the chief whistleblower of Abu Ghraib abuses.

As I wrote in a recent post on the lack of representation of African-Americans in Congress, it's powerful stuff to see someone who looks like you succeed. It makes you feel that much more capable of attaining such a rank, office, or position.

And before the cynics snark that insight away, think of the millions of impressionable youngsters who do look at minority success stories in politics, business, the arts, entertainment, sports, medicine or in the military and draw inspiration. Tell them that the number of women, Asian-Americans, gays or lesbians, or African-Americans who succeed in a particular industry don't matter.

I'll even go out on a limb and make a prediction.  The rise in Asian-American enlistees will have a snowball effect: As some of these new recruits rise through the ranks, the increased visibility of Asian-Americans will inspire others to serve. This recent spike isn't a blip; it's a beginning.

Photo Credit: Rudi Williams