Vancouver-

Former British Columbia judge Randall (Bud) Wong remembers getting up early one morning when he was five years old to greet his uncle at the Vancouver train station at the end of the Second World War, in 1945.

His uncle Delbert Yen Chao was returning from India after years of service as an infantryman.

“I remember very clearly my uncle getting off the train, and he was wearing his military uniform and his backpack,” Wong, 83, said.

“We were so happy to see him that we took him home, and then he came to live with us.”

The service of Chinese-Canadian soldiers like Chao during the First and Second World Wars will be honored with a new exhibit at the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver’s Chinatown.

The exhibition, entitled “A soldier for all seasons» is expected to be launched in spring 2025.

The museum says that by the end of World War II, Chinese Canadians were working in every industry around the world. The Canadian Armed Forces — although they were not recognized as full citizens with the right to vote in federal elections until 1947.

The same year, the Chinese Exclusion Act which banned Chinese immigration was repealed. It took another two years before Chinese Canadians were also allowed to vote in all provincial elections.

According to Veterans Affairs Canada, more than 200 Chinese Canadians volunteered to fight in the First World War, while more than 600 served in the Second World War.

Wong said the exhibition was important for keeping veterans’ stories alive to remember their sacrifices and how they fought on two fronts – one abroad and one at home, for equal recognition as Canadians.

“When they returned, their credo was “one war and two victories”. Basically one was to help Canada defeat its enemy and the other was to gain the right to vote,” said Wong, a board member of the Chinese Canadian Museum and president of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum.

“It was based on the principle: ‘We fought for king and country, now please give us the right to vote.'”

Melissa Karmen Lee, executive director of the Chinese Canadian Museum, said the exhibit would show the involvement of Chinese Canadians “in every part of the Canadian war effort.”

Among the soldiers honored are those who fought with Force 136, a group of Chinese Canadians who conducted perilous special operations behind enemy lines in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia.

They were trained to blend in with local communities, aid resistance fighters, and sabotage Japanese supply lines and equipment.

Wong said the colorized photos of the Force 136 veterans left him emotional and that their mission was so dangerous it had another code name: Operation Oblivion.

“Because they said if you volunteer for this, there’s a good chance you won’t come back. You could be captured. You could be killed,” Wong said.

Wong said that as the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War approaches next year, there are only four Chinese-Canadian veterans left.

If he could travel back in time to thank these veterans, he would say, “We will be forever grateful for what you have accomplished.”

Wong said his uncle’s ethic, hard work and service influenced him growing up. Wong would become the first Canadian provincial Crown attorney of Chinese origin in 1967.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 9, 2024.