Lavender Walls

Gim Wong

As an addendum to my brief discussion of Chinese-Canadian and Chinese-American veterans who fought in the Second World War, here is a letter that two high school students wrote to Mr. Gim Wong, one of the veterans who shared his account of and his experiences in the war. The following is what I find to be the most compelling part of the letter because it precisely echoes my sentiments:

As Chinese Canadians, we are even more grateful for your contributions to Canada. Without you, we would not be here in Canada today. Your tale was very inspirational to us; we give you all the respect in the world. Your service in the military shows that you were truly Canadian, even though Canada did not want you. Only a man of great principles would fight for a country that did not even recognize him. You blazed a path for all minorities to have lives in Canada. You might have just been doing what you believed was right, but you did a service for all of Canada. You allowed Canada to be diverse. You helped make Canada into the great country it is today. You make us proud to be Chinese Canadians. Once again, we really want to thank you for participating in the Veterans Affairs Activity at the Armories.