Simeon Man - Soldiering through Empire: Volume 48 (American Crossroads)

Soldiering through Empire

The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Ahmanson Foundation Endowment Fund in Humanities.

Edited by Earl Lewis, George Lipsitz, George Snchez, Dana Takagi, Laura Briggs, and Nikhil Pal Singh

Soldiering through Empire

RACE AND THE MAKING OF THE DECOLONIZING PACIFIC

Simeon Man

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

University of California Press

Oakland, California

2018 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Man, Simeon, author.

Title: Soldiering through empire : race and the making of the decolonizing Pacific / Simeon Man.

Description: Oakland, CA : University of California Press, [2018] | Series: American crossroads ; 48 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017034917 (print) | LCCN 2017040995 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520959255 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520283343 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520283367 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH : Vietnam War, 19611975Participation, Filipinos. | Vietnam War, 19611975Participation, Korean. | Vietnam War, 19611975Participation, Asian Americans. | Pacific AreaHistory20th century. | United StatesHistory, Military20th century. | ImperialismHistory20th century.

Classification: LCC DS558 (ebook) | LCC DS558 .M33 2018 (print) | DDC 959.704/340973dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017034917

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Every effort has been made to locate and credit rights holders for images reprinted in this volume. Where none could be found, the source of the image in question has been cited.

For my parents

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

I could not have written this book without the support of many generous people. First, I thank my teachers in the American Studies program at Yale, where this project got its start. I am most grateful to have learned so much from Mary Lui. Mary contributed more to this book and to my growth as a scholar than anyone else. She read drafts carefully and offered critical feedback at every stage, and has been a source of genuine encouragement throughout the process. She is the best model for the kind of generous scholar and mentor that I hope to be. Thanks to my dissertation co-chair, Matthew Frye Jacobson, for his enthusiasm for this project and his sharp interventions, professional advice, and generous spirit. Thanks to Michael Denning for helping me think outside the disciplines and for encouraging me to find my voice as a writer. I learned from a remarkable group of faculty members in those years. Thanks to Stephen Pitti, Alicia Schmidt Camacho, Lisa Lowe, Joanne Meyerowitz, Seth Fein, and Hazel Carby. None of this would have been possible without Moon-Ho Jung, who first introduced me to Asian American history and encouraged me to go to graduate school. Moon taught me the nuts and bolts of doing archival work, and taught me to never settle for the easy answer. Im grateful to have him as a mentor and an ally.

An Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship allowed me to spend two years at Northwestern University in the American Studies and Asian American Studies programs. Thanks to Ivy Wilson and Carolyn Chen, the two program directors, for making my time so enriching and productive. Numerous people improved my work through conversations and commenting on early drafts of my writing. Thanks to Kathleen Belew, Martha Biondi, Gerry Cadava, Joshua Chambers-Letson, Daniel Immerwahr, Sylvester Johnson, Jinah Kim, Andrew Leong, Beth Lew-Williams, Linde Murugan, Shalini Shankar, Nitasha Sharma, Liz Son, Ji-Yeon Yuh, and James Zarsadiaz. The manuscript workshop Carolyn organized for me came at a critical time in my revision process. I thank Mark Philip Bradley, Jodi Kim, and Ji-Yeon Yuh for their careful reading and generous engagement with the books first draft. Mike Amezcua and Mireya Loza are two of my favorite people who made Chicago feel a little more like home. Thanks to Cheryl Jue and Greg Jue for the good company. I was fortunate to have spent one year at the University of Southern California as a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Humanities in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity. Conversations with Jih-Fei Cheng, Sarah Fong, Jenny Hoang, Neetu Khanna, Lon Kurashige, Joshua Mitchell, Viet Nguyen, and Nic John Ramos made my time at USC an enjoyable one. Deep thanks to Nayan Shah for his mentorship and generous support.

My current colleagues in the History Department at UC San Diego have been incredibly supportive. Special thanks to Luis Alvarez, Bob Edelman, Claire Edington, Denise Demetriou, Jessica Graham, Mark Hanna, Cathy Gere, Dave Gutierrez, Todd Henry, Nancy Kwak, Wendy Matsumura, Dana Murillo, Pamela Radcliff, Nir Shafir, Matthew Vitz, and especially Natalia Molina and Danny Widener for their camaraderie and advice. The incredible staff in our department made much of this work possible. Thanks to Sarab Aziz, Joan Bahrini, Susan Bernal, Sally Hargate, Andy Liedholm, Amber Rieder, Leah Tamayo-Brion, and Susan Winchester. It has been a joy to work with and learn from Yen Espiritu. Yen welcomed me to the Critical Refugee Studies Working Group, and Ive benefited from conversations with group members Mohamed Abumaye, Rawan Arar, Lisa Ho, Alexis Meza, Linh Nguyen, Davorn Sisavath, and Jael Vizcarra; I thank them for their rigorous comments on one of my chapters. My writing group kept me focused during the academic year; thanks to Claire Edington, Jessica Graham, Jin-Kyung Lee, Wendy Matsumura, and Abbie Yamamoto for their invaluable feedback. Colleagues and friends beyond my department and institution have enriched my time in San Diego. Thanks to Patty Ahn, Victor Betts, Jody Blanco, Erica Cho, Josen Diaz, Erin Glass, Lilly Irani, Aftab Jassal, Dredge Kang, Hoang Nguyen, Yumi Pak, Joseph Ramirez, Erin Suzuki, and Kamala Visweswaran. Ash Kini is as solid as they come and is dearly missed in San Diego. Saiba Varma, thank you for being my unfailing tennis partner, and for always being up to do fun things.

Numerous people have offered timely encouragement and helped sharpen my thinking and arguments over the years. Thanks to Eiichiro Azuma, Keith Camacho, Chris Capozzola, Kornel Chang, Andrew Friedman, Tak Fujitani, Irene Garza, Cindy I-Fen Cheng, Jenny Kelly, Paul Kramer, Julia Lee, Jana Lipman, Allan Lumba, Liz Mesok, Mark Padoongpatt, Chris Patterson, Vicente Rafael, Chandan Reddy, Seema Sohi, Colleen Woods, and David Yoo. Nikhil Singh believed in this project long before I saw what it was, and has been an unstinting supporter since I started this journey. Im grateful for my coconspirators at Yale who sustained me through graduate school, including Mike Amezcua, Megan Asaka, Ryan Brasseaux, Karilyn Crockett, Zane Curtis-Olsen, Hong Liang, Deborah March, Uri McMillan, April Merleaux, Ana Minian, A. Naomi Paik, David Stein, Tim Retzloff, Quan Tran, and Susie Woo. Thank you, Jessie Kindig, for our many conversations that helped shape the core of this book, and for your sharp editorial eye. I would not have survived graduate school were it not for Monica Muoz Martinez, whose generosity and brilliance never ceases to amaze me. Sam Vong, thank you for being one of my staunchest critics and supporters, and for being a good friend.