Leon Pon was a WWII veteran, a training sergeant with the US Army Air Corp 8th Tactical Reconnaisance Squadron stationed at Stuttgart, ARK. After WWII ended, he returned to the Bay Area to work at NAS Alameda, where he met his future wife, Emma, who was one of the “Rosie the Riveter” working there after the war effort. Eventually he became an Electronic System Inspector, QA at NARF, located in Bldg 400, A-53. He retired in 1970. He encouraged his sons to consider the military; e.g. I was with Fleet Hospital Support Office, USN, until it was the last Alameda command BRAC’ed a decade ago. He passed away on the same day as the “Fall of Saigon” in 2008. “Fair winds and following seas” as he soars into the wild blue yonder
— provided by Robert Pon
The Chinese American WWII Veterans Recognition Project will award a replica Congressional Gold Medal to Leon Pon, who served during WWII in spite of the fact he was a non_US born Chinese American denied US citizenship under the discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The bi-partisan, bicameral resolutions were signed into law (Pub. L. 115-337) on 12/20/2018.