Eight Soldiers Charged in Death of Private Danny Chen

By John | Thursday, December 22, 2011 | 14 Comments

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gty danny chen dm 111221 wg 600x337 Eight Soldiers Charged in Death of Private Danny Chen

I haven’t been following the case of Private Danny Chen, a 19-year-old from New York’s Chinatown neighborhood, and his suicide in Afghanistan in October too closely, but caught the recent report about his eight fellow soldiers being charged for his death due to bullying:

“Chen’s fellow soldiers dragged him across the floor, threw stones at the back of his head, forced him to hold liquid in his mouth while upside down as part of an apparent hazing, and called him “Jackie Chen” in a mocking accent in a reference to the action star Jackie Chan, according to Elizabeth OuYang, president of the New York chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans. The details of his alleged hazing came from Facebook and email messages, discussions with cousins and a few pages of Chen’s journal released by the Army, OuYang said at a Chinatown news conference.”

I don’t know that many Asian Americans who have served, but this incident reminded me of my friend Otto Lee as well as my friend’s brother, Baldwin Yen, who both served in Iraq, as well as Garrett Yee who recently got called up and is serving in Afghanistan as I write this. I’m glad that they never experienced any discrimination or hazing while they were overseas serving our country.

And sadly, this is not the first incident this year. Apparently in April, Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, 21, shot himself after being hazed the night before by fellow service members. In Chen’s case, he was taunted for being un-American. What is more patriotic and American than serving in the armed forces? Hopefully, if these charged soldiers are indeed guilty of this wrongdoing, justice will be served.

(Image photo credit: ABC)

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Current EventsDiscriminationLocalNew York

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Facebook Comments (Beta)

ichiro20

I am deeply saddened by this, and am furious this is not being considered a major news story. With all due respect, if these type of remarks were because someone was latino, spanish, or gay this would be front page news everywhere. Instead, because Asians lets face it are very meek, this story is not getting the buzz it deserves. Asian-Americans need to find a way to get rid of these stereotypes that we are weak and easily pushed over, and ideally in the next 10-20 years gain a new stronghold on a stereotype that is not just an asian nerd who can’t get girls. This is what allows these white southern folks to believe we can be picked on, and that all asians are the same, and portrayed in a negative light.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

This is horrible news. Justice does need to be served.

I’ll say it again, sick and tired of being treated like a foreigner in my own country.
johnklin

@ichiro20 Actually, this was the lead story on the CBS evening news a day ago and I had originally wanted to embedd the video from CBS, but we were having trouble embedding. NBC evening news did report on this as well, but not as much coverage. But yes, overall, more coverage is needed…
takakupo

These “people” claiming that Chen was unamerican just because he wasn’t white are as racist and unfit to serve our country as any flatfooted psychopath.
mwei

@takakupo or hazing against any person in general. I understand it’s a ritual, but seriously when you have too much aggression and no women, it’s a recipe for disaster.
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