Table Of ContentKorean American Pioneer Aviators
Korean American Pioneer Aviators
The Willows Airmen
Edward T. Chang and Woo Sung Han
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Chang,EdwardT.
KoreanAmericanpioneeraviators:theWillowsairmen/EdwardT.ChangandWooSungHan.
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-4985-0264-1(cloth:alkalinepaper)--ISBN978-1-4985-0265-8(electronic)
1.Airpilots--California--Willows--History--20thcentury.2.Airpilots--California--Willows--Biog-
raphy.3.KoreanAmericans--California--Willows--Biography.4.Koreans--California--Willows--
Biography.5.WillowsKoreanAviationSchool--History.6.Airpilots--Trainingof--California--
Willows--History--20thcentury.7.Willows(Calif.)--Ethnicrelations--History--20thcentury.8.
UnitedStates--Relations--Korea.9.Korea--Relations--UnitedStates.10.Korea--History--Autonomy
andindependencemovements.I.Han,WooSung.II.Title.
TL522.C2C472015
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2015004318
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
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Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Preface:KoreansinAmerica:fromFarmerstoIndependence
Activists vii
Acknowledgements xxvii
Introduction:JourneytoWillows:KoreanIndependence,
Nationalism,andExile xxix
1 EstablishingtheWillowsAviationSchool:BattlingThree
Fronts:Racism/SegregationintheU.S.;Japanese
OccupationofKorea;MenwithoutaCountry 1
2 SettingtheRecordStraight:TheSchoolandItsMembers 21
3 KoreanandAmericanAviationHistory 37
4 NotableKoreanAmericanPilots,IndependenceActivists,
andOrganizations 51
5 FurledWings:CarryingontheMission 73
Epilogue:FromWillowstoSeoul:LastFlightofParkHee-sung 101
Bibliography 105
Index 111
AbouttheAuthors 117
v
Preface
Koreans in America: from Farmers to Independence
Activists
KoreandiasporainAmericaiscloselylinkedandconnectedwithKorean
migration to China, Japan, and the former Soviet Union (Many Koreans
often boarded ships to America once they arrived in China), as well as
socio-political conditions in Korea. It is a widely held belief that Korean
emigration to the United States began when more than 7,200 Koreans
arrived in Hawaii as sugar plantation laborers between 1903 and 1905.
Withthearrivalof102KoreanlaborersinHonolulu,Hawaii,onJanuary
13, 1903, official Korean immigration had begun.1 In fact, Congress offi-
cially designated January 13 as Korean American Day, and in 2003, the
KoreanAmericancommunitycommemoratedthecentennialanniversary
ofKoreanimmigrationtotheUnitedStates.
Between1910and1940,approximately1,000Koreanstudents,picture
brides, wives, and children arrived and sought admission to the United
States through the port of San Francisco. Since Korea was a colony of
Japan, Koreans were legally Japanese subjects. However, Korean immi-
grants in the United States refused to be identified as Japanese and in-
sistedontheirKoreannationalidentity.
Meanwhile, the Hawaiian Sugar Plantation Association adopted a
consciousstrategytodiversifyitslaborforceinordertopreventworkers
from organizing a labor union. The “divide and control” strategy re-
sulted in bringing 400,000 workers from 33 different countries between
1860and1940.2Koreanlaborerswerepartofthismultiethniclaborforce
thatfundamentallychangedthelandscapeofHawaiiansociety.Inpartic-
ular, plantation owners sought Korean laborers “because of frequent
strikes by the Japanese workers—thirty-four strikes between 1900 and
1905. In addition, it was cheaper to recruit laborers from Asia than Eu-
rope as it cost 250 dollars for Caucasian laborers, but only 70 dollars for
Asianworkers.”3
TheHawaiianSugarPlantationAssociationsentDavidDeshlertoKo-
rea to recruit laborers. The association promised Deshler pay on a per
capita basis as well as the profit he could make by transporting Korean
laborersfromIncheon,Korea,toKobe,Japan,onhissteamship.4Initially,
Deshler faced several major obstacles, and it was not easy for him to
vii
viii Preface
recruitKoreanworkers.First,Koreadidnothaveanorganizationalstruc-
turetooverseetheemigrationprocess.Priorto1905,Koreawasstillruled
byamonarchy.Consequently,theKingofKoreahadtoissuepermission
forKoreanstoemigrate,andtheKoreangovernmenthadtoestablishthe
Su Min Won to handle the emigration process and issue passports. Sec-
ond, Koreans proved reluctant to leave their ancestors’ graves, as they
felt obligated to honor their customs and beliefs through ancestral wor-
ship.ThethirdobstacleDeshlerfacedwashowtofinancethetransporta-
tionfeeofKoreanlaborers,ascostsamountedtoroughly100dollarsper
person.
TheHawaiianSugarPlantationAssociationinstructedDavidDeshler
tosetupabankinIncheon,Korea—Deshler’sBank.Theassociationpro-
vided Deshler with funds. The Deshler Bank advanced transportation
feestoKoreanswhowantedtogotoHawaii.TheKoreanworkerscould
thenpaybackthefeefromtheirpaychecksoverathree-yearperiod.5
DeshlersuccessfullyrecruitedthousandsofKoreansasHawaiiansug-
ar plantation workers. The reason for his success was multifaceted, in-
cluding a religious factor. According to researcher Wayne Patterson,
“American recruiters seeking Korean labor for Hawaii met with success
largelybecauseoftheirconnectionstoProtestantmissionarieswhourged
theirnewparishionerstoleavetheirhomelandforthepromiseofaland
undertheinfluenceofChristianity.”6
When Koreans arrived in Hawaii, they were treated like all the other
laborers and viewed as a necessary “commodity” for profit, not as hu-
man beings. Faced with low pay and harsh working conditions, at least
onethousandKoreansmigratedtotheUnitedStatesmainlandafterthey
paidbacktheirtransportationloan.
In1905,theJapanesegovernmentopposedKoreanemigrationtoHa-
waiiandstoppeditafterKoreabecameaprotectorateofJapan.TheJapa-
nesegovernmentwasconcernedwiththeriseofanti-Japanesesentiment
and the threat of the Japanese Exclusion Act in the United States. As a
major rising power in Asia, Japan demanded equal treatment alongside
advanced nations such as England, France, Germany and the United
States. To protect its international status as a first-class nation, the Japa-
nese government decided to take action against Korean immigration to
Hawaii. It reasoned as follows: (1) the goal was to protect and preserve
the international prestige of Japan by eliminating the threat of Japanese
exclusion in California; (2) the influx of Japanese workers from Hawaii
contributed to the rise of anti-Japanese sentiment and exclusion move-
mentsinCalifornia;(3)ifKoreanscouldbekeptoutofHawaii,thewages
of Japanese workers would rise to the point where Japanese laborers in
Hawaii would not move to California; therefore, (4) it could achieve its
goal by preventing Korean laborers from being brought into Hawaii as
strikebreakers.
