Peter M. Chow
周国华

Peter M. Chow’s ancestral home is from Zhoushan, Ningbo. He was born in Shanghai in 1950. His grandfather and father were both customs officials of the Republic of China in Shanghai. After the new government seized power in Mainland China, his grandfather and father fled to Hong Kong via Gongbei and directly took a ship to New York. Mr. Chow and his mother stayed in Shanghai and went to Hong Kong via Macau when he was 10 years old in 1960

 

In 1966, Mr. Chow immigrated to New York. Three years later, the United States was recruiting for the Vietnam War. He was drafted by the U.S. Army and assigned to Fort Gordon, Georgia for basic military training at the age of 19. Soon after, he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division in Augsburg, West Germany, where he participated in joint exercises between NATO and armies from other countries and learned his survival skills.

 

Mr. Chow arrived at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam on October 25th, 1970. After the usual Army “hurry up,” Mr. Chow was assigned to the 5th Mechanized Infantry Division near Quang Tri city. Mr. Chow remembers looking at this large map of Vietnam with all the units and their locations. He immediately saw that the 5th Infantry Division was furthest north on the map and faced uniformed North Vietnamese army (NVA), instead of Viet Cong (VC) in South Vietnam. The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was the frontier of the Vietnam War.

 

The following year, Mr. Chow received a Bronze Star Medal, the highest heroic honor medal of the U.S. military for his outstanding performance, also including NDSM, VSM, MKM, and other military medals. He received an honorable discharge and returned to the United States safely from Vietnam.

 

During Mr. Chow stay in Hong Kong, he learned Wing Chun Kung Fu from the famous Wing Chun Grandmaster Chow Tze Chuen. After returning to New York from the Vietnam War in 1971, he began to teach Wing Chun in New York and Connecticut. In 2012, when he visited the Wing Chun Grand Master “Yip Man Memorial Museum” in Foshan, Guangdong, he found a showcase display showing himself teaching American students Wing Chun Kung Fu in America.

 

In 1977, Mr. Chow opened restaurant in New York City and Fairbanks, Alaska and operated a Japanese hot towel business in Los Angeles. In 1988, he established the US/China Entrepreneurs Exchange Association in Los Angeles, and partnered with California State University, Mount St. Mary's College, Pepperdine University, New York University and other famous universities to create the Chinese Executive Management programs and American Business Field Study programs. Over 25 years, these academic and practical programs has trained more than 6,000 senior managers and executives in China.

Due to his outstanding achievements, by 1995, Mr. Chow acquired the Visa Referral Contract (Travel Referral Program for Non-Immigrant Visas to the United States) from the US Embassy in Beijing, the US Consulate General in Guangzhou, and the US Consulate General in Shanghai for five consecutive years. As the only U.S. agency that represented the U.S. consulate, his US/China Entrepreneurs Exchange Association organization could apply non-immigrant visas for Chinese citizens to the United States without American Consul interviews. He has provided excellent arrangement services for the private Chinese business delegations to the United States, so he was highly appreciated and supported by different departments and has been widely praised by relevant institutions and various professionals.

 

Through his lifelong journey, Mr. Chow has a deep understanding of the difficulties of Chinese and Asian immigrants going abroad and establishing a foothold in the United States. The Covid-19 pandemic has made the social situation of Asian American communities in the United States more passive and has led to a substantial rise in anti-Asian sentiment and related violence, which threatens the safety of Asian American communities across the country. In 2019, Mr. Chow established The National Organization of Asian American Veterans (NOAAV), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, hoping to provide a fair and equitable service platform for the Chinese and Asian American communities and help cope with difficulties.

 

Recently, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs invited Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles to initiate the LMU Digital Veterans Legacy Project (LDVL), asking LMU professors and students, as well as local high school students, to study the minority veterans buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery (LANC) located in West Los Angeles. The project will establish a reliable research foundation and develop digital media programs, which includes social media posts, short videos, online tutorials, etc., for Americans to learn their research and veterans' stories. Mr. Chow became the Chinese American Advisory Board member of the LDVL project. He believes the project provides a great opportunity for Asian Americans to promote awareness of the services and contribution of Asian American soldiers to American society.

 

As a Chinese American veteran, Mr. Chow is honored. Asian American veterans have made outstanding contributions to defending American society and freedom. Mr. Chow believes that their experiences during military service in the United States must be shared through public education and media. Together, Mr. Chow hopes that all Americans can live in a harmonious and stable society, in peace and contentment.