Ben Fong
Departures is KCET's hyper-local web documentary, community engagement tool and digital literacy program about the cultural history of Los Angeles' neighborhoods.
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Ben Fong was born in Sacramento in 1921 and moved with his family to the East Adams District a decade later. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Ben decided to join the United States Marine Corps but was refused due to the color of the skin. Ben was later drafted in the Army and stubborn and persistent as he was, became a Military Intelligence expert. For Fong, as well as for many other Chinese Americans, the war was indispensable in solidifying the inclusion of Chinese into the larger American narrative. Now retired, Ben Fong has moved back to Chinatown after getting tired of driving back and forth from the San Gabriel Valley to visit the newly opened Chinatown Public Library, which hosts one of the largest collections of books in Chinese in the country.
Return To The Mural
Funders and Partners
Support for the Departures' Chinatown installment is provided through these funders and local community partners, as well as from viewers like you.
Click here to see all funders and community partners for Departures.
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