Abstract
Over 22,000 Japanese Americans and 13,000 Chinese Americans actively served in the U.S. armed forces during the Second World War. While there are numerous historical works on the Japanese American military experience, little research has been developed regarding the service of Chinese Americans in the U.S. military. The first two chapters of this project trace and compare the contributions made by both Japanese Americans and Chinese Americans through their military service during the First and Second World Wars. This portion of study also draws upon major periodicals and oral histories to examine how shifts in mainstream racial attitudes changed in favor of Chinese Americans over Japanese Americans during the early decades of the twentieth century. As most historical studies of recent years are narrow in scope, they have a limited applicability to the high school classroom. The third chapter utilizes the evidence from this research project to demonstrate how to apply narrowly-focused historical research to the classroom through construction of historical narratives.