May 28, 2025 • 15 mins
Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with The Daily Show as Ronny Chieng walks us through lesser known AAPI history.
Pull out the #1 foam finger for unsung Asian American sports heroes, uncover the worldwide cultural influence of K-Pop, and salute the contributions of Asian American veterans throughout U.S. history.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Yeah, that's right, people, We've got our own month, And
in honor of AAPI month, I'm gonna teach you about
the most underrepresented demographic of all time.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Asian Americans in sports.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
And I don't just mean the heavy hitters like Jeremy Lynn,
Michelle Kwan, Tiger Woods.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Yeah, well claiming him.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
You got a problem with that, take it up with
the un Instead, I want to focus on the underdogs
who blaze the trail for all the other Asian American
athletes to come, People like Wally Yonamine, the Japanese American
who played not one, but two professional sports, and unlike
Michael Jordan, he didn't suck at one of them. Also,
he never became a crying meme why are you said?
(00:47):
You're Michael Jordan first? In nineteen forty seven, Yonamine became
a running back for the San Francisco forty nine ers,
but in the wake of World War Two, he faced
a ton of discrimination.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Even while he was playing.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
When he would get tackled, the opposing team would punch
and kick him. Do you realize how insane that is?
I mean, it's football. Everyone's going home with brain damage already,
you don't need to force it. After a risk injury
in nineteen fifty one, Yonamine decided to switch to baseball.
He moved to Japan to play for the Yomi Yuri Giants,
where he was an eleven time All Star and became
(01:21):
the first American player ever to be inducted into the
Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. Crazy thing is Yonamine faced
racism in Japan two, but this time because he was
an American. At games, the fans would chant Yankee go home,
which is normally something you expected here only at Red
Sox games or honestly, any places in.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Boston that sells alcohol.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
But enough about baseball, let's talk about something people actually watch,
the Olympics. In nineteen forty eight, Victoria Manalo Dres became
the first AAPI Olympic champion, but be Filipino, she also
faced a lot of discrimination. In fact, when she was
younger and she used the public pool, the town asshole
would drain the water after she swam in it, which
isn't just racist, it's idiotic. You're gonna double your water
(02:06):
bill just because you're afraid of catching being Asian. You
came and get that from a pool, you have to
share the same straw, dumbasses, but against the yards Manalo
won her gold medal in the women's three meter springboard
and she was chirred on by diver Sammy Lee, the
first Asian American man to win an Olympic gold medal.
That's right, the first two API gold medals at the
same games. It was like Asian Christmas, which is just Christmas,
(02:31):
but not every Asian who brought the color barrier had
a happy ending. In nineteen forty eight, Larry Kwong became
the first non white player in the NHL when he
joined the New York Rangers. But they only put him
on ice for a minute and he never played in
another game again, which sucks. But breaking the color barrier
is like losing your virginity. Even if he only did
for a second, it still counts. Another great first happened
(02:55):
in nineteen twenty seven when Walter R. Chiu became the
first person of East Asian descent to play in the NFL.
Because his last name was Archiu, he earned the nickname Sneeze. Sadly,
this was before athlete sponsorships were a thing, so he couldn't.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Even get that sweet, sweet Kleenex money.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Eventually, he retired from the NFL to compete in a
safer sport, wrestling, proving that Asians can roll around without
balls and someone's face just like everyone else. But let's
move on to my personal favorite sport basketball. The first
non white player of any race in NBA history was
Japanese American Wataroom Issaka in.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Nineteen forty seven.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
He was the first draft pick of the New York Knicks,
and they even promoted his skills to sell tickets. But Shaker,
he faced a lot of anti Japanese sentiment and only
ended up playing three games. It was so bad he
decided to go back to school to gainst engineering degree,
which I respect. He was basically like, Oh, you don't
like me being Asian, Well I'm gonna be extra Asian now, bitches.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
But sports isn't just about the athletes.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
There's so many other people who've made history without destroying
their joints, people like Kim Arng, who became the general
manager of the Miami Marlins, making her the first female
GM in any major American men's league.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
She walked away up.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
The ladder facing racism and sexism. It's the surf and
turf of discrimination. So now you know there's been so
many unsung Asian sports heroes in history. Don't bother thanking me,
my meager teacher salary is thanks enough, and yes, this
is all gonna be on a final.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
All right, all right, settled down, everyone.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Because today we're learning about something that's blowing up all
over the world. No, not climate change, Okay, I don't
teach boring stuff in this classroom.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I'm talking about k pop.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It's why your cousins only speaks Korean more fluently than English.
And believe it or not, k pop used to be
something that only Koreans knew about. The rest of the
world wasn't always into it, like how there was a
time when white people didn't know about yoga.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
The first group to really break through internationally was the
Kim Cus.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Soukja, Aja and Minja started singing as children during the
Korean War for American gis. They sang, they danced, and
they played twenty instruments. I can't even name twenty instruments saxophone.
In nineteen fifty nine, they got a contract to perform
in Vegas at Sullivan was taping a show there, and
(05:21):
they managed to book a performance on the show, there
was such a hit they got asked back twenty more times.
Do you know how great you have to be to
get asked back to anything twenty times? I don't even
get invited to join LinkedIn that much. Unfortunately, the growth
of K pop hit a bump in the road soon
after when South Korea fell under the dictatorship of President
Park Junghi, who started banning music. They even created a
(05:45):
blacklist of songs that radio stations couldn't play. Everyone's end
of your Spotify summary just said your most played song
was the national anthem. But Korean artists kept making music
that challenged the status quo, like Folks singer Handei Sou,
whose albums were banned for anti government messaging, a rock
guitarist Sin Chung Yong, who the story goes to fight
(06:06):
the dictator's request to write a song in his honor,
and let's face it, wanting a song to be written
about you is.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Classic dictator behavior.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Right after military parades and having a weird haircut, everyone
tells you looks great. By the eighties, the dictatorship had loosened,
and by loosened, I mean the dictator was assassinated, but whatever.
It made listen to a radio fun again. Outside music
was allowed back in the country, and two of the
most influential genres became.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Hip hop and R and B.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Black artists from Michael Jackson to run DNC reshape the
musical landscape of South Korea. It inspired performers like Dudes,
DJDC and Sir TG and Boys, who are the earliest
examples of K pop as we know it today. They
even made it into the movie soundtrack for Three Ninjas
kicked back.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
He didn't think we'd be watching a movie in class today,
did you.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Well, I didn't think. I still have a hangover, But
sometimes life surprises. This was a big moment for Korean
pop music, even if.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
The song was being played over scenes said in Japan.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
But give him a break, Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
They're the Three Ninjas, not the three cultural sensitivity experts.
The next big step towards today's K pop was in
the nineteen nineties, when major music studios started putting performers
together in boy and girl bands. That's right, Korea was
doing that long before Simon Cowell's nips ever started poking
through his T shirts.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
That's a no for me, dog, no surprise. This new
wave of K pop blew up around the world.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
It featured complex melodies unlike any other pop music, and
always had next level dance choreography. To this day, those
remain the signature elements of K pop. That and being Asian.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Very important requirement.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
This new generation of K pop stars became so successful
the government started to take notice and soon lost a
program to promote krem music around the globe.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
They saw kpop as a.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Way to boost Korea's cultural strength and economy without having
to do a squid game. But one of the big
gus K pop sensations was a surprise no government could predict.
I'm sorry, I know it took you ten years to
get this out of your head, but we gotta talk
about it. Gunham Style was the first video to break
a billion views on YouTube.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
It was so popular.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
UN Secretary General Banki Moon praised the song, saying the
arts was the path to cultural understanding. He said that
about Condemn Style, that's like if they played baby Shot
during a war and all the soldiers started laying down
their weapons and hugging each other. Since then, the rest
of the world is more into K pop than ever before.
From girl groups like Girls generation and black pink to
(08:36):
artists like cl But let's get to the group you've
been waiting for. The reason you are enrolled in this
class in the first place. Et by the S, three
letters so important the rest of the alphabet doesn't even
exist anymore. They've dominated the charts, They've generated billions in revenue.
They made it okay to eat butter again. They even
increased tourism to South Korea. I mean, I'm glad my
(08:59):
fans on that voted because then they'd have to travel
to Australia, which, trust me, you don't want to do that.
BTS is, without a doubt, the biggest group in the world.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
You can tell by their fans.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
The BTS Army is the second largest military after the US,
and they've drone zero weddings. BTS might be on hiatus,
but there's so much new k pop we can enjoy
what they're gone. And now you know how it got
to where it is today. Oh but gunam style, now
it's in my head.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
God, get it out, get it.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Hello, class, Thanks for coming, although you really had no choice,
since if you don't come to school in America, your
parents get arrested. Today we're gonna learn about some of
the great Asian veterans in US history, because Asians have
served in the US military for almost as long as
America has fought in wars, which is basically the whole time.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
America loves war so much it wants.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
To have its babies and then send those babies to
go fight in the next worl anyway. First up is
Augustine Feliciano, who fought in the War of eighteen twelve,
which happened then the tegious guy doesn't actually say so,
nice going morons. Feliciano was the first Filipino to serve
(10:17):
in the US Navy. But before he sailed with the navy,
he sailed with pirates. That's right, American history has Asian
veterans and Asian pirates. I'm blowing your freaking mind today.
What's next, Asian werewolves.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
No, that's beneath us.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Let's fast forward to America's Civil War, the first one,
not the one currently happening every day in your Twitter feed.
The Civil Wars where Chinese American soldiers began to make
their mark. Of the roughly two hundred Chinese Americans living
in the Eastern US at the time, fifty eight of
them served in the war. That's fifty eight two hundred.
Can you calculate the percentage from that number?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
It's easy.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
You just crossed out the Zeros, you move to the
des one point over, You flip the whole thing multiplied
by one hundred, and you pluy your phony user calculator
map is easy, especially for me, a teacher. One of
the most distinguished Chinese Civil War vets was Joseph Pearce.
He rose in the ranks to corporal, the highest rank
of any Chinese American in the Union Army, which I
(11:17):
can also relate to because I am the highest ranking
Asian at the Daily Show, though sadly I do not
have as many confirmed kills. And yeah, there were white
soldiers in the eighteen hundreds who are taking orders from
an Asian guy because those guys were hashtag allies and
they didn't even need to brag about it on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
All right, Julia, we get it.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You tell your dark Cantonese. But not every veteran got
what they deserve. Edward de Khota was a Chinese immigrant
adopted by an American ship captain, who foughnded the Civil
War and then served for another twenty six years. But
get this, America still refused to make him a citizen.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Do you believe that.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I mean, this guy risked his life in the military
for almost thirty years.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Never do anything close to that.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
They automatically get citizenship just by getting pooped out of
their mom's butt.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
That's right. I threw in some sex ad for free.
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Let's move on to World War One and one of
his greatest Asian American heroes allow sin Ki. He was
a runner, which means he ran messagers to the front line,
all while dodging gunfire and flamethrowers. That's right, this guy
risked his life to send messages. I hope this makes
you grateful for texting. In fact, I wish this was
still how we had to send messages. You probably think
(12:30):
twice if you have to run across a battlefield to
give someone a picture of your dick.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Now, let's turn to World War Two.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We saw Asian American heroes like Daniel Niue, who fought
the four hundred and forty second Regiment, a unit made
up completely of soldiers of Japanese descent and one of
the most decorated regiments in military history.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
During a combat mission in France.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
In Newe escaped death when a bullet to his chest
was blocked by two silver dollars. Tried doing that with bitcoin,
you crypto bitches, Daniel nue is why I carried two
silver dollars in my breast pocket at all times? Wait?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Where are they? Oh yeah, I got that vending machine coke.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Okay, nobody shoot me until I can get to the
Bullian Exchange. Even after his military service, he knew it,
went on to serve fifty years in Congress, so congratulate
him on finding the only job worse than combat.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
But maybe the biggest.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Asian bad ass to come out of World War Two
was Captain Nieves Fernandez, a Filipino school teacher who became
a gorilla warfare fighter and led a squadron that killed
over two hundred Japanese soldiers. You hear that class school
teachers can become gorilla assassins.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Do not mess with us, Oh goddamn shop.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
The last veteran we're gonna learn about today is a
living legend, and not how that term is usually used,
like if your friend Jaquin's a stupid flip cup tournament.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I mean an.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Actual legend Tammy Duckwood. She served as a black helicopter
pilot in Iraq until two thousand and four, when her
aircraft was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
She lost her legs and partial use of her right arm.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
For her sacrifice, she was arnold with a purple hot
I don't know why it's purple.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I guess where we designed it. Was a huge Prince fan.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
But her service didn't end with the military. She went
on to become the first Thai American woman and disabled
woman elected to Congress. She also became the first woman
to bring a baby onto the Senate floor, although it
definitely wasn't the first diaper. Those dudes are old as shit,
so class inconclusion, from now on, when you think of
Asians in American history, don't just think of railroads and
(14:37):
that guy from Breakfast at Tiffany's who isn't actually Asian.
Think of Tammy Duckworth, Lao Sinki and Yev's Fernandez who
kill build half an army, Speaking of which, I gotta
go tend to this neck wood. Knowing how cheap these
school districts are probably have lead poisoning class dismissed.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by
by searching The Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch The Daily Show weeknights at eleven ten Central on
Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount plus
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Paramount Podcasts
You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Yeah, that's right, people, We've got our own month, And
in honor of AAPI month, I'm gonna teach you about
the most underrepresented demographic of all time.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Asian Americans in sports.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
And I don't just mean the heavy hitters like Jeremy Lynn,
Michelle Kwan, Tiger Woods.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Yeah, well claiming him.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
You got a problem with that, take it up with
the un Instead, I want to focus on the underdogs
who blaze the trail for all the other Asian American
athletes to come, People like Wally Yonamine, the Japanese American
who played not one, but two professional sports, and unlike
Michael Jordan, he didn't suck at one of them. Also,
he never became a crying meme why are you said?
(00:47):
You're Michael Jordan first? In nineteen forty seven, Yonamine became
a running back for the San Francisco forty nine ers,
but in the wake of World War Two, he faced
a ton of discrimination.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Even while he was playing.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
When he would get tackled, the opposing team would punch
and kick him. Do you realize how insane that is?
I mean, it's football. Everyone's going home with brain damage already,
you don't need to force it. After a risk injury
in nineteen fifty one, Yonamine decided to switch to baseball.
He moved to Japan to play for the Yomi Yuri Giants,
where he was an eleven time All Star and became
(01:21):
the first American player ever to be inducted into the
Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. Crazy thing is Yonamine faced
racism in Japan two, but this time because he was
an American. At games, the fans would chant Yankee go home,
which is normally something you expected here only at Red
Sox games or honestly, any places in.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Boston that sells alcohol.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
But enough about baseball, let's talk about something people actually watch,
the Olympics. In nineteen forty eight, Victoria Manalo Dres became
the first AAPI Olympic champion, but be Filipino, she also
faced a lot of discrimination. In fact, when she was
younger and she used the public pool, the town asshole
would drain the water after she swam in it, which
isn't just racist, it's idiotic. You're gonna double your water
(02:06):
bill just because you're afraid of catching being Asian. You
came and get that from a pool, you have to
share the same straw, dumbasses, but against the yards Manalo
won her gold medal in the women's three meter springboard
and she was chirred on by diver Sammy Lee, the
first Asian American man to win an Olympic gold medal.
That's right, the first two API gold medals at the
same games. It was like Asian Christmas, which is just Christmas,
(02:31):
but not every Asian who brought the color barrier had
a happy ending. In nineteen forty eight, Larry Kwong became
the first non white player in the NHL when he
joined the New York Rangers. But they only put him
on ice for a minute and he never played in
another game again, which sucks. But breaking the color barrier
is like losing your virginity. Even if he only did
for a second, it still counts. Another great first happened
(02:55):
in nineteen twenty seven when Walter R. Chiu became the
first person of East Asian descent to play in the NFL.
Because his last name was Archiu, he earned the nickname Sneeze. Sadly,
this was before athlete sponsorships were a thing, so he couldn't.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Even get that sweet, sweet Kleenex money.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Eventually, he retired from the NFL to compete in a
safer sport, wrestling, proving that Asians can roll around without
balls and someone's face just like everyone else. But let's
move on to my personal favorite sport basketball. The first
non white player of any race in NBA history was
Japanese American Wataroom Issaka in.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Nineteen forty seven.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
He was the first draft pick of the New York Knicks,
and they even promoted his skills to sell tickets. But Shaker,
he faced a lot of anti Japanese sentiment and only
ended up playing three games. It was so bad he
decided to go back to school to gainst engineering degree,
which I respect. He was basically like, Oh, you don't
like me being Asian, Well I'm gonna be extra Asian now, bitches.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
But sports isn't just about the athletes.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
There's so many other people who've made history without destroying
their joints, people like Kim Arng, who became the general
manager of the Miami Marlins, making her the first female
GM in any major American men's league.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
She walked away up.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
The ladder facing racism and sexism. It's the surf and
turf of discrimination. So now you know there's been so
many unsung Asian sports heroes in history. Don't bother thanking me,
my meager teacher salary is thanks enough, and yes, this
is all gonna be on a final.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
All right, all right, settled down, everyone.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Because today we're learning about something that's blowing up all
over the world. No, not climate change, Okay, I don't
teach boring stuff in this classroom.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I'm talking about k pop.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It's why your cousins only speaks Korean more fluently than English.
And believe it or not, k pop used to be
something that only Koreans knew about. The rest of the
world wasn't always into it, like how there was a
time when white people didn't know about yoga.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
The first group to really break through internationally was the
Kim Cus.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Soukja, Aja and Minja started singing as children during the
Korean War for American gis. They sang, they danced, and
they played twenty instruments. I can't even name twenty instruments saxophone.
In nineteen fifty nine, they got a contract to perform
in Vegas at Sullivan was taping a show there, and
(05:21):
they managed to book a performance on the show, there
was such a hit they got asked back twenty more times.
Do you know how great you have to be to
get asked back to anything twenty times? I don't even
get invited to join LinkedIn that much. Unfortunately, the growth
of K pop hit a bump in the road soon
after when South Korea fell under the dictatorship of President
Park Junghi, who started banning music. They even created a
(05:45):
blacklist of songs that radio stations couldn't play. Everyone's end
of your Spotify summary just said your most played song
was the national anthem. But Korean artists kept making music
that challenged the status quo, like Folks singer Handei Sou,
whose albums were banned for anti government messaging, a rock
guitarist Sin Chung Yong, who the story goes to fight
(06:06):
the dictator's request to write a song in his honor,
and let's face it, wanting a song to be written
about you is.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Classic dictator behavior.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Right after military parades and having a weird haircut, everyone
tells you looks great. By the eighties, the dictatorship had loosened,
and by loosened, I mean the dictator was assassinated, but whatever.
It made listen to a radio fun again. Outside music
was allowed back in the country, and two of the
most influential genres became.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Hip hop and R and B.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Black artists from Michael Jackson to run DNC reshape the
musical landscape of South Korea. It inspired performers like Dudes,
DJDC and Sir TG and Boys, who are the earliest
examples of K pop as we know it today. They
even made it into the movie soundtrack for Three Ninjas
kicked back.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
He didn't think we'd be watching a movie in class today,
did you.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Well, I didn't think. I still have a hangover, But
sometimes life surprises. This was a big moment for Korean
pop music, even if.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
The song was being played over scenes said in Japan.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
But give him a break, Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
They're the Three Ninjas, not the three cultural sensitivity experts.
The next big step towards today's K pop was in
the nineteen nineties, when major music studios started putting performers
together in boy and girl bands. That's right, Korea was
doing that long before Simon Cowell's nips ever started poking
through his T shirts.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
That's a no for me, dog, no surprise. This new
wave of K pop blew up around the world.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
It featured complex melodies unlike any other pop music, and
always had next level dance choreography. To this day, those
remain the signature elements of K pop. That and being Asian.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Very important requirement.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
This new generation of K pop stars became so successful
the government started to take notice and soon lost a
program to promote krem music around the globe.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
They saw kpop as a.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Way to boost Korea's cultural strength and economy without having
to do a squid game. But one of the big
gus K pop sensations was a surprise no government could predict.
I'm sorry, I know it took you ten years to
get this out of your head, but we gotta talk
about it. Gunham Style was the first video to break
a billion views on YouTube.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
It was so popular.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
UN Secretary General Banki Moon praised the song, saying the
arts was the path to cultural understanding. He said that
about Condemn Style, that's like if they played baby Shot
during a war and all the soldiers started laying down
their weapons and hugging each other. Since then, the rest
of the world is more into K pop than ever before.
From girl groups like Girls generation and black pink to
(08:36):
artists like cl But let's get to the group you've
been waiting for. The reason you are enrolled in this
class in the first place. Et by the S, three
letters so important the rest of the alphabet doesn't even
exist anymore. They've dominated the charts, They've generated billions in revenue.
They made it okay to eat butter again. They even
increased tourism to South Korea. I mean, I'm glad my
(08:59):
fans on that voted because then they'd have to travel
to Australia, which, trust me, you don't want to do that.
BTS is, without a doubt, the biggest group in the world.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
You can tell by their fans.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
The BTS Army is the second largest military after the US,
and they've drone zero weddings. BTS might be on hiatus,
but there's so much new k pop we can enjoy
what they're gone. And now you know how it got
to where it is today. Oh but gunam style, now
it's in my head.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
God, get it out, get it.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Hello, class, Thanks for coming, although you really had no choice,
since if you don't come to school in America, your
parents get arrested. Today we're gonna learn about some of
the great Asian veterans in US history, because Asians have
served in the US military for almost as long as
America has fought in wars, which is basically the whole time.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
America loves war so much it wants.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
To have its babies and then send those babies to
go fight in the next worl anyway. First up is
Augustine Feliciano, who fought in the War of eighteen twelve,
which happened then the tegious guy doesn't actually say so,
nice going morons. Feliciano was the first Filipino to serve
(10:17):
in the US Navy. But before he sailed with the navy,
he sailed with pirates. That's right, American history has Asian
veterans and Asian pirates. I'm blowing your freaking mind today.
What's next, Asian werewolves.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
No, that's beneath us.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Let's fast forward to America's Civil War, the first one,
not the one currently happening every day in your Twitter feed.
The Civil Wars where Chinese American soldiers began to make
their mark. Of the roughly two hundred Chinese Americans living
in the Eastern US at the time, fifty eight of
them served in the war. That's fifty eight two hundred.
Can you calculate the percentage from that number?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
It's easy.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
You just crossed out the Zeros, you move to the
des one point over, You flip the whole thing multiplied
by one hundred, and you pluy your phony user calculator
map is easy, especially for me, a teacher. One of
the most distinguished Chinese Civil War vets was Joseph Pearce.
He rose in the ranks to corporal, the highest rank
of any Chinese American in the Union Army, which I
(11:17):
can also relate to because I am the highest ranking
Asian at the Daily Show, though sadly I do not
have as many confirmed kills. And yeah, there were white
soldiers in the eighteen hundreds who are taking orders from
an Asian guy because those guys were hashtag allies and
they didn't even need to brag about it on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
All right, Julia, we get it.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You tell your dark Cantonese. But not every veteran got
what they deserve. Edward de Khota was a Chinese immigrant
adopted by an American ship captain, who foughnded the Civil
War and then served for another twenty six years. But
get this, America still refused to make him a citizen.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Do you believe that.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I mean, this guy risked his life in the military
for almost thirty years.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Never do anything close to that.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
They automatically get citizenship just by getting pooped out of
their mom's butt.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
That's right. I threw in some sex ad for free.
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Let's move on to World War One and one of
his greatest Asian American heroes allow sin Ki. He was
a runner, which means he ran messagers to the front line,
all while dodging gunfire and flamethrowers. That's right, this guy
risked his life to send messages. I hope this makes
you grateful for texting. In fact, I wish this was
still how we had to send messages. You probably think
(12:30):
twice if you have to run across a battlefield to
give someone a picture of your dick.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Now, let's turn to World War Two.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We saw Asian American heroes like Daniel Niue, who fought
the four hundred and forty second Regiment, a unit made
up completely of soldiers of Japanese descent and one of
the most decorated regiments in military history.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
During a combat mission in France.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
In Newe escaped death when a bullet to his chest
was blocked by two silver dollars. Tried doing that with bitcoin,
you crypto bitches, Daniel nue is why I carried two
silver dollars in my breast pocket at all times? Wait?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Where are they? Oh yeah, I got that vending machine coke.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Okay, nobody shoot me until I can get to the
Bullian Exchange. Even after his military service, he knew it,
went on to serve fifty years in Congress, so congratulate
him on finding the only job worse than combat.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
But maybe the biggest.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Asian bad ass to come out of World War Two
was Captain Nieves Fernandez, a Filipino school teacher who became
a gorilla warfare fighter and led a squadron that killed
over two hundred Japanese soldiers. You hear that class school
teachers can become gorilla assassins.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Do not mess with us, Oh goddamn shop.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
The last veteran we're gonna learn about today is a
living legend, and not how that term is usually used,
like if your friend Jaquin's a stupid flip cup tournament.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I mean an.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Actual legend Tammy Duckwood. She served as a black helicopter
pilot in Iraq until two thousand and four, when her
aircraft was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
She lost her legs and partial use of her right arm.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
For her sacrifice, she was arnold with a purple hot
I don't know why it's purple.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I guess where we designed it. Was a huge Prince fan.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
But her service didn't end with the military. She went
on to become the first Thai American woman and disabled
woman elected to Congress. She also became the first woman
to bring a baby onto the Senate floor, although it
definitely wasn't the first diaper. Those dudes are old as shit,
so class inconclusion, from now on, when you think of
Asians in American history, don't just think of railroads and
(14:37):
that guy from Breakfast at Tiffany's who isn't actually Asian.
Think of Tammy Duckworth, Lao Sinki and Yev's Fernandez who
kill build half an army, Speaking of which, I gotta
go tend to this neck wood. Knowing how cheap these
school districts are probably have lead poisoning class dismissed.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by
by searching The Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch The Daily Show weeknights at eleven ten Central on
Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount plus
Speaker 3 (15:17):
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