“Unsung Heroes: Recognizing and Honoring Chinese American World War II Veterans” Book Talk and Panel Discussion

WILLIAM S. CHEN

William S. Chen, better known as Bill Chen, is a third-generation Chinese-American.  Bill served as a career U.S. Army officer for over 32 years and retired as a Major General — the first Chinese-American to wear 2-star rank in the U.S. Army.  He then worked as a defense industry executive for almost 18 years in various domestic and international business assignments.  His father, Moon Chen, was a captain and U.S. Army Air Forces pilot assigned to the 14^th Air Force under Gen. Claire Chennault in the China Burma India theater during World War II.

As a Major General he commanded the U.S. Army Missile Command during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, the Army’s largest deployment and subsequent combat use of Army missiles in history.  Later he served as the Army’s first Program Executive Officer for Missile Defense – directing all the Army’s theater and national missile defense programs. As a Brigadier General he was the Deputy Director of Weapons Systems and Assistant Deputy for Systems Management at the Department of Army — responsible for program/budget development and systems management oversight for the R&D and procurement of the Army’s weapons systems. He served as the program manager of two major air defense programs and has commanded a battalion.  He had combat tours in Vietnam and Laos and other overseas assignments in Korea and Thailand.

His defense industry experience included successive assignments in United Defense, Inc. as VP & program director, VP for army programs, and VP for engineering & product development; and in BAE Systems, Inc. as VP & general manager.  Included were six years of international business experience in Turkey as the U.S. VP & general manager for a joint venture U.S.–Turkish company that developed and manufactured combat vehicles for international customers.

Bill graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S.E. in engineering mathematics and an M.S.E. in aeronautical & astronautical engineering.  He has an MBA from Auburn University.  In addition to numerous Army awards, which include two awards of the Distinguished Service Medal, he is a distinguished aerospace engineering alumnus of the University of Michigan, and member of Tau Beta Pi, National Engineering Honor Society.

Dan Luke
Dan Luke is a retired engineer with over 40+ years of experience in the research and development of new innovative aerospace and sensor systems that have been widely adopted both nationally and internationally. He holds degrees in engineering physics and aeronautics & astronautics from Cornell and Stanford and has worked at MIT Lincoln Lab and The MITRE Corporation both non-profit federally funded research and development centers. He currently does part time consulting in the areas of 3D Virtual Sensor Simulation Environments and Geographical Information Systems. He is a co-editor for the book “Unsung Heroes”. His father is a U. S. Army WWII veteran that served in the European Theater and a Congressional Gold Medal recipient.

Mon Luke

Mon Luke is a retired educator with over 25+ years of experience in the instruction of high school biology and physical sciences. She has taught in various locales across the country. She holds a degree in biology from the City University of New York (CCNY) and has pursued graduate course work at Stanford and Boston University. She has also been a research assistant in the Department of Biology at Stanford. She retired from Bedford High School, Bedford, Massachusetts but still volunteers as a math tutor at Bedford High. She is an author in the book “Unsung Heroes”. Her father is a U. S. Merchant Marine WWII veteran that served in the Atlantic Theater and is a dual Congressional Gold Medal recipient (Chinese American WWII Veteran and WWII Merchant Marine).