Heritage and Heart

By Laurel Schlegel

William C. Chin

February 29, 1916-March 13, 2012

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As a member of the Flying Tigers, William C. Chin bravely fought not only for his country and family in the United States but for his ancestral homeland in China as well. With a legacy in the Chin family of leadership and service to the community, William did not disappoint in keeping the family tradition. With bravery and passion, William served his country proudly despite the discrimination he faced as a Chinese American. William was not the only member of the Chin family to make his mark in Denver. The Chin families' roots run deep in Colorado and go back several generations starting with William’s grandfather Chin Lin Sou.

Chin Lin Sou - Williams grandfather [32]

Chin Lin Sou immigrated to Colorado from China in the 1850’s.[1] He was born in Southern China around 1836.[2] When he was in his early 20’s, he moved to the United States to avoid the violence of the Taiping Rebellion, a revolt that took place against the Qing dynasty in the middle of the nineteenth century.[3][4] He began to work on the construction of railroads across California, a typical job for Chinese immigrants at the time. He quickly rose up in the ranks, becoming the foreman for his company. By 1870 Chin Lin Sou received a contract to work on the Denver Pacific railroad, which would lead him to the city that would become a home for his family for generations to come. Chin is credited with starting what may be the first Chinese settlement in Colorado.[5] Under his management, hundreds of Chinese immigrants received jobs as mine workers.[6] Chin Lin Sou is remembered as an important leader for the Chinese-American population in Denver. His face is featured in the “Heritage Windows” at the Colorado State Capitol which honors Colorado’s minority pioneers.[7] He also received a chair of honor at the Central City Opera House. [8]

Chin Lin Sou had three children. According to historical accounts, his daughter Lily was the first recorded Chinese-American birth in the state of Colorado.[9] His son Willie Chin, and the father of veteran William Chin, became the mayor of Chinatown. Denver’s Chinatown, located near modern-day Coors Field, flourished in the end of the nineteenth century.[10] As the residential and business center of Chinese migrants, Chinatown was bustling with Chinese culture and tradition. Outside of it however, people of Chinese descent faced severe discrimination.[11] Anti-Chinese hysteria throughout the city led to distrust and suspicion of the Chinese community who quickly became scapegoats for many of Denver's issues.[12] This resentment reached a head on Halloween of 1880 when two intoxicated white men started a brawl with two Chinese men. The violence escalated into what is now known as Denver’s “Bloody Riot.” A mob attacked every Chinese person and business in sight, killing one man and brutally beating many others. Almost all of the property in Chinatown was destroyed. Today Chinatown is nonexistent in Denver. So many of its residents left the city fearing its rampant racism that by 1940, Denver's ethnic Chinese population reached a historic low of 110 people. [13]

William is shown on the left as a young boy with his family. [33]

Willie Chin did not leave the city however and started his family in what would be a very different downtown Denver than the one he had grown up in. William C. Chin was born on February 29, 1916 in Denver Colorado to Willie Chin and his wife Daisy Chin.[14] The couple had four other children.[15]

As someone who had experienced the perils of not fitting into American culture, Willie Chin was insistent that his children do what they could to Americanize. He made sure that they all attended school at the very least through high school.[16] William did just that, graduating high school and college. [17]

When William was 26, he and his brother Edward enlisted in the Army Air Corps at Fort Logan.[18] William was assigned to the 14th Air Force serving as a communications officer. [19] The 14th Air Force, which came to be known as the Flying Tigers, were a group of volunteer American pilots who fought for the Chinese Air Force leading up to and during WWII. Stationed across Burma and China, the Flying Tigers helped China to resist Japanese invasion.[20] Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Flying Tigers lost only twelve planes and ten pilots in battle and destroyed almost three hundred Japanese aircrafts. The efforts of the Flying Tigers were essential to the Allied War effort, successfully slowing down the Japanese Imperial Army which could have very likely swept through Burma and China without their resistance. [21]

 William was extremely proud of his time as a Flying Tiger. In his obituary his daughter is quoted as saying that, “He talked about his time in the service as being the best time of his life.” He left the Air Force with the rank of First Lieutenant.  

After his service, William returned to the United States. He settled down and started a family in Los Angeles where he worked as a television station sound technician.[22] William had three children.[23] He returned to Denver after retiring however.[24] William C. Chin remained involved in veterans’ affairs throughout the remainder of his life. He helped to found Cathay Post #185 in 1946 and would become its first commander.[25] Cathay Post #185 is an American Legion post composed of Chinese and Japanese veterans. [26] The American legion is a veteran’s organization which was incorporated by Congress in 1919 to help veterans. [27] As the only joint Chinese Japanese American post in the country, the group united servicemen who fought in both the Pacific and European theatres of World War II, many of whom were members of the “famed 442nd regimental combat team.[28]

William passed away in March of 2012 due to natural causes at the age of 96.[29] He is buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery.[30] Despite the discrimination that he and his family faced as Chinese- Americans, William served his country with pride and selflessness. His daughter remembers in his obituary that “He always felt blessed to have been born here,” and “He always taught us life was what you made of it.”[31]

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Footnotes ↓

[1] Tina Griego, "A Salute to a Quiet Patriot" Denver Post, The (CO), April 22, 2012: 1B. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.du.idm.oclc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/13E5F575E7942BF0.

[2] “Chin Lin Sou (1836-1894),” Denver Public Library, Western History/ Genealogy, Accessed July 2020, https://history.denverlibrary.org/colorado-biographies/chin-lin-sou-1836-1894.

[3] “Chin Lin Sou (1836-1894).”

[4] History.com Editors, “Taiping Rebellion,” History.com, Accessed July 2020, https://www.history.com/topics/china/taiping-rebellion.

[5] “Chin Lin Sou (1836-1894).”.

[6] “Chin Lin Sou (1836-1894).”.

[7] Melanie Pawlyszyn, “Old Supreme Court Windows Honor Ethnic and Racial Group History in Colorado, Colorado Legisource, October 29, 2015, https://legisource.net/2015/10/29/old-supreme-court-windows-honor-ethnic-and-racial-group-history-in-colorado/.

[8] “Chin Lin Sou (1836-1894).”

[9] Griego, "A Salute to a Quiet Patriot."

[10] “The Rise and Fall of Denver’s Chinatown,” History Colorado, April 11, 2019, Accessed July 2020, https://www.historycolorado.org/story/colorado-voices/2019/04/11/rise-and-fall-denvers-chinatown.

[11]“The Rise and Fall of Denver’s Chinatown.”

[12] “The Rise and Fall of Denver’s Chinatown,”

[13] “The Rise and Fall of Denver’s Chinatown.”

[14] “U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current,” database, Ancesty.com (accessed July, 2020) entry for William C. Chin.

[15] “1930 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancesty.com (accessed July, 2020) entry for William Chin.

[16] “Chin Lin Sou (1836-1894),” .

[17] Griego, "A Salute to a Quiet Patriot."

[18] Griego, "A Salute to a Quiet Patriot."

[19] Ibid.

[20] “Flying Tigers” Encyclopaedia Britannica, June 24, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Flying-Tigers.

[21] “The Flying Tigers: The American Volunteer Group in China, 1941-1942,” Pacific Atrocities Education, June 15, 2018, https://www.pacificatrocities.org/blog/the-history-of-the-flying-tigers?gclid=CjwKCAjw34n5BRA9EiwA2u9k36QNhEIe79DVOUeJ3FS8XbwdDvaaGQ7v3iodsh1mGky8h_CWhOckbBoCbywQAvD_BwE.

[22] Griego, "A Salute to a Quiet Patriot"

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid.

[25]Griego, "A Salute to a Quiet Patriot" and “Dedication Set For Legion Unit,” Denver Post (Denver, Colorado), August 1, 1946: 25. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.du.idm.oclc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A12C7581AC4BD0728%40WHNPX-165316A6EC68580D%402432034-165284639CDC0822%4024-165284639CDC0822%40.

[26] Griego, "A Salute to a Quiet Patriot".

[27] “About,” Accessed July 2020, https://www.legion.org/about.

[28] “Dedication Set for Legion Unit.”

[29] “U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current.”

[30] “U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current.”

[31] Griego, "A Salute to a Quiet Patriot."

[32] Chin Lin Sou (1836-1894),” Denver Public Library, Western History/ Genealogy, https://history.denverlibrary.org/colorado-biographies/chin-lin-sou-1836-1894.

[33] Tina Griego, "A Salute to a Quiet Patriot" Denver Post, The (CO), April 22, 2012: 1B. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.du.idm.oclc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/13E5F575E7942BF0.

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