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A tanker wing’s new commanding officer on Monday said he hopes to pave the way for other Asian Americans seeking a career in the armed forces.Col. Van Thai was born in Saigon a year after the fall of South Vietnam in 1975. When he was five years old, his family fled Vietnam’s communist regime, first moving to Toronto before settling in Oklahoma City.

Thai is now in his 26th year in the Air Force. He told News 8 he has spent most of it deployed overseas, including at air bases in Japan and Qatar. In February, Thai became the new commanding officer of the 434th Air Refueling Wing. Based at Grissom Air Reserve Base near Kokomo, the Air Force says the 434th is the largest KC-135 wing in the Air Force Reserve.

Thai’s appointment was historic in two respects. First, he said he is the first active-duty officer to command the unit since Grissom transitioned from an active-duty base to a reserve base in 1994. Second, he is the first Vietnamese American to hold the job. According to the Department of Defense’s most recent demographics report, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders account for roughly six percent of all military personnel.

Thai said he hasn’t personally faced any challenges due to his ethnicity but recognizes not everyone can say the same thing. He said the Air Force needs more Asian Americans to join and bring their perspectives to the service.

Thai said one of the military’s biggest sources of strength is how it brings together Americans from a variety of ethnicities and upbringings to work toward a common goal. He said for him, the bottom line is the “American” portion of the phrases “Asian American” or “Vietnamese American.”

Thai said his parents still live in Oklahoma City. He said he and his wife plan to put down roots in Indiana, likely in or around Carmel. He said the youngest of his three children, who is still in high school, is looking for a school with a good soccer program.

“We are totally living the American Dream,” he said. “Just the opportunities for an immigrant kid from Southeast Asia to come to America where the family’s working hard and a little luck, we’ve been able to kind of spread our wings and take flight in this Air Force adventure.”

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On the southwest side of Indianapolis, a mother and her daughter on Thursday practiced their dance moves for a Saturday festival.Tina Magnusson and her 18-year-old daughter, Anna Magnusson, will perform with their dance troupe during the Asian Fest at the Indiana Historical Society in downtown Indianapolis. 

Anna will perform Mulan, a re-enactment of a Chinese poem. In the dance, she portrays the female warrior who disguises herself as a man to take her sickly father’s place in battle. It’s a familiar storyline from Walt Disney Pictures’ 1998 movie “Mulan.” Magnusson noted that the film is based on the original Chinese poem.

Anna’s movements during practice were quick with flips and leg raises. “The whole army has fallen, and she is trying to get back up,” she said.

She described Mulan as someone who “represents courage and perseverance,” but in a way, she also describes herself. “It’s very hard being the only Asian kid in a setting full of white Americans, not seeing myself represented in anything.”

Anna grew up in Indiana and felt different, but she’s also courageous. Instead of armor, she will don a costume and join her dance troupe to represent her culture. 

In contrast to Anna’s powerful dance moves, her mother, Tina Magnusson, on Thursday practiced the plum blossom fan dance with grace and slower movements. A dance teacher, she described the opening of a fan as symbol of growing flower. “The plum flower is a Taiwanese national flower because the colder it is. … They’re still growing so they represent endurance and perseverance inside all of us.”

The mother-and-daughter duo will share their love of dance, but, more than that, Tina says, it’s sharing something out of this world. “It feels like heaven. In heaven, it should be a different language, culture, skin color.”

In the United States, May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

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Indianapolis is a historical home for Asian American and Pacific Islander businesses.In coastal cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago, “Chinatowns” exist, but not in Indianapolis. President of Asian American Alliance Rupal Thanawala explains, “In many states and cities, Chinatowns really evolved because foreigners were not welcomed in the city. There were many neighborhoods that didn’t let them live there.”

Chinatowns became a safe haven from prejudice and racist laws. While these cities became magnets for Asians in the early 1800s, eventually they moved to Indiana. Originally from China, Moy Kee moved to Indianapolis in 1897.

He was the first citizen who had the right to vote and during that time not everyone was allowed to vote. Key opened up several businesses in the city. He is indiana’s first Asian American citizen. His face is plastered on the mural on Bicentennial Unity Plaza.

“He was the first citizen who had the right to vote and during that time,” Thanawala said. “Not everyone was allowed to vote. This is perfect timing since next week is election and to think at that time, 130-140 years back, a Chinese man could vote in the state.”

“Asian Americans make up 2% of Indiana’s population, and because Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are spread out throughout the state, there isn’t really an official hub,” said Thanawala.

Nicole Martinez-LeGrand, an historian and curator at Indiana Historical Society, pointed out that the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra used to be Bamboo Inn, a Chinese restaurant from 1918 to 1961.

“Right here in the middle right above the roof, there is a huge sign that says chop suey,” said Martinez-LeGrand. Martinez-LeGrand described it as a booming restaurant in a prime real estate. She adds that they contributed to the local economy, even donating war bonds during WWII. The restaurant flourished with white patrons especially during the height of the KKK. Martinez-LeGrand showed photographs of waiters, and on another image, white customers posing in the front of the eatery.

“I think its important to see themselves in history to see who is supporting them in history,” Martinez-LeGrand said. “It’s important to know it existed here on the circle, which is prime real estate at the time.”

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he month of May is here, and, in Indianapolis, that brings the most exciting news as the Indianapolis 500 is just days away. WISH-TV contributor Gloria Jimenez spoke on News 8 about the lineup of Latino features coming to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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Many benefits can come from investing in student mental health. Those benefits can include the bolstering of students social, educational and economic well-being.

Investing in the mental health of students also leads to increased well-being within the broader society, according to research by the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Healthy Minds Network.

WISH-TV multicultural contributor Emil Ekiyor on Monday shared his perspective on the importance of student mental health.

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Reminders of this nation’s painful history show in the lives of people of color every day, and one way is through the manifestation of inequities. Many inequities are the result of systemic racism, which affects the wages that millions of Black women are paid for working full-time jobs.

WISH-TV contributor Emil Ekiyor spoke about the topic on Wednesday on News 8.

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