The Untold Story of Private Wing On Hom: A Soldier’s Journey from China to Italy in World War II

Accident – death – Obituary News : The Mystery of Uncle Wing: A Family Discovers the Truth About a Lost Soldier

Ken Hom always knew that his uncle had been a soldier in World War II, but the details surrounding his uncle’s fate were shrouded in mystery. All he knew was that his uncle was sent to Italy and never returned. When he pressed his family for more information, they told him that his uncle had died on a battleship in Sicily. Little did Ken know, this story was far from the truth.

According to the United States’ Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), twenty thousand Chinese-Americans served in World War II, the highest number from any minority group and 25 percent of their total. Private Wing On Hom was one of them. He was assigned to the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.

Wing On Hom’s unit fought against German forces near the Italian town of Cisterna di Latina, about 70km southeast of Rome. On February 2, 1944, Wing On Hom was declared missing in action. His body had not been recovered, and the Germans had not reported him as a prisoner of war.

In September of that year, remains were found in the hamlet of Ponte Rotto, almost 5km west of Cisterna di Latina. However, these remains did not have any means of identification. Four years later, the remains, labelled X-541 Nettuno, were declared unidentifiable and interred at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy.

Ken Hom, born more than a decade after his uncle’s death, never stopped wondering about him. He conducted his own research online, satisfied with the information he found in war books and history lessons. In May 2019, Ken decided to pay tribute to his uncle by posting a photo of him in his uniform on Instagram.

Little did Ken know, this Instagram post would lead him to the truth. Five months later, he received an email from Marci Bagnulo, a genealogist with Lithic Genealogy, contracted by the US Department of Defense to find living relatives of deceased soldiers. Bagnulo explained that the US Army has a repatriation program and a DNA database to identify remains. They needed living relatives to make matches.

Bagnulo’s search led her to Ken’s Instagram post. She contacted him, and after a few emails and discussions, Ken and his brothers agreed to speak to her on a conference call. Bagnulo told them more about their family than they had ever known before. She filled out parts of their family tree, tracing their ancestry back to when their grandfather, Ah Wei Hom, was born in San Francisco in 1878.

Ken was amazed by the information Bagnulo uncovered. The government had a wealth of information about his family that he never knew existed. Bagnulo sent Ken his uncle’s declassified file, which included a list of items found with his remains.

The next step for the family was to provide DNA samples to determine if the remains identified as X-541 Nettuno were a match. Ken and his brother Danny enthusiastically agreed, along with their father’s sister, who had dementia and lived in California. They waited anxiously, hoping for a positive result.

The story of Wing On Hom’s journey is one of patriotism and resilience. He and his younger brother left China in 1939 to escape the Sino-Japanese war. Despite facing racism and discrimination in the United States, Wing On Hom enlisted in the US Army at the age of 18. He and his unit were sent to Italy to fight with the Allies.

Ken Hom’s newfound appreciation for his uncle stems from the realization that Wing On Hom fought for a country that didn’t fully accept him. “He came into a country where our people weren’t wanted, and to enlist was even more unfathomable,” Ken reflects.

The Hom family’s story is a testament to the power of genealogy research and the importance of honoring the sacrifices made by those who served in World War II. Thanks to the efforts of Marci Bagnulo and the US Army’s repatriation program, the Hom family can finally find closure and pay tribute to their lost soldier..