As the world reflects on the far-reaching impact of World War II, a significant historical space in San Francisco's Chinatown offers a window into one of the war's pivotal yet less recognized dimensions: the wartime cooperation between China and the United States. The WWII Pacific War Memorial Hall, established as the first overseas institution dedicated to documenting China's experience during the conflict, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
The hall was conceived in 2014, on the 77th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Under the initiative of Honorary Curator Mrs. Florence Fang, plans took shape to create a physical space that would commemorate the war's history by the 70th anniversary of its end. It opened in August 2015 after a year of preparation. Betty Yuan, a board member, noted, "With more than 35 million Chinese lives lost during the war, there had been no memorial outside China devoted to this history. It was a story that needed a home."
The institution's work centers on three guiding principles: "Respect History, Cherish Peace"; preserving the narrative of China-US cooperation; and acknowledging the role of overseas Chinese in the war effort. "Because we are located in the United States," Yuan added, "it feels especially meaningful to share this chapter—a time when American and Chinese soldiers and civilians fought together against a common threat."
Much of the collection has been assembled through donations from the families of veterans. One of the key artifacts is a small parachute that belonged to Flying Tiger Michael V. D'Ambrosio, whose aircraft went down in Hunan in 1944. His rescue by Chinese villagers illustrates the human connections that emerged amid the conflict. The parachute, signed by those involved, along with sidearms exchanged in gratitude, serves as quiet testimony to those encounters.
Visitors to the hall come from around the world—some seeking connections to family history, others looking to better understand the Pacific theater. The act of remembrance, as the hall frames it, is also an expression of gratitude for the sacrifices that shaped the postwar world.
While numerous memorials globally honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, the WWII Pacific War Memorial Hall provides a dedicated space for reflecting on the scale of loss in China—where millions perished—and on the joint struggle for what was then a shared vision of peace and freedom. In documenting this history, the hall underscores that peace is not passively inherited, but built through continuous recognition of the past.
Reporter: Guo Zedong
Script & Text: Guo Zedong
Video editor: Ou Xiaoming
Cameraman: Guo Hongda, Ou Xiaoming
Photo: Guo Hongda
Video cover: Ou Xiaoming
Editor: Yuan Zixiang, James Campion, Shen He
