RELATED: Army reveals 'sensitive' material to family of dead Chinese-American soldierĭanny Chen also had a keen sense of right and wrong, his cousin said. “And eventually, people started joining one by one,” Banny Chen said. At an aunt and uncle’s wedding, for instance, a then eight-year-old Danny Chen was the first to cut a rug, dancing in front of everyone by himself, his cousin recalled. During vacations, they’d sleep over at each other’s homes.įrom an early age, Danny Chen was funny and outgoing, Banny Chen said. Growing up, Banny Chen visited his older cousin every weekend, often watching Saturday morning cartoons together, he said. (L-R) Danny Chen, Amy Chen, Banny Chen, Ada Chen, Chinatown Manhattan, New York, circa 1998. His dad and Danny Chen’s mother were siblings, and both their moms were very close. ![]() “With that idea, with that point, this could also happen to anyone.”Īn only child born and raised to Chinese immigrants in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Danny Chen was part of Banny Chen’s life ever since he could recall, Banny Chen said. “He was just like any other New Yorker, like any other Asian American,” Banny Chen said. The investigating officer, however, recommended that the top count of involuntary manslaughter be dropped for five soldiers charged with it, a move that led to lighter sentences and that angered the Asian-American community.īut as the fifth anniversary of Danny Chen’s death nears, Banny Chen said he wants people to remember that his cousin was alive before he died, that he was someone who enjoyed life and made others laugh, that he did the right thing when something wasn’t fair. “It was not until a week or so later that we started to slowly gain more information that Danny might have committed suicide, and that there were a lot of things going on coming up to his death.”Įight soldiers, including a lieutenant and two staff sergeants, were initially charged in connection with Danny Chen’s death. “Our immediate thoughts was that he was killed by enemies,” Chen said. Soon, one detail of the 19-year-old’s death emerged: Danny Chen, a private, had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head while on guard duty at a military base in Afghanistan, where he’d been stationed for less than two months, Banny Chen said. Not much had been said since they were waiting for him to translate from Taishanese, a dialect of Chinese, to English, Banny Chen said. ![]() Later that night, when Banny Chen, a college student at the time, arrived at his aunt and uncle’s apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, he was met by Danny Chen’s parents, another aunt and uncle, and three men in uniform, he said. “With that idea, with that point, this could also happen to anyone." "He was just like any other New Yorker, like any other Asian American,” Banny Chen said.
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