DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — More than 75 years after his service in World War II, a 98-year-old Chinese-American veteran in Deerfield Beach received a Congressional Gold Medal to honor his service to the United States.
U.S. Army Air Forces veteran Richard Goon was a cryptographer in units that served in the China-Burma-India corridor, where he deciphered enemy radio codes and translated instructions to the Chinese army. (That branch of the military preceded an independent U.S. Air Force.)
The congressional medal was presented virtually on Tuesday to Goon at the Grand Villa of Deerfield Beach assisted living community by retired Major General William S. Chen, the first Chinese American to wear two-star rank in the U.S. Army. Goon was accompanied by family, friends and supporters.
