John Chew Young (Chinese: 容兆珍; pinyin: Rong Zhaozhen; June 16, 1912 – October 27, 1987), a Chinese-American businessman and community leader, was born in San Jose, California.

A key figure in the development of Chinatown, San Francisco, he was one of the original board members of the Chinese Historical Society of America, and a decorated American World War II army veteran of the China Burma India Theater.

The monument's inscription describes Young as "an Engineer from Stanford University [who] devoted himself to the improvement of San Francisco's Chinatown and helped found the annual Chinese New Years Parade.

At the Battle of Mount Song (Songshan Mountain), he and other U.S. Army engineers (Peter S. Hopkins and Carlos Spaht), helped design and implement the strategy of tunneling and placing TNT charges that destroyed the core of that Japanese stronghold.

Commissioned in the United States Army at the outbreak of World War II, Young served in the China Burma India Theater as a liaison officer between Chinese and American Troops.

John C. Young and his brother-in-law, George Hall "....set up the first factory in the United States that manufactured soy sauce (Wing Nien Brand) using the old Chinese fermentation process.