WWII vet Earl Jung, 84, in front of his paintings in his Chinatown apartment.
This week, as soldiers march in parades and as flag-waving crowds cheer, some will celebrate Veterans Day a little more quietly.
Ageing veterans with fading memories of the wars they fought in, old soldiers with a lifetime worth of stories.
Veterans like 84-year-old Earl Jung.
Drafted to serve in the U.S. Air Force in 1943, he was part of the 14th Air Services Group and the 987th Signal Operations Company.
Some Chinese Americans served in integrated units during World War II, but these two all-Chinese American units serviced airplanes and supported radio operations in ally military operations in China, Burma and India.
Jung is one of a few dozen vets still alive from the original 300-member group. Today, he lives in Manhattan’s Chinatown where he grew up as a child.
Born in St. Louis, Mo., Jung moved to New York City when he was four years old. His father, an immigrant from China’s Guangdong province, was an herbalist. His mother – who was of white, black and Native American ancestry – worked at a laundromat on Grand Street. Together with his parents, two sisters and three brothers, Jung lived in an apartment on Mott Street. He went to P.S. 33 on Bayard Street and later Seward Park High School. In the evenings, he attended Cantonese language classes and hung out in Columbus Park.
“Like any other kid growing up in Chinatown,” Jung said.
And, like any other Chinese kid in the neighborhood, he fought with the Italians.
“Italians owned Mulberry Street at the time,” he said. “They didn’t like it when we were on their turf.”
But he fought with the Chinese kids, too. He and his brothers spoke perfect English and Cantonese, but they were darker skinned and had rounder eyes.
Jung doesn’t like talking about the discrimination he faced. “There’s no point being nasty about it,” he said quietly.
He is more talkative about the war. An estimated 20,000 Chinese Americans served in the armed forces during World War II, approximately 20 percent of the Chinese population in the U.S. at the time.
“I didn’t want to be left behind, so I accepted it very nicely,” he said. “I was excited. I wanted to help the country.” But he later admitted being disappointed when he was put in the all-Chinese brigade. He had wanted to be on the frontline flying airplanes. The servicemen traveled across China landing in cities like Kunming, Xi’an and Shanghai while avoiding frequent shelling by Japanese bombers.
After the war ended, Jung came back to New York where he studied at Hunter College and then got his Masters in Education at Columbia University. He worked as a teacher, and then principal at an alternative school before spearheading a school board program designed to help troubled youth in city schools. He met his love, Gloria, in 1976. The two were married in 1988 when Jung was 50 years old.
His other great love in life was Chinese calligraphy. Jung first experimented with black ink and a brush as a child in Chinese school. He continued to paint after the war and produced more than 50 pieces of art until he suffered a stroke in 2005.
His wife describes his artwork as “a brilliant blending of east and west cultures”, re-interpreting an age-old Chinese tradition in a bold, modern form.
These days, Jung is in a wheelchair and has limited use of his arms and hands. Still, he and his wife were able to visit Washington, D.C. this year for the 14th Air Services Group reunion.
“We don’t get many members showing up anymore,” said Mack Pong, an 87-year-old who served in the brigade with Jung. “You see Earl, a man in a wheelchair. If he can come, anyone can come. He’s a very loyal member.”
