Purple Heart at Pearl Harbor
1Lt. Paul L. Young, Intelligence Officer (center), with TSgt. Robert N. Solyn, Intelligence Specialist (left), and TSgt. William Miekle, Intelligence NCO (right), stands beside one of the 3rd Bomb Squadron’s B-25Js at Liangshan. This photograph was taken in early April 1945, when Young returned to the base to collect his belongings before departing for the “Zone of the Interior.” On the back, Solyn noted, “My boss.” R. N. Solyn collection, courtesy of Robert N. Solin
On a peaceful Sunday morning—December 7, 1941—naval and air forces of Imperial Japan struck the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor and then the city of Honolulu on the serene, tropical island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, ushering in one of the darkest periods of American history. It was a sneak attack that shocked an unsuspecting nation, exposing the lie behind ongoing diplomatic negotiations between Japan and the United States for the purpose of maintaining peace in the Pacific. It was obvious that even as talks between the two nations took place, the Japanese were making elaborate plans for aggression in their attempt to drive Western interests out of the Pacific. Immediately following their raid on the Hawaiian Islands, assaults were carried out on other Pacific targets: Malaya, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Wake Island, and Midway Island.
Paul L. Young, an eyewitness to the devastation, later served as intelligence officer and historical officer in the 3rd Bomb Squadron. “No one needs to be told that today is the third anniversary of the outbreak of the Pacific war. The event was one of sharp personal significance, heralded not by the excited voice of a radio announcer but by the wailing, this time unquestionably authentic, of sirens and the whine and explosion of bombs,” he wrote on that date in 1944. December 7 not only brought memories of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, but with it a renewed determination to defeat the aggressors in the approaching year.
Young, an American citizen of Chinese ancestry, had demonstrated courage since before the war began. Born February 17, 1922, in Chicago, Illinois, he was the eldest child of Charles and Wong See (also Wung Shu, Wang Shee) Young. Listed in Cook County birth records as "Paul Chung Young,” he later Americanized his name to Paul Lane Young. His father was an importer of Chinese merchandise, born in China, and his mother, called "Mary", was born in California of Chinese-immigrant parents. After completing a year of college while working as a messenger/errand boy, he volunteered for military service as a private in the regular army on December 10, 1940, eager for a chance to fight the enemies of his ancestral homeland. He transferred to the Air Corps and completed aircraft mechanic training at Chanute Field. Young had been stationed for about three months at Wheeler Field on Oahu when the Japanese attacked the field at 7:35 a.m. before hitting Pearl Harbor farther to the south. He was quartered in a tent beside runway #27. Both of his tent mates died that day. He credited his decision to attend a church service held about three miles from the field with saving his life. Young was wounded in his right leg during the second attack on the field while moving undamaged fighter planes away from those that were burning, earning him the Purple Heart. An official document published by the Naval Institute stated, "During the air attack on December 7, 1941, Paul L. Young . . . with the Army Air Corps on active duty was the first American of Chinese descent awarded the Military Order of the Purple Heart in WWII."
Afterward, Young spent twenty-three months with a heavy bomb unit in the Southwest Pacific, where he completed twenty-seven combat missions. He was shot down over New Guinea but escaped with minor injuries, although he was sent back to the US and hospitalized because of repeated bouts of malaria. Young then attended Navigator School at San Marcos Airfield in Texas. "I was put on a ship to Karachi, where I trained Chinese crews on B-25s," he later stated in an interview. He returned to the States for intelligence training and was subsequently assigned, with the rank of 2nd lieutenant, to the 3rd Squadron in early March 1944. Young was an invaluable asset to the squadron with its mixed personnel, helping to relieve any friction that developed between the two very diverse national groups. He flew an additional five missions against targets in Burma during this period and remembered them well.
Crews were briefed on the evening of August 3 to hit separate targets: the Pangkham Bridge, Wanting supply area, and Myitkyina. The B-25s carried an aggregate bomb load of 24,400 pounds. The first element again hit the Pangkham bridge, which was reported as completely destroyed. Lt. Young referred to the bridge as "the Bhamo bridge" many years later in an interview, although its location was about thirty-five miles southeast of Bhamo. "I was part of the 10th Air Force in Burma and participated as a Navigator in a bombing mission to destroy the Bhamo Bridge,” he recalled. “Previous attempts to destroy the bridge had failed. It was important to do this because it was a supply route for the Japanese. Our plane was one of three [two according to the operational report] flying at low altitudes. My crew had a successful hit and the bridge was destroyed. We were awarded Air Medals." Young's summary of this mission in his first squadron historical report stated, "Photographs disclosed bridge completely destroyed."
Two days later, Mitchells flying in a two-plane formation hammered the Hsenwi Bridge. Each plane carried six 500-lb. HEs. The pilots dropped their bombs individually in six passes at low altitude, and three were direct hits that destroyed one end of the bridge. Planes encountered heavy machine gun fire around the bridge and from a nearby village. Although one aircraft received several hits in the tail section, no significant damage resulted. On the third pass, shrapnel hit Sgt. Li C. J. in the ankle, inflicting two wounds, according to the operational report, but Li later stated that his wounds were the result of ground fire. Shattered Plexiglas caused a cut above Lt. Young’s right knee as he was removing Sgt. Li from the tail turret during the attack. His courageous actions earned Young another Purple Heart.
2Lt. Young was promoted to first lieutenant in early December, He was noted in the morning report as sick in quarters with his seventh recurrence of malaria. Young had been the squadron's historical officer for the past five months. He wrote, in his final entry on December 31, a welcome message to new personnel: “To all the new officers and enlisted men who joined our squadron in the last two months, we put our best foot forward in the hope that they will enjoy being with us as much as we enjoyed being with them.” The 3rd Bomb Squadron moved in late January 1945 from Peishiyi (Baishiyi) to Liangshan (Liangping). Soon after the move was completed, Lt. Young was transported to Kunming to be hospitalized for yet another attack of malaria. He was released from the 3rd Squadron and transferred to the 95th Station Hospital, Detachment of Patients, order effective February 26. His name was dropped from squadron rosters as of February 28. Following another stay in the hospital at Kunming, Young returned to Liangshan to collect his belongings. He left for the US on April 10. By this time, he had experienced between fifteen and twenty recurrences of malaria.
After returning home from the war, Paul Young moved with his parents and siblings to Oakland, California. He attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947 and Master of Arts degree with a major in history (his thesis: “The Japanese industrialization of Manchuria”) and a minor in Oriental languages in 1948. He became a junior college teacher and was later employed as an engineer with Sirocco, Inc., in Fremont, California. Young acquired a commercial pilot license and worked with Transocean Air Lines Flight School out of Oakland Municipal Airport. He was recalled for Korean War service on July 10, 1950, and inducted on October 21, 1950. He served in Europe. Retiring as a lieutenant colonel from the Air Force, he was released from service July 31, 1952. He was later employed by Sirocco, Inc., Fremont, CA, as an engineer.
During his military career, Young was awarded the Pre-Pearl Harbor and Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medals, Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Medal with four Battle Stars, Air Medal, Victory Medal, American Campaign and China War Memorial Medals. He was an active member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars, 14th Air Force Association, Retired Officers Association, and Military Order of Purple Heart. Paul Young died August 3, 2006, in Oakland. His name was also recorded in social security claims records as "Wong Paul Chung.”
Read more of this intriguing story in The Spray and Pray Squadron: 3rd Bomb Squadron, 1st Bomb Group, Chinese-American Composite Wing in World War II.