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Interview Details

Interviewee(s):

June Lee

Interviewer(s):

Tony Hong Liu

Date of Interview:

October 17, 2016

Communities:

Asian American, Korean, South Korea

About

June Lee is an Asian American, U.S. Army veteran based in North Carolina. She was interviewed not only because of her experience as a veteran but also because of her positionality as an Asian woman within a predominantly white, male environment. She began by describing her upbringing in Seoul, South Korea and subsequent move to the U.S. as a teenager. Lee explains that the transition was difficult because of language and cultural barriers. After turning 21, Lee looked for ways to obtain U.S. citizenship representing another difficult period in her life. Lee’s family pondered over whether she should return to Korea or stay in the U.S. They decided she should obtain international student status at UCLA. After, she explains how college was difficult, not knowing whether her decisions in college came from her desires or her parents’ wishes. After college, Lee looked for routes to citizenship explaining why she joined the Army. She received expedited citizenship in exchange for military service through a program called MAVNI. Thereafter, Lee describes her basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina and how the experience was difficult but not overwhelming. She was trained to be a food inspection specialist. She also completed administrative tasks and worked with special operations. Lee describes feeling insecure about parts of her military experience, because MAVNI did not have a well-defined structure for the program’s active-duty members. Her first assignment was to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Next, Lee describes the food she ate and the music she listened to during service. Neither made too large of an impression on Lee, but images of trees and swamps did. Thereafter, the conversation moves to Lee’s experience as both an Asian and Asian women in the Army. She notes how MAVNI participants included many other Asians, so her Asian identity did not stand out; however, Lee’s Asian womanhood was pronounced. She explains how people outside of Fort Bragg viewed Lee as an army wife because many military members had Korean wives. Lee explains how she pushed herself to fight the view that she was a dependent, Korean female. Lee notes that she had a sense of disdain for these wives because of the ease and perceived illegitimacy in their paths to U.S. citizenship when she faced strife in that process. She describes feelings of pride at her boot camp graduation but was not particularly happy in the military. Lee then explains not wanting to stay in the military past her appointment and her natural transition to civilian life. Thereafter, Lee notes that she was married before her service, but that she did not want to receive citizenship from her husband. After the military, they got a divorce. As a civilian, Lee has applied organizational discipline to her daily life. Lee concludes by detailing a lesson from her time in the military, not stereotyping and labeling people based on external characteristics – something she aims to incorporate in her present life. This interview is part of the Southern Oral History Program’s project to document veterans’ experiences in North Carolina.

Listen to June Lee’s story below