SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ruth Chan Jang was shopping on K Street.
"That was a Sunday... People on the street were yelling," said Jang, who is now 100 years old. While much of her memory has now faded, she still recalls pivotal moments in her life, including her time in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) during World War II.
"This girlfriend of mine said, 'Let's go join.' I said, 'OK,' and that's how I joined the Army. 1943, so I was 21," said Jang.
During WWII, many women supported in the war effort on a volunteer basis.
"Nearly 6 million women took on factory jobs using drills and hammers and really trying to help build the wartime industry," said Dr. Lily Anne Yumi Tamai, assistant professor of the Department of History at Sacramento State.
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When the WAC was formed, more than 150,000 women joined. However, there's not much recorded history about how many Chinese American women served.
"There were very few women who were eligible of a certain age, and who were actually physically fit to be able to serve," Tamai said. Because of this, some Asian American women, particularly those of Chinese descent, were in integrated units.
"I was the only Chinese there. I (had) never seen any Asian (women)," said Jang.
Jang would go on to talk about how she started in Des Moines, Iowa, where she received basic training for six weeks, learning how to read maps and wear gas masks. From there, she was sent to Moody Field in Georgia, which began as an Army Air Corps pilot training base, as a clerk. In New York, she was promoted to corporal.
"I was put in a station hospital and got to live in a nurse's quarter... I have my own room, that was nice," said Jang.
When the war was over, Jang was 23.
Tamai said stories like Jang's are crucial to understanding the impacts that Asian American women have had throughout history.
"It's so important for us to recognize the contributions of Asian American women during WWII, in large part because Asian American women's history and voices are often not the centers of the story... We have a nation that has always been diverse," said Tamai.
Ultimately, Jang described her service in the WAC as a period of time where she got to travel, meet new friends and find acceptance.
"I wasn't afraid to join because I just thought it would be an adventure," said Jang.
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