American Legion Post 134 meets for lunch the second Thursday of every month at the Petite Auberge Restaurant in the Toco Hills Shopping Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

American Legion is an organization of U. S. Military veterans that share the ideals of service and patriotism.  If you are serving or have served in the military during war, you may be eligible for membership.  For more information, click on Join our Post.

Next Post Meeting
Date/Time: March 12th - 11:30 AM
Location: Petite Auberge Restaurant
Program: Chan Bin Yim

“Jim” Yim, was born in Korea, 23 years after the Japanese annexed his nation in 1910.

He was 12 when the end of World War II brought a close to Japanese occupation of Korea. Chan, who uses the westernized name, “Jim,” will describe his experiences growing up under Japanese occupation, including having to face east daily in grammar school and bow toward the Japanese emperor.

His uncle was kidnapped by the occupiers and forced to emigrate to mainland Japan where the demands of war had created a severe labor shortage. Jim’s grade school “field trips” were exactly that. The students were taken to fields and made to harvest crops because many farm laborers had been impressed to work in Japan or serve in its armed forces. To this day, he bears a scar on his finger from a sickle cut.

When American soldiers liberated the southern part of Korea in 1945, the people jumped for joy and were awed by these tall, blue-eyed white men.

Jim finished his education and went to work doing  laundry for GIs. He picked up English and eventually got a job with a U.S. government agency. This later brought him to Washington where he found work in the Korean Embassy as a teletype operator in a temporary residency status. A friend invited him to New York and told him to find a job in the help wanted section of the New York Times. That didn’t work, but he did get a position with RCA in communications. He was adept at Morse code.

Because some of his work involved classified information, it was suggested that he apply for citizenship and permanent residency. He interviewed for citizenship and was approved without having to take the usual examination.

He later worked with American Cyanamid from which he retired.

Prospective members are always welcome!

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