二战老兵传奇经历照亮美籍华人圈

戚永晔

2018年的第二天，一次特别的文化交流活动在杭州举行。来自美国波士顿的文化名流、出版大亨以及华侨代表与杭州出版界的朋友们进行了亲密的会谈。会上，波士顿市长马丁·华殊以及波士顿议会主席吴弭向杭州出版社送上了感谢状，对杭州出版社为中美文化交流所作的贡献表示感谢。

究竟是什么贡献，让美国朋友不远万里来到杭州？这一切源自于一本杭州出版社首发出版的名叫《华人之光》的书，而这本书的主人公、美国华人老兵黄君裕的故事，正是这份友谊的缘起。

诺曼底登陆的英雄

1941年，太平洋战争爆发后，为了弥补兵源不足，美国政府征召在美华人入伍。其时，抗战正如火如荼，不少海外华人已经通过各种渠道支持祖国。当听说美日开战时，他们毫不犹豫地穿上戎装应征入伍。据美国征兵总局统计，二战期间，在美国陆军服役的华人超过1.3万人，占美国华人总数的17%，是美国各族裔中参军人数占比最高的之一，他们中有20%在海外阵亡。

黄君裕，正是他们中的一员。

体检的时候，黄君裕身体非常好，海陆空三军都录取了他。出于对大海和天空的未知，年轻的他选择了陆军。没想到，他参加的第一场战役，就是人类历史上最惨烈、也是最光荣的战役——诺曼底登陆。

黄君裕隶属的美军第28步兵师，是登陆诺曼底的先遣部队。他们所登陆的位置就是著名的“死亡线”——奥马哈海滩，仅在这个登陆点，盟军就死了几千人，德军也死了一千多人。诺曼底美军公墓就建立在那里，那是美国设立在欧洲最大的公墓，里面有9000多美国士兵的墓碑，还刻着1500多位失踪士兵的名字。

在《华人之光》一书中他回忆：“登陆前几天，我们每天在海上兜一圈就回英国的海岸。6月6日那天则不同，我们没有再兜回来，而是一直开往法国，我知道要开始战斗了。战艇停靠后，我什么都没想就冲过去，登陆不久德军就不停扫射，我很幸运地躲过了子弹，在一个草丛中暂时躲避。我看见战友们一个一个地倒下，满沙滩都是尸体，顿时脑子一片空白，血淋淋的味道我至今记得。当时全团187人，就剩下我一个人了。”

登陆之后，黄君裕又转战法国、德国。他参加了许特根森林战役，那场战役从1944年9月19日到1945年2月10日，长达5个月，是二战中在德国本土进行的时间最长的战役，也是美军历史上时间最长的单一战役，所以打得非常辛苦，伤亡非常惨重。黄君裕当时是侦察兵，是第一批进入德国本土的美军战士之一。

黄君裕说：“那一次在战场上，一位坦克兵打开坦克盖，向我的勇敢致敬。这是超过我所有勋章的一生中最难忘的荣誉。”

最高军队荣誉勋章

二战结束后，荣立军功的黄君裕光荣退伍。在全社会普遍尊重退伍军人的美国，他也成了波士顿唐人街领袖之一，为唐人街的发展和文化作出很大的贡献，甚至还打败了纽约来的黑帮。

后来，黄君裕还做了波士顿安良工商会主席、创办过英语培训班、侨声音乐剧社，担任过十多个华侨社团的董事或主席。

在美国几十年的生活，黄君裕还见证了华人在美地位的逐步提高。他经历过华人在美饱受歧视、大多只能在中餐厅工作的时代;经历过美国排华立法的时代，甚至作为华人代表前去白宫抗议。“今天，华人华侨通过自己的努力和祖国的强大，已经普遍在美国社会享有平等地位了。”

退休后的黄君裕被波士顿市政府安置在一套小公寓中，公寓号码是606号，巧合的是，诺曼底登陆是在1944年6月6日。虽然他自己已经不求名利，但晚辈们觉得，作为荣立军功的二战老兵，在排华时代中他的经历因为各种原因被忽视，今天不应该继续被埋没。他的小儿子和女婿给美国联邦参议员约翰·克里写信，叙述了黄君裕勇敢作战的故事。这位参议员收到信后，认真地调取了档案，并深深地被黄老的故事震撼。2009年，他给黄君裕回信：“美国陆军黄君裕：今天，我骄傲地宣布，你获得了国家的最高军队荣誉勋章：紫心勋章、铜星勋章。请接受我最真诚的感谢。感谢你对国家作出的奉献，以及你表现出来的勇敢和忠诚。作为一位退伍军人，你的献身精神是大多数人所不能了解的……”

黄君裕将随信一起寄来的九枚勋章和克里来信的照片，与他刚去世不久的妻子的照片一起挂在墙上。

2012年，波士顿双语网主编、当地著名出版人李強结识了黄君裕。老人家传奇的经历和为正义作战的精神深深感动了他。“为黄老出一本传记。”李强当即这样决定。

与20世纪初的绝大多数中国移民一样，黄君裕来自广东台山。他只能说广东话，即便说英语，也带着浓重的台山口音。为此，李强请来一位广东话翻译进行访谈。即便如此，对谈依然比较困难。但李强孜孜不倦，前后采访黄君裕30多次。李强对老人的经历了解得非常清楚，他在采访中做了许多补充说明。

“黄老给我印象最深的，是他要为中国人争光的决心和不怕死的精神。此外，在战场上，敌人通常都不会在他们看到第一个人的时候开火，而是等到盟军的部队出现才开火，这个潜规则让冲在最前面的黄君裕反而死里逃生了。”李强说。

美籍华人圈的骄傲

2014年底，黄君裕传记的书稿完成。本来准备在美国出版此书的李强，因为特殊的机缘，与杭州画家葛云相识。葛云是书画大师诸乐三先生的外甥，当时正在美国举办画展，并捐赠给当地福利机构。当葛云听说黄君裕传的情节梗概，并阅读了书稿，给了李强一个特殊的建议：“作为华人的光荣，这本书如果在国内首先出版，会不会更有影响力呢？”endprint

这一建议为李强打开了大门，《华人之光》的书名也开始酝酿成形。当时，杭州出版社为迎接抗日战争胜利70周年正准备出版一套抗战及反法西斯战争的书籍。虽然已经搜集了很多中国战场的故事，但还未有其他战场的华人故事。黄君裕的故事让编辑们眼睛一亮，在葛云的推荐下，《华人之光》很快提上了出版日程。

2015年，《华人之光：登陆诺曼底的二战老兵黄君裕》，由杭州出版社出版，并于当年入选纪念中国人民抗日战争暨世界反法西斯战争胜利70周年重点出版物。2016年，该书英文版由波士顿美亚出版社出版。

该书介绍了黄君裕浴血奋战的历程，以及侨民漂洋过海开拓生存之地的奋斗史，折射了炎黄子孙自强不息、勇敢拼搏的精神，在美籍华人圈引起了广泛反响。“已逝去的无情岁月，留下硝烟弥漫的感人肺腑的史诗。”北美艺术家协会董事长黄镜明认为，黄君裕的英雄事迹，在美国独立战争的发源地波士顿地区值得永远铭记。

有讀者在阅读后写信给出版社：“感谢你们撰写《华人之光》所收集的大量第一手资料，让我对《排华法案》时期美国华人移民的艰辛生活，以及二战期间华人战士的历史贡献有了全新的了解。像黄君裕这样的老英雄是所有华人同胞的骄傲！”

On January 2， 2018， a ceremony was held in Hangzhou to mark the publication of the Chinese and English versions of ， a book that portrays the legendary experiences of Arthur Wong （Huang Junyu）， a World War Two soldier who was at Normandy Beach on D-Day.

Arthur Wong is a man of legend. He immigrated to Boston in 1938 from Taishan， Guangdong Province in southern China. After the outbreak of the Pacific Ocean War， the American Government called for Chinese Americans to sign up with American military forces. According to statistics of American authorities， over 13，000 Chinese served in the American army during World War Two. Twenty percent of them died in action overseas. Wongs health was okay and the navy， the air force and the army all wanted him. He chose the army as he thought he knew little about the seas and the sky.

Arthur Wong was among the first groups of American soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach on June 6， 1944. Of the 187 soldiers and officers in his unit， he was the only survivor on Omaha Beach. While interviewed for the book so many decades later， he said he still remembered the smell of blood in the air on the beach.

He fought in France and Germany as American military pushed deeper into Europe continent. He was in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest， the longest battle on German ground during World War Two. Wong was a scout. The biggest honor he received during the battle occurred when an American tank soldier opened the lid of the tank and saluted him for his bravery. In one of the first-hand interviews for the book， Wong declared it was the most unforgettable honor he ever received， even better than the nine medals that didnt come until 65 years later in 2009. He was seriously injured in November 1944 when the Allied Forces advanced into Germany.

After he came back to the civilian life， Wong made many contributions to the Chinese community in Boston and to the city itself. He has served in over ten community organizations. He has witnessed the huge changes in the Chinese community as well as in the American society over the decades.endprint

Wong does not want any fame or fortune. He lives in a one-bedroom apartment assigned to him by the Boston City Government. Feeling that his military deeds shouldnt remain unrecognized， his youngest son and a son-in-law wrote to Senator John Kerry about Wongs heroic deeds in World War Two. The senator looked into the archives and wrote back in 2009. In 2010， Arthur Wong finally received nine US military medals， including Purple Heart， Bronze Star with the help from Senator John Kerry. Wong put all the nine medals on the wall， beside a photo of his wife who had passed away not a long time ago.

The book was written by David Li （Li Qiang）， a publisher with Boston Bilingual Media & Publishing Inc. He met Wong in 2012. Touched by Wongs legendary life， he decided to write a book about the veteran. Like most Chinese immigrants to USA， Wong did not speak the mandarin. He speaks a dialect of Guangdong province and his English is heavily accented. To make interviews go smoothly， David Li engaged an interpreter. Altogether， Li conducted over 30 interviews with Wong. Toward the end of 2014， Li finished the book. He first thought to publish it in the US. He changed his mind after meeting with Ge Yun， an artist from Hangzhou who was holding an art exhibition in Boston. After reading the manuscript， Ge suggested that it be first published in Chinese in China， for it could reach out to more readers.

In 2015， the editors with Hangzhou Press were planning to publish a series of books to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory of Chinas War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 2017. The schedule included books about the best known battles during World War Two in China. With Ge Yuns recommendation， the manuscript came to Hangzhou Press. In 2015， the Chinese version of the book was published in Hangzhou. It was put into a list of key publications to honor the victory of Chinas War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the victory of the worlds anti-fascist war. In 2016， the English version was published in Boston.

As expected， the book became quite influential in China. Readers wrote to the publisher expressing their appreciation of the book. A reader said he now had a better understanding of the hardship the Chinese communities across the US experienced during the Chinese Exclusion Act years and of the heroic contributions Chinese soldiers made in US military forces during World War Two. A reader said we Chinese were proud of Wong.endprint