Jacqueline Chang and Frederick Chung

[00:03] JACQUELINE CHANG: Hi, my name is Jacqueline Chang. I'm 55 years old. The date today is May 14, 2021. I live on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and I am interviewing Fred Chung, who is my nephew.

[00:22] FREDERICK CHUNG: Hi, my name is Frederick chung. I am 26 years old. Today's date is May 14, 2021. I'm interviewing out of Bainbridge Island, Washington, and today I'm interviewing with Jacqueline Chang, who is my aunt.

[00:41] JACQUELINE CHANG: So, Fred, do you. Do you want to start off by asking any questions?

[00:46] FREDERICK CHUNG: Oh, absolutely, Jackie. So I guess one of the big things that really interests me that I know you and I have had conversations about in the past is what was. What do you think is the first big thing you remember when you first joined the Air Force?

[01:05] JACQUELINE CHANG: Oh, my gosh. The first thing, the biggest thing I remember, my first memory is that actually showing up at officer training school, or ots. And I can't remember the route that I took and how I got there, but officer training school was at Montgomery, Alabama, at Maxwell Air Force Base. And I just remember arriving so late, and I think I must have over packed. I had two huge suitcases. And when we got off the bus, I just remember people yelling at me, something about crossing the blue line, and just thinking to myself, what in the world did I get myself into? Because I knew nothing about the military, you know, before joining, I knew very little. I should say, not nothing. But I just remember it just took a long time to process. We had to fill out a lot of forms. And I just remember it getting really dark and late, and this tall officer trainee sitting next to me, they were talking to us about signing, filling out these blood sheets I guess, filling up our medical forms. And I just remember distinctly, like it was yesterday, this man sitting next to me saying, I ain't got no stinking blood sheet because he didn't have that form in his stack of forms. But, yeah, I think the first couple days of ots was pretty overwhelming, especially not being prior enlisted like you are. And so a lot of it was just what I thought the Air Force was going to be like, which in the end, it turned out not to be. How about you?

[02:41] FREDERICK CHUNG: Oh, for me. So my journey started back in 2013, back in August. I was a year out of high school to where, you know, when I graduated high school, I was a little wayward in terms of whether I wanted to pursue college education or just join the workforce. But it was actually due to early conversations that you had with me back when I was still in high school, kind of gauging me and my two older brothers on our interest in joining the military after finishing high school. And amongst the three of us, your words really only connected with me to where, yeah, I shipped off to basic basic training for the United States Air Force over at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. And the first things I really remember during that hectic day was much like yours, actually. It was arriving pretty late in the evening, like I'd say probably like 9pm after a series of planes and buses. When we got onto the base before taking us to our quarters, they take us to an auditorium where they had us fill out a series of paperwork things from screening us for flat footedness in case we needed special boots, asking all the recruits who just arrived who played instruments as they were trying to recruit for the Air Force band and all of that. And it was probably three or four hours after we had arrived onto Lackland Air Force Base that we actually got to our quarters. And after that whole storm of paperwork going from point A to point B, I remember laying on my bunk that night, just staring up at the upper bunk, just thinking like, oh, wow, everything's changed in a matter of 24 hours. And yeah, from there on, life, life changed for better, for worse. It was a new experience, no doubt.

[04:49] JACQUELINE CHANG: Was there ever a day when you had a regret of joining?

[04:54] FREDERICK CHUNG: You know, honestly, I don't think there really were any days where I thought to myself that I made a huge mistake because everything, everything in my life up to that point never really held as much gravity towards my future. And so with each passing day of training, from basic training to technical training to my days in the service, I never felt that my life was worsened by my decision to join the Air Force. If anything, it was pushing me forward, really developing, developing me into the person I am today. So never once was there did I feel regret for joining. How about yourself? Were there any big challenges that really made you think that perhaps you made the wrong decision?

[05:46] JACQUELINE CHANG: No, I think I can honestly say I've enjoyed every and appreciated, maybe not enjoyed every day, but I really did have an appreciation for every day that I served and have no regrets of having spent that time in the military. I was really surprised, Fred, you know, of the three boys, between you and your brothers and between Quinn, my son, I think you were the last person I would have expected to have joined and was really happy to hear that you did. And one of the things that I was impressed because nobody in our family had ever served and so I knew very little about the military. And one of the things that I always thought was interesting when I joined was other people who are legacy military members whose parents or grandparents had served, and it was a thing in their family to do. Right. So I felt really happy for that reason when I, you know, heard that you had decided to join. I'm really curious to ask you, though, what was the reaction of your parents and your brothers when you told them your decision?

[06:52] FREDERICK CHUNG: I think. I think what you had just said about how it seemed that I was the least likely to have joined the military was perhaps a common idea amongst my siblings and my parents, because, I mean, yeah, growing up as the youngest of three boys, I was kind of the follower, the youngest amongst them all, the quietest, the one that never really stuck his head out. And, like, even I myself felt a little surprised that I actually, you know, raised my right hand, swore the oath, and stepped onto that bus to go over to Lackland Air Force Base. And I think in hindsight, like, it was really the big push that I needed to really help discover my own independence and what I'm capable of. So, yeah, I mean, everyone was shocked, myself included. But I think that this was the big leap of faith in my upbringing that set me down the right path.

[07:55] JACQUELINE CHANG: Right. Yeah. Well, I'm glad you joined. I've been so proud of you, of the things that you've done so far in the short amount of time, and just even after we came to your graduation for basic training, it was amazing to see that transformation of what. How long was your basic training was like six weeks. Weeks or a month?

[08:15] FREDERICK CHUNG: It was eight and a half weeks at.

[08:19] JACQUELINE CHANG: It's amazing what eight and a half weeks can do to a person, but that was definitely. I remember flying. I was stationed in Korea at the time, and flying to Texas for your graduation was a big, big event. And it was great that most of the family could be there to see you graduate and participate and spend that time together. It was nice, especially after being overseas, to. To come home to. That was nice.

[08:46] FREDERICK CHUNG: Yeah. Yeah. Goodness, yeah. During my early years, you were still traveling out and about as you were still in the thick of your career. It's so. It's so funny to think about how, like, it almost seems like the torch was passed on to where, you know, you were towards the tail end of your career, and then I was just starting mine. And so I think that the perspectives that you gave me along the way, at least, like, coaching me during my early years, really helped me keep my goals in sight.

[09:19] JACQUELINE CHANG: Well, I'm glad to hear that. It'd be interesting to see in another, how many, what, 10 years, if maybe your children might join the military.

[09:32] FREDERICK CHUNG: You know, that's actually something that, like, I thought about and that I'd spoken with with my girlfriend Caitlin, of whether military service will eventually drift towards something that, as you mentioned, would become kind of a legacy thing within the family. But just as joining the Air Force was never really a serious thought, that occurred to me until, like, the end of high school. Unexpected things may happen, so who knows?

[10:00] JACQUELINE CHANG: Yeah. Well, it'll be interesting to see what kind of military that would be in your children's generation, because it certainly has been changed a lot, even since the moment that I joined, just even women's role in the military and our society has changed a lot. And it's interesting to see how our military has kept up or is trying to keep up. It's not perfect, but I think they're working hard on it.

[10:26] FREDERICK CHUNG: I agree with that. So, given that you have a whole career behind you now, tell me about some of the people that you met along the way.

[10:38] JACQUELINE CHANG: Oh, my gosh. I keep in touch with so many of my military friends. And, you know, a lot of that is due to social. The emergence of social media has enabled that, which is fantastic. I mean, I feel like I have friends all over the world. I can travel anywhere and find a friend there. But there are. You know, it's interesting because I'm thinking of different stories to write and record and know, write books or make movies about. I think about a band of sisters. And I think my military career. My assignments in Korea were the most impactful for various reasons, especially because I was born and raised in the United States. Going to Korea for the first time was an amazing experience because I felt. I call that my Discovering my roots tour. I felt like spending that year at Osan Air Base really gave me a different perspective and helped me to understand my mom and your dad, my brother and my sister, who were both born and raised in Korea and immigrated to the US in their late teens, early 20s. And being an American with a Korean face, being stationed in Korea, it was interesting to see. See how I was treated by the Korean people versus, you know, my friends who were not Korean looking. Right. So it was an experience that just have, you know, made so many memories, good and bad, mostly good. And then my subsequent tours in Korea, too. They were just full of surprises. And I think a lot of the things that came from those assignments were things that I find myself reflecting upon the most and the friends that I kept in touch with the most. You Know, before, even though I grew up in la, I didn't grow up in an area where there were a lot of other Koreans. So remember that. You ever watch Tarzan, the Disney movie Tarzan. And when Tarzan, he's raised by the apes, right? But the first time he sees Jane, it's that look on his face like, wow, there are other people, there's somebody like me. That's how I felt when I went to Korea, that there were so many people like me. Not just Koreans, but other Korean Americans serving. You know, the Korea assignments tend to attract a lot of the Korean Americans serving in the military. So to make friends with other people who had different backgrounds and, you know, we could talk about our families and understand each other culturally and, but also understand each other because we chose the same profession and serving in the same duty station, you know, working towards the same mission was something that I'll never forget and remember. And I still keep in touch with a lot of those friends, even friends that I didn't know well. I still continue to link up with them and get to know them and deepen my relationship and friendship with them. What about you? How about some of your friends that you've met in the military?

[13:46] FREDERICK CHUNG: Oh my, yeah, I've got a handful of friends I still stay in touch with. Some of them are still at the same location, Fairchild Air Force Base, where we had spent at least four years there together. And yeah, of them, we're all about the same age, reaching our mid-20s. Some of them are still serving, some of them got out before me or a little bit after me. Some of them have kids and some of them are onto bigger and better things. But yeah, all the people that I met from basic training through everything else up until when I separated, all came from various places, whether it was US territories like Puerto Rico or the east coast, the south, definitely people of very different cultural backgrounds in which, you know, before I joined and before I was forced to, you know, spend all my days with them, like, I never thought that I would have created such close relationships with all those people. And like, it's, it's amazing how, how military service or just having some common objective in mind can really bring people together. And so I still keep in touch with a lot of my friends. Actually one of my best buddies who I played soccer with, traveled with, met through the Air Force, went to each other's promotion ceremonies and everything. He's actually getting married this summer, in which I definitely look forward to attending. And back when we were, you know, 18 or 19 year old airmen like we would have kind of serious, kind of jokingly conversations about, like, oh, which one of us is going to get married first? To where, you know, we all spoke about it with, like, such levity that, like, oh, you know, I doubt it'll really ever happen. I don't really see that happening. But here we are, six, seven years later. Everyone's getting married, everyone's starting families. And it's kind of funny that when you're. When you're a brand new service member, you never think that those big life events are going to happen anytime soon. But before you know it, time flies by.

[16:11] JACQUELINE CHANG: I think that's what makes it so exciting for me to see you in the Air Force, because I'm enjoying your career path vicariously through you, because a lot of the things that you talked about are things that I enjoyed. And now that I'm passed, I almost. It's like looking back on a path and seeing you about to embark on the different milestones that I have. And so when you asked earlier about who I stayed in touch with, there are people that I knew from since second lieutenant that I still keep in touch with. And I look back and reflect on all the milestones that we had achieved together. But, you know, all the sorrow, all the hardships, all the different stories that we share and think how quickly 20 years goes by, 25 years, you know, and it's fun. It's fun because when we get together with some of my friends who are now in their 40s and 50s, when we get together, it's like we're all lieutenants again together, still, that youthful presence. And we'll laugh about certain memories and things like that. And I'm excited for you that you're gonna have this with people that you have met through the military in 10, 20 years from now. You'll know what I mean about what I'm saying right now. The relationship friendships you form are really bonding. It's a bit, you know, the band of brothers.

[17:42] FREDERICK CHUNG: I actually just finished watching that, like, a couple weeks ago. But, yeah, speaking of, like, yeah, the bonds that you make, like, I'm even now going through the construction of new bonds because since separating from active duty back in 2020, I started attending the University of Washington in Seattle, to where I'm seeking a commission through the Air Force ROTC program. And although my peers and fellow cadets are, you know, a couple years younger than myself, like, I still, like, feel like we're going through that same stage when everyone's in training, going through all the hardships and all the early hours of PT and studying. I feel like even now my cadet years are going to be another fresh set of memories and relationships to look back upon.

[18:33] JACQUELINE CHANG: Yeah, yeah, the whole thing about make new friends but keep the old, one is silver one and the other is gold. It's so true in your military career because every base you go to, you'll make new friends, but then you'll hang on to the ones that you met early in your career and you cross paths multiple times. It's fun when you run into people that you knew from, you know, several years back and you run into them because you both get stationed at the same place and then you just pick up from where you left off from when you last saw each other. And it could be five years, six years, but it will seem like it was yesterday when you just spent time with each other.

[19:12] FREDERICK CHUNG: What do you think would have been the most random or strangest case of seeing someone that you'd previously served with and just like so, like taken by surprise.

[19:25] JACQUELINE CHANG: Oh gosh, that's a good one. I don't know if I was ever surprised, you know, because it happens so frequently. You just get used to it and it becomes common. So, you know, when I joined, we didn't have social media and so that probably was more surprising back then because we didn't know what friends of ours were doing in detail like we do nowadays looking at people's Facebook or their, you know, Instagram. And so it's hard, it was harder to keep track. So then it was a surprise to run into each other. But I'm trying to think of when, when that happened. Usually if you go to an assignment or a class and then first thing I always did was look at the rosters to see if I knew anybody that was going to be in class with me. So I'm sure there were a couple surprises back then. But nowadays, you know, people can keep tabs on who's where. And a lot of times they'll know, like if they get their assignment notification, they'll reach out to their friends, hey, I'm coming to where you are. So that's always fun to see. And so I imagine that's what it's going to be like for you once you get your first assignment, that you're going to know people where you're going to. And sometimes, you know, your best of friends, they'll try to get to the next assignment to the same place if they want to stay together. So that can happen. Too bad they don't have a joint friend they Have a joint spouse program where you can get stationed together. Although I heard the army does. Does have something like a buddy join program that you can join with a friend and they'll be promised to station you together at the first duty station or something like that. I don't know. They still do that anymore. But.

[21:05] FREDERICK CHUNG: You know, it wasn't until I joined the Air Force that I started hearing so much everyone just say, like, oh, it's a small world. Because though I didn't quite have the luxury of traveling so much, at least whenever it came to people deploying and coming back with. After having met new people downrange, you do start to just see, like, that web being weaved of, like, everyone starting to get to know everyone from all the various places around.

[21:34] JACQUELINE CHANG: It's like that seven degrees of Kevin Bacon applied to the military.

[21:40] FREDERICK CHUNG: Yeah, because, gosh, I thought it was so, like, strange when I was brand new over at Fairchild Air Force base and the 92nd Maintenance Squadron that you were so curious on finding out who was in my chain of command, like, who our squadron commander was, who our maintenance group commander was, because coincidentally, two out of the three commanders that I had were former students of yours.

[22:06] JACQUELINE CHANG: That was fun to learn. Yeah, that was fun.

[22:11] FREDERICK CHUNG: I'm excited.

[22:12] JACQUELINE CHANG: Oh, go ahead.

[22:13] FREDERICK CHUNG: It really makes it. It really does make it feel like I am almost kind of carrying on the career that you already set forth, because, like, there's still connections from even after you were retired. Like, there were still connections that you had with the military that were somewhat relevant to me.

[22:33] JACQUELINE CHANG: In fact, Don Vandenbush and I were second lieutenants together at Edwards Air Force Base. So we would have laughed if, you know, back then, as second lieutenants really thought, you know, one day, Don, you're going to be the commander of my nephew who's going to be in your squadron for your unit. When you're second lieutenant, you don't think that far ahead. You can't imagine a life, you know, to pass the two to three year, you know, past the next assignment and pass the next two years. So it's almost like I can't wait for you to get stationed in Korea one day. I think that's going to be very exciting for you. A great experience as a Korean American to be able to discover your roots and to have better understanding of your mother and father and just to know the history of the country from where your parents came from. And it will be so meaningful to serve a mission that maybe brings our family history full circle in terms of a potential unification in Korea.

[23:35] FREDERICK CHUNG: Mm.

[23:37] JACQUELINE CHANG: There's a lot going on there, so. And I'll plan to visit you. I plan to visit you when you get stationed there too.

[23:46] FREDERICK CHUNG: Oh, yeah. I definitely plan to invite you and a lot of the family that wants a good reason to go over to Korea and have a free place to stay, so. Yeah, definitely looking forward to being over there at some point.

[24:03] JACQUELINE CHANG: Go through some of these questions and see if there's anything else that you wanted to ask. Yeah.

[24:13] FREDERICK CHUNG: Oh, actually, I have a good one. All right, so since my experience was only on the enlisted side of the Air Force, and of course, you were in the officer corps, what sort of pranks did other officers pull on each other?

[24:27] JACQUELINE CHANG: Well, I can tell you a couple pranks that enlisted pulled on me as an office. So Chief, or he was a senior mass at the time, Mark Greatorex. In fact, we still stay in touch, and I may go see him when I go to Utah next month. But we were deployed to Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, and as a maintenance officer, I think I was a captain at that time. You kind of go through this. Oh, what do you call that? Like, what do you call it when you new person and you get. You go through, like, these trials? What's the word for that?

[25:05] FREDERICK CHUNG: A rite of passage?

[25:06] JACQUELINE CHANG: Kind of a rite of passage. I guess you can say rite of passage. Not hazing, for sure. But there's.

[25:13] FREDERICK CHUNG: This doesn't exist anymore.

[25:15] JACQUELINE CHANG: Hey, Captain, let me show you how we change a tire on those aircraft. So, of course, you know, you go out there and you watch, and then they go, oh, you want to help taxi this aircraft or you want to taxi the plane? I said, sure. So you have to put on the headset and the speaker, right? So what you don't know is that they line the speaker with brake, you put on the mask, and then you're listening to headset, and you think you do a great job in taxiing the aircraft. And then when you're done and you give the headset back, you have this black mark. That wasn't good fun. That was the type of things, I think, oh, here's another one that was priceless. When I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, we had an F15 squadron. And so, you know, the engines are pretty large and square, and you can fit people in them. So our squadron commander was Lt. Col. Derek Hess, I believe was his name. And one of the maintainers comes to Colonel Hess, sir, you know, we have a problem. We have a crack in the intake. It's like, you need to come take a Look at this. So they go over. So he walks them down the flight line, and then all the engines have the COVID on it. So they ask Colonel Hess to pull off the intake cover. And there's a guy sitting in the engine with his pants down, mooning. There was a crack in the intake. Thankfully, he had a really good sense of humor, because that could have gone really bad. But that is, I think, typical aircraft maintenance humor in the Air Force. I hope I haven't given anybody out there any ideas, but that's what we did.

[27:05] FREDERICK CHUNG: Yeah. Good old maintenance world. Yeah. One of the cheeky things we would always tell our new airmen, who were always, you know, tasked with checking out all of our equipment from the tool crib.

[27:20] JACQUELINE CHANG: Right.

[27:21] FREDERICK CHUNG: Myself and all the other senior airmen, whenever, like, when we had the role of kind of just being like, either team leads or trainers, we would always tell our newest guy that has never really checked out tools before to go over the tool crib. And we send them with the. With the assignment of to go check out a toolkit called the ID10T box, which, if you write that out, it says idiot. There are funny instances where we sent someone over to the tool crib to go ask for that. And even the person at the tool crib that checks out tools was, like, so confused on, like, what that was to where we ended up confusing two people about it. But, yeah, of course, maintenance world, they were a lot more, let's say, not abrasive but offensive pranks that were pulled.

[28:14] JACQUELINE CHANG: But, yeah, they can probably cross the line in some ways.

[28:18] FREDERICK CHUNG: Right. But in the end, as long as no one gets hurt, it's all in good fun.

[28:23] JACQUELINE CHANG: There were some. Yeah. Other rights of initiation. That was the word I was trying to think of some initiation pranks. Another one was, oh, you need to go get, you know, a yard of flight line. Go get it. Go ask. Go to the supply shop and ask them for a yard of flight line or something like that. Or what was another one getting. Getting trash bags. Large trash bag.

[28:47] FREDERICK CHUNG: Exhaust samples, exact air samples, exhaust samples.

[28:52] JACQUELINE CHANG: We need you to take these trash bags and fill them up and tie them up and then bring them into the ops room and let them know you have your samples.

[29:00] FREDERICK CHUNG: There's that or there's also. What is it? Reverberation checks. You have someone at the intake of this, you know, enormous F108 jet engine. You have someone scream into the intake. It has to be at the exhaust to see if they can hear. Such funny, funny pranks. But exhaust samples is definitely the funniest when you see an airman running around with a bag trying to catch exhaust samples and then bag it up.

[29:31] JACQUELINE CHANG: Let's see. Any stories in particular that you would want to share? That or memories that you think that you'll remember 10, 20 years from now?

[29:40] FREDERICK CHUNG: Oh, gosh. I think the memories that stick the most in my mind are the ones that were by far the most miserable in the moment. So it was me and my best buddy, Nicholas King, who separated back in 2018 to go back home to California. And he and I were like the dynamic duo of our graveyard shift in the shop. Because, you know, our graveyard shift was maybe 5 total people, but he and I were like the, you know, the heavy hitters on the shift. And we were tasked by our shift lead to go out to a jet which was over on, like the complete other end of the flight line. And given this was in like February in Eastern Washington, so it's still definitely the dead of winter over there. And we had to pretty much perform some tasks that required us to either be on top of the aircraft wing and another person on the underside inspecting the inside of a cavity. And like, before we were given that assignment, we showed up to work in good spirits because, you know, we were, we were on shift with our best bud. So, like, we were so happy at starter shift. But when we went out there and when, of course, the worst possible case scenario happened with maintenance, as it always does, it ends up being that three hours later, we're still out on the jet for a task that would have normally taken only 20 minutes under favorable conditions to where it just ends up being he and I screaming at each other, one of us on top of the wing, freezing their butt off, one of us down below the wing, up on a maintenance stand with our head in the aircraft, and we're just yelling at each other, frustration, so mad. And it was just like we were at each other's throats, like, not even joking. We were just so fed up with, with each other and the situation. But, like, after, like, pretty much right after we got back inside, warmed up, had some food. Like it was originally. Dude, that was the worst thing ever. And we both just agreed that, like, this is the epitome of aircraft maintenance and it's hardships.

[32:02] JACQUELINE CHANG: But you're still good friends now?

[32:04] FREDERICK CHUNG: Oh, absolutely. We keep in touch. And actually I might be trying to surprise visit him sometime this summer. His girlfriend wanted to fly me out because they actually moved over to Texas last summer during the coronavirus and all that. But yeah, it's been probably Two and a half years since I'd seen him. So I think it'll be a very pleasant surprise.

[32:28] JACQUELINE CHANG: Oh, that'll be now.

[32:29] FREDERICK CHUNG: He's got this big old beard and he works as an electrician over there, so that's awesome. It'll be nice to see him again.

[32:34] JACQUELINE CHANG: I think that's one of the best things about the military are the friendships you form and keep after you leave. So one of the things that I look forward, you know, I don't know if you'll go on any deployments when you go back as an officer and if you'll end up going on any assignments overseas. But one of the things that I wanted to share with you in terms of my biggest memory from the 21 years was when I was deployed to Prince Sultan Airbase at Saudi Arabia. How it's back then, you know, never always took the ability to drive for granted. And to visit a country where women weren't allowed to drive was really interesting and amazing. And I remember, of course, I had my own truck because I was a maintenance officer and I had to drive from the living compound to the flight line every day. And people there weren't used to seeing women drive vehicles. And so every day for 90 days, people put down their shovels as I drove past any construction sites just to watch me drive by. I used to love just waving to them because they think. They're probably thinking, who knows what they thought? But we were pretty much confined to the base the whole time. And one day I had a pass to go with some other officers to run some errands into the town. And what was interesting is I had to check out what they called a abaya was what they wore in Saudi Arabia for women. It was a black garment that covered all of your body except for your face, had to cover your hair, the black robe. And it was me and two other male officers. And when we went to go pick up something, we stopped by this cafe to eat lunch. And as I was following them into the cafe, I noticed a sign with this little window. It said, women's only window. And I said, oh, that's interesting, they have a women's only window here. And then when I try to get into the cafe, there was somebody in there who put their hands up and said, stop, you can't come in here. You have to order your lunch from the women's only window and sit out there on the sidewalk and have your lunch. And that just floored me, you know, to be told that. And I didn't even. I was just so stunned that I didn't even. I couldn't even be insulted. I was just. What I was thinking, what? So my two friends, friends, of course, they got their lunch and they sat out with me on the cement stool and we lunched together on the sidewalk. And it was interesting to see the looks of the Saudi men as they walked by. Looking at my friends thinking, why are you sitting out here on the sidewalk when you should be inside in the restaurant? Is what I imagine they thought. But that tour really brought it home to me about the appreciation of freedoms that we have in America that we take for granted. And it took that experience for me to have a full appreciation of all these things. And, you know, our country has gone through a lot of turmoil the last year, but we still have so many freedoms and good things that they don't have in other countries. And we're really fortunate to have been born in this country as a lot of stuff in the news probably affirms that idea. So I think that was probably the biggest takeaway from having served in the military and having the opportunity to go to other countries. So I really encourage, Fred, that when you get opportunities to go to other countries, that you take those and don't always stay home. Go as far away as possible as much as you can, while you can. There'll be plenty of time to come home later.

[36:08] FREDERICK CHUNG: Yeah, absolutely. I agree. Since I'm still not even halfway through the military career that I hope to have, I think it is extremely important while I'm still young and able to see as much of the world as I can, expand my horizons and pretty much have the most colorful life that I can through experience rather than staying just within my comfort zone. So, yeah, I hope that the military career that I have will be as eye opening as yours was, Aunt Jackie.

[36:46] JACQUELINE CHANG: I'm excited to watch your adventures.

[36:50] FREDERICK CHUNG: Don't worry.

[36:51] JACQUELINE CHANG: I'm so proud of what you're going to do.

[36:53] FREDERICK CHUNG: Katie and I will be inviting you at all the interesting places I look forward to visiting. So I don't know. Do you have any closing questions, Aunt Jackie?

[37:09] JACQUELINE CHANG: No, I just think I look forward to attending your graduation at UW and hopefully being there when you get promoted to second lieutenant.

[37:23] FREDERICK CHUNG: Yes. Just as you were there for when I first became an airman back in 2013. I hope you will be right there to watch me hit every new milestone along the way.

[37:36] JACQUELINE CHANG: It.