Veteran Stories

In the month of International Women’s Day, I would like to mention the three female air force cadets Nagihan Yavuz, Nimet Ecem Gönüllü, and Şuheda Sena Öğütalan. They were in their early twenties when they were arrested along with other military cadets on the night of the failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016. 

In May 2018, they were sentenced to life in prison on charges of attempting to overthrow the Turkish government by use of force. They said they were not aware of the coup attempt and were only acting on orders from their superior officers, who told them there was a terrorist attack. Their lawyer, Kemal Ucar, who believes in their innocence, calls them “The Fighting Angels” on his social media accounts. 

Below is from the three female imprisoned cadets’ letter to Euronews Turkey: 

“Like many, we were left in an unknown darkness with the night of July 15, where we were dragged against our will and which was not revealed.”

“However, although our indictment, which could be prepared 11 months later, is full of pages, not a single page mentions us. Our trial process, which started at the Heavy Penal Courts in the 16th month, ended in the 22nd month. 6 months is a very short time for some of us to receive life sentences and some of us to receive aggravated life sentences. During these 6 months, nothing has been done by the authorities to shed light on the incident we have fallen into. For example, although there are camera footage of the crime scene, it was not watched. All requests made in this context were denied. By extrajudicial executions, our lives were plunged into darkness just like that night. While all this was going on, we were not supported by any high-ranking commanders, who knew that the military cadets did not have the authority to intervene in anything, and who continued their duties at the time.”

“Despite everything, we are trying to keep our hope alive even though it gets harder as time goes on.” 

The July 15 coup attempt turned the lives of millions upside down. According to the Interior Ministry of Turkey, more than half a million people have been detained and more than 70 thousand people have been arrested since the failed coup for their role in the coup attempt. Opposition and human rights organizations say these trials have turned into a witch hunt with the allegations that thousands of people are on trial with insufficient and unlawful evidence. More than 125 thousand public servants including doctors, teachers, judges, prosecutors, policemen and military officers have been dismissed from duties by governmental decrees due to their alleged direct or indirect links to the failed coup. While the July 15 coup attempt left many questions unanswered behind, many believe that the failed July 15 coup was staged by Erdogan to consolidate his power and convert democracy to an authoritarian regime. According to Sweden-based Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2021 report, Turkey turned from a backsliding democracy to a hybrid regime, which is a combination of democratic and autocratic features in the same polity. Similarly, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) categorized Turkey as a “hybrid regime” based on its 2022 data. 

Sources: Euronews Turkey, Deutsche Welle Turkey, International IDEA, Economist Intelligence Unit

WWII KMT Veterans, On September 3 of each year, China commemorates the anniversary of Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II. Back then, the Chinese forces were composed of a tense alliance between the ruling Kuomintang Nationalists (KMT) and members of Mao Zedong’s Communist Party of China (CPC), who had been fighting a civil war since 1927.

KMT soldiers suffered the lion’s share of casualties, with deaths and injuries counted in the millions. Shortly after the end of WWII, China’s civil war flared up again, continuing until Mao established the People’s Republic of China in 1949. As a result most KMT veterans fled, relocating to the island of Taiwan. KMT soldiers and loyalists who remained in mainland China were subjected to mass trials, forced labor, and execution.

The few veterans of the war who survived these campaigns are now in their 90s, most living in poverty. And the government has long downplayed or denied their role in World War II. Their service has gone unrecognized for decades—many have only been eligible for pensions since 2013, and some have yet to collect. Only in the past few years have Chinese officials even grudgingly acknowledged the presence of WWII KMT Veterans, let alone their contributions to the country they call home.

Soul-shattering Stories

Here is the story Chinese veteran Sun Yibai, then 97. This was recorded during an interview at his home in Beijing on July 20, 2015. Sun once served as a translator with the storied Flying Tigers aviation brigade. But after the war he found himself on the wrong side of the Communist historical narrative. Along with thousands of others who fought for the Nationalists, he was part of enemy. Under Communist rule, their service led to imprisonment, persecution, and often death in the years after the 1949 revolution. Sun doesn’t have much time for the Communist Party’s claim to have led China to victory against Japan in WWII. “The Communist Party didn’t fight Japan,” he said. “They made up a whole bunch of stories afterward, but it was all fabricated.” That view challenges a basic premise underpinning this week’s lavish celebrations in Beijing of the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat: that Mao Zedong’s Communists were the saviors of the nation, battling against Japanese forces that began occupying parts of China in 1931 before launching a full-blown invasion in 1937. WWII KMT Veterans (continue reading)

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Indigenous Woman. While some Indigenous peoples faced discrimination both during and after the war, Clark-Jones recalled in a 2003 memoir that there was an atmosphere of camaraderie in the Armed Forces: “I never once felt any discrimination in the air force; it did not seem to matter that I was young, Aboriginal or a woman.… there was no time or place for discriminatory practices.”

A veteran of the Second World War, Clark-Jones joined the Aboriginal Veterans Society. She advocated for the fair treatment of Indigenous ex-service people. She was co-founder and first president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada. Clark-Jones devoted her life to seeking equality and greater power for women in Canada.

Fiercely patriotic, Bertha Clark-Jones joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at age 18 in 1940 (see also RCAF Women’s Division). After finishing her physical training course, Clark-Jones achieved the rank of corporal. And was put in charge of a squadron as drill instructor. She travelled the country in this role, working at various military bases. However, Clark-Jones remained disappointed in never having served overseas. After the war, she used her military experience to advocate for the fair treatment of Indigenous veterans and later joined the Aboriginal Veterans Society (see Indigenous Peoples and the World Wars).

While some Indigenous peoples faced discrimination both during and after the war, Clark-Jones recalled in a 2003 memoir that there was an atmosphere of camaraderie in the Armed Forces: “I never once felt any discrimination in the air force; it did not seem to matter that I was young, Aboriginal or a Indigenous woman.… there was no time or place for discriminatory practices.”

After leaving the air force, Bertha Clark-Jones intended to live close to her family. They were in the Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement in northern Alberta. While the Canadian government provided ex-service personnel loans to buy and farm land, as per the Veterans’ Land Act, Clark-Jones could not own land on the Métis settlement because she was a Indigenous woman.

Clark-Jones was also aware that “First Nations peoples lost their Status when they left the reserves to join up, and this in turn meant that they did not have any land or houses when they returned.” This was due to  provision of the Indian Act, which specified that First Nations soldiers who were absent from their reserves for four years lost their Indian Status. Witnessing this level of discrimination launched Clark-Jones’s advocacy for human rights and Indigenous women’s rights. (continue reading)