Passed Tuskegee Airman remembered at Osan AB
Published July 22, 2008
By Capt. John Ross
51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- James T. Price, a former Tuskegee Airman and mentor to residents of the Songtan area for decades, passed away July 19 after succumbing to injuries suffered in an accidental fall several weeks ago.
Called J.P. by his close friends, Price joined the Army on Dec. 7, 1942. After serving in Tennessee, Texas, France, Germany and Belgium, he became one of the youngest members of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen in 1945. He served with the all-black unit as a B-25 aerial gunman until the military became fully integrated in 1949.
"He lived a long hard life, especially back in those days," said Laurence Lyons, Veterans of Foreign Wars commander in the Pacific Area. "He would joke, 'We were negroes back then, we weren't even colored back then.' He really set the foot forward for African Americans."
After a successful career including tours in the U.S., England and Korea, Price retired from the Air Force in 1966 as a master sergeant, the highest enlisted rank at the time.
His final year was spent serving at Osan as the first manager of the brand-new Challenger Club. He also married his wife, Sok Kyun, who would remain with him for the rest of his life.
He decided to enter civilian life but remained in the Songtan area, continuing work at Osan. He eventually established his own insurance company, Jim Price Insurance, which he used to help Airmen and local community members find their way through life.
"He was just an all-around good guy for so many of us," said Clarence Taylor, fellow Air Force retiree and long-time friend of Price. "He would take people under his wing and just be there if you needed him."
A few years later, Price discovered a baby crying in a stairwell, abandoned.
"He took care of anyone that needed help," said George Urban, who knew J.P. for 40 years. "He took that baby in and raised him as his own, and that man is now the president of a bank in Seattle. Everything he ever did was sincere."
Jerry Kroening, a retired master sergeant and friend of J.P. for 32 years, remembers meeting Price in 1976.
"I was a young staff sergeant back then, and he was one of the few people you could actually sit down and talk to," he said. "He grew up through hard times and he remembered what that was like. He wanted nobody else to come through that, so he did whatever he could to make sure people went in the right direction. That's the way he treated all people - he didn't care whether you were Korean, American, or whatever. He took care of people because he believed in that."
"There's lot of people in Songtan and around Korea that call him halabugi - grandfather," Mr. Taylor said. "The military community he helped so much is just scratching the surface of Jim's impact on this area."
As he grew older, Price took his role as a mentor and military celebrity more and more seriously, often appearing at a variety of events to speak about his experiences.
"He had a fantastic memory," Mr. Taylor said. "He was always willing to talk to young people about [the war], people who never heard of the Tuskegee Airmen. He was often invited to Black History Month and other festivities all over the peninsula."
J.P. is survived by his wife, Sok Kyun, and his son, Steven.
"You just can't name the things he's done," said Mr. Urban. "He would never, ever, turn anybody down, no matter what the circumstances were. You wanted it, you got it. That was Jim Price."
