An American Dream: The Life of an African American Soldier and POW Who Spent Twelve Years in Communist China

by Clarence Adams

Throughout his life, Clarence Adams exhibited self-reliance, ambition, ingenuity, courage, and a commitment to learning―character traits often equated with the successful pursuit of the American Dream. Unfortunately, for an African American coming of age in the 1930s and 1940s, such attributes counted for little, especially in the South.

Adams was a seventeen-year-old high school dropout in 1947 when he fled Memphis and the local police to join the U.S. Army. Three years later, after fighting in the Korean War in an all-black artillery unit that he believed to have been sacrificed to save white troops, he was captured by the Chinese. After spending almost three years as a POW, during which he continued to suffer racism at the hands of his fellow Americans, he refused repatriation in 1953, choosing instead the People's Republic of China, where he hoped to find educational and career opportunities not readily available in his own country.

While living in China, Adams earned a university degree, married a Chinese professor of Russian, and worked in Beijing as a translator for the Foreign Languages Press. During the Vietnam War he made a controversial anti-war broadcast over Radio Hanoi, urging black troops not to fight for someone else's political and economic freedoms until they enjoyed these same rights at home.

In 1966, having come under suspicion during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, he returned with his wife and two children to the United States, where he was subpoenaed to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to face charges of "disrupting the morale of American fighting forces in Vietnam and inciting revolution in the United States." After these charges were dropped, he and his family struggled to survive economically. Eventually, through sheer perseverance, they were able to fulfill at least part of the American Dream. By the time he died, the family owned and operated eight successful Chinese restaurants in his native Memphis.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, China, Cultural, Memoir

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a very precious book telling what happened during Korean war from perspective of a black soldier. It gave insight of racial separation in the south before he was enlisted as a machine gunner. The racism he was facing in the military, during the combat, subjecting captured, in POW.

Adams gave strong reason why he chose China and why he made the "infamous" broadcasting to black solders who is fighting for Vietnam war.

There are tender moments in meeting his wife Lin, his last days with his daughter Della. Clarence Adams is a people's person, his friends, colleagues, fellow students in China can testify.

The book also put historical propaganda into question from both side. Only people like Adams lived on both sides.

Adams had dear memory of people he encountered in China, a farmer nearby bring an egg fresh laid to his new born daughter, a fisherman bring fish. The villagers nearby talked about how will a baby of a black dad and Chinese mom will turn out: checker, front black back white or zebra; every relieved when Della was born a beautiful light skin girl.

The ending life of Adams wasn't regretful his life choices, but sorry for not providing his beloved wife a good life. He worked at his Chop Suey restaurant until his last days. When he was in the POW, he asked the Chinese to provide them material too cook American food; when he was in Beijing working for foreign press, he cooked soul food for African diplomats; when he came back to US, he cooked Chinese food, or a black version Chinese food for rest of his life.

[Max Heimowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarence Adams enlisted in the army so as to not be hurt/arrested in a racist attack against him in the American south. Little did he know that he'd be whisked off across the world to fight in the Korean War, and then proceed to be captured as a prisoner of war. Following the war's conclusion, Adams was given the opportunity to repatriate, and to return home to the United States. Yet, he was not required to do so, and as a result, he, along with 21 American soldiers, resettled in China. He married a Chinese woman, had children, and lived a rather happy, peaceful life in China. Then he finally came home, only for HUAC in Congress to subpoena him and question his loyalty.

Adams ends his memoir with a particularly powerful few lines:

I was determined to be my own person and control my own destiny, and no one else was going to define who I was or tell me what I was supposed to do. When you think about it, isn’t this what America is supposed to be all about?

He echoes a similar sentiment interwoven throughout his time fighting in the Korean War and then being held as a POW at Camp 5; on the battlefield, he was a pawn for American governmental interests. He recalled, rather poignantly, the white soldiers who left a black soldier defenseless, at the mercy of the North Korean army, in one particular battle -- and he relays this to the members of the HUAC when he is called in for questioning. Even on the battlefield inequality was ubiquitous, inescapable. So why should he return home, only to met with trials for being a "Commie" or Communist sympathizer/traitor, in addition to facing American racism back home, rather than abroad?

Adams, when questioned, continuously reiterates the point that as part of his repatriation agreement/accord, he could choose to go to any country of his choosing to "honor [his] request for freedom, equality, education, and happiness" (126). China seemed to offer a new chance at life (however hyperbolic that might sound) than what Memphis, his birthplace, could offer; so why not take it?

Adams found himself an adherent of a "religion," a religious ideology -- albeit not necessarily on his own accord, for he was somewhat indoctrinated as a POW, and then benefited greatly from the Chinese Communist system -- for the American "religion" could not suit him; living in China offered the prospect of "freedom, equality, education, and happiness." And that, he found -- he was educated, had greater freedom -- and while it was certainly not ideal, China offered greater prospects than going back home. Was he not just after a more fulfilling life? Who are we to judge for making that decision?

This memoir was immensely fascinating, although I didn't totally vibe with the writing style; it felt too flat and direct, perhaps even too straightforward, for its purposes. However, I still very much enjoyed pondering the ethical quandaries of Adams' decision, and seeing another side of the Korean War, one that is not often discussed in a history class!

[Carlos Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A warm and insightful memoir from someone who lived through some fascinating moments in history. Clarence Adams grew up in segregated Memphis, fought for 'freedom' in a segregated army in Korea, spent three years in a Chinese-run POW camp, and then chose to make China his home rather than returning to live as a second class citizen in the US. He earned a degree in Chinese literature in Wuhan, worked for the Foreign Languages Press in Beijing, met Mao and Zhou, broadcast messages to African-American soldiers in Vietnam, married a Chinese woman and started a family. Returning to the US in the early years of the Cultural Revolution, he never succumbed to the pressure to denounce China, and was able to use the education, understanding and confidence he developed there in order to set up a successful chain of Chinese restaurants in Memphis. An enjoyable and enriching read.

[Sumi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author has an interesting story to tell and one that he probably couldn't have told much earlier. Feelings about those who chose to remain in China after the Korean War were still running high even after the twelve years when he decided to return.

Considering the life he had in America, the opportunities he was being offered were undoubtedly better than anything that awaited him upon his return. His decision to return to America were based on the cold realization that the privileged life he was enjoying there was coming to an end.

I wish I had liked the book more and I can't really put my finger on why I didn't. Perhaps it was the style. I don't know. I still believe that his is a story worth hearing, I just wish I could have given it a better rating than 'okay', but unfortunately, that's the way I felt.

[Douglas Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique perspective on the Korean War, as Adams, a POW, chose to remain in China instead of being repatriated to America after the end of the war. Branded a traitor to his country, Adams explains that after his experiences in the POW camp, which were not as terrible as the Americans made it out to be, that he decided to give China a chance after not only being abandoned by his unit during the war, but by the American public because he was black.

The book was more a collection of his stories from the oral tradition, organized by his daughter and a biographer, and so it reminded me much of Malcolm X's autobiography, a heartfelt and genuine piece about what he believed in and what he went through. I enjoyed hearing snippets about the war itself, as much of that information is buried in America's past, and the actual happenings of what went on behind the DPRK lines. Although not a communist, Adams' experiences led him to go on Radio Hanoi during the Vietnam War to petition the same thing to black soldiers, telling them that they had black soldiers on the riskiest assignments and fighting really for the white man while black people still suffered in America.

I appreciated this perspective because of its rarity, very few in depth Korean War accounts exist, and much less from American defectors who wrote at least in a sympathizing way to China and the DPRK, if not in support. His follow up experiences in China confirmed what he believed, that China's treatment of black people was nowhere near as terrible as in the United States. A must read for American anti-imperialists.

[John McNulty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting man. Noble but a little bitter. The writing is very matter of fact but it almost undersells the extraordinary events this man was both an instigator and a victim of. We are all on the floating tide of history but Clarence Adams was more than most on the floating tide of both history and politics but what he really wanted was just a fair shake.

[Wyatt strawbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting book, with a fascinating and true story! Obviously the story telling isn’t the most compelling or elegant stuff, but the experience is just very remarkable. Great political perspective. Not so so much to say, just solid.

[Port Moresby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book from a complex individual. It’s really hard not to have sympathy for Clarence Adams’s situation. Adams deserved better after he returned from China but was able to cobble together a successful life even as a Cold War pariah.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a first person account of US Army segregation and the black experience during the Korean War. Also recommended for anyone wanting to research POW experiences during the Korean War.

[Baron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick and easy read that should be required reading in schools to teach about how racism, and pre-conceived notions, can sometimes trap us and punish people. This should really be made into a movie, and reparations for Clarence Adams should be sought.

Note: You can read this book for free online via the Internet Archive at OpenLibrary.org with a free user account there. You can even use their text-to-speech feature to listen to the book.

[Florence Buchholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This man has my sympathy for what he had to endure both in his native country and in China.