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Author of the Week: Jonathan Leung

Jonathan Li-Chung Leung volunteers on the USS Blueback (SS-581) at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland where he started leading public tours in 2002, and is now involved mostly with the maintenance crew and in special projects. He now works as Air Traffic Control Specialist at Honolulu Control Facility.  

Throughout his life, author Jonathan Leung has always gravitated toward people in his communities and the stories they have to share. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Jonathan turned a fourth-grade interest in naval history into a high school volunteer opportunity at the local science museum, where he led guided tours of a decommissioned submarine docked on the Willamette River. Many of his fellow volunteers are Navy veterans, who eagerly shared their fascinating stories over the years. As these veterans-turned-friends aged, Jonathan decided that it was of paramount importance to preserve their stories, the existence of which proved as fragile as the elderly sailors who breathed life into them.

In 2009, after graduating from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, Jonathan made his first trip to Hawaii, to conduct research in the archives at Pearl Harbor. He would return on several occasions, until permanently settling on Oahu in 2016, having transferred to the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu as an air traffic controller, his primary career of choice.

Jonathan has also expanded his volunteer work to the USS Bowfin and The Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum at Pearl Harbor, where he is assisting with the creation of a docent program and preparing for the grand reopening of the core museum. He enjoys traveling to the different islands and meeting people in the local communities, as well as sharing the submariners’ stories - many of which took place in Hawaii years ago - with everyone.

 

 

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Date: 03/20/2021
Time: 4:00am - 5:00am
Place:

On Line Event
United States