'A True World War II Black Soldier' Turns 100 On Juneteenth

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN —Debbie McClain worried her friend James A. Been's 100th birthday would be overshadowed by Juneteenth celebrations in a city stricken by the coronavirus pandemic and a reckoning over its policing policies.

But then she realized the life of her friend — a Black veteran who survived World War II, the Spanish Flu, a Great Depression and COVID-19 — was a Juneteenth celebration in of itself.

"He's our hero," McClain said. "When I say 'hero,' I mean New York, I mean Bedford-Stuyvesant."

Been celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by family, friends and more than a few surprise well-wishers outside his lifelong Bed-Stuy home.

They greeted him with gifts, a proclamation from Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, cake, balloons, visits from young relatives and honks from passing cars. A handout called him "A True World War II Black Soldier."

It wasn't just a celebration of Been's life — it was history coming together in one person and place.

"I'm just shocked," Been said. "Sometimes I can't believe it."

Been was born 55 years to the day the last slaves in Texas learned they were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.

He was raised in Bed-Stuy. In fact, he has lived in the same Halsey Street house on a block between Marcy and Tompkins avenues for nearly his entire life.

From his steps and windows, he watched the neighborhood change around him.

Been recalls horse and buggies clip-clopping past, then trolley cars he could ride for 5 cents. The school across the street used to be a field. Neighbors slaughtered cows down the street.

And, for a time, Been's family was the only Black family on the block. He was the only Black student in PS 93.

"The whole area was white," he said.

That changed as Been grew up. Bed-Stuy became a beacon of Black culture — an evolution Been witnessed firsthand, said his friend Eric Lemon.

Lemon, who owns Brownstone Jazz on Macon Street and is McClain's partner, often visits Been to talk about the neighborhood's bygone days. Sometimes, as on Friday, they chat about Been's service in World War II.

Been was drafted in 1942 and served as a radio operator in the 93rd Infantry Division, Headquarters Company 369th Infantry Regiment — an all-Black regiment known as the Harlem Hell Fighters.

He shipped out to the Pacific under famed General Douglas MacArthur, sailing by boat from San Francisco, to Hawaii and, finally, to Guadalcanal.

"You went day and night, day and night until you got there," Been said.

Been flew instead of sailed back, and transportation remained part of his life. He first drove electric trolleys in New York City and then the gasoline-powered buses which are now being transitioned back to electric.

He stayed in Bed-Stuy with his wife of 70 years, becoming what his friend and neighbor Rose Harris called a "fixture."

Harris calls him "Mr. Been" and has known him since she was in her mother's womb.

"If we didn't have this pandemic he would probably be running the streets right now," she said.

Harris, McClain and others organized the celebration for Been. Bed-Stuy couldn't let Been become a centenarian without notice, they thought.

All day Friday, Been greeted visitors in his home and outside. Three enormous balloons spelling out "100" helped draw honks from passing cars. Several neighbors walked up and passed along birthday greetings.

"I don't know y'all but I wanted to wish him a happy birthday," one said, as he cut through the crowd gathered around Been.

"I know him — I've lived in this neighborhood for years," said one onlooker. "I didn't know he turned 100."

A MTA bus driver honked his respects. Been beamed.

"He was a bus driver too," someone shouted at the bus.

James Caldwell, president of the 77th Precinct Community Council, presented Been with Jeffries' proclamation recognizing Been's achievements and life through the "evolution and transformation of his beloved community."

Then sirens blared. NYPD officers rolled up. But no one was scared.

Officers from the 79th Precinct greeted Been warmly and wished him happy birthday. They joined the long line of people seeking photos.

To Peter Duncanson, Been is "Cousin James."

Duncanson and his father Humphrey Duncanson are part of five generations of family who visited Been on Friday. They visit him, listen to stories about the neighborhood in the past or Been's days driving trolleys, then buses, after World War II.

Peter Duncanson stood under the shade of a tree and thought about his distant Cousin James' life, and what it meant for a Black man to turn 100 on Juneteenth.

Maybe something in the universe orchestrated it, Duncanson said.

"One hundred years — someone who lived through Jim Crow, the Depression and the Spanish Flu," he said. "And now he sees the neighborhood changing and being gentrified."

"There are those who still see the history here," he said, looking at Been's door. "I think that's what's significant about the whole thing. I'm honored to have family in the neighborhood that's so representative of all that history."