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Marine veteran turns trash into treasure with Johnny's Junk Art

John Young survived the Tet Offensive and three types of cancer

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — After surviving the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, a Marine Veteran just wanted to come home and sit on a beach in Oceanside. In this Zevely Zone, I met a cancer survivor who turns trash into treasure and calls it Johnny Junk Art.

"You just never know what you are going to end up with," said John Young as he pounded on scraps of copper that nobody wanted inside his home art studio.

As a child, nobody wanted John. He bounced around in foster care and attended nearly fifty schools. "I'd be in a foster home no more than three or four days," said John while showing me a picture from his childhood.

Credit: KFMB TV

John loves the scraps nobody wants. He turns empty cans into curls and cereal boxes into artistic waves.

"That's you, in the tube and you made that out of a cereal box?" I asked. 

John smiled and said, "That's correct, absolutely that's it."

Credit: John Young

As a helicopter gunner in the Marines, John thought he left the worst of his battles behind in Vietnam.  But returning home to the United States came with new challenges. After a successful career as a landscape contractor, John was first diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Credit: KFMB TV

Hemochromatosis then lead to too much iron in John's body. John was diagnosed with liver cancer and given a two percent chance of survival. John's wife Irene took a picture of him before surgery.

"He looked robust and happy and positive which he always is," said Irene.

Credit: John Young

Two days later, John was back on his feet sort of.

"He looked like he was 108 just struggling," said Irene. Or in John's whimsical words, way past his expiration date.

"I had nine surfboards, I am down to one, "he told me.  

Credit: John Young

How else can you explain him giving away just about everything he owned.

"I had tons of fishing poles and I'm down to maybe a half dozen or a few," he said.

John thought he was going to die.

"I didn't think I'd still be here and if anyone cares, I'd like to have all of the stuff I gave away back," said John with a smile.  

Credit: KFMB TV

Cancer was clearly unaware he was a Marine.

"I call him the Energizer Bunny because he just keeps going and going and going," said Irene.  

Credit: KFMB TV

John never took a single art class, but somehow the scraps nobody wanted seemed worthy of brilliance. Their garden is filled with John's artwork.

Credit: John Young

Through foster care, cancer, and war, John Young wants to grow old on a beach with these words of wisdom. "Well you know there is an old Persian poem, I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man with no feet, that's a motivator," said John.

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If you'd like to see more of John Young's art go to foundwork.art/artists/johnyoung

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