Our Veterans
Lambert Wai - Army
Lambert Wai was in Los Angeles on December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Lambert had just graduated from Santa Monica Jr. College in June 1941, where he played football, and was preparing to enter UCLA in January 1942. He played football at Santa Monica JC and was hopeful to follow/join his 3 brothers (Francis, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor), Conkling, and Robert – all of whom played outstanding football. Upon his arrival at home, he learned that he could not enlist in active duty, as an Executive Order limited the number of brothers to serve in the war to two after four brothers in another family had been killed upon a battleship. With two brothers, Francis and Robert, already in the Army, Lambert went to work on Midway for a year as a drill rigger deepening Midway’s harbor in order for submarines to enter for repairs. He was drafted into the Armed services in November 16, 1945 as a private to assist in the deployment of active duty military personnel. The deployment program slowed and Lambert was honorably discharged on February 21, 1947 as a Staff Sergeant. Lambert then went on to work for Mutual of Omaha as a salesman and retired at age 70 as General Manager of its Honolulu Division Office.
Gene Sing Lim - Army
Gene Sing Lim was born and raised in Marysville, CA. In high school, he played basketball, baseball, tennis and trombone in the band. He was the third oldest of 9 children. The Summary of Military Occupations from his separation papers states: "Scout - performed duties with Battery "C", 884th Field Artillery Battalion, 70th Division in the Rhineland and Central Europe, made survey of terrain to compute firing positions for 1105 howitzers. Plotted charts and computed firing tables. Was familiar with the use of all hand weapons and the 105 howitzer." From the stories he told, he was one of the youngest in his Battery, drafted as a high school student, but excelled in math and knew how to use a slide rule. We know he played softball on his company's team, but he told few stories of the hardships he endured while serving in France. After leaving the Army, he attended UC Berkeley on the GI Bill and studied chemistry. He worked as an analytical chemist for Dow Chemical and Memorex. After marrying Joy Lou in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1953, he raised his family of five children in the Bay Area where he lived until his death in 2017, a few weeks after his 92nd birthday. In 1967, he loaded his family into their Ford Galaxy and drove from California to Minnesota to attend the first of many reunions with his Army buddies from the 70th Infantry Division Trailblazers. He maintained life-long friendships with the men he served with and made many new friends through the Trailblazers organization.
Ging T. Chin (a.k.a. Eddie Chin) - Army
Ging T. Chin (a.k.a. Eddie Chin) was born in Toishan, China and immigrated to the United States in 1928. He enlisted in the US Army in 1942. During his time in WWII he served with the 82nd Airborne 504th Parachute Infantry HqCo 1st Battalion- ‘Devils in Baggy Pants’. When the war ended, he was honorably discharged and settled in New York. There he met his wife, Lilly. They were one of the only Asian families to purchase a home in Levittown, NY at the time. He is survived by his 2 sons, 4 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.