Our Veterans
Robert Young Wong - Army Air Forces
“I got my induction notice in November 1943 and signed up for Air Force cadet training. I reported for active duty in January 1944 and trained at gunner school in Laredo, Texas. We practiced shooting at a pup truck to start, then trained by shooting at a B26 plane from a Bomber. I joined up with my flight crew in Lincoln, Nebraska and was the only Chinese man in crew.
In Boise, Idaho, we practiced flying in tight formation. We were also looking for Japanese bombs carried by the jet stream attached to paper balloons. The balloons would drop ballast during the trip to the USA as hydrogen was lost. We would break out of formation if any balloons were spotted and destroy them before they hit the ground. We never saw one, but I got air sick in the tight formation.
We landed in Manila Bay then joined the 442nd Bomb Group and the 72nd Bomb Squadron. After the war was over, we returned home on a B-24.
After an honorable discharge, I returned to Minneapolis and received my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Aerospace Engineering from University of Minnesota. After a long career at NASA in Cleveland, I retired to San Diego with my wife Ellen to golf, and enjoy my grown children Paul and Roberta, and my granddaughter Samantha.”
From daughter Roberta: After my father passed away, I found many letters from my father’s original flight crew from WW2. They kept in touch for the rest of their lives.
Bing Fan Wong - Army
Bing Fan Wong was born on February 1, 1928 in Toishan, China and immigrated to San Francisco, California in the winter of 1935 at the age of seven. On September 24, 1946, Bing enlisted in the United States Army because he yearned to travel overseas to Europe to perform his military duty and see the world. However, after requesting several times to serve overseas, his requests were denied by his base commander. Bing was specially trained as a Code 405 Clerk Typist with the ability to type greater than 30 words per minute. The US Army needed Bing to help process thousands of US Army personnel returning home when WW2 ended on September 2, 1945. Bing served his duty at the Army Service Forces Depot in California. He earned the WW2 Victory Medal and was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant on July 28, 1948. Upon leaving the military, Bing used the GI Bill to earn a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the California Polytechnic University. He married, raised a family, and worked at Western Air Company for 35 years rising to Vice President. Bing retired in the mid 1980’s in Southern California. He had served God and country.
Jimmy Wing Lew - Army Air Forces
Jimmy Wing Lew was born in Toishan, Kwangtung, China and came to the United States as a 16-year-old student in November 1940. He was the second eldest of six siblings of Chinese immigrants, Wui Lau and Lee Gon Shew. In March 1944, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force and served until his honorable discharge in June 1946. “Jimmy Lew envisioned his future rested on opportunities serving in the US military and later using the GI Bill benefits. He became an aircraft mechanic at Biggs Field, Texas. During his tour of duty, he would travel with friends to Augusta, Georgia, because he heard there was a Chinese American community present. God blessed his life in courting one of four Chinese American sisters. He later married Molly Ann Wong and both loved to swing dance and go ball room dancing. Together they returned to Los Angeles, California. In the following years, he opened a grocery store in Inglewood, California and raised five wonderful children. He went to night school at the University of California (UCLA) and earned his Bachelor of Science in Physics. Soon after he obtained an aerospace engineering position at the McDonnel Douglas Corporation in southern California and worked on various space programs. He was an incredibly resourceful individual and retired as one of the “greatest generation”. The US Army Air Force was his stepping stone to achieving his American dream.