Our Veterans
Albert S. Chew (aka Albert S. Lee) - Army
Born and raised in San Francisco, he attended the University of California at Berkeley, and received his dental degree at the UCSF School of Dentistry. He married Lily Eva Yee, and went off to war. At that time he was known as Albert S. Lee. He honorably served Federal Service from July 1942 to January 1946 in the China Burma India Theater as a Captain in the Medical Corps 21st Field Hospital serving as their dentist. Decorations include the Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon and a Bronze Star. "Albie" changed his name in November 1945, went on to practice dentistry in San Francisco Chinatown for forty years, and served the Chinese Community giving time to charities and the Benevolent Associations.
Gum Wah Lew (aka Jim Leong Lee or George Lee) - Army
Gum Wah Lew (aka Jim Leong Lee or George Lee) immigrated to the United States in 1937 as a paper son. He joined his father, Lee Ho, in New York City and worked as a waiter in Jamaica, New York. He joined the US Army in Jan 1943 and went through basic training at Fort Devens, MA and was assigned to the 534th Engineer Boat & Shore Regiment (EBSR). During the year of 1943, the 534th EBSR moved to Camp Edwards, MA then to Camp Johnston, FLA for additional training. In April of 1944, the regiment moved to Camp Stoneman, Pittsburgh, CA and then departed for Oro Bay, New Guinea. In late 1944, he suffered an injury and was shipped back to the US to Cushing General Hospital, Framingham, MA, for treatment. He was discharged from Cushing General Hospital in April 1945 and received an honorable discharge from the Army. He also received the Asiatic Pacific Theater and Good Conduct Medals for his service. He reunited with his wife, Dick Yock Yee in 1947 and in the following years, five children were born, 1948 (Lena), 1950 (David), 1951 (Betty), 1955 (Miriam) and in 1959 (Sherman). He legally changed his name in 1960 to Jim Leong Lee and opened a successful Chinese restaurant in the Fort Greene neighborhood in Brooklyn with his father. Recognizing the personal sacrifices and high expectations from their parents, all five children attended and graduated with college degrees and advanced degrees in Education, Engineering and Business Administration, and have had successful professional careers. Gum Wah Lew (family name Jim Leong Lee) passed away in 1990.
Gwock Wing Chin - Army
Gwock Wing Chin, fondly known as Chester by his friends, was born in Toisan, China in 1921. At the age of fifteen he traveled alone to America. Attending high school in Portland, Maine he worked in a laundry and later, as a rivet heater in the shipyards. When the United States entered WWII, like so many of his countrymen, he answered the call, joining the US Army on Dec. 15, 1942. Assigned to Company G of the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division (the Blue and Gray), Chester first saw action on D-Day as a part of the first wave landing on Omaha Beach, with the job of ramming pipes and explosives under enemy bunker emplacements. He served in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns, receiving a field promotion to Sergeant and earning a European Theatre of Operations medal with four Bronze Battle Stars, a purple heart, a good conduct medal and a Presidential Unit Citation. After WWII Chester returned home to join other family members working in the restaurant business in Boston’s Chinatown district. In 1955 he traveled back to Hong Kong to meet and marry Yim Wah “Dolly” Cheung, who became his life partner. Together they lived the American dream, sponsoring other family member’s immigration to his new country, eventually settling in the southern Boston suburb of Avon, raising their seven children while owning and operating what was for decades a local institution, the Cathay City Restaurant in Randolph, MA. In retirement, Chester enjoyed an occasional Red Sox game and traveling the world with Dolly, including a return trip to Normandy. Despite a strong reluctance to discuss his wartime experience, Chester kept a picture of his squad in his wallet until his death in 2012.