Albert Fong Chan was born on June 21st, 1919, in Oroville, California. His father, Wing On Chan, was a Chinese Immigrant and his mother, Lily Lee, was a first generation Chinese American. He also had two brothers, William and Edward. Albert’s mother was a homemaker, caring for the home and family, and his father worked as a general store salesman.
By 1930, Albert and his family moved to San Francisco’s Chinatown. In 1937, he graduated from Galileo High School. In 1938, Edward and Albert had both completed their first year of college, and their father worked as a butcher. After graduation, Albert worked as a sheet metal worker. 

Albert enlisted in the Army in October of 1943. He was assigned to the 2nd Air Engineering Squadron, and was promoted to the rank of Corporal. He was stationed in New Guinea and Luzon in the Philippines, where he attended Airplane Mechanical for 7 week before working as an Airplane Sheet Metal Worker. Albert was discharged on February 3rd, 1946. He was awarded the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one Bronze Star, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. 

Four years later, in 1950, Albert moved back in with his parents to their home in San Francisco. Even after leaving active service, Albert continued his work with sheet metal, working as an aircraft worker within a U.S. navy repair base. In the same year, Albert Fong Chan married his wife, Peggy Lee. The pair moved to Hayward, California, and had a child together, Patty Chan. 

After the death of his wife, Albert Fong Chan moved to Oxnard, California, where passed away at the age of 101, on January 30th, 2021.

This biography was researched and written by students as part of the Digital Veterans Legacy Project at Loyola Marymount University, funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Cemetery Administration.


ALBERT FONG CHAN

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