LEE CHIN

Lee Chin was born in Canton, China, on December 12th, 1922 to parents Howard and Chin and Wong Chee. He had six little sisters. He moved to the United States sometime during the 1920s and settled in Los Angeles with his family. He was the only child to have been born in China. After graduating high school, he registered to serve in World War II at the age of 19. He enlisted at the beginning of 1943 and served in the US Army until he was discharged at the end of 1945. On October 5th, 1945, Lee completed the naturalization process and became an American citizen. He married his wife, Ma Kuen Chin, in Hong Kong on August 11th, 1947. They had four children: three daughters and one son. In the 1950s, Lee worked as a produce clerk and lived with his family in his parents’ home. He passed away on September 21st, 1959, at the age of 36 years old. 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