US Marine Corps Maj Kurt Chew-Een Lee

WEBVTT

00:00:01.625 --> 00:00:02.568
Welcome back everyone.

00:00:02.568 --> 00:00:09.814
Before you hear today's story, I wanted to play a quick Medal of Honor tale about Marine Corps Sergeant Major John Canley, a Vietnam hero.

00:00:09.814 --> 00:00:15.632
This audio was pulled directly from the short that we recently posted on our YouTube channel, duty and Valor.

00:00:15.632 --> 00:00:21.413
All of the shorts featured on our channel are under a minute long and are a summary of amazing heroic acts.

00:00:21.413 --> 00:00:29.330
We have approximately 200 of these stories that haven't been featured on our show yet, so head over there if you want to hear some quick tales of valor.

00:00:29.330 --> 00:00:32.787
Please like, share and follow us wherever you're listening.

00:00:32.787 --> 00:00:33.990
Please enjoy.

00:00:37.081 --> 00:00:46.494
While serving in Vietnam from January 31st to February 6th 1968, john Canley, who was then a gunnery sergeant, displayed exceptional valor.

00:00:46.494 --> 00:00:52.031
Moving along a highway towards Hue City to relieve friendly forces surrounded by the enemy.

00:00:52.031 --> 00:00:54.427
His company faced relentless enemy attacks.

00:00:54.427 --> 00:01:01.728
Despite sustaining wounds, gunnery Sergeant Canley courageously traversed fire-swept terrain rescuing wounded Marines.

00:01:01.728 --> 00:01:08.605
When his commanding officer was wounded, gunnery Sergeant Canley assumed command and led the company into the city.

00:01:08.605 --> 00:01:16.810
Amidst deadly crossfire, he established a base of fire, executed a flanking attack and eliminated multiple enemy positions.

00:01:16.810 --> 00:01:27.444
Over three days he maintained command, leading attacks on fortified positions and repeatedly risking enemy fire to save wounded Marines During a fierce firefight.

00:01:27.444 --> 00:01:35.652
On February 6th at a hospital compound, gunnery, sergeant Canley scaled the wall twice in full view of the enemy, carrying wounded Marines to safety.

00:01:35.652 --> 00:01:44.052
I hope you enjoyed the incredible story of Sergeant Major Canley as much as I did.

00:01:44.052 --> 00:01:46.302
I hope you enjoyed the incredible story of Sergeant Major Canley as much as I did.

00:01:46.322 --> 00:01:51.048
In today's episode I have another tale of bravery, resilience and extraordinary service.

00:01:51.048 --> 00:01:58.495
This episode is about Major Kurt Chewien Lee, the first Asian American officer in the United States Marine Corps.

00:01:58.495 --> 00:02:32.942
No-transcript Chuyin Li, who would go by Kurt, was born in San Francisco on January 21st 1926 to Chinese immigrant parents.

00:02:32.942 --> 00:02:36.728
I couldn't find the name of his mother, but his father's name was M Young Lee.

00:02:36.728 --> 00:02:48.098
In a book written by Martin Russ titled Breakout the Chosin Reservoir Campaign, kurt is quoted as saying that his mother's Chinese name was Gold Jade, while his father's was Brilliant Scholar.

00:02:48.098 --> 00:02:51.322
Together, his parents raised three sons and three daughters.

00:02:54.664 --> 00:02:55.707
As the United States entered World War II.

00:02:55.707 --> 00:02:59.477
Kurt was a young high school student and a member of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.

00:02:59.477 --> 00:03:04.550
In 1944, he was old enough to enlist and join the Marine Corps.

00:03:04.550 --> 00:03:12.676
He was ordered to learn Japanese, but with the war still raging, kurt was disappointed to find that he would remain stateside as a language instructor.

00:03:12.676 --> 00:03:19.365
By October 1945, kurt had earned the rank of sergeant and was accepted into officer training.

00:03:19.365 --> 00:03:28.816
Kurt had earned the rank of sergeant and was accepted into officer training, graduating in April 1946, 2nd Lieutenant Lee became the first non-white and the first Asian American officer in Marine Corps history.

00:03:28.816 --> 00:03:35.635
He was then sent to Guam and then later China, where his language skills were used to interrogate Japanese prisoners.

00:03:37.106 --> 00:03:43.437
As the Korean War began, lieutenant Lee was a machine gun platoon leader in Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines.

00:03:43.437 --> 00:03:48.015
In 1950, the Marine Corps was still not fully integrated.

00:03:48.015 --> 00:03:53.698
Many of Lieutenant Lee's men had never seen a Chinese person before, let alone been commanded by one.

00:03:53.698 --> 00:03:59.116
Facing discrimination and doubts of his loyalty, lieutenant Lee was steadfast.

00:03:59.116 --> 00:04:02.247
He was a Marine Corps officer first and foremost.

00:04:02.247 --> 00:04:07.847
Years later, he would tell the LA Times quote I would have done whatever was necessary.

00:04:07.847 --> 00:04:09.572
It didn't matter, they were my enemy.

00:04:09.572 --> 00:04:10.253
Unquote.

00:04:11.336 --> 00:04:16.333
On September 1st 1950, lieutenant Lee and his unit departed for the Korean Peninsula.

00:04:16.333 --> 00:04:21.910
He drilled his men on the deck of their ship during their two-week journey, preparing them for combat.

00:04:21.910 --> 00:04:26.439
Other officers ridiculed his actions, seeing them as unnecessary.

00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:38.307
Before actually arriving in Korea, attempts were made to reassign Lieutenant Lee, but he insisted that he was there to fight and eventually his commander relented and he remained in charge of his platoon.

00:04:38.307 --> 00:04:46.213
On September 21, 1950, they landed at Incheon, south Korea, just days after the Battle of Incheon had ended.

00:04:46.213 --> 00:04:52.295
This battle was an amphibious invasion that turned the tide of the war in the favor of the United Nations forces.

00:04:52.295 --> 00:05:05.697
Over the next five weeks, lieutenant Lee and his marines fought fiercely and aided in pushing the North Korean forces further north as they crossed the 38th parallel, the line separating North and South Korea.

00:05:05.697 --> 00:05:08.800
Their advance was halted by the Chinese intervention in the war.

00:05:10.226 --> 00:05:20.833
On the snowy night of November 2nd, lieutenant Lee and his marines faced a fierce attack by countless Chinese soldiers who overran their left flank, with visibility impaired by darkness.

00:05:20.833 --> 00:05:26.406
Lieutenant Lee instructed his men to shoot at the enemy muzzle flashes Advancing alone.

00:05:26.406 --> 00:05:32.310
He shot and threw grenades at the enemy, which forced them to fire towards him, exposing their position to his men.

00:05:32.310 --> 00:05:37.107
The Chinese forces suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreat.

00:05:37.107 --> 00:05:43.468
Lieutenant Lee again moved ahead alone to identify enemy positions so he could reposition his machine guns.

00:05:43.468 --> 00:05:49.954
He faced heavy enemy fire while moving forward and was wounded in the knee, but he didn't let that stop him.

00:05:49.954 --> 00:05:56.677
He continued toward the enemy and began shouting at them in Mandarin, urging them not to shoot as he was Chinese.

00:05:56.677 --> 00:06:01.706
This confused the enemy and he was able to lob grenades and fire at their position.

00:06:01.706 --> 00:06:05.113
With the help of his men, they were able to overrun the Chinese.

00:06:05.113 --> 00:06:13.016
Early the next morning a sniper's bullet struck Lieutenant Lee in his right elbow, shattering it For his actions.

00:06:13.016 --> 00:06:15.071
That night he was awarded the Navy Cross.

00:06:16.716 --> 00:06:21.834
After spending five days in a field hospital, lieutenant Lee learned he was being sent to Japan to recover.

00:06:21.834 --> 00:06:28.197
Unwilling to leave his men, he commandeered a jeep with an injured sergeant and made his way back to his unit.

00:06:28.197 --> 00:06:35.379
They made it to within 10 miles before the jeep ran out of gas, forcing the two injured Marines to walk the remainder of the way.

00:06:35.379 --> 00:06:42.959
Despite his injuries, after joining his unit, lieutenant Lee focused on training his men, preparing them for the challenges ahead.

00:06:44.646 --> 00:06:51.598
On November 27, 1950, chinese forces surprised and overran American forces near the Chosin Reservoir.

00:06:51.598 --> 00:06:58.478
This attack led to approximately 8,000 Americans cut off and surrounded by tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers.

00:06:58.478 --> 00:07:03.857
On December 2, lieutenant Lee was tasked with spearheading the American response.

00:07:03.857 --> 00:07:10.538
He and his unit were part of a 500-man force tasked with finding and relieving the beleaguered Americans.

00:07:10.538 --> 00:07:17.653
His commanding officer had no advice to offer on how to complete this, other than avoiding the heavily patrolled roads.

00:07:17.653 --> 00:07:24.432
This led to the only option of traversing the mountains towards their target Using only a compass.

00:07:24.713 --> 00:07:30.853
Lieutenant Lee, whose arm was in a cast, led the Marines in a single file as they navigated the steep, snow-covered hills.

00:07:30.853 --> 00:07:35.574
As they progressed, they encountered Chinese forces on a rocky hill.

00:07:35.574 --> 00:07:43.858
Lieutenant Lee gave the order to attack the hill without stopping, ensuring that they didn't allow the Chinese to raise their heads and fire back at them.

00:07:43.858 --> 00:07:50.798
As they reached the enemy foxholes, lieutenant Lee shot two enemy soldiers and then continued towards the top.

00:07:50.798 --> 00:07:55.937
As he made it to the top, he found the other side of the hill covered in enemy foxholes.

00:07:55.937 --> 00:08:00.295
However, the Chinese were expecting a direct attack from the other direction.

00:08:00.295 --> 00:08:00.404
Holes.

00:08:00.404 --> 00:08:02.009
However, the Chinese were expecting a direct attack from the other direction.

00:08:02.009 --> 00:08:12.927
Luckily, the enemy had known of the Marines' fearless attack up the hill on the other side, so they were now fleeing away.

00:08:12.927 --> 00:08:16.440
Following this, they made contact with nearby Fox Company and then commenced a mortar attack and called in airstrikes on the enemy surrounding them.

00:08:16.440 --> 00:08:22.327
Lieutenant Lee then led Baker Company on a fierce attack that opened up a path to Fox Company.

00:08:22.327 --> 00:08:29.687
As they were attacking Chinese positions, lieutenant Lee was struck by a bullet in his right arm just above his cast.

00:08:29.687 --> 00:08:32.937
Again, he didn't let this wound stop him.

00:08:32.937 --> 00:08:39.663
He led Baker Company on further attacks against Chinese forces, ensuring that other American units had a path to safety.

00:08:39.663 --> 00:08:48.197
For his leadership during this reinforcement mission that saved the lives of up to 8,000 Americans, lieutenant Lee was awarded the Silver Star.

00:08:48.197 --> 00:08:56.158
Less than a week later, lieutenant Lee was badly wounded by enemy machine gun fire, which meant his time in combat was over.

00:08:57.730 --> 00:09:03.504
Following the Korean War, curt Lee was promoted to captain and then to major in January 1963.

00:09:03.504 --> 00:09:11.357
He held various instructor positions at the Basic School, which developed newly commissioned officers into becoming Marine Corps officers.

00:09:11.357 --> 00:09:20.498
He then served as an intelligence officer during the Vietnam War before retiring from the Marine Corps in 1968 at the rank of Major.

00:09:20.498 --> 00:09:30.298
On March 3, 2014, major Kurt Chew-In Lee passed away at the age of 88 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

00:09:30.298 --> 00:09:36.240
Major Kurt Chew-In Lee exemplified the indomitable spirit of a true hero.

00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:43.981
As the first Asian American officer in the Marine Corps, he shattered racial barriers with unwavering determination and fierce dedication.

00:09:43.981 --> 00:09:50.701
His legendary courage during the Korean War showcased his extraordinary leadership and bravery under fire.

00:09:52.511 --> 00:09:54.879
Thank you for listening to this episode of Duty Valor.

00:09:54.879 --> 00:10:03.456
If you enjoyed this episode and our show in general, please like, follow and share wherever you're listening To read more about this week's hero.

00:10:03.456 --> 00:10:08.461
Check out the sources used in today's episode in our show notes and at dutyandvalorcom.

00:10:08.461 --> 00:10:15.102
Just a reminder we release new episodes on our YouTube channel of the same name on Fridays at 5pm.

00:10:15.102 --> 00:10:22.958
Also on our channel, we release daily YouTube shorts that highlight our nation's heroes, most of whom haven't been featured on our show yet.

00:10:22.958 --> 00:10:31.693
Please join us for our next episode, where we'll be sharing the inspiring story of another American hero who served with pride and lived with humility.