The seek for Ranger Raymond Lee started after the posting in early June of a Navy.com story marking the 78th anniversary of the D-Day landings that targeted on former Pfc. Randall Ching. As was usually repeated in articles from quite a few information retailers, Ching was believed to be the one Chinese language American Ranger veteran of World Battle II.
Then got here a message, and quite a few follow-up telephone calls, from retired Army Maj. Gen. William Chen, who’s energetic with the Chinese language-American World Battle II Veterans Recognition Mission.
Chen himself had believed that Ching was the one WWII Chinese language American Ranger among the many almost 7,000 members of the all-volunteer pressure. However shortly after publishing an article on Chinese language American veterans in late 2019, Chen got here throughout honorable discharge papers for Lee, which confirmed a house of file on Mott Road in New York Metropolis’s Chinatown, and listed him as serving with the sixth Ranger Battalion within the Philippines throughout WWII.
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Navy.com reached out to Ron Hudnell, a West Level graduate, former Army captain, Vietnam veteran and Ranger, who had lengthy advocated to honor the WWII Army Rangers with the Congressional Gold Medal (CGM).
His databases, collected by means of The Descendants of World Battle II Rangers Inc., confirmed that there was a radio operator and Ranger Tec 4 named Raymond Lee, who served with the sixth Ranger Battalion in WWII, however the place was he and was he nonetheless alive?
A false lead. There was a special Raymond Lee from Pennsylvania who had acquired the CGM when it was licensed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018 for the estimated 20,000 Chinese language American women and men veterans who served in WWII, but it surely turned out that he was not a Ranger.
However Chen had managed to trace down the appropriate Lee, having made contact with the 97-year-old’s daughter Linda, who was residing along with her father in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Sure, he was Chinese language American and, sure, he was a Ranger.
Lee had by no means acquired the CGM he merited as a Chinese language American veteran of WWII, and he additionally had been unaware till Thursday, when his daughter was contacted by Chen, that he’s now additionally eligible for a second CGM as a WWII Ranger underneath a invoice signed by President Joe Biden final week.
The Congressional Gold Medal is taken into account the very best honor Congress can bestow and is awarded to people or teams, whether or not navy or civilian, “who’ve carried out an achievement that has an affect on American historical past and tradition.”
Chen stated that he was “completely delighted” that Lee will now have the prospect to obtain two awards of the CGM, marking him as one among solely a handful of such honorees. Chen is working to rearrange a presentation of the CGM to Lee for his standing as a Chinese language American veteran of WWII. The award of the second CGM as a WWII Ranger should await the design and minting of the medal.
One other veteran who was thrilled to study that there’s a second Chinese language American Ranger veteran of WWII was Ching, who now has firm within the historical past books. In a telephone interview with Navy.com, Bonnie Ching Louie stated her 97-year-old father was ecstatic when she advised him about Lee and responded, “Oh, that is nice — the place’s he been all these years?”
Ching had been among the many acknowledged 13 residing Rangers from WWII. Now, “so far as we all know,” there are 14 with the addition of Lee, Hudnell advised Navy.com. “There could also be others on the market.”
There doubtless may very well be different WWII Rangers who can be eligible for a second Congressional Gold Medal. Through the Italian marketing campaign, a number of hundred Rangers had been despatched to bolster the depleted ranks of the First Particular Service Drive, referred to as the “Satan’s Brigade.” The First Particular Service Drive was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015.
“I can assure you we’re completely thrilled” that Lee has been discovered, stated Hudnell, who credited Navy.com with the preliminary story that set off the search. He stated it was potential that Lee didn’t come ahead earlier than as a result of he was like so many different veterans who did not discuss in regards to the battle and “simply wished to get on with their lives.”
“These WWII Rangers set the usual and are fashions to at the moment’s particular operations troopers. We are able to by no means award them sufficient for his or her WWII contributions and sacrifices,” stated Hudnell, whose late father, James B. Hudnell, was a WWII Ranger.
In short remarks at a White Home ceremony final week earlier than he signed america Army Rangers Veterans of World Battle II Congressional Gold Medal Act, Biden stated that the Rangers performed “a essential position within the D-Day invasion of Normandy” on June 6, 1944.
Ching was among the many fifth Battalion Rangers who fought their approach off Omaha Seashore through the D-Day landings, and he would earn two Bronze stars for his actions in France.
— Richard Sisk might be reached at Richard.Sisk@Navy.com.
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