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Major Kurt Chew-Een Lee retired from the USMC in 1968. He holds the distinction of being the 1st Asian-American to hold a regular commission in Marine Corps history. Following his retirement, Maj. Lee worked for the New York Life Insurance Company for seven years. In 1975 he began working as a Regulatory Compliance Coordinator for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He held that position for nearly twenty years. He is now completely retired and living in Arlington, VA.
Other Comments:
In 2000, the California Military Museum mounted describing the bravery and military service of the three Lee brothers. In a 2002 speech about the Chosin Reservoir battle, General Ray Davis said that Maj. Lee was the bravest Marine he ever knew.
The story of Lee's bravery in the Korean War was the subject of a documentary produced by the Smithsonian Channel. The documentary, titled "Uncommon Courage: Breakout at Chosin", was broadcast on Memorial Day, May 31, 2010.
Major Lee's superior officers criticized him for his aggressive "chip-on-shoulder" attitude. Lee responded to his critics by saying that the chip "is my teaching tool to dispel ignorance". The Major had experienced a lot of attitudes that held Chinese-Americans" as very timid.
Korean War/CCF Intervention (1950-51)/Battle of the Chosin Reservoir (Battle of Changjin)
From Month/Year
November / 1950
To Month/Year
December / 1950
Description The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Changjin Lake Campaign was a decisive battle in the Korean War. "Chosin" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Korean name, "Changjin". The UN forces relied on Japanese language maps dating from their occupation of Korea which had only ended five years earlier at the conclusion of World War II. Shortly after the People's Republic of China entered the conflict, the People's Volunteer Army 9th Army infiltrated the northeastern part of North Korea.
On 27 November, the Chinese 9th Army surprised the US X Corps commanded by Major General Edward Almond at the Chosin Reservoir area. A brutal 17 day battle in freezing weather soon followed. In the period between 27 November and 13 December 1950, 30,000 United Nations troops (later nicknamed "The Chosin Few") under the field command of Major General Oliver P. Smith were encircled and attacked by approximately 120,000 Chinese troops under the command of Song Shi-Lun, who had been ordered by Mao Zedong to destroy the UN forces. The UN forces were nonetheless able to make a fighting withdrawal and broke out of the encirclement while inflicting crippling losses on the Chinese. While the battle resulted in the Chinese pushing the UN out of North Korea, it was a Pyrrhic victory. The evacuation of the X Corps from the port of Hungnam marked the complete withdrawal of UN troops from North Korea.
