World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseHazel Ying Lee (Li Yueying) was born in Portland, Oregon, United States to a ethnically-Chinese merchant into a family of eight children. After graduating from high school, she worked as an elevator operator at Liebes Department Store in downtown Portland. She became interested in flight after taking her first airplane ride in 1932. She joined the Chinese Flying Club of Portland and took lessons from aviator Al Greenwood, earning a pilot's license in Oct 1932. In 1933, she traveled to China with the intention of joining the Chinese Air Force, only to be met with disappointment as the Chinese Air Force did not accept female pilots. Remaining in China, she worked as a pilot for a private airline based in Guangzhou in southern China. In Jul 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War officially began, and she tried to join the Chinese Air Force a second time, and was once again rejected due to her gender. She returned to the United States in 1938 via Hong Kong. Living in New York, United States, she worked for the Chinese government as a buyer of war materials.

ww2dbaseIn 1943, the United States Army started the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, and Lee enrolled in training class 43-W-4, becoming the first Chinese-American woman to fly for the US Army. Based in Romulus, Michigan, United States, she ferried aircraft from factories to military bases. In Sep 1944, she attended the Pursuit School at Brownsville, Texas, United States, graduating with Class 44-18 Flight B and obtaining the qualifications to fly fighter aircraft. In Nov 1944, while ferrying a P-63 Kingcobra fighter from Niagara Falls, New York, United States to Great Falls, Montana, United States. A little after 1400 hours on 23 Nov, she collided with another P-63 aircraft immediately after landing at Great Falls. She was rescued from the flaming wreckage with serious burns. She passed away from her wounds two days later. Lee now rests at the River View Cemetery in Portland, next to her brother Victor who was killed in France in US Army uniform also in Nov 1944.

ww2dbaseLee was the last of the 38 to die on duty while serving in the WASP program.

Photographs

Hazel Lee Timeline

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