William Andrew "Ironman" Lee (November 12, 1900 – December 27, 1998) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of colonel. He was the recipient of three Navy Crosses during the Banana Wars, and later became a prisoner of war during World War II.

Early Marine Corps career

William A. Lee was born in

Ward Hill, Massachusetts Ward Hill is a neighborhood in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts. Its coordinates are at . It is bordered on the northeast and west by the Merrimack River. Main roads include the Massachusetts Route 125 called South Main Street where it ...

, on November 12, 1900. On May 22, 1918, Lee attempted to enlist in the Army, but he was turned away because he was only 17. He then went to the Marine recruiting station, and was told he would need his father to sign for him. Lee found the first man he saw outside the office and had him pose as his father and sign the paperwork. Lee attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. Private Lee then reported to machine gun school in Utica, New York, before deploying to France with Company K, 13th Regiment, 5th Marine Brigade in September 1918 during World War I. Lee rose to the rank of corporal before he left the Marines upon returning to the United States in August 1919. Lee reenlisted in the Marines in September 1921 and served with his brother, George Lee, aboard the USS ''Arkansas'' for five years. By April 1925, he was promoted to gunnery sergeant and became the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the fleet. Lee also became well known as an expert marksman with nearly every weapon he fired.

Banana Wars

In early 1927, Gunnery Sergeant Lee was sent to Nicaragua where he assisted in training

Nicaraguan National Guard The National Guard ( es, link=no, Guardia Nacional, otherwise known as ) was a militia and a gendarmerie created in 1925 during the occupation of Nicaragua by the United States. It became notorious for human rights abuses and corruption under ...

soldiers and led them into combat against the leftist Sandinista rebels. Throughout the year of 1930, he led Guardia patrols into action against rebels in nine engagements. Lee's patrols were often outnumbered, but succeeded in routing the bandits in every battle. Gunnery Sergeant Lee was awarded his first two Navy Crosses during this time. In September 1932, Lee and First Lieutenant Chesty Puller were leading a patrol of 40 Nicaraguans when they were ambushed by nearly 150 rebels. Lee was shot in the head and lost consciousness while Puller led the patrol in a counterattack against the rebels. After about 15 minutes, Lee regained consciousness and manned a Lewis Gun with destructive effect against the enemy. After defeating the enemy ambush, Lee and Puller withdrew their force back to their base over 100 miles away. Lee was awarded his third Navy Cross for his actions, Puller was awarded his second Navy Cross. In January 1933, Lee returned to the United States and spent six months in a naval hospital in Washington, D.C. In June 1934 he was assigned to the

5th Marines The 5th Marine Regiment (also referred to as "5th Marines") is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the most highly decorated regiment in the Marine Corps and falls u ...

in Quantico, Virginia, and was soon promoted to Chief Marine Gunner.

World War II

China Marine

In August 1939, Chief Marine Gunner Lee reported to the U.S. Embassy in Beiping (now Beijing), China. As tensions rose between the United States and Japan, most China Marines were relocated to the Philippines. Lee and approximately 200 other Marines stayed in China, however. On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy

attacked Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

and the United States declared war the next day, officially entering into World War II. On December 8, Lee and 21 other Marines were stockpiling supplies at the Qinhuangdao docks and were scheduled to be evacuated by ship just two days later. Unfortunately, the detachment of Marines were surrounded by an overwhelming Japanese force. Lee and the Marines were preparing to make a final stand when they received orders to surrender. Every single Marine still in China surrendered as a prisoner of war by the Japanese.

Prisoner of war

On February 2, 1942, Lee and the other China Marines were taken to the Wusong prisoner-of-war (POW) camp, near Shanghai. The Marines were fed very little and routinely beaten, and they were housed in dilapidated

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

did little to protect them from the elements during the winter. An electric fence also surrounded the camp, which electrocuted a few men who accidentally touched it. In December 1942, Lee and most of the other POWs were transferred to Jiangwang, several miles away. The conditions at Jiangwang were slightly better than those at Wusong. In May 1945, Lee and the other prisoners were transported by train 100 miles to Nanjing. By May 14, the prisoners were put in a warehouse outside Beiping, where the conditions were worse than previous camps. On June 19, the POWs were put onto another train and travelled to Pusan, Korea, where the conditions were even worse than the conditions at Beiping. After three days, they were loaded onto a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

and sent to the island of Honshu, Japan. Lee and the other prisoners then got on another train which took them north, before ultimately getting on another ferry which took them to Hokkaido, where they would spend the rest of the war. Lee was beaten very badly numerous times during his captivity, as the Japanese largely focused on him due to his size and leadership role. On one occasion, a Japanese soldier kicked his teeth out. Lit cigarettes were also put out on his ears in several incidents. In August 1945, many of the Japanese guards fled the camp after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Lee and several other Marines killed some of the remaining Japanese guards and captured the camp, holding it until their liberation by American troops in September 1945. Lee and the other Marines from the embassy were the longest held American prisoners of war during World War II.

Post-World War II

Lee was promoted to

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

and arrived in San Francisco, California, on September 22, 1945. By July 1946, he was promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. He was given command of a rifle range at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for the next four years, before retiring as a colonel on July 1, 1950. Lee decided to retire after the death of his first wife, Helen. He later tried to return to the Marines as the United States became involved in the Korean War, but his offer was declined. William A. Lee died of cancer on December 27, 1998, in

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg wi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, William A. 1900 births 1998 deaths American military personnel of the Banana Wars American prisoners of war in World War II Burials at Quantico National Cemetery Deaths from cancer in Virginia Military personnel from Massachusetts People from Haverhill, Massachusetts Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) United States Marine Corps colonels United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Japan