Fighting for a country that didn’t fight for you

CALGARY (CityNews) – A Chinese-Canadian soldier was once denied his citizenship but still decided to fight for our country.

This Remembrance Day, the nephew of Sgt. Jack Lee recalls his uncle’s love for Canada despite not being considered a legal citizen.

Sgt. Lee was born in Vancouver. After moving to China and back to Canada as a child, he was refused citizenship, given a card to simply allow him to reside in the country.

His nephew, Ron Lee, said his uncle decided to run away from home and enlist after a falling out with his father.

“He wrote a note and put it to his pillow for his older brother Jimmy to find and said, ‘I’m gonna go join the army. A few months later, he was there fighting.”

The Central Memorial Park cenotaph is dedicated to those who lost their lives in each of the world wars as well as the Korean war but Sgt. Lee was fortunately able to come home to Canada.

After he was deployed to England and France, fought in Belgium, Holland, and Germany, he came back to Alberta and served on guard duty before his retirement.

“When he came back from the war, all he said was, “I’m back, I’m alive, we’ve got the best country in the world,” said Ron.

Ron said his uncle loved Canada, despite the racism his family faced.

“My uncle and my dad were born in this country, when the exclusion act came in, they were presented with (this card). There was one line, if the children of Chinese parents that were born here who paid the head tax, they could register their children, and they’d be allowed to remain in Canada.

Sgt. Lee passed away before a family reunion in 2014.

“He was forever grateful to have served his country and to have come back, and to have lived a peaceful life in Canada,” said Ron.