13 things about US Army veteran Lee Wong from West Chester, Ohio

Lee Wong (黄良华) is a Asian-American man from West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio, United States. An ethnic Chinese, he obtained a green card because his older brother was a U.S. citizen then he joined the U.S. Army.

BIOGRAPHY

Wong is a Republican. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacology in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
2. While in the U.S. Army, he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal science and served as a special agent for the U.S. Army police force’s Criminal Investigation Command (CID).
3. After leaving CID, he worked as a police officer in Indiana, USA.
4. In 1964, his parents passed away.
5. In 1970, he immigrated from Malaysia to the U.S.
6. In 1972, while he was a sophomore college student, a white male mistook him for Japanese and pushed him to the ground. He was hospitalized and he sued the attacker, who was sentenced to one-year, non-reporting probation only. To get his revenge, he applied to become a policeman but he was rejected.
7. In 2001, he moved his family to West Chester where he volunteered to collect tickets for football games.
8. From 2005 to 2007, he attended the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio where he earned his master’s degree in criminal justice.
9. In November 2005, he was elected to the board of trustees in West Chester.
10. In January 2006, he took office for his first term as a member of the board of trustees in West Chester.
11. His fourth term as president of the board of trustees of West Chester is from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2021.
12. In June 2018, he visited Hollywood, Florida, USA and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
13. On February 28, 2025, he turned 73.

TIMELINE

Wong is the first Chinese American to get in the CID. He served in the U.S. Army for 20 years.

2020

• He ran for election to the Ohio State Senate to represented the fourth district but he and Candice Keller lost to George Lang in the Republican primary on April 28, 2020.

2021

• On March 23, 2021, he unbuttoned his shirt and bared his chest during a board meeting in West Chester. He said, “Don’t get me wrong. People love me in this community and I love them, too. But there are some ignorant people that would come up to me and say that I don’t look American enough or patriotic enough.” Showing his military scars, he continued, “Here’s my proof. Now, is this patriot enough?”

2022

• In October 2022, he traveled to Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia and Phuket, Thailand.
• In December 2022, he attended an event in Flushing, New York, USA where he said, “Sometimes, the worst attacks come from members of our own community.”

2023

• On December 15, 2023, he attended a holiday reception held by the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester.

2024

• In May 2024, he watched the Association of Pickleball Players event in Cincinnati.
• In July 2024, he watched the National Pickleball League seniors tournament in West Chester.
• In October 2024, he visited Orlando, Florida.