Time in China
In response to Japanese aggression against Western China in 1933, Lee journeyed to China with the goal of joining the Chinese Air Force. Despite the need for pilots, the Chinese Air Force would not accept a woman pilot. Frustrated, Lee instead settled in Canton and spent the next few years flying for a private airline. She was one of a very small number of women pilots in China.
In 1937, Japan invaded China. Lee remained in China despite the war and was in Canton when hundreds of civilians were killed in Japanese air attacks. Friends speak of Lee's calm while bombs fell all around and remember Lee's effort to find shelter for friends, neighbors and family. Thanks to Lee, all survived the bombing attacks. Following another unsuccessful effort to join the Chinese Air Force, Lee escaped to Hong Kong and returned to the USA in 1938. In New York, Lee worked for the Chinese government as a buyer of war materials for besieged China.
Read more about this topic: Hazel Ying Lee
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