On 28 September 1928 Mow Wong arrived in the Port of Seattle from Hong Kong China on board the SS President Jefferson. Mow was 14 years old when he arrived. Mow Wong was born on 6 January 1914 in Chung Lok, China. Immigration and ship records indicate Mow was the son of a US Citizen at the time of his arrival. Mow was also listed as a student when he arrived in Seattle.

Private Mow Wong volunteered and enlisted in the US Army on 29 July 1942 in New York City, New York.

PVT Mow Wong was assigned to A (Able) Co. 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry (1-17 IN), 7th Infantry Division (7th ID). The 7th ID was training in the Mojave Desert in 1942 in preparation for combat as a Motorized Infantry Division to deploy to North Africa. The 7th ID was tasked in March 1943 to be the assault element to retake Attu Island, Alaska from the Japanese Army.

Attu and Kiska Islands are part of the Aleutian Chain in Alaska and had been seized by Imperial Japanese Forces on 6 June 1942 as part of large Japanese Naval Offensive. There was no opposition to either landing. A small US Navy Weather Reporting Station on Kiska consisting of 10 personnel was captured and the US Navy sailors were sent to Japan as prisoners of war. The Island of Attu was captured by a Japanese Army Infantry battalion. Attu village at the time consisted of 43 Aleuts (Unanagin) and a female schoolteacher and her husband. The Japanese later transported the Aleuts as prisoners to Japan. The schoolteacher Etta Jones was also transported to Japan as a prisoner. Etta’s husband Foster Jones was executed by the Japanese on 6 June 1942 and buried by the Attu Villagers at the Russian Orthodox Church graveyard. At the end of the war 25 of the original 43 Aleuts from Attu were repatriated to the US. The remaining 18 died of disease and malnutrition in Japan.

On 11 May 1943 the 7th ID made three landings on Attu the main effort at Massacre Bay (Southern Force), a supporting effort at Red Beach north of Holtz Bay (Northern Force) and another supporting effort at Austin Cove by the 7th ID Provisional Scout Company. PVT Wong landed on Red Beach north of Holtz Bay with A Co 1-17 IN on 11 May 1943 under the command of MAJ Albert Hartl. 1-17 IN initial objective after landing was a hill complex designated HILL X which overlooked Holtz Bay the main Japanese Base on Attu. Due to fog and poor maps 1-17 IN did not seize HILL X on 11 May 1943 as planned. 1-17 IN seized HILL X on the afternoon of 12 My 1943 after a deliberate attack supported by 105 mm artillery, Naval gunfire, and close air support from F4F- 4s, from the USS Nassau, dropping 100-pound Daisey Cutter bombs and conducting strafing runs. 1-17 IN along with the 3rd BN 32nd Infantry (3-32 IN) conducted follow operations into Holtz Bay from 13 May to 18 May 1943 clearing enemy positions. Hospitalization records indicate PVT Wong suffered multiple gunshot wounds on 20 May 1943 and died of his wounds. The battle of Attu lasted from 11 May to 29 May,1943. The original plan called for a three to four-day operation. The battle took 18 days and was ended in a climatic banzai charge led by the Japanese Commander COL Yamazaki out of Chicagof Harbor/ Attu Village area.

PVT Wong died on 20 May 1943 on Attu Island in the Alaska Territory. PVT Mow Wong is buried at the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale NY. PVT Wong was originally interned at the Holtz Bay Cemetery on Attu in May of 1943 and was later disinterred with all the other US Military and known Japanese WW II casualties. PVT Wong was awarded posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and the Purple Heart Medal. PVT Wong would have qualified for the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) for his actions on Attu, but he was killed in action prior to the issue of the award in November of 1943.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave.com

WW II US Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946

US National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962

US WW II Hospital Admission File Card Files, 1942-1954

Index to Chinese Exclusion Case Files, 1898-1943

Passenger and Crew List SS President Jefferson, Washington State, 1882-1965

US Rosters of WW II Dead, 1939-1945