World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseFrancis Brown Wai was born in Honolulu, US Territory of Hawai'i in 1917 to father Kim Wai, a Chinese immigrant, and Rosina Lambert, a Hawai'i Native. He graduated from the college preparatory school Punahou School in Honolulu in 1935, where he earned good grades and excelled in athletics. He was also an avid surfer, at times alongside of famous surfer Duke Kahanamoku. Between 1936 and 1937, he studied at the Sacramento Junior College, and between 1937 and 1940 he studied at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA); at the latter, he was a member of the school's football team alongside of his brothers Robert Wai and Conkling Wai. Graduating from UCLA with a degree in banking and finance, he initially planned to join his father's business, but ultimately chose to join the Hawai'i National Guard in Oct 1940 instead.

ww2dbaseWai was called into active service prior to the American entry into the already-raging WW2. After completing the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, United States, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in Sep 1941. When Japan struck Pearl Harbor in Hawai'i, Captain Wai was an intelligence officer with Headquarters Company of 34th Infantry Regiment of US 24th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu in Hawai'i. He was deployed to Australia in May 1943, and then to Goodenough Island of Australian Territory of Papua (now Independent State of Papua New Guinea) in Jan 1944. He landed in Dutch New Guinea in Apr 1944 and together with his unit made his way southeast toward the Japanese-held Hollandia Airfield (now Dortheys Hiyo Eluay International Airport). In Jul 1944, he participated in the capture of the smaller Sorido and Borokoe Airfields. After securing the Hollandia region, the 24th Infantry Division was assigned to X Corps of the 6th United States Army in preparation of an invasion of the Philippines.

ww2dbaseWai arrived at Leyte, Philippines on 20 Oct 1944 with the fifth wave of landers. Upon landing, he assumed command of a rifle company in the 3rd Battalion of 34th Infantry Regiment after discovering that the unit's previous commanding officer had been killed. With a Browning Automatic Rifle in hand, he led this company through a rice field, without cover, toward Japanese machine gun positions that were pinning down many Americans in the area. He exposed himself in order to draw enemy fire, allowing his men to locate and destroy a number of machine gun posts in that manner. He was killed by machine gun fire from what would turn out to be the final machine gun position in the area. He was recommended for a Medal of Honor by Colonel Aubrey Newman, commanding officer of the 34th Infantry Regiment, but instead he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

ww2dbaseWai was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu in Sep 1949. His Distinguished Service Cross was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the highest award of the US military, which was presented by US President Bill Clinton to his brother Robert Wai at the White House in Washington, United States in Jun 2000. At the time of this writing in 2025, Francis Wai is the only Chinese American recipient of the Medal of Honor.

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