Click on the photo to enlarge. This photo is dated 1941 and shows Louis (age 22) wearing a white apron. He is behind the counter on the right side of the photo. The other people in the photograph are mostly African-American soldiers.
At the age of 17, Louis came to the USA on the USS President Jackson, by way of Hong Kong. He recalled there were many other Chinese passengers on the ship but he knew no one and was traveling alone. It must have been a rather lonely journey on that ship for a young man leaving his village for the first time in his life. He recalled that the cost of the ticket was about $ 75.00. He landed in Seattle, Washington. At that time, his father Wong Gim Ming was living and working in Portland, Oregon. Louis had six weeks of waiting in the Immigration detention center before he could join his father.
After his entry was approved, he went to live in Portland with Gim Ming. A couple of months later, a letter came from China. His mother, Wong Toy Hong instructed him to go to Arizona. Her older brother, Mar Kim operated a restaurant at the Army post of Fort Huachuca. She wanted him to go there where she thought he had the opportunity to earn a decent income.
So, in Portland, Louis boarded a train to Arizona. On the way, he stopped in San Francisco where he was met by Sam Gong’s father. He stayed there for a couple of days before continuing by train to Los Angeles. He did not have any relatives or contacts in Los Angeles so he continued his journey without stopping there. There he boarded another train for Fort Huachuca. He did not speak English as he had only studied it for 3 years in junior high school in China. . When he was hungry, he did not know how to ask for food. He could, however write words in English so he wrote that he was hungry and showed it to the conductor. It worked, he soon had a sandwich in his hands. He also had piece of paper with his destination written on it and this he showed to the conductor, who replied ‘where is that?’ It turned out the train did not go to Fort Huachuca. Louis had to disembark in front of the General Store in Hereford and catch a bus to Fort Huachuca.
Louis was first born great-grandson, the first born grand son and the first born son. As a boy in this position, Louis was doted on. Louis recalled being carried by his great-grandfather to a designated meeting place that was approximately the halfway point between the households of Wong and Mar. He would then be handed over to this same uncle Mar Kim of Fort Huachuca who would carry him back to his family’s home for a visit. While living in Fort Huachuca, Louis went to school in the morning in the town of Huachuca. He was 17 but he sat in a second-grade class. It was boring, he would fall asleep. In the afternoon, around 4 pm, he would go to work at the Café until 10 pm.
He found it very tiring, being the only relative there to help Mar Kim. Bobby’s father, who had been working at the Café had returned to China. Mar Kim’s nephew (his younger brother’s son, cousin of Louis) had fled back to China. Mar Kim had discovered this nephew in a compromising situation with Victoria. She was the Mexican cashier at the Mar Kim Café who also happened to be Mar Kim’s lady.
With these two relatives gone, there was no companionship for Louis. In such an isolated place, there was nothing to do. The only distraction from the boredom was the catalog from “Sears” or “Montgomery Ward”, however, there was not the pleasure of ordering from the catalog.
Louis asked Mar Kim for permission to leave Fort Huachuca. Mar Kim was a stubborn and hot-tempered man. Louis thought to himself, ‘it is never going to work out and he’s never going to let me out’. In 1937, he left while Mar Kim was away in Tucson on an errand. In other words, he ran away . He went to Sacramento. At this time, Gim Ming was based in Marysville and Louis made a visit to him.
Sacramento
In Sacramento, Louis found a job as a waiter at the Dime-A-Dance Dance Hall at I and 6th Street. He was paid $ 40 each month. He was pleased with this salary as Mar Kim had paid him $ 20 each month. He lived at Sam Gong’s house.
Louis began to go to Adult School. School started at 9 am and was located at 13th and G Street. He lived at 5th and K Street. Every morning he would walk about 15 blocks to school. He recalls that halfway there, he would stop at a diner, put down a dime and drink a quart of milk. At 11 am, he would leave school and walk to ASIA CAFÉ at 7th and K St. He worked there with Soo Ming’s father, Winston Wong. Business was booming while the County Fair was happening. The pay was $ 25 per month and with tips, Louis earned $ 100 each month. The owner’s cousin who was also employed there often did not show up for work. This led the owner to ask Louis to cease attending school so he could work more hours. Louis agreed to do this. When the County Fair finished, business was down and Louis was laid off. Winston (Soo Ming’s father) protested this injustice by quitting and telling them, ‘you guys can do all the work yourself.’ His view was that as Louis had agreed to quit school, it was unfair to lay him off now. The owner agreed to re-hire both of them. Shortly after that, Louis quit this job and headed to Los Angeles. He enrolled for one semester at Belmont High School while living with Gim Ming. The restaurant where he worked failed and closed. He returned to Sacramento and went to work at The China Clipper with Soo Ming’s father. It was located in the alley on 10th St.
(Years later, Soo Ming, son of Winston, went to work as a waiter at the Coral Reef Restaurant which Louis managed. He was a happy-go-lucky fellow who enjoyed his mah-jong. The Pontiac that Yang and Zee drove around, known as ‘the green bomber’ was later given to Soo Ming. After mah-jong, in the early morning hours, he and other players would frequently go to Denny’s on Broadway in Sacramento (no longer there). He died tragically on Thanksgiving Day 1984, in the parking lot of Denny’s when he was shot by his estranged girlfriend who then shot herself).
Cincinnati, Ohio
In September or October 1938, at the age of 18 Louis went to Cincinnati, Ohio where he worked as a waiter in a restaurant. It was owned by Mein Goo’s (Lily) father. Louis was there for about 18 months.
Louis recalls that every day, some of the waiters would leave 2 cents out on the table closest to the door. A delivery of newspapers would be left on the table in place of the coins. At this time Japan had invaded China and it was being reported in the news. Louis would continually ask the other waiters about what was happening in the War and if they could tell him what town had been captured by the Japanese.
One day, when Louis began his usual quizzing of the readers of the newspapers, one of the waiters became impatient and threw the newspaper down. He snapped at Louis, "why don’t you look for yourself?" Louis said "If I could read, I would not be asking!" This spat prompted Louis to find a way to go to school to learn English. He went to the principal of a school who asked him why he was getting such a late start. Louis said he knew he had to build a good case so he said he had had to work to support his mother and younger brother. The principal told him he was impressed with his ambition and told him he would inquire about making arrangements on the following Monday. Louis was granted permission to attend grade school at age 18. He also took one class of English and one of history for students in the 8th – 12th grade. The history teacher, Mrs Walker told him ‘you come in half an hour earlier and I’ll help you’. He had to take every opportunity to study. When there were no tables to wait on, he would use that time to learn a new word.
It was here in Cincinnati that he first heard the blues music. When Bessie Smith's recordings were re-mastered and released, he bought all six albums, taped them and passed them on to some of his daughters.
Los Angeles
After Cincinnati, he returned to Los Angeles and re-enrolled at Belmont High School. He lived there with a friend of Gim Ming (his father). This man was married to a wife who was much younger than him. She kept offering to drive Louis to school, but he refused and took the bus instead. (This was the man who sponsored Kai sok, Kai bak’s younger brother. Kai sok and Kai bok were the sons of Louis’ godfather). A month later, Louis asked Gim Ming to come as he needed his help.. This man accused Louis of stealing a ring from his wife. Gim Ming came and asked Louis if he stole it. Louis was incredulous and asked him "don’t you believe me?"
Back to Fort Huachuca
When things did not work out in Los Angeles, Louis wrote to Mar Kim who said he would welcome his return to Fort Huachuca. Louis decided to go there while he waited until he was 21 to register for the draft. By this time, Mar Kim had become very successful; he owned three restaurants. He gave some shares of The Post Café to Louis. The manager of Post Café 2 was the nephew of a friend of Mar Kim. Somehow the discrepancy of a couple of thousand dollars was discovered by Louis and one of the cousins. It’s not clear if Louis reported it to Mar Kim but the manager went to Mar Kim and made up stories accusing Louis and the cousin of goofing off, as a way to discredit them. Louis said ‘he was finking on us’.
Mar Kim had developed friendships with influential people, including the Draft Board chairman, who assisted with delaying the draft of Louis into the Army. Later, when he did join the army, Louis went to Curtis Rye school to learn aircraft maintenance. He was assigned to California but asked for a transfer to Ohio so he could be near Mein Goo. It’s unclear whether or not he obtained this, but later, he did ask for discharge in Ohio and was in Cleveland. The son of Mrs. Walker (the history teacher) got Louis a job at a machine shop where they made license plates.
Mar Kim then asked Louis to return as his son had quit working at The Post Café. When Louis returned to Fort Huachuca after his Army service, he recalls signing a ten-year lease at ten dollars a month with the Department of Defense.
There are now two buildings inside Fort Huachuca, one named after Sam Kee and another after Mar Kim, to commemorate their contributions to the Army and the history of Fort Huachuca.
There are other posts in this blog about Sam Kee which are sourced from interviews of soldiers who served at Fort Huachuca.
Click on the photo to enlarge. This photo is dated 1941 and shows Louis (age 22) wearing a white apron. He is behind the counter on the right side of the photo. The other people in the photograph are mostly African-American soldiers.