Delbert Wong

Portrait of Delbert Wong

DELBERT E. WONG (1920-2006)

US Army Air Force

First Lieutenant

 

Place of Birth: Hanford, California

Military Honors: Distinguished Flying Cross; four Air Medals

Service: Delbert enlisted in the Army Air Forces after graduating from University of California at Berkeley. He was a B-17 Flying Fortress navigator and completed thirty bombing missions in Europe. 

Post-War: Delbert became the first Chinese American graduate from Stanford Law School. In 1959, he was appointed to the Los Angeles County Municipal Court, becoming the first Chinese American judge in the continental United States. Delbert eventually served in the Los Angeles Superior Court for over twenty years. The City of Los Angeles recognized its first Chinese American when they named a square in Chinatown after Delbert as an official landmark.