At first glance, recent Chicago Battalion Army enlistees Christopher Lee and Henry Lee (not related) seem like average Future Soldiers. It's what Christopher and Henry do at work and for fun that makes them special. Both Future Soldiers are Third Degree Black Belt Tae Kwon Do martial arts instructors.
Christopher, 27, is a 2002 graduate of Glenbrook South High School and a 2008 graduate of Illinois State University, where he earned a degree in special education. Henry, 29, graduated from Chicago's Adlai Stevenson High School in 2001 and attended Indiana University.
Both Lees agree that they had considered joining the Army since they were young boys. Both emigrated from Korea at an early age.
"For me it was always a question of when I would enlist not if I would enlist," Christopher said. Since military service is compulsory in Korea, both Christopher and Henry have long family histories of military service.
Christopher said he started his martial arts training at age four in Korea.
"I was born premature so I was a frail kid growing up," Christopher said. "My mother stopped by a Tae Kwon Do school in a strip mall near our house and signed me up for a three year contract, thinking that this was a good way for me to get healthy. I remember going to the gym every day after school."
Henry said he was nine and had moved to the U.S. when he started training in Tae Kwon Do.
The Lees just needed some gently prodding from an Army recruiter and that's where Sgt. 1st Class Mark Doran, the assistant operations noncommissioned officer for the Chicago Battalion, entered the picture. Doran's 10-year-old daughter Torri had been studying Tae Kwon Do under the Lees.
"I would show up in uniform every once in a while to pick up my daughter, so they knew I was in the Army," Doran said. "Christopher stopped me one day and told me he was interested in joining the Army."
Doran said Henry talked to his wife one day, knowing her husband was in the Army, and said he, too, was interested in joining the Army.
"I talked to both of them about Army programs and the enlistment process then turned them over to a recruiter," Doran said.
Christopher and Henry say they now have a real kinship with their adopted country and wish to serve in the Army to pay the United States back for the opportunities they have been given. Christopher became a U. S. citizen last May and Henry will use his enlistment to accelerate the citizenship process.
The Lees are on different career paths in the Army. Henry leaves for basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., in mid-October and will train as a cavalry scout (19D). Christopher ships out in mid-November for Fort Benning and will train as a Special Forces candidate (18X).
"The Army is built on respect and discipline, two values important in the Korean culture," Henry said.
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