Lee Allen was born in Manila, Philippines on October 24, 1938. His early life was tragically disrupted by the War in the Pacific, the second theater of World War II. His father was a career Army officer and his mother was a physician, both stationed in the Philippines. Upon the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Lee’s father was forced into and survived the 1942 Bataan Death March, then died in the Cabanatuan prisoner-of-war camp. Separated from their father, Lee and his brother Hendy, along with their mother, were in prison camps for the duration of World War II. Their mother was the camp doctor and saved many lives without any help or supplies from their Japanese captors. Elements of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 4th Tank Battalion rescued the three of them in 1945. Some of Lee’s relatives wrote a biography of Lee’s mother, Beulah Ream Allen. Titled Beulah, the Good Doctor, it partly described their time in the Japanese prisoner-of war-camps.
Lee was raised in California and graduated in 1956 from Palo Alto High School, where he was the elected student body president. He was awarded a congressional appointment to West Point. As a cadet, Lee was the fastest 100-yard dash athlete and a model military leader and student who eventually was appointed four stripes, a cadet captain and the Company H-1 commander. As the editor of the Class of 1960 yearbook, Lee had the honor of personally presenting the book to President Eisenhower. Upon graduation in 1960 he was commissioned into the Armor branch.
Lee served oversea tours in Germany and Vietnam twice. He also served in Syria for four months during the Yom Kippur War and completed an early teaching tour at West Point. He earned a graduate degree at the University of Illinois, and he attended the customary Army schools, including the Ranger course. This made his 20-year military career. He elected to retire and went home to Utah to continue raising his five children instead of being promoted to colonel.
In 1971, Lee and Silja Viinkka from Finland were married in Switzerland. Silja was Lee’s best friend and love of his life. Together they raised and are proud of their five children and 14 grandchildren.
In retirement, Lee continued to serve his country. His activities were many and varied but always with strength and integrity. He edited and published a newspaper called The Free Citizen in Utah to inform and protect the rights of the citizens. As a regional speaker for Accuracy in Media, he journeyed to the old Soviet Union, where he was found to be a worthy proponent of freedom. Running as an independent in 1988, he tried a political run as lieutenant governor for the state of Utah, but his candidate for governor did not win. He was a strong advocate for improving education and was the founding member and first principal of the private Meridian School in Provo, UT. Lee edited and published military history books, and he also contributed behind-the-scenes to some best-selling authors. His military history knowledge would have granted him tenure, had he desired, at any university. Lee was honored to serve the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in many capacities, including as a Cub Scout leader and as a member of a Bishopric and High Council.
Annual camping trips to areas from Alaska to Mexico were taken with his children, during which he taught his Ranger skills. Later in life, Lee and his West Point classmate and friend from Palo Alto High School, Craig Colter, often visited Civil War battlefields, followed the Lewis and Clark Trail, and enjoyed their shared past and friendship.
Lee was a man of strong convictions with a high sense of morality and justice. He was honest to a fault and respected by all who knew him. He wrote in his own obituary, certainly considering his early childhood, that “…he lived as a free man by the grace of God and the sacrifice of his countrymen.”