William Andrew "Ironman" Lee (November 12, 1900 – December 27, 1998) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of colonel.

[1] Lee attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.

Private Lee then reported to machine gun school in Utica, New York, before deploying to France with Company K, 13th Regiment, 5th Marine Brigade in September 1918 during World War I. Lee rose to the rank of corporal before he left the Marines upon returning to the United States in August 1919.

[1] In early 1927, Gunnery Sergeant Lee was sent to Nicaragua where he assisted in training Nicaraguan National Guard soldiers and led them into combat against the leftist Sandinista rebels.

[2][3] In January 1933, Lee returned to the United States and spent six months in a naval hospital in Washington, D.C.

[1] In August 1939, Chief Marine Gunner Lee reported to the U.S. Embassy in Beiping (now Beijing), China.

On December 8, Lee and 21 other Marines were stockpiling supplies at the Qinhuangdao docks and were scheduled to be evacuated by ship just two days later.

Lee was beaten very badly numerous times during his captivity, as the Japanese largely focused on him due to his size and leadership role.

Lee and several other Marines killed some of the remaining Japanese guards and captured the camp, holding it until their liberation by American troops in September 1945.

He was given command of a rifle range at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for the next four years, before retiring as a colonel on July 1, 1950.