Yee was born on Nov 29, 1921 in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province of China. He served as an interpreter for the Flying Tigers until 1942. The Flying Tigers was composed of members of the U.S. Army Air Corps fighting under the Chinese Air Force.

He later studied at Denver University in the United States and taught Chinese language and East Asian history in both high schools and colleges in Colorado.

In 2012, the Colorado State government declared July 17 "John Yee Day" to highlight his contributions to winning World War II, in particular his service to the Flying Tigers, headed by Claire Chennault.

In the letter, Yee also recalled that Western countries failed to act when Japan invaded China.

"Japan invaded Manchuria (Northeast China) in 1931, and when China appealed in the League of Nations, the Japanese contingent got up and walked out of the room. And the world's big Western powers -- England, France, Germany, Italy and America -- did nothing," he said.

"Had they intervened, in any capacity, the slaughter of millions of Chinese might have been averted. The Japanese have no more excuse than Hitler had. There are several countries that Japan should apologize to, and China is at the top of the list. Not the USA," said Yee.

More Japanese and American back-rubbing seems to be on show in Pearl Harbor this week, he added.