I recently finished my 10th book in The Things Our Fathers Saw series. It covers a pretty much unknown aspect of American involvement in World War II, the China/Burma/India arena of the war.
In the writing of this series, I have been approached by people, generally children of combatants, and sometimes in slightly indignant fashion, wanting to know ‘why there is no CBI Theater’ focus in my books, as if I considered these men and women who served in that arena somehow less worthy of recognition and study. The ordinary unfortunate explanation was simply that comparatively few Americans served there, a complex and confusing pocket of activity that technically is not even classified a ‘theater’ of operations in the sense of, let’s say, the European or Pacific Theaters. It did not have a unified combat command per se; there weren’t any conventional U.S. infantry divisions slogging it out in China, Burma, or India—most of the ground fighting was done by British, Indian, and Chinese troops. Only about a percent and a half of Americans in uniform during World War II were engaged here, most in supporting roles; less than 3,000 U.S. ground troop volunteers made up legendary long-range fighting forces known as Merrill’s Marauders and others, who were pushed to the brink of extinction after just five months of combat.
Yet I found some amazing stories, from a nurse who was just one of two accompanying Claire Chennault’s famed mercenary ‘Flying Tigers’ taking out Japanese bombers over China and Burma, to the men who flew dangerous high altitude cargo missions from India to China over the Himalayas, to the Marauders on the ground and the fighter pilots who supported them from the sky. It clocked in at 362 pages of narrative oral history, and I hope it closes this gap in the knowledge of World War II; the last Marauder died just as I began writing it in January. You can get it at my direct store above in the SHOP MY BOOKS tab, or look it up at that behemoth, Amazon. The TOC is pasted below. Thanks for reading and your support.
In VOLUME 10 of The Things Our Fathers Saw® series, ‘Over The Hump/China, Burma, India’, we will visit with the veterans of most overlooked theater of World War II as they prepare to fly over and march through the most inhospitable terrain on the planet, from the Himalaya Mountains to the jungles and mountains of Burma, battling elite Japanese forces, sickness and tropical disease. Ride with the cargo pilots as they are buffeted by 200 MPH+ winds over some of the highest mountains in the world; join fighter pilots taking to the skies to attack Japanese bombers and other aircraft as the enemy tries to disrupt the flow of supplies from India to China. Accompany the long range American penetration forces as they go deep into the heart of enemy held territory to stem the Japanese onslaught. Gain a better understanding of why these forgotten men need to be remembered and celebrated today.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
INTRODUCTION
COMMUNISTS AND NATIONALISTS
WORLD WAR II BEGINS IN ASIA
‘VINEGAR JOE’ STILWELL
‘WE GOT A HELL OF A BEATING’
THE AVG STATIONMASTER
‘WE WRECKED A LOT OF PLANES’
NO REPLACEMENTS
CHENNAULT’S EARLY WARNING SYSTEM
THE BURMA SALWEEN GORGE MISSION
CONDITIONS
OTHER MISSIONS
‘I WENT AROUND THE WORLD’
THE MARINES
BOOZE FOR SPARE PARTS
THE SLIT TRENCH ENCOUNTER
HOME
THE FLYING TIGERS NURSE
‘I FELT LIKE ALICE IN WONDERLAND’
A ‘FOREIGN DEVIL’
GETTING BACK TO CHINA
‘THESE KIDS, THEY’RE GOING TO FIGHT?’
SPENDING TIME WITH CHENNAULT
WAR
THE WARNING SYSTEM
MARRIED WITH A BLACK EYE
‘WHEN THEY CAME BACK, THEY WERE MEN’
‘THAT’S WHEN I LOST HIM’
HOME
‘WOMEN DIDN’T TALK ABOUT THOSE THINGS’
THE CARGO PILOT
THE LIFELINE OF CHINA
HAZARDOUS DUTY
MEDALS
THE COMMUNIST CHINESE
THE GRAND PIANO
THE CHINESE PEOPLE
GOING HOME
THE HOSPITAL SHIP
THE RESERVES
KEEPING IN TOUCH
CIVILIAN LIFE
THE B-24 RADIOMAN
SHIPPING OUT
TO INDIA
MISSIONS
WEIGHTLESS
ANOXIA
DETACHED SERVICE
COMING HOME
THE B-29 RADARMAN
THE B-29S
RADAR
MISSIONS
SINGAPORE
BOMBING JAPAN
‘WE LOST OUR PILOT’
A SECRET WEAPON
AFTER THE WAR
THE ACE
PILOT TRAINING
INDIA
FIRST KILL
‘I BELIEVE I’M GOING TO GET KILLED TOMORROW’
PURPLE HEART
‘PETE, DON’T SHOOT!’
87 MISSIONS
THE CHINESE
WAR’S END
JAPAN OCCUPATION DUTY
THE THUNDERBOLT PILOT
THE TEST
CALLED UP
PILOT TRAINING
THE THUNDERBOLT
TO THE CBI
BURMA
MARAUDERS’ SUPPORT
THE NATIVE PEOPLE
WAR’S END
HOME
‘THEY WERE SOLDIERS’
THE VIRGINIA FARMBOY
‘I LIED LIKE A RUG’
FORCED MARCHES AT HIGH SPEED
STILWELL’S GOALS
WINNING SUPPORT OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
INSPIRED TO LEARN
THE HEAVY WEAPONS COMMANDER
‘I’M NOT ASKING YOU’
‘A MINIMUM OF 90% CASUALTIES’
LIVING CONDITIONS
THE IMPERIAL MARINES
FIGHT AT WALAWBUM
WOUNDED
HOME
‘GENERAL STILWELL JUST LAUGHED’
GOING BACK
‘YOU VOLUNTEERED FOR THIS MISSION’
‘I’LL TAKE CARE OF IT’
REUNIONS
THE ENGINEER
DEPRESSION DAYS
‘YOU’LL GO WHERE I TELL YOU TO GO’
INDIA
COMBAT TEAMS
THE RIVER CROSSING
‘WE WERE THROUGH’
THE END OF THE WAR
‘HE BELONGS TO ME’
SOUVENIRS
STILL ALIVE
THE 4-F VOLUNTEER
UNIT ‘GALAHAD’
‘EVERYBODY WAS A MARAUDER’
THE NATIVES
GENERAL MERRILL
‘WE HAD NO DANCING GIRLS’
GOING HOME
OBSERVATIONS
THE RADIO WIZARD
‘I WANTED TO DO MY PART’
THE ‘SONG OF INDIA’
MULES
SHOOTING
‘THEY WOULD GO WILD’
MARCHING PAST THE HOSPITAL
FOOD AND SICKNESS ON THE MOVE
HOME
LAST WORDS
THE IMMIGRANT
‘YOU BECOME A FATALIST’
POINT MAN
‘WE DIDN’T GET DECORATED’
‘KILLED IN ACTION’
THE CHIEF
THE LEDO ROAD
‘A VERY TOUGH THING’
HOME
THE COMBAT CAMERAMAN I
DEPRESSION DAYS
BECOMING A CAMERAMAN
‘WE NEED THE FIVE DOLLARS’
‘THE WAR WAS ON TOP OF US’
‘I WON WORLD WAR II’
GOING OVERSEAS
THE VOLUNTEER
‘YOU HAVE TO STAY HOME AND FARM’
‘YOU’RE THE SON OF A GUN THAT WENT AWOL’
IN THE BRIG
‘MY GOD, A TORPEDO!”
PICKING UP THE DEAD
‘ONE DAY THE SALVATION CAME’
‘MY SQUAD LEADER WAS A CONVICTED FELON’
‘POOREST GODDAM EXCUSE FOR A MULE SKINNER’
THE LETTER
‘WE CAN DISAPPEAR IN THE JUNGLE’
COMBAT
WOUNDED
‘I CAN SAVE THAT LEG’
THE NISEI INTERPRETER
‘THE MEN WHO ALTERED MY LIFE’
RECONNECTING WITH TRUCK
‘I DON’T KNOW WHAT A HERO IS’
THE COMBAT CAMERAMAN II
GETTING TO INDIA
GETTING TO STILWELL’S HEADQUARTERS
THE CHINESE
NEWSREEL WONG
GOING AWOL
TRAVERSING THE MOUNTAINS
‘I’M NO DAMNED VOLUNTEER’
‘THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THIS OUTFIT’
HIT BY A C-47 AIR DROP
‘I HAD NEVER CRIED IN MY LIFE’
“YOU’RE THE GUY I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR’
THE LAST WORD
Teaching History Matters 