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Brig. Gen. Albert F. Hegenberger, chief of staff, Fourteenth Air Force, the Generalissimo, and Maj. Gen. C. L. Chennault. |
GI and officer camera fans train their lenses on the distinguished visitors. |
Addressing a portion of the new student volunteer army. |
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by GEORGE H. JOHNSTON |
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CH’ENG-TU CITY WALL in the north-west part of the city. |
STUDENTS ON THEIR WAY TO CLASSES at the refugee Nanking University in Ch'eng-tu. |
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BISHOP PAUL YU-PIN reading the opening prayers at a Requiem Mass for Allied soldiers and civilians killed in the campaign to open the Stilwell Highway. The mass was held at Ste. Therese Cathedral, Kunming. Left to right are Fr. Lawrence Curtis, Baltimore, Master of Ritual; Fr. Simon Suen, deacon of the mass; Bishop Yu-pin; and Fr. Paul Yu, sub-deacon. |
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KUNMING - One of the main difficulties of liaison work in China is the fact that, contrary to common belief in the United States, there is no such thing as a 'Chinese' language. Numerous dialect from the different provinces make for considering hardship in understanding at conferences. A unique solution to this problem occurred at a recent conference attended by Maj. Stanton T. Langs, Highland Park, Mich., of the Civil Affairs office, Services of Supply. "A conference was being held between a number of officials who spoke either French, English, Mandarin or Cantonese," he relates. "It was with the greatest difficulty that each could make all the others understand what he had to say." "We had been wrestling with French, interspersed with Mandarin and English, when suddenly the conversation began to go to everyone's satisfaction - no more don't understand's, 'ne comprend pas,' or 'pu tung.' "After listening for several minutes, I realized that all were now talking in 'Latin,'" the major concluded. |
THE "FLYING TIGER" insignia has long been the emblem of Maj. Gen. C. L. Chennault's Fourteenth Air Force. Unable to find the tiger for a pet, Pfc. Charles J. Cashen, Los Angeles, Cal., a member of an engineer unit attached to the CACW, settled for a young leopard. Raising it on a diet of dehydrated milk, Cashen vows "I'll keep him until he grows too old - or too mean." |
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‘Point’ Grads Hold Traditional Dinner
HQ., 14TH AIR FORCE, CHINA - Throughout the years, in peacetime and during war, officer graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, hold a dinner on, or as near as possible to, St. Patrick's Day. On the night of March 17 the West Pointers of the Fourteenth Air Force in China, and the Army Ground Forces, with the exception of the men in the forward echelons, had their dinner in the King Pi Villa, Kunming, China. Rank, for the night, was forgotten, as colonels sat above generals who were in classes behind them at the Point. The old songs were sung and reminiscent tales of the past were retold as the war was forgotten for the evening. The honor guests included Lt. Gen. carton De Wiart, British Army, Maj. Gen. G. X. Cheves, commanding general, Services of Supply, and Brig. Gen. Albert F. Hegenberger, chief of staff of the Fourteenth Air Force. Col. W. J. Tack, an Infantry officer, Class of '14 was the toastmaster. S/Sgt. John F. Kosuta, Cleveland, Ohio, accompanied the singing on the accordion and a moving picture - The Army Football Team of 1944, was shown. Classes from 1914 to 1943 were represented. |
Eye Witness Stories At ARC News Sessions KUNMING - Soldiers in this area caught up on news developments of the week on worldwide fronts at "Analyzing the News" session in the Red Cross Town Club recently but in addition Maj. Gen. G. X. Cheves, commanding general of Services of Supply, brought them a couple of surprise visitors. Maj. John H. Lattin, Jamestown, N.Y., who has been through a lot of tough fighting in Northern Burma, and who confessed that it was the first time in more than 13 months that he had worn anything but fatigues or jungle battle-clothing, gave some first-hand reports on fighting for Myitkyina and pursuit of Japs towards Mandalay. The major said the toughest and longest march in a day was 21 miles covered in 23 hours. Theodore "Teddy" White, War Correspondent for Time-Life, Inc., who has been in China several years told the GIs a little about his trips into Yenan and operations of Chinese guerilla troops. He answered numerous questions with Gen. Cheves as master of ceremonies. |
‘China Junction’ ARC Club Opened A 14TH AIR FORCE, CHINA - They call it "China Junction" Club, and China Junction is exactly what it is - this air base Red Cross Club somewhere in frontier Free China. Recently three Red Cross girls and a gang of GIs pitched in to renovate and redecorate the Club. They held open house and Col. Paul D. Meyers, base commander from Dongan Hills, Staten Island, N.Y. held a tour of inspection. This is what the three Red Cross girls, Miss Hazel Brown, Frankfort, Ky., who is club director, Miss Matties Hodges, Bellevue, Texas and Miss Jean Brott, Marinette, Wis., both assistants, and the GIs did: All the main units - the central lounge, game room, library, coffee shop - were brightened up with paint, new draperies, new furniture. In this cheerful atmosphere the base personnel can relax, read, write to the folks back home, or just sit and talk over a cup of coffee and doughnuts. When the Red Cross girls and GIs finished their interior decoration job, the walls still looked a bit bare. So a photo unit put on the finishing touch by supplying pictures depicting base activities and the Chinese countryside. |
OWI Seeks GI Copy For Chinese Papers In response to request from Chinese publishers, the Office of War Information this week announced that they are seeking material on the American Army in China for release to the Chinese newspapers and magazines. The OWI will welcome articles or stories from any of the Army personnel who have a yen to see themselves in print - Chinese print. The OWI is particularly anxious to get short stories dealing with American Army life or combat operations in China, in addition to feature articles describing whatever phase of Army activity in this theater that you happen to know best. If your contribution is usable, the OWI will pass it through the theater PRO and the press censor, have it translated into Chinese, and submit it to the Chinese newspapers or magazines. If your copy is printed the OWI will send you a copy of the publication you have crashed. Whenever possible the author's credit will be printed in English as well as in Chinese, so that the people back home won't think that you are being a little careless with the truth. Contributions should be sent to the Feature Editor, USOWI, APO 627. Before sending any material, permission must be obtained to write for publication from your commanding officer, and the copy must be cleared through your local Public Relations Officer. |
CNAC ‘Hump’ Veteran Gives ARC Talk To GIs KUNMING - GIs at the Red Cross Town Club last Sunday heard some interesting facts about "hump flying" from Capt. G. A. "Robbie" Robertson, a CNAC pilot who has done more than 300 trips over the "ridge," to use his terminology. "Robbie" admits to being a Georgia "cracker" but said he was born in New England but soon transplanted to the vicinity of Macon. He got into "hump flying" by way of wing-walking and cute jumping for a barnstormer, then after soloing a while helping in the early days of the war to fly planes to Britain over the Atlantic, and graduating to the Himalayans. Col. Jesse C. Williams, A-2, of the 14th Air Force, was a guest and spoke briefly on "Security." Golden Tigers Squadron Conduct Post-War Talks Postwar conscious members of the Golden Tigers fighter squadron of Randall's Raiders have enlivened the weekly "orientation" sessions at their base by staging debates and open forum discussions relating to the problems of tomorrow. The progress is under the direction of Capt. Chaz M. Holland, executive officer, who chooses the topic of discussion each week from suggestions submitted by squadron members. Questions aired at recent meetings included: Postwar Prosperity, Compulsory Military Training and Demobilization. |
‘Falcons’ Open New ‘Roost’ At China Base AN ADVANCED BASE IN CHINA - Falcon Medium Bomb Group enlisted personnel officially opened their club, "The Falcons' Roost," this week, when they were hosts to all group officers at a cocktail party and a snack bar. Men who served the guests on opening night were: M/Sgt. G. R. Eiland, Jr., Munday, Texas; T/Sgt. R. K. King, Waterford, N.Y.; T/Sgt. Louis Macaluso, Hazelcrest, Ill. and S/Sgt. W. E. Kauffman, Princeton, Mo. The club was planned and constructed by enlisted personnel in the Falcon headquarters. It is decorated with knotty pine and appropriate pin-ups. It is furnished with overstuffed furniture, a radio, reading racks, and other available furniture. The club committee is as follows: M/Sgt. L. R. Pruitt, Commanche, Okla.; T/Sgt. J. A. Brennan, St. Louis, Mo.; S/Sgt. H. J. Ellis, Ada, Okla. and S/Sgt. J. Wieczorek, Greenwich, Conn. CHAPLAIN GIVES GIs COURSE IN CHINESE A one-man campaign to enrich the Chinese vocabularies of GI's stationed with the Randall's Raiders is currently being waged by Father William J. Glynn, chaplain of the West China fighter wing. Father Glynn offers a 20-lesson course in the Wade phonetic system with classes held six times a week at various bases. "It's just an elementary course in Mandarin," Father Glynn admits. "But all those who complete it will be able to converse fairly well in Chinese." |
Dedicated in memory of Maurice Buchmiller, Mechanic, 375th Bomb Squadron, 14th Air Force |