Ashes Of Three Doolittle Fliers Found In Jap Funeral Parlor
  By RICHARD CUSHING   (Associated Press Correspondent)

  SHANGHAI - Sept. 28 - Three small, plain wooden boxes containing the cremated remains of three of Jimmy Doolittle's Tokyo-bombing airmen were found on the shelf of a civilian funeral parlor here today.
  A Japanese guard who witnessed their execution told how the arms of the kneeling fliers were bound to crosses and the men shot through the head.
  The ashes were those of: 2d Lt. Edward Hallmark, Dallas, Tex.; 2d Lt. William Glover Farrow, Darlington, S.C.; Sgt. Harold A. Spatz, (home unannounced).
  The ashes were revealed to Capt. J. S. Bailey, San Francisco War Crimes Commission investigator, by a Japanese attaché of the Kiangwan Military Prison where the men were held before their execution.
  The ashes of a fourth of the heroic airmen who accompanied General Doolittle over the Nip capital, Lt. R. J. Meder (home unannounced) were found in Nanking where he died of malnutrition, beriberi and dysentery. They are enroute to Shanghai.
  Names of the executed Americans had been deliberately falsified as well as dates of death but an official Japanese list verified the identifications and the ages of the men tallied.
   The ashes were received at the International Funeral Directors on November 14, 42 months after the executions. No attempt was made to deliver the ashes to the Red Cross.
  The boxes have been turned over to the American Graves Officer for shipment to the United States.
  I visited the execution ground today and was impressed by the resemblance to a ploughed field, completely devoid of crosses or other markers.
  But at the cold, stone Kiangwan Prison where the cremated fliers were last lodged, I found scratches on the wooden floor of cell number two: "Lt Barr, USAAF, 34th Bomber Squadron, Columbia, S.C. (near Darlington) took off AC Hornet 4-17-42, bombed Nagoya, Japan, flew 17 hours to China - no gas - jumped - captured 4-18-42."



Chiang Troops Tighten Grip On Kunming

  KUNMING - Oct. 5 - A statement issued last night from the headquarters of Lt. Gen. Tu Li-ming, new commanding general in the Kunming defense forces, said all resistance to the reorganization of the Yunnan Provincial Government is ended.
  At least three American soldiers were wounded by stray bullets in the disorders, involving the private army of General Lung Yun, who was relieved of his post as Governor of Yunnan, and Government forces, Reuters said.
  Martial law was proclaimed in the city after sniping and sharp street clashes had brought about a virtual siege.
Casualty In The Battle Of Kunming
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's ouster of Governor Lung Yun of Yunnan province brought numerous sharp clashes in the streets of Kunming. Here a wounded Nationalist soldier is being assisted to an aid station near the "Flower Circle," heart of the city, while the crew of a .37mm anti-tank gun set up to guard the intersection watches him.


MORTAR FIRE HEARD
  It is understood that the fighting broke out because two regiments of General Lung Yun's private army were not informed that their general was being relieved of his position.
  The last apparent skirmish took place Wednesday night in the vicinity of the West Gate, the China end of the Burma Road. The crump of mortars could be heard and the path of tracer bullets observed.
  nationalist troops still patrol the streets of the city and the adjacent highways.
  An official statement released by the SOS Headquarters follows:

AURAND IN COMMAND
  "Maj. Gen. H. S. Aurand, Senior U. S. Armed Forces Commander in the Kunming District, assumed emergency command of all U.S. Armed Forces in that area at 5.45 a.m. on Oct. 3, 1945, "for protection of American lives and property."
  This action was taken as a result of the visit of two staff officers of Lt. Gen. Tu. These officers brought with them a letter from Gen. Tu which stated Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek had ordered reorganization of the Yunnan Provincial Government and that during this reorganization, "in order to prevent any likely disorders" certain precautionary measures were to be taken by all persons in the Province.

Kunming Has A Private War Of Its Own

  Gunfire roared in the streets of Kunming last week when Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's national troops tossed Governor Lung Yun of Yunnan out on his ear. Resistance by Lung's troops brought numerous clashes, and these remarkable action photos show some of the results. At top left, litter bearers are carrying wounded Nationalist soldiers to a hospital, while in the background, Yunnan provincial police are being disarmed by Nationalists. At right, a Nationalist soldier dashes for cover across a street while machine-gunners of the Chinese 96th Division cover him. Bottom left picture shows an American truck convoy delivering food and water for Hostel 14 under guard of an armored scout car and a half-track bristling with heavy machine guns. U.S. forces were kept off the streets during the fighting which ended with Lung's removal.



Pick Your Own Spot
It was never like this in the jungle, but any leopard in his right mind would gladly die to make a suit like this for Marjorie Riordan, Warner Brothers starlet.
2 Years And Out Plan Will Take Effect In March

  WASHINGTON - Oct. 9 - Two-year Army men will be eligible for discharge next March.
  Announcement of this move, which in effect junks the controversial point system for demobilization, was made today by Brig. Gen. Robert Berry in testimony before the House Military Affairs Committee.
  General Berry said that by March enough high point men will have been released to allow discharges on length of service alone.
  He added that between now and March critical scores will be reduced progressively under the 60 point score already in effect Nov. 1.

IT'S OFFICIAL
  This announcement made it official - it was the first time that a date had been set, although Chief of Staff George C. Marshall had told Congress several weeks ago that the "two years and out" plan was in the offing "in the late winter."
  General Berry also testified that "not many" two-year veterans would get out soon under the recently announced policy of discharging stateside "surplus" personnel.
  "This new policy is merely a safety valve escape mechanism to allow the discharge of a few men sitting around doing nothing," he explained.
  "It applies primarily to men attached to operating posts in this country," Berry said.



Armed U.S. Junk Fought Navy's Final Battle

  SHANGHAI - Oct. 5 - (UP) - The United States Navy's last surface engagement of World War II was won off the China coast by a handful of Yanks aboard a pair of ancient junks.
  The battle occurred Aug. 20 - five days after Japanese surrender - when one Army captain, two Marine officers, one Navy lieutenant and four Navy enlisted men conquered a heavily armed Jap army junk, killed 43 Japanese and took 39 prisoners, all but four of whom were wounded.
  The Navy's first battle under sail since the Civil War days took place on the night of Aug. 19 when Lt. Livingston 'Swede' Swentzel, Jr., led a little two junk flotilla out of a coastal town near Hainan, Shanghai bound.
  Commanding the second junk was Marine Lt. Stewart L. Pittman. Aboard Swentzel's junk were Capt. Austin B. Cox, an army air-ground support officer whose necessity to reach Shanghai was one of the reasons for the voyage; Capt. Pat O'Neill, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and Seaman First Class James R. Reid.
  With Pittman were three enlisted men - Gunners Mate William K. Barrett, Gunners Mate Floyd Rose and Motor Machinist Mate David A. Baker.
  The morning of the 20th, while tacking north against a heavy wind, the tiny task force suddenly confronted a big menacing junk.
  The Americans spotted a gleaming .75 howitzer which immediately belched smoke and fire, making a direct hit about 10 feet above the deck. The blast killed a pair of Chinese tommy-gunners and knocked out a third and sprayed Captain Cox with fragments.



Pearl Harbor Plan No Secret To Hirohito

  TOKYO - Oct. 9 - (UP) - Prince Higashi-Kuni, Japan's short-lived premier, said today that Emperor Hirohito knew in advance of the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor but "understood" that a formal declaration of war would be transmitted to the United States beforehand.
  Higashi-Kuni revealed the Emperor did not sign the imperial rescript formalizing the declaration of war until 11.30 a.m. Dec. 8, 1941, Tokyo time - eight hours after the first bombs fell.



Medals Given Four

  KUNMING - Oct. 5 - The bronze Star Medal has been awarded the chaplain and three enlisted men of the 172nd General Hospital. They are Maj. George A. Ritchey, Lafayette, Ind., T-Sgt. Berhard C. Aufdengarten, Arthur, Neb., S-Sgt. Elmer R. Tews, Van Dyke, Mich., and T-5 Bernie G. Miller, Jr., St. Louis, Mo.
  
Chinowledge

 The most complicated character in Chinese is written with 38 separate brush strokes. It is pronounced "Nang" and means "a stoppage of the nose."







Japs Want City Rebuilt

  HIROSHIMA - Oct. 5 - (UP) - Permission to rebuild Hiroshima - the Honshu city which was the war's first atomic bomb target - is being sought by acting Mayor Shigenori Morishita.
  Morishita reported Hiroshima's population had been reduced from 250,000 to 3,000 and said the closest estimate of casualties caused by the atomic bomb included 70,000 killed and 30,000 still missing. About 30,000 were evacuated before the bombing.
  At Hiroshima's hospital, Dr. Fumto Shigeto said that more than 1,000 bomb victims were treated and added he was firmly convinced the casualties were caused by the blast or from the terrific fire which followed.
  He also reported 60 percent of the patients treated at his hospital had died.
  Shigeto reported one of the greatest obstacles to the treatment of the bomb victims was that 260 of the city's 300 doctors died in the explosion.



Communist Claims Army Of 400,000 Near Shanghai

  SHANGHAI - Oct. 9 - (AP) - Four hundred thousand uniformed and equipped regulars of the Communist New Fourth Army hold positions in a great arc around Shanghai, so close at one point that they are actually on the city's limits, a Communist spokesman in Shanghai, at the risk of his own life, asserted today.
  A coarsely dressed Chinese, who is a Doctor of Medicine and is now a liaison man in Shanghai for General Chen Yi, commander of the New Fourth Army, gave three newsmen intimate details regarding the disposition of the Communist forces in this area.

POSSIBLE "OFFENSIVE"
  He strongly indicated that if Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's negotiations with Communist leader Mao Tse Tung fail in Chungking, the Communists will "put up resistance for their own self-protection" and possibly go on the offensive.
  He said his strength in this area is sufficient to capture Shanghai but the Communists probably wouldn't make such a move for fear of creating chaos in this internationally important city.
  "Our aim is to maintain national unity and keep the country as a whole strong enough to keep its independence," he stated.

COMMANDER CONFIDENT
  General Tang En Po, commander of the Shanghai-Nanking area, countered this with a statement that he doubted the Communists had 400,000 men around Shanghai and that his Central Government troops had sufficient strength and equipment to put down any uprising that could possibly occur.
  General Tang said the Communists, by taking up positions around Shanghai, indicated they have "certain malicious intentions" but declared they have ceased to be a serious menace.
  Should a breakdown in the Chungking unity talks occur and the Communists take an offensive, "we have enough men and arms to put down any uprising," he said. "We are prepared against any unexpected surprise."
  The Communist spokesman was interviewed in a tiny upstairs room of a little-known Chinese restaurant in an alley in the vicinity of the former French Concession. The spokesman, a well educated man obviously dressed roughly to throw off suspicion, sat before a round, glass-top table, ironically under a huge Kuomintang flag and the portrait of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.
  Speaking through an interpreter, he said the New Fourth Army consists of seven divisions, with a total strength of 400,000 regulars. This is one-third the total Communist strength in China, the other two-thirds consisting of the Eighth Route Independent Anti-Japanese Corps in South China.
  The Communists not long ago were well within Shanghai city limits, as far as the Ziccawei Observatory, at the west end of the city. This high-water mark is beyond one of the Internee camps. But, the spokesman said, in view of the conferences between Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and general Mao Tse Tung, the Communists withdrew "from menacing positions" in the interests of unity.
  He took a dim view of the Chungking talks, expressing the opinion that Generalissimo Chiang is extending the sessions in a move for the time in which he can deploy his troops more advantageously in North China.



Pearl Harbor Flag Flies Over Japan

  TOKYO - Oct. 1 - (USIS) - The shell-torn American flag that flew over Pearl Harbor's Hickam Field on Dec. 7, 1941, has been raised over the Irumagawa Airfield on the northwest outskirts of Tokyo, the present headquarters of the United States 5th Air Force in Japan.
  It flies over the spot which once held a Japanese monument to the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.
  The flag was flown to Washington after the attack and was saved by Gen. H. H. Arnold, commander of the United States Army Air Forces. Arnold sent it to Gen. George Kenney, commander of the Far Eastern Air Forces, to use when the first airmen reached Japan. The flag will eventually be returned to Washington for preservation.



U.S. Marines In Tientsin, China Hotbed

  TIENTSIN - Oct. 1 - (AP) - Troops of the U.S. 1st Marine Division entered Tientsin yesterday to assume police duties in the hotspot where Chinese Nationalist and Communist troops have been at bayonet points. Cheering Chinese lined the Hai River banks as units of the Marine Division poured ashore.
  As recently as six weeks ago battles raged in the Peiping-Tientsin area between Japanese regulars, Chinese puppet troops and well-armed units purporting to be soldiers of the Communist 8th Route Army, which has an estimated total of 35,000 troops in the area. This army holds sections of the countryside. It is necessary to pass through its lines to reach the airport outside the walled city.







Surplus Sale Set For China

  CHUNGKING - Sept. 28 - (USIS) - Redeployment of American troops in China was speeded by the arrival in Chungking this week of Brigadier General William Hasketh, deputy commissioner of the Army and Navy Liquidation Commission for the China and India-Burma Theaters.
  General Hasketh was accompanied by Lieutenant Commander P. B. Boss, who will remain in Chungking as head of a liaison group to arrange the sale of surplus U.S. property. General Hasketh will return to Delhi.
  Surplus property will be sold under a priority system. Priorities applicable in the China Theater are: U.S. Agencies including UNRRA which is expected to be the largest buyer in this category; (2) Non-profit institutions such as missionary groups, and the Chinese Government.
  Chinese officials have expressed interest in buying all equipment that can be used to develop China's natural resources, manufactures and communications. Particular requests have been made for road building and communications equipment.



If you woos the Muse, it's news. This space reserved for odes, sonnets, couplets and doggerel by serviceman poets. Address Poetry Editor, The Stars & Stripes, APO 289.
The Things They Do
The things that they do in Chengtu
And the songs that they sing in Kunming
Are colorful, gay and no doubt quite romantic
But take them away, for we're getting right frantic
In fact we've developed a passion satanic
For our Mates
In the States
- Sgt. Arrin Waite


Song Of Home
"Golden Gate in Forty-Eight"
The pessimists would sing
And now I sit upon the dock
And laugh like anything
For Forty-Six is now the year
And I shall be quite merry
When I sail through that Golden Gate
Sometime in January!
- Pfc. H. A. Lee

There Is No End
I suppose it is finished, now
I have given them back the uniform, and the gun
I no longer answer a roll
Or say "Sir."
Or salute
Nor any of the other things they taught me.
I no longer arise with the dawn when the bugle sounds.
My ways are my own; I am free, yes free.
And I walk as I wish, in the cadence my mind desires
With no thought of a hundred and twenty steps to the minute.
My arms swing as they wish - in no prescribed arc.
And my head -
If I wish I may look at the sky
Or stare at the ground
Yes, it is finished
The dirt and the mud and the quick, hot flash of fire.
It is finished in the daytime
The sun is my friend, and I am quite content
But at night it is not finished
It is still there - waiting
Just around the corner of sleep, waiting to engulf me
And take me back. And when it does
I realize that the waking is really the dream
That the things that I see in the night are the ones
That are real for me now
Now and forever
It is never finished
- Sgt. Al Horner




Anything Can Happen In Shanghai - And Does - Just Stick Around

  SHANGHAI - Sept. 28 - When American sailors and rcksha coolies get together in Shanghai anything can happen. Especially because of the way the gobs toss money around.
  One ricksha boy pulled a sailor halfway across town to his hotel.
  "How much?" the sailor asked.
  A little cowed, the ricksha boy said 30,000 dollars in the puppet CRB currency (worth about 20 cents U.S.)
  "What?" cried the outraged sailor, "do you think I'm a millionaire? Here's one dollar U.S. - take it and like it!"
  The guess is that the ricksha boy liked it.
  Another sailor similarly unfamiliar with the exchange rate paid $7,000 CRB for a haircut - and tipped the shoeshine boy half a U.S. dollar.
  It works the other way too. An unknowing ricksha puller disdainfully refused one dollar gold, happily took $20,000 CRB.






3rd Fleet
Home-Bound

  PEARL HARBOR - Sep. 28 - (USIS) - Fifty-four ships of Admiral Halsey's 3rd Fleet will arrive in American west coast ports in time for Navy Day celebrations Oct. 27, the U.S. Navy announced today. Some 48 warships will be in Atlantic ports for celebrations.
Only 35 Ships Remain Of Jap Merchant Fleet

  YOKOSUKA, JAPAN - Sep. 28 - (USIS) - Only about 35 ships remain of Japan's once great merchant fleet which will be used to repatriate millions of subjects from Asia and the Pacific Islands, says the New York Times. Only a few of these vessels are of more than 500 tons. Information was furnished by U.S. 5th Fleet officers.
Pay Ricksha $500 Per Minute, Says Navy

  SHANGHAI - Oct. 1 - Here's a formula for getting your money's worth of transportation: Pay your Ricksha or pedicab $500 CRB per minute and you'll not be too much over or under the market price. The Navy has evolved this equation following repeated complaints of overcharges.




CBI Combat Veterans Welcomed In New York

  NEW YORK HARBOR - Sept. 28 - (USIS) - The Navy Transport General Greeley, carrying home the first shipload of U.S. Forces from the China and India-Burma Theaters was joyously welcomed here yesterday as the ship ended a 28-day voyage from Calcutta. Aboard the ship were members of the Flying Tigers, Kachin Rangers, Merrill's Marauders and the Mars Task Force.






  Printed daily, Monday through Saturday, at the Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury plant, 19 Edward VII, Shanghai, China, under the auspices of the Information and Education Section, USFCT. Tel : 84080. ext. 24.  News reports supplied by United States Information Service, United Press, Associated Press, Reuters.  Contents passed by U.S. Army and Navy censors. Entered as second class matter, March 16, 1943, at the Post Office, New York, N.Y., under the act of March 3, 1878.









CHINA EDITION

A compilation of the Sept. 29, Oct. 2, 6, and 10, 1945 issues
provided by CBI Veteran TOM MILLER.





Copyright © 2008 Carl Warren Weidenburner






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