MY MEMORABLE MILITARY EXPERIENCE IN CHINA

By Harry Lew

After almost sixty years, it is very difficult to remember details about this unusual trip we took to the French Indo-China border. However, my experience may refresh some of the fellow ex- GIs of their adventures while doing army duties in China during WWII.

The year was 1945. I was serving the army in the Radio Communication Team at Kochiu, a small town in the southern part of Yunnan Province. Our duties were to provide communications between the Chinese Divisional HQ and the American Army HQ in Kunming.

One day an urgent message came in from the American Army HQ, requesting our team to send a detail immediately to the French Indo-China border to verify a "rumor" that the Japanese were preparing an invasion through the back door. Our senior officer hurriedly tried to put a team together for this trip. One requirement was that all members in this detail must be American citizens, but not our Chinese interpreters. So I was selected to fill in for this duty, since I knew how to write Chinese, even though I could not speak the local dialect.

So, I was ordered to get ready for this long trip on horseback the following morning. When I informed the officer that I had never been on a horse before, he said, "You can handle it!" Next morning we were on our way - five Americans, and 20 Chinese soldiers - all on horseback!"

The first day was a rough one, indeed! After traveling on trails all day, up and down the mountain, we arrived at a small hamlet and moved into an old temple for the night. A Chinese soldier came to me to write a request to the village leader for supplies for both men and horses. I wrote an order and signed it in Chinese. Fifteen minutes later this soldier came back with an old man who looked like Confucius. This old gentleman greeted me warmly and, after a dignified bow, extended a handshake, saying, "Shiong di", meaning "brethren" in Chinese. What a surprise — this village is a Lew village!!! We received all the necessary supplies we needed.

Fortunately, the rumor turned out to be false. But after six days on horseback, I discovered I was bow-legged and sore and walked like John Wayne.

As of today, I still feel bad that I had nothing to give back to the kind gentleman for his hospitality. In China, meeting someone with the same surname can open a lot of doors. There is a good possibility that we may all come from tke same anc

Harry Lew

987th (SP) Signal Operation Company

US Army