Calling All Descendants of World War II U.S. China Marine Dads! Report for Duty!

Meet Fox Battery Radio Section, "Tung Hsien, China" (Tianjin), November 16, 1945
L to R: My father, Herbert Bingham Mead, Roberts, Van Sant, Hensley, and "Red" Roesch (holding the dog).
Are you one of their descendants? I'd like to hear from you. 

Before my father passed away in the twilight moments of his 86th birthday, Dad made a request.

His wish was that I travel to China,  return to the places where he and his fellow U.S. China Marines were stationed and places visited, and publish his photos and the stories of life in those heady days. It was not to necessarily be an exclusively military history.

The history that he wanted to be told and published was  to be a more personal one. What was life like for the American Marines? What about the Chinese, the Japanese nationals and others who found themselves in China after the end of hostilities in 1945? It was quite a quagmire. 

I started this blog site to help get that process started. I wanted those who peruse this blog site to bear witness to this historical journey. It is one that is still in progress.

Meet John Leszkeiwisz. Marco Polo Field, "Hadiman Street in Back Ground." "Peiping, China." Dated January 24, 1946.
Are you related to this man?  

Believe me when I tell you that I am enjoying this project. The purpose it has provided me is more than I have words to describe. I suppose my only frustration has been that I've not been able to spend the time needed to bring this to completion.

That's Mastrodomenico on the left, and pictured again with my father. Both are in front of the barracks.

Dated January 8, 1946

But I realize now that it is time to shift gears  -big time.

One of the wonderful blessings I've received in starting this blog site has been hearing from other descendants of other U.S. China Marines.

A number of you have contacted me via email identifying yourselves, sharing pictures, stories -and a shared desire to reconnect with our father's history as the last of the China Marines in the post-World War II era.

L to R: My father, Herbert Bingham Mead, Follen, Lt. Foote, Hensley. "Tung Hsien," (Tianjin), China.
Dated November 23, 1945

During this year's Chinese New Year celebrations I was contacted by two Chinese American friends of mine. Tyrone Liu and I attended Greenwich High School in my ancestral home town in Connecticut. Dr. Dave Wang of Laurelton Library in New York City and I have been friends for years, initially connected online via his web resource on the influence of Chinese civilization on the American Founding Fathers. 

When I mentioned that I was being contacted by other China Marine descendants both suggested that I broaden this 'My Dad the U.S. China Marine' project to include those who served with my father and others in postwar China.

In other words, why not turn this into a series? In hindsight it seems rather logical to me. 

So, starting now, I want to hear from you. I want to hear from the sons and daughters of the U.S. China Marines. A few of you have contacted me. Thank you for doing so! We need to stay in touch.

I learned that this year will be the final year of the annual reunion of American China Marines. It's true. 

Let's work together to ensure that this special history is preserved, published and perpetuated. Our Dad's would have liked that, don't you agree? 

Please contact me here at JeffreyBinghamMead@gmail.com. We've got work to do. 

Semper Fi!

Jeffrey Bingham Mead
Memorial Day, May 26, 2014

The Veteran Who Needs Help (Editorial)

On the same day that the editorial on American policy and involvement in China was published this one on the special needs to returning veterans appeared. This editorial could apply today in the early 21st century:


THE VETERAN WHO NEEDS HELP (Editorial)
New York Times: Friday, November 23, 1945

If there is any one thing that the American service man wanted during the war was to get home.

Home, as seen from the front-line hole in the ground, the deck of a fighting ship, the inside of a fighting plane or some forsaken outpost, was heaven. But for many returned veterans it is turning out to be an imperfect heaven.

Bradley Buell and Reginald Robinson, looking into case records in several American cities, find about one-fifth of the veterans “unable to cope, by themselves, with the problems of personal and family adjustment which face them.” The Buell-Robinson report, financed by the Grant Foundation and to be published in the forthcoming issue of survey Mid-Monthly, emphasizes the need for community action on all fronts to ease the veterans transition into civilian life.

Veterans come home to face all sorts of problems. Many of them are emotionally upset and need psychiatric attention. Some find family troubles waiting for them. The investigators believe that for five or ten years to come “there will develop personal and family crises which had their beginnings in this present period of transition from military to civilian life.” The veteran and his family may become what social workers call a “case” –in other words, they need the very best advice and guidance they can get. They need help to adjust themselves emotionally; they made need more financial aid than comes automatically under the GI Bill of Rights –they want education; they will have health problems; they will want to rebuild the social life and friendships war has destroyed or suspended.

Many existing agencies can do various parts of this job: the Red Cross, the charitable and social service organizations, employment services, Selective Service boards, juvenile courts and domestic relations courts, veterans information centers. But too often the veteran doesn’t know just where to go. Too often he feels that he is being given a run-around. The gist of the Buell-Robinson report is that his needs should be more concretely realized, that it should be made easier for him to get the information and the help he requires, and that there should be a centralized community responsibility for him and his future.

He comes close to being one in ten of the population of many cities. If in one out of five cases he is in serious trouble and the trouble is not cured the situation is bad for him and dangerous for his country. The moral seems to be that we need now and will need for years to come a warm aliveness to the veteran’s difficulties and an earnest determination to make up to him the time and opportunities he lost while serving his country.