MAY1965

RECENT picture of Dr. Gordon Seagrave visiting patients in one of the wards of hisNamkham hospital. Photo by Homer Page.

Ex-eEl ROUNDUP

Please Report Change of Address Immediately!Direct All Correspondence to

Ex-CBI Roundup

Ex-CBl ROUNDUP. established 1946. is a reminiscing magazinepublished monthly except AUGUST and SEPTEMBER at 117South Third Street. Laurens. Iowa. by and for former membersot U. S. Units stationed in the China-Burma-India Theater dur-ing World War II. Ex-CBI Roundup is the official publicationof the China-Burma-India Veterans Association.

TEMPLE in Mangshih Vallej'.Photo by Roy Pieratt.

Many Years Missed• It is with regret to' learn,after all these years, that Ihave been missing the Ex-CBI Raundup. Did receive afew issues af the "BullackPradder" in '46 and '47, butnathing ince that time un.til a nE'w acquaintanceshawed me a few capies afRaundup. That was thisvery day and I'm wastingnO' time. Fram April 1944 to'Navember 19-15 I servedwith the CBI with the fal-lawing argunizatians: En-gineer District NO'. 9, NewDelhi; Advanced Se:::tian NO'.1, Kunming; Hq. SOS USFCT, Kunming; 19th Regi-mental Engineer LiaisanTeam, Kai Yuan; and theBurma Road Engineers.

THOMAS H. HOPKINS,Mobile, Ala.

Ready for Action?• Haw many valunteersfar goad aId CEl.land thistime araund? Dan't believemany af aur bunch cauldtake it anymare unless theyleft us in Saigan.

ARTHUR M. KIENER,Urbana, Ill.

Sends Greetings• My best wishes to' allaId CEl wallahs.

RICHMO, TDBAILEY,Masan, :\Iich.

May, 1965

..... Editor

Laurens, Iowa 50554

SUBSCRIPTION RATEFareign: S4.00 ner Year

$7.00 Twa Years

letter FROM The Editor ...

P. O. Box 125

• Despite the death of Dr. Gardan Seagrave, there areplans to' carry aut the Burma Surgean's lifelang hapethat his "Haspital in the Hills af Burma" can can.tinue to' serve the peaple af that cauntry. Brig. Gen.Rathwell H. Brawn, USA (ret.), chairman af the baardaf the American Medical Center far Burma, Inc., saysthe baard has every hape that Dr. Seagrave's haspitalwill cantinue as a manument to' this great AmericanwhO' dedicated his life to' alleviating the suffering andto' teaching the healing arts sa that his great lifetimewark will nat perish with him. It will nat be easy, afcaurse, and new friends will be needed.• This month's cover shaws Dr. Seagrave in unifarmduring Warld War II, at a time when many af Ex.CBIRaundup's current readers came in cant act with hiswark. U.S. Army phata fram Jahn O. Aalberg.• Progress is being made in gaining recagnitian farthe China-Burma.lndia Veterans Assaciatian as ane afthe leading veterans arganizatians af the natian. InIawa, far instance, State Representative Danald Daylehas been instrumental in having CBIVA's Iawa Bashalisted in the Iawa Official Register, a baak publishedby the state which is widely used as a saurce af in.farmatian by schaals, newspapers, libraries and in.dividuals.• Occasionally sameane asks haw lang we can can.tinue publishing Ex.CBI Raundup at the same aIdprice. We might as well give a frank and hanestanswer. Nat much langer!

Val. 20, NO'.5

SECOND CLASS postage paid at Laurens. Iowa.

Neil L Maurer

$3.00 per Year$5.50 Two Years

MAY, 1965 3

To The Edito1's _

HOLDING TUSK of elephant at Misamari, India, IS Col.James A. Dearbeyne.

Flight to Houston• A proposed Nat ion a IAirlines Flight No. 22 tothe CBI Reunion in Houstonwill leave San Francisco at2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3.Anyone going to Houstonfrom this area is welcometo join our party.

RAY KIRKPATRICK,293 Pope Street,San Francisco, Calif.

Necrason to Retire• All former 7th Bomberswill be interested to knowthat our former commander,C. F. "Nick" Necrason (nowMajor General, USAF), isretiring from the Air Forceat the end of June. To hon-or our former CO, as wellas to serve as a reunion ofthe Group, 7th Bomb Groupveterans of the 9th, 11th,22nd, 436th, 492nd and 493rd~ ..

Bomb Squadrons, 88th Re-con Squadron and GroupHeadquarters are having abanquet at the OfficersClub, Hamilton AFB, Calif.,on Friday night, May 14,1965. :.Iajor General "Nick"is currently Commander ofthe 2 th -Air Division atHamilton AFB. and plans toremain in the San Francis-co area upon his retirement.

LARRY HEUSER,San Francisco, Calif.

Excellent Stories• Clvde Cowan is in thewrong busine s. His storiesare excellent; he hould bewriting material for JackieGleason or Bob Hope: Re-gards to Grace: her Indiastories ha\.e been excellent,too.

RAY KIRKPATRICK,San FrancLco, Calif.

Col. Henry R. Lyon• Funeral services wereheld in March at Dallas,Tex., for Col. Henry R. Lyon,retired, 59, a Dallas taxconsultant. He was rearedin Dallas, attended militaryacademies in the East andC a I i for n i a, and duringWorld War II commandedthe 3rd Air Depot in theChina-Burma-India Theater,being stationed at Agra,India. He retired from ac-tive military service in 1954as a colonel in the U.S. AirForce. He is survived by hiswife.

(From a newspaper clip-ping submitted by R. C.Jones, Houston, Tex.)

Keeping Memories• Have dropped the T/Sgt.from my name as I retiredfrom the Air Force on April1, taking only my memorieswith me-which will beaided, abetted and assistedby Ex-CBI Roundup, ofcourse! \Vas at Misamari,India, and Kunming, China,with ATC, 1943-45.

RICHARD W. MORRISON,Metuchen, N.J.

Steve Canyon StripQ Recent Sunday funniescontained refrerence to ourold patch, in the Steve Can-yon strip. Nice going in theRoundup.

WALTER A. HEINTZ,Daytona Beach, Fla.

Miltoll Call iff, origiilator ofthe Stelle CallYOil x/rip, is still agood frieild of CBI aild CBlen.-Ed.

Wants Flight Map• Was a pilot based atSookerating and C h a b u aand racked up many hoursof "Hump" time. I am stillin the Air Force Reserve(Category 3). I am the clas-sified ad manager of theDaily Journal-Gazette inMattoon, Ill. If any of yourreaders has an old flightmap of the old Able, Baker,Charlie, etc., routes, I surewould appreciate getting it.

RICHARD P. MYERS,1313 South 17th St.,Mattoon, Ill.

4 EX -CBI ROUNDUP

-----------------------_To TheEditors

HINDU festival at Feni, India. Photo by Robert E. Spence.

CHECKING of x-rays is shown here at the 172nd GeneralHospital in Kunming, China. Photo by Furman H. Tyner, M.D.

day the war ended. Had afeeling something was athand and became assuredof the fact about 9 o'clockin the morning when threefighter planes buzzed thestreets of Calcutta-a P-51,British Hurricane and P-38in the order listed. I leftIndia in December 1945from Karachi aboard theSS Harry Taylor. While inIndia all of my travels wereby truck or railroad, as wewere dragging a heavy loadof equipment around. I amnow glad I got around thatway.

HO:\IER WELBORN JR.,:\Iadisom'il:e, Ky.

New Assignment• Col. \'ernon A. Shurm,who was professor of mili-tan' science at the Univer-sit'. of Colorado in Boulderun'til recently, has been as-signed as engineer of theArmy Air Defense Com-mand at its headquartersin Colorado Springs. ColonelShurm has been in theArmy since 1940. DuringWorld War II he was chiefof operations at headquar-ters of the Construction Ser.vice, India-Burma Theaterof Operations. Subsquentlyhe became theater engineer.

(From a newspaper clip.ping submitted by Ed Fos-ter, Boulder, Colo.)

slow train to Calcutta; fromthere to the base of Red Capservice. Then to I3angalore,through the very beautifulcity of Madras, back to Jor-hat and on into Assam;even took a boat ride up theBrahmaputra River lookingfor a place to unload 50 6/6trucks. Was in Calcutta the

Best Qualified Man• Every CBIer will wantBoyd S;nc!a1r's new book,"Jump to the Land cf God."It will interest and delightall of us, and particular:yeveryone who crossed the"Hump." As I read it Icould a!m8st feel myself in-volved in these unique ex-periences. Sinclair is, in myopinion, the best qualifiedman to write about the CE!,and he excelled himself inthis book.

COL. E. O. CULLUM,Indianapolis, Ind.

853rd Avn. Engineers• Sorry I missed so manyyears of Roundup. It is agreat pleasure to me. I'mreading of so many placeswhere I spent from twohours to two months; someI had forgotten about. Iwas with the 853rd Avn.Engineers while in India. Agroup of us replacementsarrived in Bombay the lastday of May 1944. After stay-ing about two weeks atWorley Point, we took a

Jl.,lAY, 1965 5

long Career of Service Ends

'Burma Surgeon' Dies at 68The death of Dr. Gordon S. Seagrave

in Namkham, Burma, on March 27 endeda long career of service for a remarkableAmerican.

He was a one. man Peace Corps manyyears before the term was coined-hetook knowledge and medical help tothousands who might otherwise have hadneither. His record of service was out-standing.

The famed "Burma Surgeon" died atthe age of 68 in the jungle hospital atNamkham which he had built. With himat the end were his two sons, Sterlingand John, and his fiercely loyal staff.His wife, who worked with him in theearly days in Burma. got the news inBaltimore, lVld., where he i a secretaryat a private boys' school. She left Burmain 1949 because of recurrent malaria.

Dr. Seagrave had uffered from a num-ber of ailments. including a weak heart.His American assistant, Dr. Joseph New-hall, and the Burmese nurses labored invain to save the old doctor while hun-dreds of villagers kept a grief -strickendeath watch on the hospital grounds.

He was buried between his sister, GraceSeagrave, who died there in 1951, andhis eldest son, who was drowned manyyears ago.

His death ended 135 unbroken years of

service to Burma by four generations ofthe family. None of his sons entered themissionary field.

Seagrave was born in Burma March 18,1897. After taking his medical degreefrom Johns Hopkins University, he re-turned with his 21.year-old wife in 1922to the village of Namkham, near theChinese border. Here he went to work atthe Baptist Hospital, a rotted woodenbuilding with filthy walls and one pa-tient. Under his direction the hovel de-veloped into a 22-building hospital com.pound with 250 beds and 5,000 patients ayear plus an additional 10,000 outpa-tients. It was the only medical facilityfor 400,000 persons in the area.

During World War II he organized mo-bile medical units to serve the ChineseArmy over a front of several hundredmiles. He was offered a commission bythe British, who were then in charge ofthe area, but turned it down because hevalued his American citizenship.

Upon the arrival of Gen. Joseph W.Stilwell to take command, he placed hisstaff and facilities at the disposal of theAm€Ticans and accepted a commission inthe U.S. Medical Corp;;. Often he wouldoperate at base hospitals behind the linesfor up to 36 hours at a time, stripped to

SOFTBALL gave Dr. Seagrave an opportunity to relax, as he was doing when this picture wastaken by Fanny Ellison on a cloudy Friday in September 1963. Shown with him are Dr. JosephF. Newhall; Huckleberry, the family dog; and several nurses.

6 EX.CBI ROUNDUP

------------------ __ 'Burma Surgeon' Dies at 68

In 1922 a young surgeon named GordonSeagrave, fresh out of Johns Hopkins, setout for Burma. He was to take overwhat he thought was a flourishing Bap.tist mission hospital at a place calledNamkham, about a mile from the Chi.nese border.

Seagrave was not escaping from Armyservice. He was following in the foot-steps of his family, both sides, who formore than a hundred years had beenmissionaries in Burma.

When he got to Namkham with his

the waist and plagued by insects andintense heat. As Japanese troops ad-vanced, sometimes he and his staff ofnurses would pack up and retreat, thenset up and operate again. The with.drawal led through steaming junglesand over mountains. By the time theyreached India, Dr. Seagrave was wrackedwith malaria and his feet were coveredwith sores.

In 1944 he returned to Burma with thevictorious Allies. He found his Namkhamhospital in ruins, and rebuilt it.

In 1950 he was arrested by the Burmagovernment on suspicion of aiding tribes-men rebelling against the state. He wasfound guilty of high treason and sen.tenced to six years in prison. Acceptingthe sentence gracefully, he said: "I sin.cerely hope the American people will notjudge the people of Burma by the actionsof a few. I bear the Burmese people nomalice for this."

Ten months later the Burma SupremeCourt cleared him of the charge. It ruledthat he had erred but that there was nocriminal intent when he donated instru.ments and medicines to a rebel tribalchieftain. He was permitted to return tohis hospital.

In the last two years, Seagrave had tofight to keep the non-sectarian hospitaloperating because of restrictions imposedby Burma's Socialist government. It reovoked permits for two of his doctor as.sistants, stopped a $10,000 annual grantand started taxing U.S. drugs that hadpreviously entered the country duty. free.Despite all handicaps, he kept the hos-pital operating.

Dr. Seagrave wrote five books abouthis life in Burma, including "Burma Sur.geon" and "Wastebasket Surgery." Thelatter title referred to his plea for awastebasketful of discarded instrumentswhile an intern. With those instrumentshe started his Burma practice.

There have been many stories writtenabout the "Burma Surgeon." The follow-ing is one of them, by Peter Kalisher,CBS correspondent on Southeast AsianAffairs:

* *

wife, he found the so.called hospital con.sisted of one rickety wooden buildingand one patient. Seagrave, in telling ofhis reaction, said "I wept real tears. Iwanted to practice surgery, I wanted tohelp these people, and there was no wayto reach them."

Well, there was. With him Seagravehad brought some surgical instrumentsliterally salvaged from a waste basket atJohns Hopkins. With them as his capital,he started from scratch. He trained hisown corps of nurses from among hilltribes which had no written languageand had never seen a ho::pi al. much lessa doctor.

With river stones and homemade mor-tar, he built new hospital buildings.After 18 years his reward was a hospitalthat had the respect of all North Burma.The image among the Burmese was ahard working, impecunious, dedicateddoctor who would go anywhere anytimeto attend a case.

Then came the Japanese invasion. Sea-grave sent his wife and family to theUnited States and with a major's com.mission and 18 of his nurses, joined Gen-eral 'Vinegar' Joe Stilwell, who wascommanding Chinese troops in Burma.He evacuated the Namkham Hospitaland with Stilwell made the cruel marchon foot out of Burma, over the AfganHills into India.

His medical unit, surely the most ex.otic in the United States Army, con.sisted of himself, a few other mission.aries and his nurses, who were servingas civilians. With Stilwell they foughtover the same bloody road back intoBurma.

Everv nurse was decorated with aBronze' Star, and the unit got a Presiden.

OPERATING on a wounded Chinese soldierare Capt. T. V. Gurney, U.S. Army medicalcorps; an English subject, ;'>faGrawng, one ofLt. Col. Seagrave's many Burmese nurses; andDr. Ba Saw, a Burmese doctor on Seagrave'sstaff. U.S. Army photo.

MAY, 1965 7

'Burma Surgeon' Dies at 68 _

tial citation. But victory was bittersweet.Seagrave's Namkham Hospital lay inruins, bombed out by the American AirForce because it had served as a Japa-nese headq uarters.

Seagrave had hardly rebuilt the hos-pital when all Burma exploded into civilwar, and in trying to protect the hospitalfrom destruction once again, Seagravewas arrested, tried and convicted of trea-son against the Burmese Government.After serving 18 months in jail and un-der house arrest, he was acquitted onretrial and comp:etely exonerated. Andwhat was more important, he was al-

lowed to return to his hospital at Nam-kham, for which he had sacrificed thecompany of his family, friends and nearlyall the rewards most men strive for.

When I visited Seagrave in Namkhamrecently, I asked why he didn't comeback to the United States for a brief visit.

"Because" he said "I'm afraid I mightdie [l\vay from the' hospital. I know itsounds corny," he added, "but the onlyway I could prove to these people thata man is willing to devote his life toBurma is to die here, on the job, the waymy sister did."

Newhalls Describe Death Of SeagraveFrolll the Bradelltoll. Fla .. Her,t1d

An eye-witness description of the lastdays and funeral of Dr. Gordon Seagrave,the Burma Surgeon, who died at hisNamkham Hospital on the China borderof Northern Burma on March 27, hasbeen written by Dr. and Mrs. JosephNewhall to friends here.

The Newhalls, during the 20 monthsimmediately preceding the death of thefamed surgeon, had lived and workedvery closely with him in the hospitalwhich he founded and directed. Prior totheir going to Burma in 1963, the New-halls lived in Bradenton, where Dr. New-

PLASTER cast is applied to the leg of a wound-ed Chinese by (left to right) Pvc. John P.Bryant, Poplar Bluff, Mo.; Dr. Ba Saw, Bur-mese doctor working with Lc. Col. Seagrave'shospital unit; and Pvc. Neal D. Fortune, Mor-gantown, N.C. U.S. Army photo.

8

hall was engaged in the practice of medi-cine, and they hope to return here atsome time in the future.

In their letter, dated April 2, Mrs.Newhall states, "Dr. Seagrave was 68years old, and his health had been fail-ing noticeably for some months, thoughhe continued his teaching duties almostwithout fail. Our family had been on atwo-week vacation in Rangoon in Febru-ary, and when we returned we foundhis critically ill and at the point of col-lapse. But it was only with great diffi-culty that Joe and oth'er close associateswere able to put him to bed and begintreatment.

"Our hospital doesn't even own anoxygen tent, so we constructed one froma crude wooden frame and some heavyplastic sheeting my sister sent me ... andoxygen tanks were rounded up from anyand all welders in the area. Everythingpossible was done for him. Joe was withhim almost constantly, night and day,for a month, and teams of his nursesgave the most devoted care. The U.S.Government, through Ambassador Byro-ade in Rangoon, flew up special equip-men, and on two occasions the BurmeseGovernment sent up medical specialiststo aid in any possible way.

"Two of Dr. Seagrave's sons, John andSterling, were given short term emergen-cy visas to visit their father, and bothwere present, along with many of thehospital staff, when he expired at 9 a.m.Sunday morning, March 28. (This wouldbe approximately 9 p.m. Saturday, March27, for you.)

"He was buried on Wednesday, March3D, and that is a day we long will re-member. Throughout the day there wasa constant stream of people walking upthe hill to the hospital compound, manybringing simple floral tributes which theyleft beside his coffin as they filed by.

EX-CBI ROUNDUP

-------- Newhalls Describe Seagrave's Death

Some came by bus, bicycle, walked orcame by ox cart. Many were dressed incolorful native costumes of the hill peo-ple. Though Dr. Seagrave had lived arather secluded life the last few years,there were few people within many mileswho had not benefitted in some wayfrom his skill as a teacher or surgeon,and they came in droves to pay theirlast respects.

"The funeral began with a short ser-vice at his home, and then the coffin wascarried in procession to the compoundchurch for the regular Christian service.The procession was led by three min-isters who conducted the service-Rev.Donald Crider, a Baptist missionary wholives 80 miles away, the Karen pastor ofthe compound church, and an old Shanpastor who had worked with Dr. Sea-grave in his earliest days in this area.After them walked the eight pallbearers

carrying the black coffin draped with theAmerican Flag.

"Immediately behind them all thenurses walked, dressed in their colorfulblue, red, green and pink uniform longyisand carrying the flowers. After the churchservice, the procession continued to thesmall staff cemetery,. where the bodywas laid to rest near Dr. Seagrave'ssister, Dr. Grace Seagrave, who died 14years ago while serving here, and justnext to his oldest son, Gordon Jr., whodrowned as a child in a small pond onthe compound 3-1 yea ago.

"Dr. Seagrave'_ \'0 "'reatest wisheswere to be buried in 'u- ha spot andthat the hospital to which he had devotedall his time and energie hould be al-lowed to continue under its present pri-vate status as a non-political, non-sec-tarian charitable institution. The formerwish we know has been carried out tothe letter. As to the latter, no one cansay." -THE END

HiLL People Honor Man They LovedAssociated Press Writer

N A M K HAM, Burma, (Delayed)-Thousands of hill people poured into thissmall Burman town on the edge of RedChina Tuesday to pay respects to Burmasurgeon Gordon Seagrave, who died Sun.day.

Shans, Kachins, Karens, Chinese andBurmese-the tribespeople Seagrave hadserved for 43 years-came by foot, muleand cart to attend funeral services setfor Wednesday and burial in a simplegrave at his beloved hospital, betweenhis sister, who died in 1951, and his eld.est son, who was drowned at the out,break of World War II.

Despite the seriousness of his illnessand a lack of modern medical equip-ment that might have saved his life, therenowned American missionary doctorstubbornly refused to leave the home hehad carved out of the north Burmajungle.

Seagrave's adoring staff tenderlydressed his body in his only blue suitand dark blue tie. His body was placedin a coffin in the hall of his small cot,tage where hundreds of those whoselives he had saved paid homage.

At the head of the coffin was a bigcross of roses inscribed with the words:"To Daddy Seagrave from your belovednurses."

Among the mourners were a few who

MAY, 1965

had crossed the border from CommunistChina, a stone's throw from the hospital.

A prayer meeting was held Tuesdayevening and the nurses gathered to singhis favorite hymns.

Seagrave's sons, John and Sterlingand John's wife and two children, whoflew here from the United States, parti-cipated in the service.

After the service, the sons talkedabout his room. "He chose it because it

MAKING guaze bandage for use in Lt. Col.Seagrave's ! Tingam Sakan hospital unit areMalang Kaw (left) and Little Bawk, two ofhis Burmese nurses. C.S. Army photo.

9

Hill People Honor Man They Loved _

CHINESE wounded, recovering in the NingamSakan hospital, are seen here eating their eve-ning meal in one of the hospital wards. U.S.Army photo.

was the smallest in the house," Sterlingsaid.

It has one small collapsible bed, abookcase containing his favorite booksand a writing' desk. He spent many hoursa day bent over his desk writing letters,making medical notes and keeping hisdiary. His one recent luxury was electri-city-but even so the lights are dim andflicker off and on through the night.

Sterling said the main cause of hisfather's death was overwork. His IS-houra day schedule throughout his life, oftenfive to six major operations daily, hadfinally taken its toll.

He suffered from every conceivablesickness one can pick up in the jungles,including chronic bronchitis, malaria,dysentery and beri beri, said his Ameri-can assistant, Dr. Joe Newhall.

An autopsy report said Seagrave's"heart failed as a result of widespreadinfection from chronic bronchitis." .

He had three especially trusted nurs:es constanUy at his side e,ver since hetook to his sickbed in the last week ofFebruary. His last wish was to remainalive until his sons and grandchildrenarrived here. He never had seen hiseight grandchildren.

He gathered enough strength towhisper and caress them when they ar-rived with John last week.

Burma's revoluntionary governmentflew in the best radiologist in the coun-try to examine Seagrave. He broughtspecialized equipment flown from Thai-land.

Unexpectedly, Seagrave took a turnfor the better and his oxygen tent wasremoved from the ream Fr"day. He calledhis two sons into his room and said:

"My work is done, I have been luckyto have seen you all again before I die.Now it's time for me to go home."

The words came out haltingly andhe was exhausted as he finished.

He slept fitfully Saturday night. Afinal crisis struck Sunday morning. Nurs-es dashed for oxygen' and Newhall rushedinto the room. It was too late.

In his will Seagrave asked for burialat Namkham hospital and that workthere continue as before. -THE END

OPERATING tent of it. Col. Gordon S. Seagrave's Ningam Sakan Hospital Unit, which wasresponsible in January 1944 for handling Chinese wounded coming in from the Yupban Gafront lines. U.S. Army photo.

10 Ex.eBI ROUNDUP

EVERAL views of the Namkham hospital and grounds, by Homer Page, and a recent shot of Dr.Seagrave, by Fanny Ellison, executive director of the American Medical Center of Burma, Inc.

IVIAY, 1965 11

This Is Story Of August 18, 1946

When the Vultures Ate Up a CityThe recollections of an

American soldier trapped inIndia's bloodiest religious riots

By VERNON JONESReprillted frolll SAGA. 1be Magazille for Mell

I watched the flock of vultures tearinto the putrefying human corpses lyingon the pavement before me. Some ofthe creatures had already gorged them-selves on human flesh-so much so thatthey could not fly. Instead they floppedinto the gutters as they attempted totake off. Others had to be pushed from thesidewalks by the police pa sing by.

At the far end of the block, some ofthe huge birds of prey were fighting overscraps of flesh, clacking at each otherwith their cur\'ed beaks and flappingtheir giant wings. Others sat on the wallsand roofs of adjoining buildings, cran-ing their long necks to help digest theirfood. Occasionally, a big black crowwould swoop down and challenge a vul-ture for a choice hunk of flesh.

This was the scene on a street inmidtown Calcutta, India, on August 18,1946, as that great, sprawling city ofmore than two mllion persons sufferedthrough the third day of the bloodiestrioting in its history.

As I witnessed the terror of that hotIndian afternoon, I remembered thechain of events that had led me to thisterrifying spot.

I was in Mira's second.floor apart-ment on Park Street, a few blocks offChowringhee Road, Calcutta's main thor-oughfare. Mira was a beautiful Burmeserefugee, who had fled to India with herparents in 1942, to escape the Japanese.A few short hours before, we had at-tended a movie at the Metro Theater andeaten a leisurely dinner at Firpo's Res-taur'ant.

After the last drink, we had goneinto the street to take a walk. But forsome reason, this evening seemed to bedifferent. Though the streets of Calcuttawere always crowded, day or night, onthis evening Chowringhee was overflow-ing with a vast mob that seemed to ebband flow and whirl tirelessly.

I had been in Calcutta for severalyears and was used to most of the sightsand sounds of the Far East, but thiscrowd seemed strange to me; I could al.most feel the tension and turmoil.

I decided to take a taxi as it began to

12

seem too risky to walk. However, the big,whiskered, turbaned Sikhs, who drovethe open cars, all seemed anxious to getaway from there; none would stop forme. Finally, we found a rickshaw andthe Indian coolie agreed to take us home."Trouble, sahib, trouble," he shouted, aswe made our way into the mass of rattl-ing, horn-honking, bell-ringing, scream.ing, screeching people.

In seconds it seemed as though every-thing-people, animals, machines-waswelded together. Then, inexplicably,everything seemed to flow like a smoothriver, in the general direction our rick-shaw boy was trying to go.

On Park Street, the crowd thinnedout and we made the last few blocks ingood time.

From Mira's apartment, the racketcould still be heard, but dully.

I poured a couple of drinks whileMira changed her clothes, and dimmedthe lights as she came through the door.She was within two steps of me whenthe sharp crack of a rifle ripped throughthe room. A bullet crashed through thewindow and Mira crumpled to the floorlike a soft cloud of blue silk. Plastershowered down from .the ceiling above.

Bedlam had broken loose outside inthe street. Shot after shot rang out. Hu-man screams were intermingled with thesounds of broken glass and the thud ofrocks and bricks against the side of theapartment house.

I dropped the drink which I had heldout to Mira. I could see blood flowingfrom a wound in her shoulder, stainingthe blue silk cloth. Blue and honey-brownand blood red; suddenly, I felt sick tomy stomach.

I lifted Mira gently from the floorand carried her to her bed. She was stillunconscious, but the blood had stoppedrunning down her arm. I rememberedthat a young doctor lived in the samebuilding. I hoped that he was home.

Fortunately he was. Hurriedly, hepicked up his bag and followed me.

"She's lucky," Dr. Sudhir Roy in-formed me after he had attended to Mira."The bullet just grazed her shoulder.I've given her a sedative and she'll sleepuntil morning, if that noise doesn't getworse."

The news relieved me, but now as Ilit up a cigarette and offered one to theHindu doctor, all the din outside camecrashing back into my consciousness.

"Today is the day that MohammedAli Jinnah, the leader of our Moslems,

EX-CHI ROUNDUP

-----------------When theVulturesAteUpaCity.has proclaimed as Direct Action Day,"the doctor said. "It was supposed to bepeaceful, but something seems to havegotten out of hand!"

I remembered now that August 16,the 18th day of the Moslem religiousholiday of Ramadan, had been picked asthe day to demonstrate against the In-dian government. During World War II,England had agreed to grant indepen-dence to India, a predcminantly Hindunation. But Jinnah, who led India's Mos-lem League, favored a partition of thecountry into separate Hindu and Moslemstates.

As Dr. Roy and I sat talking, a loudexplosion shook the building and thelights went out, to be replaced almostinstantly by an angry glow of yellow-redlight. We rushed to the window and sawthat a Mos~em mosque about a half-block away was in flames.

The street was jammed with fight-ing, howling mobs of l\Ioslems and Hin-dus. They were throwing everything theycould lay their hands on-rocks, clubs,bottles. Here and there a knife glinted.

The police came-a hundred or more.At first we watched them try to dispersethe crowd with night sticks. The mobfought back. Then the police used guns,firing over the heads of the demonstra.tors. Then they fired into the crowd.

People started to run in all directions.Crushed and wounded bodies litteredthe pavement. Finally, only the policewere visible in the light cast by theburning mosque. Police vans and fireequipment began to arrive, their bellsvibrating against the buildings.

Dr. Roy had left at the first soundof the police gunfire, to see if he could beof assistance. Before leaving, he had as-sured me that Mira would be all rightand that he would be back in the morn-ing. She was still resting peacefully. Thenoise had not awakened her.

I now had a big problem to solve. Ihad a room at the Grand Hotel, some,seven or eight blocks away. Should I tryto get back to it, or should I stay inMira's apartment all night? One look outthe window convinced me. The streetwas lined with police and ambulances. Imade myself comfortable on the sofafor the night.

Sleep was long in coming. Memoriesflooded through my mind: My arrivalin India as a GI in 1944; my assignmentto Headquarters Company, Base Section2, in the Hindustan Building; my firstmeeting with Mira, who was a secretaryin the AG office; our first dates; mychance to return to the States when theChina-Burma-India Theater of Opera-tions was closed; my decision to remain

MAY, 1965

because of Mira; and how I was nowattached to a Graves Registration Unit,the only American troops left in Cal-cutta. Finally, I drifted off into a trou-b: ed sleep.

The morning of August 17, I awokewith a start. It took a few moments forme to realize where I was. Then eventscame back to me.

Mira!I leaped off the sofa and hurried into

the bedroom. Mira lay exactly as I hadlast seen her the night before; she wasbreathing easily, so I let her sleep.

After a shower, I picked up the pa-pers outside the door, the Statesman andThe Hindustan Standard, I was surprisedthey had even been delivered. They werefull of bad news, however.

On August 18, Jinnah's Direct Actionhad coated the melting asphalt of Cal-cutta's sweltering streets with humanblood. Rioting, vengeful Moslems hadswarmed into Hindu areas attackingwith any weapon they could find. TheHindus had retaliated by burning Mos-lem mosques and homes. Both sidesraped and mutilated callously. Shops ofall sorts were looted and parts of theBritish business section were set afire.

British troops, steel-helmeted andheavily armed, helped Indian police topatrol the streets. Trucks and jeeps werecovered with wire mesh to ward off themob's bricks and stones. Armored carsand soldiers moved here and there.

Wellesley Street, predominantly :\Ios-lem, was reported to be in absolutehavoc. Furniture was strewn about thestreet, broken and burning. From oneend of the thoroughfare to the other,dead bodies lay in puddles of blood. OneMoslem had been tied by the feet anddragged through the street until his facewas unrecognizable.

Some 90 persons had been killed andmore than 1000 injured, according to thenewspapers. The authorities were wor-ried about what might happen next andadvised everyone to keep off the streets.A curfew had been invoked between thehours of 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Dr. Roy came in later in the morning.He looked exhausted; he had been up allnight tending the wounded.

"She's coming along fine," he told meafter examining the wound. "I'll sendup my servant to take care of her for afew days."

Mira was still asleep when the wo-man-sen'ant arrived, so I decided to goback to the hotel.

As I made my way to ChowringheeStreet, I noted that the area was beingpatroled by British jeeps, while an occa-sional Spitfire fighter roared overhead.

13

When the Vultures Ate Up a City _

On the main street, things seemed nor-mal, however. Side-stepping a few sacredcows that were wandering along thesidewalk and the dozens of street mer-chants, I finally made it to the GrandHotel.

In my room, I tried to put a callthrough to my commanding officer atTollygunge, in South Calcutta but wastold that the telephone circuits to thatsection were out. That made me a bituneasy, because even at its worse, theIndian telephone system usually gets acall through.

Around noon,. after speaking to theservant at Mira's and being assured thatshe was all right, I decided to lookaround outside.

Stepping out into Chowringhee, Icould sense that more trouble was on theway. Huge crowds of people packed thestreet and moved toward DharamtolaStreet, which I could see was blocked offby police. As the mob pressed forward,shots were fired and a number of peoplefell to the pavement. Bright red bloodfrom the dead and wounded sprawled onthe street ran in tiny streams into thesteaming gutters. Mixed with cow dungand filth, it soon turned almost blackbefore trickling into the sewers.

A British command car happened tobe edging its way past me and thedriver, spotting my American uniform,stopped and picked me up.

"Mighty bad place for you, Yank," hesaid. "Better let me take you some placeelse."

Under the circumstances, I had toagree with him. While driving towardMira's, we could see that every shopwas now closed. On some side streetsbodies lay where they had fallen. Eve~ambulance and Red Cross workers werein extreme danger as they carriedout their work. No one seemed safe fromattack.

We saw many mobs fighting, assault-ing each other with clubs, knives, bottlesand guns. Several newspaper buildingswere being stoned. Stores were beingbroken into and looted. Some were onfire. The Maidan, the park in the centerof Calcutta, was jammed with thousandsof people in search of safety.

Turning a corner, we came to anabrupt halt. A howling mob had over-turned a double-deck public bus and itwas burning furiously in the middle ofthe street. The British driver tried toput our vehicle in reverse, but the pressof the massed human bodies around usstarted to push it forward again.

We were only a few hundred feetfrom the flaming bus, and the heat fromthe fire, combined with the high tempera.

14

ture and humidity, was almost unbear-able. Burning gasoline from the fuel tankwas melting the asphalt in a wideningcircle around the bus, and it soon becameapparent that the angry mob was deliber-ately trying to push our command carinto the flames. Terror seized me as Isaw several natives already engulfed inthe fire and heard their screams over themob's roar. My nostrils caught the sweetstench of burning flesh.

Then, suddenly, it seemed that every-one had forgotten about us. They werenow engaged in a new sport-throwinghuman beings into the ruins of the flam-ing bus. As we watched, unable to doanything about it, several persons werelifted into the air by their arms and legsand hurled into the inferno like so manylogs being tossed into a bonfire.

The mob had thinned out behind ussomewhat during this activity, so thedriver turned the vehicle around, knock-ing over a number of natives in the pro-cess. The Englishman put the commandcar into gear and we roared away fromthe scene. Finally, we made our way intoPark Street, which for some reasonwas deserted and the driver let me out.

I found Mira sitting up in bed. Hershoulder was bandaged. She manageda weak smile and thanked me for help-ing her. The electricity was back on inthe apartment and I turned on the radio.Mira lay back on the bed and went tosleep.

The Governor of Bengal Province, SirFrederick Burrows, was on the air urg-ing the citizens of Calcutta to stay offthe streets. He said that it was "incredi-ble that on the eve of self-government,the largest city in India should becomea victim of mob rule." There was noreason, he admonished his listeners, whycivilized persons who lived and workedside by side all their lives should sud-denly become murderous maniacs.

Some police and soldiers had been onduty for more than 30 hours withoutrest. Fighting had been particularlybitter on College Street, where Hindushad set fire to a Moslem mosque inwhich many women and children hadhuddled for safety. The cries of thetrapped victims added to the horror ofthe scene as they burned to death.

In southeast Calcutta, a police truckrescued a Hindu who had been stabbedin the back while attempting to get pasta Moslem section to the police stationand safety. He was attacked at almostevery step. One seven-year-old girl wasin a hospital, a rape victim.

As dusk settled over the city, the skybegan to light up with the reflection ofmiles of burning slum buildings. Mira

Ex-eBI ROUNDUP

----------------When theVulturesAteUpaCityand I sat at the darkened window andwatched the conflagration, trying to planwhat we would do, if the flames camecloser.

However, Park Street was quiet anddark save for an occasional patrol car.The slaughter had moved to other partsof the city. By the end of that day, 270more persons had been killed. Ambu-lances traveled from hospital to hospitalwith loads of wounded, trying to findhelp. All were filled to capacity. Mili.tary emergency aid stations were beingset up in many areas.

In the morning, the only newspaperstill publishing was the British-ownedStatesman. On the front page, besidesthe stories of horror in Calcutta, wasone from the nearby village of Bhowani-pur. It revealed that mobs had thrown150 men, women and children into theflames of a mammoth bonfire. I remem-bered the scene at the burning bus andI did not doubt the newspaper report.

Calcutta was virtually paralyzed.Public transportation and city employeeswere on strike. Garbage and trash clut,tered the streets. I wanted to get backto the hotel to see if there was any mesosage from my company commander, soI took a chance and went out into ParkStreet that afternoon. Fortunately, I wasable to hail a British patrol jeep. Itcarried a driver and two heavily armedTommies.

Their stories of the riots were night,marish. They told of women being raped,mutilated and burned alive. They hadalso witnessed the slaughter of smallchildren and scenes where the occupantsof a home were butchered together andthe house set on fire. They said that pilesof bodies littered the streets, many ofthem bloated from the boiling sun andripped open by vultures. Health authori.ties feared that epidemics would breakout before disposal squads could cleanup the streets. And the stench of decom-posing bodies was hindering removal ac.tivity.

The obliging British soldiers left meat the hotel, where I immediately sawthat everything was at a standstill. Thenative help was immobilized with fear,so I decided to go back to Mira's apart.ment.

As I went out into the street, a monosoon rain came up, and I ducked backinto the hotel lobby. In India, these rainscome up at a moment's notice, dumpabout an inch of water on the parchedpavement, and are gone in ten minutes,leaving everything just as dry and dustyas before.

When I went back out into Chowring.hee again, I noticed that traffic was mov.

MAY, 1965

ing again. However, I still could not haila taxi or rickshaw, so I started walking.

As I passed the street leading to theNew Market, the city's great marketplace, now virtually destroyed by fire, Inoticed for the first time the large num-ber of vultures hovering overhead. Thesight of a vulture in India is not unusual;followers of the Parsee religion leavethe corpses of their dead unburied onTowers of Silence, where the carrionbirds may eat them. The big birds areIndia's scavengers, removing all filth,refuse and decaying organic matter fromthe streets and cvuulryside.

But such a large number of vultureswas unusual, so I walked a few blocksout of my way to see what the attractionwas. I soon wished I hadn't. On one sideof the street lay dozens of bodies-vic-tims of the riots-men, women and chilodren. At one end of the street stood acouple of Indian policement.

"All we can do is move them to oneside of the street," said one of the of-ficers. "These birds are going to do a lotof work for us."

One of the most revolting sights inthis world must be that of seeing a vul-ture pecking at the eye sockets and vitalorgans of a human being, seeing thosecarnivores tearing clothing and flesh toshreds with their sharp claws and beaks.

Farther on, down Harrison Road, Isaw three truckloads of bodies stalled inthe middle of the street by the combina-tion of the monsoon rain and openedfire hydrants.

When I finally made it back to theapartment, I decided that I had gone outfor the last time until order had beencompletely restored.

According to the Calcutta radio, fight.ing had even spread to he HooghlyRiver. An estimated 50 boats, mostlyHindu-owned, were burned or sunk. Onesurvivor reported tha these boats hadbeen rammed repea edly by ferriesmanned by l\Ioslem_. un il hey sank.

Buildings in the Ho ,. a ection, onthe western bank of he HooCThly River,were set afire. _Ian,' casua tie were re-ported at Cossipore: an indu trial centernear Calcutta's Dum Dum airport. Bythe 21st day of Ramadan. Direct Actionhad killed abou people. Thou-sands more were "ounded.

I asked Mira if Dr. Roy had been tosee her that day. he -aid no. Even thedoctor's servant' had heard nothing fromhim since the night before.

I stayed with _lira again that night.The following morning, the States-

man reported that the worst was over andthat refugees were beginning to pourback into the railroad stations. More

15

When the Vultures Ate Up a City _

than 20,000 were said to be jammed inHowrah terminal alone.

For the next couple of days there wassporadic fighting in various parts of thecity, but armed British and Indian pa.troIs were able to contain the outbreaks.Miraculously, no Europeans or Ameri-cans were killed during the entire per-iod of violence. A number had beeninjured when they were trapped betweenHindu and Moslem mobs, but the maincasualties were confined to the two re-ligious groups and to several Anglo-Indian girls, who had been raped.

After the rioting had subsided, sani-tation squads went into action, cleaningthe human debris that had been left bythe vultures. They carted away thesmashed and bloated bodies that still layin the open and probed for those undershattered buildings. By far the worstproblem in recovering bodies was thatof fishing them out of the sewers. It wasfound that the city's svstem was chokedwith hundreds o'f corpses, apparentlywashed there bv the rains and theopened fire hydr'ants. One report men-tioned that a young Moslem had beenrescued after lying in a sewer for sev-eral days, completely covered over byrotting corpses. Huge piles of humanremains were burned along the banks

of the river, and the ashes were thenthrown into the water.

Food was trucked into the city byBritish and Indian army authorities.Many of the city's poor had been withoutfood for days, while vegetables, fruitsand eggs rotted on railway platformsand in barred stores.

After some five days of fighting, whathad been accomplished? A political pro-test had turned into a purely communalbattle between Hindus and Moslems.Some authorities placed the death rateas high as 7,000, with 30,000 wounded.Mile after mile of homes and many busi-ness buildings were destroyed. Propertydamage ran into millions of dollars. Instrange contrast, very little trouble hadoccurred in other parts of India. NewDelhi and Bombay had remained rela.tively quiet.

Several days later, I answered thephone in the office of the Graves Regis-tration Unit at Camp Knox in Tolly-gunge. It was Mira. It had been severaldays since I had seen her.

"Remember Dr. Roy, who treatedme?" she asked. "His servant is herenow. She savs that he was killed nearthe New Market, because he was a Hin-du and was helping injured .Moslems.The vultures had almost torn his bodyapart. The police say they identified himby a ring on his finger." -THE END

16

ONE of the most beautiful buildings in Calcutta is the Queen Victoria Memorial,maintained br the Indian Government. (1964 Roundup photo)

EX-CEI ROUNDUP

r

News dispatches from recent issuesof The CaJcuHa Statesman

CALCUTTA-A ",guide to success" inmaking black money has been discoveredby the Income Tax Depal1tment, Calcutta.Claimed to ,be an authoritative publica-tion, revised over the last half century,'it is said ,to be popular with a section ofthe city's business community. Havingan all-Indian circulation, the "guide" wasoriginally written in Gujerati and hasbeen ,translated into several other Indianlanguages. It deals first with how tomake black money, where to keep it, andfinally how to conceal it from the taxman. Instructions include: Hoard com-modities which cannot be damaged byvermin, rats and other pests; investmoney in goods, ,the price of which willrise, and rise sharply; hold black moneyat seyeral places away from your officeor residence; keep two books of account,one for the Income Tax Department andthe other for your personal use; have allthe answers ready for the tax collector.

DELHI-The Qutb Minar is leaningtowards the ea:st, the difference from per-pendicular at the top being 24 inches. Ar-chaeologists are confident that "there isabsolutely nothing ,to be alarmed about."The 238.foot, five-storied, sandstone andmarble Qutb is a national monument anda great ,tourist attraction. Said to be oneof the eight architectural wonders of India,its construction was begun in 1200 A.D.by Kutb-ud-din Aibak. The two top stor-ies were later rebu'ilt ,by Feraz Shah. Noone ,is willing ,to hazard an opinion as towhen the Qutb started leaning. "It mightwell have been ,there from the begin-ning," an expert commented.

CALCUTTA-Members of the, Bar As.sociation of the Presidency Magistrate'sCourts, Calcutta, recently adopted a reso-lution viewing "with deep concern andregret that directive of the Union Gov-ernment giving Hindi the status of theofficial language of India." It was furth-er resolved that such imposition of oneregional language on the whole of thecountry "will impair the integrity andunity of India." It was asked that theConstitution be suitably amended to makeEnglish India's official language whichwould have equal status with all otherlanguages recognized by the Constitution.

NEW DELHI-The Indian Railways re-cently completed the 40th year of electric

MAY, 1965

traction in the country. It was on Feb. 3,1925, that the first electric train ran fromVictory Terminus, Bombay, to Kurla andBandra on the Central Railway. Ele::trictraction was later introduced on the West-ern, Southern, Eastern and South EasternRailways. .

NEW DELHI-In about two years, AirIndia will become the first Asian airlineto have round-the-world service. At pres-ent Air India services operate in all thecontinents, and touch practically allmajor countries. But they do not yetgirdle the globe.

NEW DELHI-A four.furlong widegreen belt will be laid around the TajMahal as one of the three schemes tobeautify the marble monument. reportsUN!.

CALCUTTA-If deception of the publicis the criterion of success in the "go asyou like" (fancy dress) event organizedat some athletic sports meetings, thE' palmmust undoubtedly go to Sankar De Sarkar,an employee of the Durgapur steel plant.Sarkar was severly manhandled by a se::.tion of the ,public at Howrah while on hisway to attend his office sports dressed asa fakir and accompanied by his youngnephew. His assailants mistook him for achild-lifter. Sarkar's protests to the con-trary proved fruitless, particularly afterhe lost his false moustache and beard inthe melee. He was ultimately taken to hishouse where he was identified, but bythen his state was such as to necessitatea visit to the Howrah General Hospital.

CALCUTTA-Dengue infection, confinedto Calcutta only, claimed 234 lives in thecity last year, according to the West Ben-gal Health Minister. No other area in theState suffered from the disease. Highestkiller in the State last year was tuber-culosis, which claimed 3,809 lives. Ty-phoid ranked second with a toll of 2,645,and cholera next with 2,044. Leprosy con-tinued to be virulel1lt and took 725 lives.

CALCUTTA - A marble bust of Mr.Nehru was unveiled recentlv in the Ali-pore Central Jail. The bust "has been in-stalled in a garden adjoining the cell inwhich Mr. Nehru spent two months in1934. It cost about Rs 1,900, the entireamount being contributed by prisoners.

BOMBAY-A second newsprint factoryis expected to be set up in India withCanadian help. With a daily productioncapacity of 100 tons, it will be located afew miles from the Bhakra Dam in. Pun-jab. A survey conducted by Canadian ex-perts recently in the Himalayan regionsnorth of Punjab and Himachal Pradeshhave shown that the wood resources ofthe area are capable of providing rawmaterial.

17

Coronation of Maharaja and Maharani

Scenes of Colour and PageantryBy DESMOND DOIG

Frolll !be CaICII!I" S"l1eJlllall

GANGTOK, April 4.-The coronationof the Maharaja of Sikkim and his Maha-rani here this morning was fabulous.

It had everything-the dazzling pa.geantry of the past, colour, excitement,pathos, an ancient mystique and, tocrown it, nature was outrageously kind;the skies were cloudless after weeks ofrain, with snow sparkling on nearbymountain peaks and the sacred towersof Kanchenjunga and Siniolchu flyingplumes of snow like the gossamer scarvesthat tradition demands be presented tothe ru:ers of Sikkim after consecreation.

Colour blazed everywhere, there wereturquoise earrings and amulets thatmatched the sky; Chinese brocades, stiffand perfumed as if they had just beentaken from treasure chests, which per.haps they had; furs and silks; gold andsilver; rough and gaudy homespun:swaggering Tibetan cloaks beside thelatest Western fashions: top hats besidehead.dresses of turquoise, coral and seedpearls in the tradition of Old Lhasa;gold brocade vying with the exquisiteweaves of Bhutan and the saris of India.

There were gift bearers carrying thingsthat have been bypassed by the modernage-bolts of antique Chinese and Rus-sian brocades, carpets from the looms ofPeking and Shigatse, bundles of rareincense, jade bowls and fragile porcelain.

The place of coronation could nothave been more romantic, more beauti-ful. The royal chapel, Tsuk.Lak.Khang,stands on a ridge that the Sikkimeserightly consider sacred. The ridge plungesin first stark, then frosted, leaps fromthe high range that separates Sikkimfrom Tibet and flings itself upon the dis.tant plains in ever decreasing promon-tories like petrified waves. Gangtok liesupon it like a grubby diadem-beauti-ful but well used, venerated but also wellloved- and the most precious jewel isthe palace chapel with its gold roof andpainted and carved windows.

At precisely 22 minutes past 9 o'clockthis morning the great monastery drumsboomed and from the palace, which lookslike a blown-up Victorian doll's house,stepped the royal procession-the l\Iaha-raja in saffron and gold, the colours ofroyalty and spiritual eminence; the l\Ia-harani in red, her auspicious colour, andwearing a jewelled cap; and, with them,members of the royal family.

After taking the salute from thescarlet. coated Sikkimese Guards, boy

18

scouts in khaki uniforms and girl guidesin peacock blue, the Maharaja enteredthe royal chapel to the strains of strangemusic made by lamas in robes of cinna.mon, magenta, scarlet and gold, wearingtall-peaked hats and holding bannersand ceremonial umbrellas.

Now the moment of purification andconsecration was at hand; the time 9-35.Their Highnesses sat on gilt and gold bro.caded chairs, their feet on gilt stools.

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EX.CBI ROUNDUP

__________________ Scenes of Colour and Pageantry

They faced North-North.East, the auspi.cious direction. ("We had to use a com-pass to get the direction right," an offi.cial revealed.) All about them was colour,blazing colour, an overall gold runthrough with scarlet and shocking pink,turquoise and coral, emerald and mossgreen. Colour glowed from the paintedmurals, the tapestries and brocade hang-ings, the ornate altars and the jewelleddeities-the compassionate Buddha, theGuru Rimpoche and Dorji Sempa, thegrimacing god whose purpose is to puri-fy and protect.

Exactly at 9-45, recitation from the:lcriptures ended, signifying the comple-tion of the consecration, the culminatingmoment of the coronation.

Then, the Maharaja was dressed bythe lamas of Sikkim's premier monastery,Perna Yangtse, in the clothes of royalty-boots embroidered with thunderboltssymbolizing stability and power; theroyal robe of rich golden brocade indi-cating its wearer as an embodiment ofthe Buddha; the scarlet sash, a symbolof compassion and virtue; and the mag-nificent golden mantle proclaiming spi-ritual and temporal bliss, prosperity andunending glory.

All the while, Maharani Hope Nam-gyal watched with dignified interest andI wondered at the strange circumstancesthat had placed this beautiful Americangirl, with her so alien upbringing, at

the centre of this age-old Buddhist cere-mony. When I asked her last night if shewas nervous, she had answered in thenegative, adding, however, that she hadbeen careful not to think too much aboutit. Which was a gracious parry to myinquiry. She had obviously thought aboutit a great deal, because here she wastoday so completely a part of the ritual.

With just the right submission andoriental grace, she followed her husbandas he was conducted to his throne, animpressive seat of gilded and carvedwood covered with a wealth of brocade.Hers was a lesser throne, but on bothwere 13 brocade cushions signifying the13 stages of perfection.

The lamas offered the ;\Iaharaja ajewelled headdress, which he placed uponhis head; a thousand-spoked goldenwheel, symbolizing royalty and divine ex-cellence; four auspicious objects-a conchshell, a drum, cymbals and a standardof victory; and emblems of health andlongevity-the eight lucky signs and theseven sacred objects of kingship. Reci-tations by the lamas and an offering ofceremonial tea brought the religiousceremony to an end.

But the most poignant moment wasto come. It was when the Maharaja'schildren and young nieces prostratedthemselves before the newly crownedrulers. -THE END

MEMBERS of Ex-eBI Roundup "Return to India" party, vlslung a rug factory inSringar, Kashmir, learn from a representative of the company how patterns are tran-

scribed into numbers. (1964 Roundup photo)

MAY, 1965 19

PORK CHOP HILL: The American Fi/?htin/?1Ilan in Action. By S. L. A. Marshall. ApolloEditions. March 1965. Paperback, 51.95.

The author, Brig. Gen. "Slay" Marshall-military historian, soldier and journal-ist-was infantry operations analyst withthe Eighth Army in the Korean front line.This book is an informed eye-witness reoport of the fighting, and it's a bloody re-port.

THE NINE-TIGER MAN. By Lesley Blanch.Atheneum Publishers, Nell' York. N.Y. March1965. 54.50.

East meets West in this novel of the1950's which goes from Victorian Englandto British India. It involves a mahajarah'sheir, a viscount's daughter, and an un-inhibited chambermaid.

SOUTHDI.ST ASIA IN TUR1\101L. By BrianCrozier. Pe>l/?uin Books. Inc.. Baltimore. 1\fd.March 1965 .. Paperback. 95c.

A survey of the events, personalitiesand politics which have led to today'sbewildering, explosive situation.

BUDDHISM OR COMMUNISM: Jl"hichHolds Ihe Future of Asia. By E1'I1est Benz.Doubleday & Co., Garden City, N.Y. 01arch1965. 54.50.

A summary of the contemporary revi.talization of Buddhism in Burma, Ceylon,Vietnam, Laos, India and Japan, ecu.menical tendencies in modern Buddhism,and the strength of Buddhism as a poli-tical force, as well as its intellectual andartistic influence. The author commentson the ways in which Communism hastried to use Buddhism as a tool, and thecomparable strengths of Communism andBuddhism in Asia. The book is based onthe author's findings in 1957-58, whenhe was invited as guest professor to Do-shisha University in Kyoto. Translatedfrom the German by Richard and ClaraWinston.

REPORT FROM A CHINESE VILLAGE. ByJan M)rd.d. P.lIItheon Books, ;\'ew York. X.Y.April 1965. 56.95.

This book is based upon an experienceunique for people of the Western world.Myrdal, the young Swedish anthropolo-gist, and his wife, a professional photo-grapher, broke all precedents and werepermitted to live in a northern Chinesevillage in 1962. This is their record, intext, photographs and drawings, of thatremarkable period.

20

THE LONG DAY II"-ANES. By AnthonyBm'/?ess. 11'7. IF'. Norton & Co., New York, N.Y.March 1965. $6.95.

Three connected, consecutive novels ofMalaya in the late 1950's when thewhite man-teacher, priest, lawyer, etc.-was ejected. In the English editions, thenovels were "Time for a Tiger," "TheEnemy in the Blanket" and "Beds in theEast." It is a vast novel, sardonic inmood. with a swarming cast of charac-ters. The connecting link is a school mas-ter who is transferred from a bad postto a worse one. He likes Malaya andthe :vIalayans; though he sees the whiteman is being pushed out, he is not bitter.

STOCKADE. By Jack Pearl. T,.ident Press..Nell' York. N.Y. April 1965.

A novel turning upon the question asto whether a man ever has the right totake the law into his own hands. EdRemington, an Army draftee in Korea, isnot put to the test until he is assigneda burdensome but seemingly innocuous48-hour duty in the prison blockade.

THE flNG AFFAIR. By D. ]. Spencer. Funk& IF'''/?l1alls, Nell' York, N.Y. April 1965. $4.95.

An explosive novel dealing with animaginary international situation inwhich a ruthless Chinese general deter-mines to get $30,000,000 worth of freedomfor himself, and plans to sell out theisland's 11 million people to get it. Theauthor, who writes under a pseudonym,is with a government agency connectedwith Far Eastern affairs; he knowsTaiwan and its people.

LADY !f/U. By Lin Yutang. G. P. Putnam'sSons. Nell' York, N.Y. April 1965. $4.95.

This novel by the author of "The Flightof the Innocents" re-creates the life andtimes of the unbelievably cruel, amorousand vital woman who, in seventh cen.tury China, built a vast empire. LinYutang makes the story of the "ChineseMessalina" exciting and real.

THE DARK DANCER. By Frederic Proko,rch.Pocket Books, I/IC., New York, N.Y, April 1965.Paperback, 50c

A novel based upon the life of theman who built the Taj Mahal, with thebizarre, violent, sensual background of17th century India and its brooding senseof death.

THE 1I1OUNTBATTENS: The Last Royal Suc-cess Story. By Alden Hatch. Ral1dom House, Nell'Yor.k, X.Y. 1\1(1) 1965. 58.95.

This is the spectacular history of threegenerations of Mountbattens: the Princeof Battenberg who chose to become anEnglishman, Lord Louis who becameFirst Sea Lord and Prince Philip, consortto Queen Elizabeth. The name of Mount-batten is a familiar one to most CBlers.

EX.CBI ROUNDUP

HORSE-DRAWN gharries are shown lined up outside the race track in Calcutta,where races are still held regularly. (1964 Roundup photo)

". ~I•••• j

/"- ~--

W ALLAH pulls a heavy load on two-wheel cart, not far from Kidderpore Docksin Calcutta. (1964 Roundup photo)

MAY, 1965 21

Commander's

Messageby

Douglas ]. RunkNational CommanderChina-Burma-India

Veterans Assn.

When the time approaches for theMay issue of Roundup we realize howquickly the year is passing. From all re-port, you are all having a wonderfulyear!

Now it is time to turn our thoughtstoward the dates of August 4, 5, 6 & 7,1965, when our Eighteenth Annual Re-union will be held in Houston, Texas, atthe Shamrock-Hilton Hotel. For monthsthe members of the Wm. Bates McDonaldBasha have been making plans for anoutstanding reunion for our membersfortunate enough to attend. If you havenot already done so, please give seriousconsideration to attending this reunion.Here is the tentative program and youcan see it is something you don't wantto miss:

TENTATIVE REUNION PROGRAM

August 4, Wednesday-Registration2:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m., CocktailParty-Houston Basha Host.

August 5, Thursday-9:00, Registra-tion. 11:30 a.m., Lunch, Memorial Service,(past Commanders Luncheon) DomedStadium-Tour of Stadium. 2:30 p.m.,Business Meeting. 4:30, Adjourn businessmeeting. G:30 p.m., Puja Parade-Hotel.7:30 p.m., Puja Shamburger Party, Pool-side. 8:30. Water Show. 10:30 p.m. Hos-pitality Rooms

August 6, Friday-9:00 a.m., Registra-tion. 10:30 a.m., Business Meeting. 12:00Noon, Adjourn. 3:30 p.m. Valley LodgeRodeo-Horseback riding for Youth Group.5:00 p.m., Barbecue & Western Music.

This space is contributed to the CBIV A byEx-eBI Roundup as a service to the manyreadC1'swbo are members of the Assn., of whichRoundup is the official publication. It is im-portant to remember that CBIV A and Roundupare entirely separate organizations. Your sub.scription to Roundup does not entitle )'ou tomembership in CBIV A, nor does your member-ship in CBIV A entitle you to a subscription toRoundup. You need not be a member of CBIVA;n order to mbscribe to Roundup and vise versa.-.Eds.

22

7:30 p.m., Rodeo. 10:30 p.m., HospitalityRooms.

August 7, Saturday-9:00 a.m., Reg-istration. 10:00 a.m., Business Meeting.12:00 Noon, Trip Manned Spacecraft Cen-ter. 12:45 p.m., Lunch Manned SpacecraftCafeteria (On your own). 1:00 p.m., TourManned Spacecraft Center. 8:00 p.m.,Youth Banq uet-Entertainment-Dancing.8:00 p.m., Commander's Banquet-Awards-Installation of Officers-Dancing. 12:00p.m., Hospitality Rooms.

My message would not be completewithout paying tribute to our greatBurma Surgeon, Dr. Gordon Seagrave.The doctor was a member of the Gen-eral George Sliney Basha of San Fran-cisco and on March 28, 1965, his battlewas lost ... a battle so desperatelyfought by the good doctor.

Dr. Seagrave was the founder andchief of Namkham Hospital, begunNovember 4, 1922, in the NortheasternHills of Burma. "Throughout my life,"he wrote years ago, "there has been thatinner something that compelled me toteach people how to do things, no mat-ter how eccentric or unorthodox-a senseof some great event ahead that wouldneed every talent I could develop in allwho came under my influence." Thisgreat surgeon lived by this quotation,giving himself to the many people whohad no one else to turn to.

I'm sure all C.B.LV.A. members joinme in this tribute:

CROSSING THE BAR

Sunset and evening star,And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning at the barWhen I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out theboundless deep,

Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,and after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewellWhen I embark.

For though from out our bourne of Timeand Place,

The flood may bear me far,hope to see my Pilot face to face,

When I have crossed the bar.

I'm confident the work started by thisunique man will live on, in his memory,forever.

Next month I will report on my tripto Philadelphia and Ohio State Meeting.MARK YOUR CALENDAR August 4, 5,6, 7, 1965 Houston, Texas.

Ex-eBI ROUNDUP

-------------.-----------'To TheEditors

RED CROSS Valley Club at Khanspur rest camp in the northcentral part of India. Photo by Vernon H. Jones:

AS FRIENDS wait, member of 380th Air Service Group is giv-en "full trea~ment" by Indian s~eking "baksheesh" at troop trainwater stop III Khanpur Junction, northwest India. Photo byHenry A. Piorkowski.

JAMES POSSLEY,Thorp, Wis.

reader is never at sea as towhat he is reading about.A rewarding experience willbe found for anyone whocraves adventure. It was sorealistic I could almost feelthe pain in Huffman's bro-ken shoulder. There is nevera dull J!l0me!1t or lag of in-terest In thIS outstandingachievement, from the firstpage to the last. MyoidCBI hat's off to Sinclair forhaving written the mostexciting story I've ever read.

ROBERT H. l\IAYNeshanic Station,'N.J.

Injured in Crash• Friends of Mrs. LinaLeichsenring will be inter-ested to know she was in-volved in a car accident afew weeks ago, and will beconfined to the hospitalwith her leg in traction for100 days. She is the wife ofSahib Bill Leichsenring,owner of the Ox Yoke Innin the Amana Colonies.

RAY ALDERSON,Dubuque, Iowa

44th Service Group• May I use this means tosay "hello" to my formerbuddies in the 111lth Sig-nal Co., 44th Air ServiceGroup.

just completed re-readingBoyd Sinclair's new book,"Jump to the Land of God."I had the good fortune toread this story in manu-script before it was pub-lished. This book verifiesthe fact that Sinclair wasthe Ernie Pyle of CEl. Hehas the ability to "picture"a story in words, makingit vivid and vitally inter-esting. My compliments aredue him for the way heill ustrated various customsin Tibet. His interpretationsand explanations (in smalltype) were excellent. The

20th General Hospital• Have been taking themagazine for years now andread every page from be-ginning to end. I havenever read a magazine asinteresting as Roundup. Justkeep up the good work. Iwas with the 20th GeneralHospital near Ledo, Assam.So how about hearing fromsome of the old gang in-cluding our general, Dr.Isador Ravdin. I now live inLos Angeles but I belongto the Gen. George SlineyBasha of San Francisco. Ienjoy reading Ray Kirkpat-rick's articles. I work in aservice station 63 hours aweek and don't have muchtime for myself, but waswondering why a big citylike Los Angeles does nothave a basha of its own. DoI hear any comments onthis subject?

A. ANGSTENBERGER,17024 Gumbiner Drive,La Puente, Calif.

Sinclair's New Book• Having been a subscrib-er to the veteran's bestf r i end, Ex-CBI Roundup,since 1947, I assure you thata fellow's memory is some-thing he can't burn orspend. It continues to be apleasure for me to reviewthe CBI past through thepages of Roundup. I have

MAY, 1965 23

A New CBI BookWritten by a

well. known CBI veteran

Jump tothe Land of GodThis is the story of five Americans,

members of the crew of a giant car-go plane, who became lost duringWorld War II while en route fromKunming to Jorhat. Caught in amighty Himalayan storm, the airmenstrayed into Tibet and became the firstto fly over the Holy City of Lhasa.With their fuel gone, they jumped intothe black of night ... into a landand among a people that they couldnot have conceived of in their wild.est fancy.

Every CEl veteran should read thisnew book!

Lt. Col. William Eoyd Sinclair iswell known to Roundup readers ...for many years he edited the Eook Re.view section in this magazine. He isa former editor of the original CElRoundup, newspaper of the U.S. Forcesin CEl, and also was with the 12th AirService Group, 14th Air Force.

Eoyd Sinclair has written a numberof magazine articles about World WarII in the CEl area, and many of themhave appeared in Roundup. He nowlives in Austin, Tex., where he isChief Administrative Officer for TexasSelective Service.

$695 postpaid

Order your copy of this book from

Ex-CSI ROUNDUP~ Laurens~ Iowa