Looking for “Gung Ho” Spirit in China

“From the Halls of Montezuma

To the Shores of Tripoli*;

We fight our country’s battles

In the air， on land and sea;

First to fight for right and freedom

And to keep our honour clean;

We are proud to claim the title

Of United States Marine.

If the Army and the Navy

Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;

They will find the streets are guarded

By United States Marines.”

The veterans of Carlson’s Raiders from the United States were singing this song when they revisited the Taihang Mountains. This is the US Marine Corps Hymn which they have often sung in their glorious lifetime.

Evans F. Carlson， an old friend of the Chinese people， passed away more than half a century ago. The Chinese people have never forgotten him， nor have the American people. Invited by the CPAFFC， a veterans delegation of the United States Marine Raider Association headed by Lt. Gen. (retired) Henry Stackpole visited China from June 19 to 30. They went to Beijing， Datong， Wutai Mountain， Taiyuan， Xi’an and Yan’an.

The veterans of the delegation were members of the Raider Battalion led by Carlson. Among them were 93-year-old George MacRae， a Canadian living in the U. S. who had served in the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion and whose right hand was deformed by the wound he got in battles; Ken McCullough， 89， who had served in the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion; the 86-year-old Kenneth O’Donnell of the 4th Marine Raider Battalion who had fought shoulder to shoulder with James Roosevelt， son of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and took part in the Battle of Makin; and the 85-year-old Harold Berg of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion who had been president of the United States Marine Raider Association. They all had fresh memories of Carlson and how they overcame extremely hard natural conditions and dealt a heavy blow on the Japanese aggressors in Makin Island and Guadalcanal Island， which seemed to have taken place only yesterday. Now they came to China， taking the risk of contracting (A) H1N1 flu and braving the hot weather. They were hale and hearty despite their advanced age. They walked in quick and light steps， still retaining their impressive gallantry of those years and servicemen’s humour.

CPAFFC Vice President Li Jianping hosted a dinner in honour of the delegation and invited leaders of the China Society for People’s Friendship Studies and children of old Chinese generals and comrades who had had contact with Carlson to meet with the delegation. During her meeting with the delegation， Gen. Nie Li， daughter of Nie Rongzhen， presented the delegation a book about her father she published last year， In the book there are descriptions and photos of the meetings between Marshal Nie Rongzhen and Carlson in Wutai Mountain.

The main purpose of the veterans’ visit was to trace Carlson’s footsteps in China， look for Chinese Eighth Route Army veterans and guerrillas to chat with them about how they fought the Japanese aggressors in those years. In Wutai Mountain， Xi’an and Yan’an， they met and had conversations with the Eighth Route Army and guerrilla veterans. In Xi’an， they were arranged to visit a sanatorium for retired military cadres of the Shaanxi Provincial Military Command and had a discussion there while in Yan’an they went to see veterans in the August 1 Old People’s Home， recalling with them the events that had happened 65 years before. At that time the U. S. was launching a counterattack against Japan in the Pacific region， while in the battlefields of China， the Chinese army pinned down 70% of the Japanese forces which could have been sent to the Pacific to fight against the US army. Such collaboration sped up the defeat of the Japanese aggressors. The Chinese and American veterans felt that they met too late. They shook hands and chatted happily， showing the long militant friendship and brotherhood between the Chinese and the American people. These meetings were filled with joyful conversations and laughter， at the end of which it was hard for them to bid farewell. The American veterans would sing a few songs and the Chinese veterans would also sing The Song of the Guerrillas and Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention that Carlson used to play with harmonica. They were familiar with those songs and the atmosphere was very warm.

Gen. Xiong Guangkai， chairman of the China Institute for International Strategic Studies (CIISS)， met with Lt. Gen. Stackpole， head of the delegation， in Beijing and expressed welcome to the delegation’s visit to China. The two generals had met before and were old friends. Lt. Gen. Stackpole gave a lecture on Americans’ views on peace and security in Southeast Asia， which was warmly received by dozens of generals and researchers.

In his lecture， Lt. Gen. Stackpole elaborated on the problems the world is confronting today， the new changes that have taken place in the process of globalization， and unconventional security issues apart from war. He talked about his personal experiences in the relief efforts in Bangladesh in 1991 after the tsunami caused by a strong typhoon. Many countries dispatched special troops to assist the Bangladeshi people to tide over the difficulties. Gen. Gong Xianfu， vice chairman of the CIISS who presided over the lecture session， said that we are all facing severe challenges under the present new situation， which makes international cooperation all the more important.

The delegation attended a meeting to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives.

Karen Loving， granddaughter of Carlson， also joined the delegation. She wanted to learn the heroic deeds of her grandfather， especially what were the factors that led to the changes in her grandfather’s thinking. She has visited China several times since 2002. She traveled to all the places in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei area that her grandfather had been to， talked to local people and learned a lot about her grandfather. So she acted as a guide for the delegation. With her notebook， and books and articles on Carlson， she told other members of the delegation about the people Carson had met and things he had seen.

The Marine Corps has a base in Quantico， Virginia， where soldiers are trained with the Gung Ho spirit and wushu (Chinese martial art) and the National Museum of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Marine Raider Museum are located. Lt. Gen. Joseph Shusko， curator of the Raider Museum， was a member of the delegation. He， a helicopter pilot， is in charge of wushu training at the base. He said that Chinese martial art is one of the major courses of marine’s training.

Ken McCullough told the Chinese veterans about the unimaginable difficulties—hunger， ambush by the Japanese army， non-stopping rain， inflammation and festering of the wounds， extreme concentration of attention and diseases—the Carlson Raiders had encountered in the battles to take over the island. He said， they had a Gung Ho meeting every Friday evening. Carlson always came to these meetings to boost morale. At these meetings they studied the strategy and tactics of the Eighth Route Army， and the mobility of guerrilla fighters. With high spirit， they overcame all the difficulties. McCullough recalled how they coped with hunger. He said， he carried with him his ration， a bag of rice， and hid it in his boots. It could last for four to five days. So it was rice and rice only for meal every day. Afterward he got sick at the sight of it.

Kenneth O’Donnell， president of the United States Marine Raider Association， recalled that they learned from British officers， but what’s more important was that they learned the spirit of “Gung Ho” from China.

In Wutai Mountain， the delegation visited Abbot Nengxiu at the Shancaidong Temple. The abbot said， you veterans have participated in the war to uphold justice， help the victims and protect the people， which the later generations will never forget. In China the concept of harmonious society has been put forward. It is our hope that people of all nations and of all ethnic groups will live in peace and contentment. He attributed the happy life of the Chinese people to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. He also thanked the foreign friends for their assistance and expressed his sincere wish to learn from their internationalist spirit. Lt. Gen. Stackpole said， peace is emphasized in Buddhism. We fought aggressors shoulder to shoulder was also for peace. Carlson passed on the Chinese spirit of “Gung Ho” to the U. S. We hope that the United States and China will always maintain close cooperation and friendly relations. The delegation visited the Wuye Temple. Inside it smoke from burning incense coiled up in the air. In the courtyard， the old stage for opera performance remained the same as it had been， from which Carlson once spoke to the fignters of the Eighth Route Army. Karen Loving， her husband John Loving and their son Ben went up the stage to have their pictures taken as mementos.

Background Information

Brig. Gen. Evans F. Carlson was a friend of the Chinese people. He came to China in 1927 for the first time as a member of the US Marine Corps. “China to them， was a vast area of mob violence， which the Marines had come by the grace of God to establish law and order” and to“tame the wily Chinese”. But when he stepped onto the Chinese soil in Shanghai， what he saw—the vastness， the populousness， the long history and the diligent people of the country despite of their poverty—amazed him. He started to think what had caused all this. He realized that he had not come to save and educate the Chinese people， but to learn about and to be educated by them. In 1933 he came to China for the second time working as adjutant at the American Legation in Bei- ping. During the two tours of duty in China， he got to know Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Snow， Agnes Smedley， and newsman John Benjamin Powell. More importantly， he came in touch with ordinary Chinese people and progressive intellectuals and studied hard Chinese culture and history. Hence， he gained a deep understanding of China， of the sufferings of the Chinese people and of their strong will. He realized that the US Government represented the interests of mega-capitalists who wanted to profit from the war and that its aid to China was not given to the forces that truly fought against the Japanese aggressors. Japan’s ambition was not limited to occupying China only. The U. S. should be vigilant against Japan， a potential threat to it. Two years later Carlson was called back to the U. S. and served as executive officer of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s guard detachment at Warm Springs， Georgia， where he became closely acquainted with the president. In 1937 he was sent to China again， working as intelligence officer of the US Marine and secret emissary of President Roosevelt. His task was to observe the development of military conflicts between China and Japan.

Japan launched a war of aggression on China in 1937 and occupied large areas of the Chinese territory. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China， the Chinese people fought against the aggressors in all forms. As intelligence officer sent to China by the U. S. ， by overcoming hardships and difficulties and risking his life， Carlson made two inspection tours of the guerrilla areas behind the enemy line. He learned the strategy and tactics of the Eighth Route Army and China’s “Gung Ho” spirit， which means working together for a common goal， all for one and one for all. When he was recommissioned in the Marine Corps in 1942， he organized “Carlson’s Raiders” fighting the Japanese army in the Pacific and won brilliant victory in battles on the Makin and Guadalcanal Islands， which was well-known throughout the United States.