At the end of the war, towards the end of the war as the japanese were withdrawing their forces towards the north, birch moved from south ofchina, the area here, up to this province which really was behind japanese lines. And many in this area the nationalist forces were primarily in the southwest where theyd been, they had to retreat, withdraw after fighting so long and hard with the japanese. The communists were forced up to the area after the long march, but their power increased through the course of world war ii. So when birch yets up there gets up there, he is in contact with communist forces from time to time, and the policy of the United States government is a very pragmatic policy, and that is to cooperate with the communist forces if necessary when theres a good reason to do so. He didnt have any particular sympathy for the communists or their cause, nor did he have any sympathy for the nationalists. His loyalties really were with the chinese people. There was great relief on his part at the end of the war. Here he is in the middle of the back row. And he was ready to go home. He had been in china for five years. He had suffered from malaria, he he had refused a 45day leave to return home. He wrote to marjorie tooker, when the first wild thrill swept through this little river town where i was as the radio said japan was trying to surrender, i realized for the first time how utterly weary, even heartsick this war has made me. Almost no one could imagine the horrendous civil war would result in a communist victory within the next four years. Birch, however, was not permitted to just turn around and go home. By this time hes working for the oss, the office of strategic services, which is the forerunner of the cia. The oss asked hum or told him ordered him, i should say, to take a final mission from his base in whoops. Up to the city of xiuxo, and this is where bill browns parents and grandparents were presbyterian missionaries. And on the way there he and his team of ten chinese, two koreans who presumably spoke japanese and could help translate and three other americans so a total of four americans they were intercepted and detained by a detachment of Chinese Communists from the eighth army. Birchs mission was to proceed to xiuxo to gather intelligence on the condition of the air base there, see if there were documents that the japanese had left behind, see what was going on. But on the way there in the town, the market town of [inaudible] right there he runs into this detachment of japanese communists who have ordered to detain and disarm any intruders. Birch refuses to be disarmed. Hes carrying a. 45 pistol on his hip. Theyre not heavily armed. Theyre not expecting trouble. The war is over. And birch says in chinese to the communists why are you trying to disarm me . What are you, bandits . United states of america has just won the war. Im not going to give you my weapon. And one thing leads to another, tempers flare, birch is shot and killed. This is ten days after the surrender of japan in august of 1945. Its a tragic, a tragic incident. No one expected this to happen. Lieutenant William Miller who got news about the death of birch arranged for his fine yall in the funeral in the city of xiuxo just a couple of weeks after birch lost his life. The funeral site is on a hillside close to the city. Colleagues that bill brown introduced my wife ellen and i to took us to this site, a chinese medical doctor, dr. Wong, took us there on the first morning that wed arrived in xiuxo, and he said i know exactly where birch with us buried was buried. My father was a presbyterian missionary, he was there at the service, and he took us right there. Theres no evidence, nothing but a few cement slabs now that exist. Theres no memorial, no sign or anything like that. But we were able to locate the site as well as the Catholic Church where the funeral took place. The funeral, which William Miller described as quite remarkable, it was attended by japanese officers and other, others who had just surrendered to the americans at the end of the war, so you have this very curious collection of people, japanese as well as chinese, puppet troops who had been working for the japanese who are attending the funeral of this american officer. The death of john birch came as a shock to americans in china. General albert weed meyer who succeeded vinegar Joe Stillwell was commanding officer. He received news just a few days after, a radio telegram, and he was deeply concerned that the death of an american soldier, the detention of americans with birch who were the three americans with him as well as the chinese and koreans were taken by the communist detachment and eventually made their way to the Chinese Communist headquarters. That took about two months for them to get there. And weedermeyer was deeply concerned about what this meant. Were the Chinese Communists shifting their policies after they had been cooperating with the americans . What did this mean . Were they trying to send a signal to the United States . It just turned out by coincidence that mao tsetung, chairman of the communist party, had arrived with ambassador william hurley. Hes the guy with the bow tie and [laughter] the handlebar moustache on the right. Hurley was colorful and erratic and problematic for u. S. china relations, but hurley arranged for mao to fly on an american plane, a c47 i think it was. This was maos first trip on an airplane, first time in his life that hed been in an airplane. And you can sort of see this quizzical look on maos face wondering what to make of all of this. I think its worth knowing that this was not just a photo op for mao. He stayed, he remained more 43 days to negotiate some kind of compromise with chiang kaishek, with the nationalists. Nothing much came of it, but both the communests and nationalists communists and nationalists at this very delicate point at the end of world war ii are hoping to avoid civil war, hoping that they might be able to arrange some sort of accommodation. And its a very sensitive period in their relations. But weedermeyer takes advantage of maos presence to arrange for a meeting at the home of ambassador hurley on the evening of august 30, 1945. This is just five days after the death of birch. And he says, weedermeyer says to mao that he has information about the death of an american officer. He points to a map, and he says to mao and [inaudible] who is also at this meeting that this is a very serious and a very grave incident. Why was he there, asked joe. He was sent there by me several weeks ago to obtain information about the japanese, answered weedermeyer. I feel i and must send americans anywhere in china to carry out my mission. You mean any place . Yes, said weedermeyer. Mao seemed to be caught by surprise. We cannot say the Chinese Communist troops killed him or not. If this is true that communist troops shot this american officer, i extend my deepest apology. I would like assurance that this will not occur again, demanded weedermeyer. I would like assurance that this will not occur again. I cannot have americans killed in this theater by Chinese Communists or anyone else. I am directed by the president of the United States to use whatever force i require to protect american lives in china. So you can see this is a very tense conversation. The record of this is in the National Archives in college park. Mao is apologetic at the time, but we learn from other sources that subsequently that he was angry. He felt humiliated about the way he had been lectured by mao. At this point in time, the United States position is to try to maintain some neutrality which, of course, is impossible because the United States recognizes the nationalists, the republic of china. But the u. S. Is trying to not get enmeshed and mired in what is a looming civil war in china. So weedermeyer says to mao and joe that he very much hopes china not be become involved in a civil war and that the various political factions could settle their differences without resorting to warfare. We have republican and democratic parties in the United States. They have violent differences. But they do not resort to the use of arms, the force of arms. [laughter] right . Well see. [laughter] back in fort worth, texas, ethel birch and george birch are attending a Memorial Service for their son. Frank norris is on the right. This service actually was attended by clara schnalt, and ethel birch had been informed by u. S. Military authorities that her son had been shot on august 25, 1945, enroute to xiuxo on the railway and was killed as a result of stray bullets. Well, that wasnt the full story, of course. And as ethel birch dug into the story and tried to find out what had actually happened to her son, her eldest son, she became increasingly skeptical and increasingly frustrated about the real issue. She was also angry because she felt her son had been denied recognition. She came to believe as the cold war develops, as debate over the loss of china takes hold after 1949 that her son deserved recognition, deserved credit but that never happened. So she was open to the idea of a conspiracy. Open to the idea that her son had been wronged. This leads us to senator William Noland, a prominent senator from california. He was Senate Majority leader for a time during the 1950s. After the outbreak of the korean war in 1950, june 1950, that fall he stands up on the floorover the senate, and he delivers floor of the senate, and he delivers a speech that breathes fresh life into the story of john birch which really was a footnote of this history. It would have been long forgotten had it not been for noland. Noland and here i quote told the simple story of a lone american officer who was willing to sacrifice his life so that this nation might find out whether these communists were friends or enemies. The incident, claimed noland, was one of the least known and most significant indications of communist intentions in china. The senator went on in his speech to ask rhetorically if members of congress had had this information in august or september of 1945 at the end of the war against japan, is there any person here who feels they would have tolerated the subsequent activity of the state department in trying to force a coalition between the government of the republicover china and the republic of china and the same communists represented by the man who shot captain john birch in cold blood. Birch was willing to sacrifice his life, according to noland, to test the communists who pretended to be cooperating with the United States. So this is a rewriting of history. Or its nolands attempt to say history would have been different if only the truth of the death of this american officer had been revealed at the time. [inaudible] he gave the speech in, i believe, it was october okay. Before they [inaudible] exactly. Actually, it was september. And the chinese yes, it was a couple of months before the chinese enter the korean conflict. But, of course, relations are already badly fraying. And hes not well, communists in general, but the Chinese Communist is the real threat. Noland was sometimes called the senator from formosa. He gave so many speeches that, in defense of taiwan and chiang kaishek, that he earned that soakly debt. Soakly debt. And it wasnt robert welch who came up with the story of john birch, it was because robert welch read a speech in the congressional record, of all places [laughter] can you imagine sitting down and reading the congressional record . [laughter] it was in the congressional record. Three years later robert welch read the speech. It didnt get much attention in september of 1950. Americans were dying by the hundreds and eventually thousands in korea at this point. So it didnt get much attention. This was old news. This was something that happened in 1945, a lone american officer. I mean, what would that really signify . But robert welch realize the speech and latched on to it. He went to macon, georgia, visited with birchs parents, told them that he believed their son was a great patriot, compared him to nathan hale, the revolutionary war hero hanged by the british, and said that he, robert welch, would bring the recognition to their son that he deserved despite the fact that the u. S. Military, the u. S. Government had refused even to award birch a purple heart. Because the u. S. Was not at war with the communists in 1945. Welch, robert welch never met birch, and he never visited china. But george and ethel birch, here they are with their children, and ethel is holding a portrait of john, were open to this proposition from robert welch. Ethel birch gave welch materials that she had been collecting for her own biography of her son. Welch wrote a short [inaudible] which is as much his own political platform as it is a biography of welch. There are no footnotes, theres no documentation. Its a frustrating book. [laughter] welch calls him a heroic young patriot who recognized the dangers of communism long before others. Here hes just echoing what noland has already said. He said that the death of birch was a deliberate and unjustified killing, claimed that birch had sacrifice canned his life z sacrificed his life as a warning to others about the true intentions of the communists. So with the enthusiastic permission of the parents, welch established the John Birch Society in 1958. And as i mentioned, it became one of the most influential and controversial organizations of its time. Its platform was anticommunism and antibig government. Welch had decided that john birch was the ideal symbol for his new movement founded in late 1958. And he did so for three reasons. One is that birch represented to the mind of robert welch the epitome of american values. Hed been a missionary, hed been a military office, hed helped according to welch to rescue jimmy doolittle. He was described by noland and then welch as the First Casualty of world war iii. The First Casualty of the cold war. The first victim at the hands of the communists. But equally important to welch was the idea, his belief that there was a conspiracy to cover up the death of john birch. The secret file, the top secret file on birchs death was not released until after nixons visit to china in 1972 as a result of a freedom of information request. Robert welch realized it was the geopolitical context that gave john birch story a greater snaps. He noted sentence. Significance. He noted he committed to nations to his creed, but his murder illuminated a crossroads of is civilization. In one direction toward greater freedom, further growth and more enlightenment. As welch put it, with his death and in his death the battle lines are drawn. If birch had sacrificed his life in some other country this is me now, not robert welch say greece or india, it would have mattered far less. The fact that he was murdered by Chinese Communists imbued the event with much more meaning because the unforeseen loss of china was to displaying and disorienting to americans. Chinese chinas rejection of capitalism and democracy in favor of marxism, leninism represented a profound failure of u. S. Leadership. Accusations blaming the Truman Administration ranging from poor judgment to appeasement and even treason transformed a complex Foreign Policy problem into a potent political issue. So the name of john birch is caught up in all of this. And robert welch here is in his belmont, massachusetts, headquarters, the John Birch Society with a portrait of john birch. Believed that the story of welch as a missionary, a patriotic soldier and a selfless martyr would inspire and instruct americans about conspiracy and communism. Instead, his memory was misappropriated and made synonymous with extremist politics. Let me end there and thank you very much for your interest. [applause] thanks. Now its time for discussion and question and answers. The hands are already going up, but lets just say the rules are please wait for the microphone to reach you, please identify yourself when you get the mic and use the mic, please. So that everyone can hear you. Theres a gentleman here on the left side of the table. My name is steven sage, i was formerly american vice counsel in the embassy in beijing, and my question concerns chinese sources for the death of john birch. Surely, given the high profile that welch endowed upon him, there must have been some kind of investigation and some kind of scholarship regarding him. Yes. In response to this confrontation between mao and weedermeyer, the chinese did investigate the circumstances of the death. The commander of the communist military forces wrote a letter to and gave a report to weedermeyer based on the information hed been able to gather from the field. The communist report said that birch was responsible for his own death, that he had pulled his weapon and had threatened the local communist commander and that the communists had retaliated in selfdefense. I think thats hard to imagine because it would have been suicidal to actually pull out your weapon. But its clear that birch had lost his temper, that he was angry, and the u. S. Investigation of the incident does come to the conclusion that birch did bear some responsibility, that he had been provocative. Nonetheless, in the final analysis it was classified as a murder. There was no justification for his death at the hands of communists. I did, when i went to xiuxo, i did try to get boo some archives into some archives. That was not possible. As you may know, archives in china have become much more restrictive not only for foreigners, but for chinese as well. So i was not able to obtain any further information. But what we do know is that this incident, there was a follow up as you suggest. And be as a result of this incident, we also know that the Chinese Communist party reversed its Standing Order to detain and disarm any intruders. They said specifically if any americans come into contact with your forces, treat them very carefully. Treat them diplomatically. Do not atent to disarm attempt to d