Cloquet fire

The Cloquet fire was an immense forest fire in northern Minnesota, United States in October 1918, caused by sparks on the local railroads and dry conditions. The fire left much of western Carlton County devastated, mostly affecting Moose Lake, Cloquet, and Kettle River. Cloquet was hit the hardest by the fires. It was the worst natural disaster in Minnesota history in terms of the number of casualties in a single day. In total, 453 people died and 52,000 people were injured or displaced, 38 communities were destroyed, 250,000 acres (100,000 ha) were burned, and $73 million ($ billion in United States dollars) in property damage was suffered. Thirteen million dollars in federal aid were disbursed.
Region overview.
Carlton County was known for its logging industry during the early 20th century. Similar to other forest fires, the disaster took place over dry, harvested land which was vulnerable to potential fire destruction. The main workforce employing the majority of the area was the logging industry. The railroad, which came to the area in 1870, was a great boost for the logging industry. In 1874, a large lumber mill was built alongside the lake shore. The mill along the river gathered and floated logs down river, where they would be assembled and sawed for retail. When the logging industry was at its peak, one could walk across the lake due to the amount of logs covering the lake area.
With a new century approaching, open lands in Carlton County were overrun by farmers purchasing land from the mill. The mill's incentives for sales to farmers were the government grants on the land. With more farmers coming over, the population and activity in Carlton County grew substantially. Stores, lawyers and livestock businesses were established and the economy flourished.
The fire.
On October 10, 1918, two men working near a railroad siding northwest of Cloquet saw a passenger train pass by the siding, and soon thereafter discovered a fire burning through grass and piles of wood. The fire could not be contained, and by October 12, fires had spread through northern Minnesota.
When asked about the scene at Cloquet after the fact, Albert Michaud, a special Police Officer in Cloquet was quoted by "The New York Times":
Early reports of the fire circulated rumors that the fires were intentionally started by "enemy agents", but Cloquet fire Chief F. J. Longren later confirmed that such rumors were false. One cause of the fire is believed to be from sparks from the railroad tracks that lit the dry timber, but the rapid progression of the fire through northern Minnesota was caused by factors such as drought conditions, high winds, and a lack of firefighting equipment.
Damage and fatalities.
Many instances of mass deaths were reported. For example, in Moose Lake, an Associated Press Correspondent reported seeing seventy-five bodies piled in a burned building. On a road leading out of Moose Lake, "100 bodies were strewn here and there", according to "The New York Times." A relief worker reported that there were thirty bodies piled in a heap in a cellar between Moose Lake and Kettle River.
Among other structures, the Duluth Country Club and the Children's Home were both a complete loss. Within Carlton and southern Saint Louis counties the towns of Brookston, Arnold, and Moose Lake were completely destroyed. Cloquet and its surrounding cities were known for the great deforestation caused by the fire.
Relief operations.
The fires left thousands of people homeless. Approximately 4,700 residents of Cloquet sought refuge in Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin. In total, close to 12,000 people were left homeless from neighboring towns. The victims of the inferno were sheltered temporarily in such buildings as hospitals, schools, churches, armories, and private homes. Doctors were brought in from surrounding areas to help the thousands of injured people.
Several organizations and volunteers risked their lives to help save people and property. The Minnesota Infantry National Guard was called in to help in the relief process. At about 3:00 p.m. on October 12, Lieutenant Karl A. Franklin and Captain Henry Tourtelotte of the Fourth Regiment of the National Guard were contacted to aid the Rice Lake Road area. After speaking with the Mayor of Cloquet and the Chief of Police Robert McKercher, Tourtelotte headed for Duluth with nine other people to assemble his troops and offer immediate assistance. A couple of companies were assigned to extinguishing the fire, which they were unable to do, despite their best efforts. After torrents of flame battered them down, they instead began to focus on the survivors.
Commanding Officer Roger M. Weaver of the 3rd Battalion realized the worsening severity of the situation. By 5:40 p.m., the fire chief had called on Weaver and his men who prepared for action. Scores of men were assembled in less than an hour and were then distributed to several hazard sites to aid in extinguishing the fire.
These efforts of the firefighters resulted in several important structures being saved. Among these structures were the St. James Catholic Orphanage and the Nopeming Sanatorium. The sanatorium, valued at $350,000 at the time, held close to 200 tuberculosis patients. A party of automobiles broke through walls of flames to save these victims. The Minnesota Home Guard assumed management of the aftermath.
Recovery.
The recovery of the region was area-specific due to the nature of the damage inflicted. The damage that Duluth sustained had very little threat of impacting the economy, although the fire did destroy several small suburbs, as well as farming communities, but most of Duluth's economy at the time centered on the transportation and mining sectors, which were left relatively untouched.
The farming industry suffered a great loss. A large amount of livestock was killed and many acres of farmland were torched. Charles Mahnke, who was the Moose Lake member of the relief commission, told the farmers, "We are going to put you back as well off as you were before." Relief assistance aided the farming community, and with their help the farmers were given a place to stay and the means for regaining what they had lost. The Northwestern Telephone Company restored phone service by Sunday at approximately 7:00 pm. The education of Moose Lake resumed on January 6, 1919, with the benevolent assistance provided by the Red Cross.
Cloquet had suffered significantly more damage than Duluth and the recovery was much slower and much larger in scale. On Sunday, October 20, Cloquet citizens met in Carlton County to talk about what needed to be done. The secondary industries included the Northwest Paper Company, the Cloquet Tie and Post Company, the Berst-Forster-Dixfield Company toothpick factory, and the Rathborne, Hair and Ridgeway Company box factory. These secondary industries would eventually ascend to the primary industries, but the recovery of the primary industries was much more complex. The Northern Lumber Company, which was responsible for a significant percentage of Cloquet's economy, had been destroyed. The Northwest Paper Company began production a week after the fire, which provided much needed jobs for the citizens of Cloquet. The Red Cross stepped in and constructed many temporary shelters for the victims' families of Cloquet. By November 15 there were over 200 shelters built with the help of the Red Cross and other dedicated townspeople. Within a five-year span Cloquet had industrialized and rebuilt many of the lost railroads, and the citizens had moved out of their temporary Red Cross shelters into new houses.
Memorials.
Many memorials have been set up to commemorate the 1918 fire. A twenty-seven-foot monument near Duluth memorializes the 453 lives lost. The Moose Lake Area Historical Society annually honors the lives lost at the Soo Line Depot, which in 1995 was opened as a railroad and fire museum. The Soo Line Depot is both a fire and railroad museum that shows the history of the railroads as well as tells the story of the fire.


Douglas House, London

The Douglas House, London was a US servicemen's club operated by the United States Air Force for twenty-five years at two different locations in London's West End. The club's purpose was to provide "home-style service" for the thousands of American airmen based in the United Kingdom and US servicemen of all branches who might be passing through. The first location opened after the Second World War in Mayfair. In 1959 the Douglas House was relocated to Lancaster Gate, near Hyde Park. In the early 1960s, its nightclub served as a springboard for the budding career of a nascent London band called the Detours, that later went on to greater fame as The Who. When the club closed in 1970, the property was sold to a private firm.
Location.
The original Douglas House, which opened either during or after the Second World War, occupied the former Guards Club building at 41–43 Brook Street in Mayfair. The second Douglas House was located at 66 Lancaster Gate, W2, in the Bayswater/Hyde Park district of London, one block north of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens and the actual Lancaster Gate on Bayswater Road.
Amenities.
The facilities of the first Douglas House included volleyball, handball, and badminton courts and evening cabarets and dances. The second Douglas House, on Lancaster Gate, had 110 low-cost hotel rooms for families as well as singles, a restaurant, nightclub, soda bar, four-chair barber shop, TV lounge, bureau de change, and a newsstand that sold American periodicals. One former serviceman remembered that the restaurant, which "specialized in steaks, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken wings, ham, roasts, and baked and fried chicken," was "the best place [in London] for American food."
History.
The first Douglas House opened in the former Guards Club on Brook Street, W1, either during or immediately after the Second World War as a leave centre for US servicemen. The building that housed the second club was originally a block of white stuccoed flats or townshouses built in the Victorian era as part of a Bayswater area real estate development. After the Air Force acquired the property, the Douglas House began operating on 2 May 1959. It was jointly named for Air Force Secretary James H. Douglas, Jr. and Lewis Williams Douglas, a former US ambassador to Great Britain. In 1960, in honour of the marriage of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones, the club attracted attention by offering free dinners on the royal wedding day, 6 May, to any serviceman named Tony who had a wife named Margaret. That same year, the Douglas House sponsored an Independence Day celebration in Battersea Gardens that attracted thousands of American servicemen and their families. In November 1960 the club hosted an all-night presidential election watch party. In late 1962 a five-piece London band called the Detours played several dates at the Douglas House nightclub. Later, after changing their name to The Who, the group went on to become of one Great Britain's most popular and successful rock bands. On 12 June 1963, Country and Western singer Jim Reeves also performed at the Douglas House. In 1970 the Douglas House was sold by Druce and Company to Adda Hotels, which later remodelled the property and then reopened it as the 188-room full-service Charles Dickens Hotel. In 1999, the property was acquired by Ryan Hotels for £16.9 million. Following further remodelling, it was operated as the Hyde Park Gresham Hotel until 2007 when it became the Park Inn Hotel. Presently, the property is known as the Lancaster Gate Hotel (not to be confused with the nearby Lancaster, London).
Blue Plaque.
A blue plaque, attached to the Leinster Terrace end of the building in 1977, commemorates American author Bret Harte, who resided and died at 74 Lancaster Gate in 1902.


Moe Myint Tun

Lieutenant-General Moe Myint Tun () is a Burmese military officer who is currently serving as a member of Myanmar's State Administration Council. He was appointed on 2 February 2021, in the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.His former positions were army chief of staff and commander of the special operations bureau which oversee operations from the capital, Naypyidaw.
Sanctions.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on "Moe Myint Tun" since 22 February 2021, pursuant to Executive Order 14014, for he is an official of the military or security forces of Burma and a member of the State Administration Council responsible for killing of peaceful protestors. The US sanctions include freezing of assets under the US and ban on transactions with US person.
The Government of Canada has imposed sanctions on him since 18 February 2021, pursuant to Special Economic Measures Act and Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations, in response to the gravity of the human rights and humanitarian situation in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Canadian sanctions include freezing of assets under Canada and ban on transactions with Canadian person.
HM Treasury and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on him since 25 February 2021, for his responsibility for serious human rights violations in Burma. The UK sanctions include freezing of assets under the UK and ban on Traveling or transiting to the UK.
Furthermore, the Council of the European Union has imposed sanctions on him since 22 March 2021, pursuant to Council Regulation (EU) 2021/479 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/480 which amended Council Regulation (EU) No 401/2013, for his responsibility for the military coup and the subsequent military and police repression against peaceful demonstrators. The EU sanctions include freezing of assets under member countries of the EU and ban on traveling or transiting to the countries.
Personal life.
Moe Myint Tun is married to Khaing Pa Pa Chit, and has three daughters, Yadanar Moe Myint, Moe Htet Htet Tun, and Khaing Moe Myint.


Robert Smith (colonial administrator)

Sir (Charles) Robert Smith (13 November 1887 – 4 November 1959) was a British Governor of North Borneo from 1937 until 18 January 1942, and again from 11 September 1945 until October 1946. During the period from 1942–1945 during World War II, North Borneo was under Japanese occupation and Smith's Governorship was suspended.
Smith was educated at Christ's Hospital, and joined the North Borneo Civil Service as a cadet in 1913. He was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of North Borneo in 1937. He was awarded the CMG in 1941.
Smith was interned by the Japanese at Berhala Island near Sandakan in North Borneo and then at Batu Lintang camp, Sarawak, Borneo, from 18 January 1942 until May 1943, after which time he was transferred to another camp in Manchuria, and he was in a camp in Formosa in late 1943. After the war he took up his position as Governor briefly, before retiring in October 1946. He was awarded the KBE in 1947, and died in 1959.
Smith married twice. In 1920 he married Violet Mure Slight, and they had a son and a daughter. In 1948 he married Gwendoline Jessie Holdcroft.


Meal, Combat, Individual ration

The Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) was the name of canned wet combat rations issued by the United States Armed Forces from 1958 to 1980, when it was replaced by the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE).
Development and packaging.
Despite the new name, the MCI was still popularly referred to by the troops as "C-Rations". The MCI was intended as a modest improvement over the earlier canned C-ration, with inclusion of additional menu items to reduce monotony and encourage adequate daily feeding and nutrition. Heavy for their content, they were eventually phased out in favor of the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE). Although the MRE was formally adopted as the Department of Defense combat ration in 1975, the first large-scale production test of the MRE did not occur until in 1978, with the first MRE I rations packed and delivered to Army stores in 1981. MCI rations continued to be issued when the MRE was introduced until inventories were depleted.
The MCI consisted of a rectangular cardboard carton containing one small flat can, one large can, and two small cans. It consisted of an "M"-unit can (meat-based entree item), a "B"-unit (bread item) composed of the Crackers & Candy Can and the flat Spread Can, and a "D"-unit can (dessert item). The M-1, M-3, B-1, B-2, D-2, and D-3 unit cans were small and the M-2, B-3, and D-1 unit cans were large. The ration cans were packed upright, with the flat Spread can over the large can on the left side and the two small cans were stacked one over the other on the right side (the lighter one over the heavier one). On top was the brown foil Accessory Pack and a white plastic spoon wrapped in clear plastic. Each carton contained a single complete meal providing approximately 5,000 kJ (1,200 kilocalories or 1,200 kcal), with a packaged weight of and volume of .
The label of the ration carton was printed across the lid of the rectangular box in three rows. The first row always read "MEAL, COMBAT, INDIVIDUAL". The second row indicated the name of the meat unit in bold capital block letters (e.g., "TURKEY LOAF") and the third row indicated the "B"-unit number (either B-1, B-2 or B-3 Unit) in bold capital block letters. Sometimes there was a smaller fourth line of type at the very bottom of the cover that either indicated the contractor who made the ration or the manufacturer that made the cardboard box itself.
The ration boxes were shipped in a rectangular cardboard packing case. Each packing case contained 12 ration cartons (containing one of each meal) packed in two rows of six rations. They were grouped in three menus of four meals each, organized by their "B"-unit (B-1, B-2, and B-3). It also contained four paper-wrapped P-38 can openers to open the cans. Each packing case weighed and had a volume of . Early cases were bound with baling wire, but late Vietnam War and post-war cases were bound in plastic strapping.
Menus.
Meat unit.
The "M" unit came in 12 basic varieties grouped in three menus of four different entrees (later supplemented by "alternative" variant entrees). Taking into account slight differences in preparation or meat, a total of 18 entrees were available over time:
"Ham and Lima Beans" was irreverently known throughout the armed forces as "Ham and Motherfuckers" (or other variants such as "Beans and Motherfuckers", "Ham & Claymores", "Ham & Lifers"). "Beans with Frankfurter Chunks in Tomato Sauce" was called "Beanie Weenie" or "Beans and Baby Dicks".
Bread unit.
The "B" unit came in three different varieties:
Dessert unit.
The "D" unit came in three different types:
Each menu was grouped by their unit number (i.e., M-1, B-1 and D-1 items were grouped together). Alternative items (designated with an "A" suffix) were introduced to provide variety and reduce the monotony. For variety, the M-1 and M-3 units (since they both used small cans) were often switched.
The "B"-unit's Crackers & Candy can was lined with a piece of corrugated cardboard to protect the contents from damage. In the "D"-unit, the white bread came in one solid cylindrical piece wrapped in wax paper, while the pound cake, fruitcake, Orange Nut Roll, and Cinnamon Roll came wrapped in paper wrappers like cupcakes.
The Accessory Pack came with salt, pepper, sugar, instant coffee, non-dairy creamer, two pieces of candy-coated chewing gum, a packet of toilet paper, a four-pack of commercial-grade cigarettes, and a book of 20 cardboard moisture-proof matches.
Typical commercial brands issued in the cigarette ration were: Camel, Chesterfield, Kent, Kool, Lucky Strike, Marlboro, Pall Mall, Salem, or Winston. Due to health concerns, cigarettes were eliminated from the accessory packs in 1975.
Repackaging.
In 1967 there were changes in packaging to help standardize the ration. The B cans were now all small sized.
Postwar additions.
The B-1 unit added Chocolate-Toffee, Chocolate-Vanilla, and Chocolate with Peanuts discs. The B-2 unit jam spreads were expanded with the addition of Blackberry Jam, Peach Jam, and Pineapple Jam. The B-3 unit added a Vanilla Fudge disc and Hickory-Smoked Processed Cheese Spread. The D-2 units added a Cherry Nut Roll and a Chocolate Nut Roll.
Field reports.
Although the MCI had been designed as improvement over the earlier Type C or C ration of World War II and Korea, with the inclusion of additional menu items, it was still designed for infrequent use, to be regularly supplemented with fresh Type A (Garrison) and canned Type B (Field Kitchen) rations. This goal was rarely achieved in the field, and some Army and Marine forces in Vietnam would operate for two weeks or more while consuming only the MCI ration or other processed, canned foods.
The new ration had some curious superstitions attached to it during the Vietnam War. The "Ham & Lima Beans" entree, disliked since Korea, was detested by U.S. soldiers and Marines, who considered even pronouncing the correct name brought bad luck, instead calling it "Ham and Motherfuckers". US Marines, paratroops, infantrymen, and armored vehicle crewmen, particularly AMTRAC (Amphibious Tractor) personnel, believed that halved apricots were bad luck to eat during combat operations. The peanut butter issued in the B-1 unit was unappetizing to some and was often discarded, but was consumed by those with diarrhea, as it was certain to stop a case of "the runs". Soldiers in Special Operations units hoarded B-1 peanut butter in empty ration cans to make improvised smoke candles while on long patrols. Being extremely oily, the peanut butter burned with ease, and could be used to boil water for coffee, although it left a greasy black stain on the bottom of the canteen cup.
Other menu items were more popular, such as the pound cake, canned pears, and the spaghetti & meatballs. In 1973, Army Colonel Henry Moak was issued a MCI ration during his stay in Vietnam. Included in the MCI ration was a can of pound cake, manufactured in 1969. He kept the unopened can and vowed to eat the pound cake when he retired from the Army. On July 24, 2009, with news media and dignitaries in attendance, Moak opened the forty-year-old can and ate the contents. He noted that the pound cake still looked and smelled like fresh pound cake.
Throughout the Marine Corps 'Beef Slices w/ Potatoes' were known as "Beef and Rocks" due to their half-cooked texture caused by the chemically maintained integrity of the potato slices to prevent disintegration during storage and "Beans with Frankfurter Chunks in Tomato Sauce" were more commonly referred to as "Beans and Baby Dicks". While Marines in general praised pound cake, particularly with fruit cocktail, most detested fruitcake and generally handed it off to less discriminating unit members. Within the Army during the Vietnam War, 'Beef Slices w/ Potatoes' were often referred to as "Beef and Shrapnel".
"C-Rat" Boonie Stove.
The small "B"-unit can was often made into an improvised field stove that could be carried in the cargo pockets of a set of combat fatigues. This was done by making a series of diagonal cuts around the top and bottom edges of the can with a P-38 can opener or a standard can opener to allow the trioxane fuel tablet to burn evenly and warm the entrée. Small balls of C-4 plastic explosive were often substituted for the fuel tablet, as it produced a hotter flame. The ball was smaller than an inch in diameter with a small tit pinch on it to light it by. Heating of canned meat items was often accomplished by inserting the can into the exhaust of a running truck where it would jam into the curved exhaust pipe end, warming it to a palatable temperature and de-congealing the grease.
A second variation that was used by those with ready access to diesel fuel was to take a "church key" (also a needed item to open beer or soda cans) and make the same series of holes around the top sides of the can. Then, cardboard from the packaging box would be rolled them up and placed into the can so that it just came to the top of the can. The can is dipped into the fuel tank of a source of diesel fuel, then lighted. The cardboard acted as a wick for the fuel and the can can be used to heat the rations as well as make tea or coffee. One "stove" was good for at least three or more men to heat their meal and make their coffee with one fueling.
End of the MCI ration.
Though it had been given a new name, the MCI was in essence still the canned C ration of prior years. Selecting the MCI ration for all field issue resulted in limiting troops in the field to a single class of heavy wet packaged ration that despite meal variances, was simply not suitable for extended consumption. As they had in World War II and Korea, soldiers and Marines regularly complained of the monotony of a single class of field ration, especially where field mess A and B rations were not available for extended periods of time. Despite the inclusion of additional menu items, the MCI was still designed only for "infrequent use" (unlike later individual rations, which would be required to pass a new field test of seven consecutive days of consumption as the sole diet without complaints of monotony).
The overuse of the canned ration culminated during the Vietnam War, where American troops frequently resorted to the extreme of placing stacked ration cans inside empty G.I. socks to save bulk and reduce noise on patrol, while enemy forces improved mobility by carrying lightweight rations of dry rice in scarves. Primarily implemented due to cost concerns, the decision to standardize on a single canned wet individual ration resulted in a severe weight penalty for troops marching on foot through the jungles of Vietnam while carrying a multi-day supply of MCI cans, adversely affecting combat readiness and increasing soldier fatigue (a typical complete individual ration of cans for one day weighed five and a half pounds). Many combat soldiers and Marines, already overburdened, carried the minimum amount to save weight on operations until the next resupply drop; when the drop was delayed, they went hungry.
The failure of the Quartermaster Corps and its Subsistence Branch to develop a suitable lightweight general-purpose ration after World War II, combined with the absence of a dehydrated, very lightweight dry ration for jungle environments led directly to the hurried development of the Long Range Patrol, or LRP ration in 1966.


Liang Tianzhu

Liang Tianzhu () (1916–2011) was a Chinese painter. Born to a peasant from Qingdao in Shandong province, Liang was originally a doctor, and learned to paint. He was influenced by Huang Binhong. After retirement, he travelled, visiting famous scenic spots in China. The trip to Dunhuang inspired him to develop his innovations in Chinese landscape paintings.
Art theorist Wang Luxiang said: "Liang Tianzhu’s creative exploration will exert a tremendous influence on Chinese landscape painting." The traditional Chinese painting artist Zhang Ding said "Liang should be considered as the greatest discovery after Huang Qiuyuan and Chen Zizhuang in contemporary Chinese landscape painting field."
In 1991, Chinese Painting Research Institute (now China National Academy of painting) awarded Liang the first Special Painter.
Liang's works have a spacious, vigorous personal style, which formed a new pattern of contemporary Chinese landscape painting.


That Kind of Woman

That Kind of Woman is a 1959 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, who was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival. It stars Sophia Loren and Tab Hunter. The screenplay by Walter Bernstein, based on a short story by Robert Lowry ("Layover in El Paso"), is highly reminiscent of the 1938 film "The Shopworn Angel".
The Paramount Pictures release was filmed on location in New York City and Long Beach, New York.
Plot.
The film is set in New York City in June 1944, during World War II. Kay is a sophisticated Italian woman, the mistress of a Manhattan millionaire industrialist known simply as The Man, who uses her to help him influence his contacts at The Pentagon. While en route from Miami to New York City by train, she and her friend Jane meet a considerably younger American paratrooper named Red and his sergeant George Kelly, and Kay and Red fall into a romantic relationship. Eventually the woman finds herself torn between her upscale life in a Sutton Place apartment and the prospect of true love with the GI.
Critical reception.
In his review in "The New York Times", Bosley Crowther stated, "Walter Bernstein's screen play is a breezy, banal and bumptious thing, and Sidney Lumet has directed it with so many close-ups that it looks like a travesty of a 'silent' style."


Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Longquan

Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Longquan was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the nationalist guerrilla that was mostly consisted of bandits and nationalist regular troops left behind after the nationalist government withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was part of the Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Northwestern China, and resulted in communist victory.
Strategies.
The nationalists had faced a precarious dilemma in waging the campaign against its communist enemy because of complex situation they had faced, and consequently, made several grave miscalculations which contributed to their eventual failure.
Nationalist miscalculations.
Like other nationalist futile attempts to fight guerrilla and insurgency warfare against the communists after being driven off from mainland China, the very first grave strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government contributed at least equally if not greater than the enemy's political and military pressure to the nationalist defeat in this campaign. The very first strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government was identical to the earlier one the nationalist government had made immediately after World War II, when it had neither the sufficient troops nor enough transportation assets to be deployed into the Japanese-occupied regions of China, and unwilling to let these regions falling into communist hands, the nationalist government ordered the Japanese and their turncoat Chinese puppet government not to surrender to the communists and allowed them to keep their fighting capabilities to "maintain order" in the Japanese occupied regions by fighting off the communists. This earlier miscalculation resulted in further alienation and resentment to the nationalist government by the local population, which had already blamed the nationalists for losing the regions to the Japanese invaders during the war. Half a decade later when the nationalists were driven from mainland China, they had made the similar miscalculation once again in their desperation, this time by enlisting the help of local bandits to fight the communists, and ordering the nationalist troops left behind to join these bandits in the struggle against the communism. However, the bandits were deeply feared and hated by the local populace they plagued for so long, and nationalist troops left behind joining the bandits certainly did not help them win the support of the general population. In fact, it served the exact opposite, strengthening the popular support of their communist enemy.
The second grave strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government was also similar to the one the nationalist government had made immediately after World War II, when it attempted to simultaneously solve the warlord problem that had plagued China for so long with the problem of the exterminating communists together: those warlords allied with Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist government were only interested in keeping their own power and defected to the Japanese side when Japanese invaders offered to let them keep their power in exchange for their collaborations. After World War II, these forces of former Japanese puppet governments once again returned to the nationalist camp for the same reason they defected to the Japanese invaders. Obviously, it was difficult for Chiang to immediately get rid of these warlords for good as soon as they surrendered to Chiang and rejoined nationalists, because such move would alienate other factions within the nationalist ranks, and those former Japanese puppet government's warlords could still help the nationalists to by holding on to what was under their control and fighting off communists, and they and the communists would both be weakened. Similarly, the bandits the nationalist governments had failed to exterminate were obviously not good candidates for evacuation to Taiwan half a decade later, and using them to fight communists appeared to be the only logical alternative. If the communists were great weakened by the bandits, then it would the nationalists would have easier time in their counterattacks to retake China. If the bandits were defeated, then the nationalists would have easier job to eradicate them later after retaking China. However, just like those warlords, these bandits were only interested in keeping their own power also, and thus did not put any real efforts to fight the communists like some of the nationalists who were dedicated to their political cause. The eradication of bandits by the communist government only strengthened its popular support since previous governments (including the nationalist government itself) dating back from Qing Dynasty had failed to do so.
The third grave strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government was similar to the second one, but this one was about its own troops left behind. The nationalist government had faced a dilemma: the highly disciplined troops were in desperate need to defend Taiwan, the last nationalist island sanctuary. The less disciplined second rate and undisciplined third rate troops, both of which mostly consisted of warlords' troop were definitely not suited to be withdrawn to defend the last stand nationalists had made, and they were not given the top priority for evacuation. Instead, they were left behind to fight the communists behind the enemy line, but such move had alienated many of the troops left behind, and it was impossible to expect them to fight their communist enemy with the same kind of dedication like those nationalist agents who believed in their political cause. Compounding the problem, due to the need of bandits' knowledge of local area, they were often rewarded with higher ranks than the nationalist troops left behind. As a result, the former-nationalist regular troops turned guerrilla fighters lacked any willingness to work together with the bandits they once attempted to exterminate, especially when many of the bandits had killed their comrades-in-arms earlier in the battles of eradications / pacifications. Many loyal nationalists were enraged by the fact that they had to serve under the former-enemy they once fought. Similarly, the bandits lacked the similar willingness and attempted to expend those nationalist troops whenever they could in order to save their own skin.
The fourth grave strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government was financial / economical: due to the lack of money, those bandits turned guerrillas were mostly provided with arms, but not sufficient supplies and money. The bandits turned guerrilla had no problem of looting the local population to get what they need, as they had done for decades, which inevitably drove the general popular support further into the communist side. The little financial support provided by the nationalist government was simply not enough to support such guerrilla and insurgency warfare on such a large scale. Another unexpected but disastrous result of the insufficient financial support was that it had greatly eroded the support of the nationalist government within its own ranks. The wealthy landowners and businessmen were the strong supporters of nationalist government and as their properties were confiscated by the communists and redistributed to the poor, their hatred toward the communist government was enough to cause many of them to stay behind voluntarily to fight behind the enemy line. However, the landowners and businessmen were also longtime victims of bandits due to their wealth, and many of them had suffered even more than the general populace who had far less wealth. As these former landowners and businessmen turned guerrilla fighters were ordered to join their former bandits who once threatened, looted, kidnapped and even killed them and their relatives, it was obvious that such cooperation was mostly in name only and could not produce any actual benefits, and the alienation and discontent toward the nationalist government harbored by these once ardent nationalists would only grow greater.
Another problem for the nationalists was the strong disagreement among themselves over how to fight the war against their communist enemy. Military professionals preferred to fight a total war, incapacitate the enemy's ability to fight, but this inevitably conflicted with the interest of another faction of strong supporters of the nationalist government: the landowners and businessmen, who joined bandits to oppose such tactic. The reason was that landowners and businessmen supporting and joining the nationalist guerrilla firmly believed that the nationalists would be able to retake mainland China within several years and they would be able to regain their lost lands, businesses, and other properties that were confiscated and redistributed to the poor by the communists. As the nationalist military professionals in the guerrilla suggested and destroyed the production facilities and businesses as part of the total war, the landowners and businessmen would not be able to regain any valuable properties after the return of the nationalist government because those properties had been destroyed. The bandits agreed with the businessmen and landowners to oppose the idea of total war for a different reason: when the properties were destroyed and productivity dropped, they would not be able to loot enough supply to survive. As a result, despite the animosities between the bandits and landowners and businessmen, they were united together in the opposition to the military professional faction of the nationalists.
Communist strategies.
In contrast to the nationalists, communists had a much simpler but effective strategy because the communists did not have the dilemma the nationalists had, all they had to do was to eradicate bandits. The job of fighting a counterinsurgency and counter guerrilla war was made much easier for the communists by the grave strategic miscalculations nationalists had made themselves, and the communists exploited these to their maximum advantage. As with all other bandit eradication campaigns fought at the time, the most important communist strategy was to mobilize the entire population to fight the bandits, and furthermore, additional strategies were devised specifically to fit the local situation to fight the bandits.
Order of battle.
Nationalists
Communists
Initial stage.
As nationalist government withdrew from western Sichuan to escape advancing communists, it ordered its forces left behind to join the local bandits to wage a guerrilla war against the communist enemy. Additional nationalist agents and military professionals were sent to join bandits as military advisors. To fight their common communist enemy, local bandits, and bodyguards of landlords and opium drug lords set aside their long term hostilities toward each other and managed to form an unlikely alliance united under the fleeing nationalist government, organized as Sichuan – Xikang People's Anti-communist National Salvation Army 1st Column, commanded by bandit chieftain Ma Li (马力). The second most powerful force of the local nationalist support came from landlord Liu Hui'an (刘惠安), whose personal army totaled over five hundred. With other bandits in regions of Jianyang, Sichuan and Huayang (华阳), the nationalist guerrilla totaled over ten thousands, and agreed to carry out the large scale attack on the enemy planned by the nationalist government, codenamed as March 3 Riot, after the planned lunar calendar date of March 3, 1950 (Gregorian calendar date of April 19, 1950). However, the anti-communist alliance was fragile to begin with and due to the traditional longtime hatred toward each other, the alliance members were deeply suspicious and distrustful to each other despite reaching a truce for the sake of against the common communist enemy, and this had gravely hindered their operations. As a result, most battles were small skirmishes carried out independently by individual bands of bandits, and personal armies of landlords and drug lords.
Before the planned major attack, small attacks on the communists were already carried out, targeting the communist grain gathering teams. On April 2, 1950, a communist grain gathering team headed by Zhu Xiangli (朱向离) was ambushed and wiped out completely. On April 14, 1950, a nine-member communist grain gathering squad led by commissar Zhang Xiang (张翔) was captured by bandits headed by Liu Daichang (刘代长) and Liu Daifu (刘代富) at Wanxing (万兴) Township tea plantation, and subsequently executed at the region of Xiachangkou (下场口) of Wanxing township. The next day, another communist grain gathering squad led by Gu Shusen (顾树森) was ambushed and captured in Jigong (鸡公) Mountain, and all nine members were subsequently executed. Meanwhile, local drug lords also begun their fight against communists when the biggest local drug lord Liu Chaozhang (刘朝章) was arrested by the communists. As communist forces were destroying Liu Chaozhang's opium plantation totaled several dozen acres, they were constantly harassed by drug dealers' sniper fire in the process during their drug eradication effort that lasted more than two weeks. Attacks like these prompted the communists to formally launch a campaign to eradicate bandits in the local area. Although the communists strength was in absolute disadvantage, they were helped greatly by the lack of corporation among bandits themselves.
Battle of Hungtuchang.
On April 14, 1950, over a thousand bandits from Ma Li (马力)'s band gathered in the region of Yellow Earth Field (Huangtuchang, 黄土场), and prepared to attack communists. As communists learned the news, they immediately decided to launch a preemptive strike against the nationalist guerrilla despite absolute numerical inferiority. The 5th Company of the communist 87th Regiment was ordered to proceed to Yellow Earth Field to attack the main body of the bandit force, and the Longquanyi District (garrison) Squadron was ordered to attack nearby Stone Plate Beach (Shibantan, 石板滩) to help. The battle lasted continuously for two night and two days, and the nationalists were completely surprised by the sudden preemptive strike by their enemy. The bandits, landlords, and drug lords only wanted to keep their own strength and did not want to sacrifice their own force for the others, and everybody expected others to fight the communist enemy instead. As a result, different bands of bandits begun to flee from the battlefield almost as soon as the battle begun, and others soon followed.
The flight of bandits from the battlefield begun more rampant when another news reached the battlefield: of thousands bandits active in the region, only a hundred or so came to help fight the communist enemy, while all of the rest did not do anything. Only bandits under the command of chieftain Zhang Hua (张华) and the nationalist agent Wang Zhongxian (王忠贤) put up some real resistance, but they efforts were futile and they were nearly completely annihilated. As the main force of bandits were defeated and dispersed, every member of the 100 plus strong bandit reinforcement was also captured alive by the communists. The communist casualties were surprising low, with only one fatality, the 2nd platoon commander Jiao Lianyu (焦连玉) was killed in action, while other five soldiers were injured.
Battle of Luodai.
Although most other bandits in the area did not help those in the battle of the Yellow Earth Field because they did not want to risk themselves for others, they did select another target to strike. As the communist 5th Company of the communist 87th Regiment was ordered to the battle of the Yellow Earth Field from Luodai (洛带), the area it was originally stationed, the only communist presence left behind was a single squad and civilian administrators. Many bandits believed that this was a great opportunity to attack Luodai due to the weakened defense and they would be successful capturing a lot of supplies. By April 15, 1950, around five thousand bandits besieged the communist military base / administrative headquarters at Luodai and launched their attack. The communist defenders proved to be much tougher than expected and even the communist civilian administrators taking up arms fought better than most bandits.
After continuous attacks were beaten back, bandits changed their strategy by attempting to besiege the communist base for longtime, because they were confident that the numerically superior bandit force at the battle of Yellow Earth Field would succeeded in wiping out the numerically inferior communist enemy, and the communist defenders of the base would have no choice but to surrender. Additionally, different bands of bandits were unwilling to sacrifice themselves for others to attack the base again, because if they were killed, they would not be able to share the spoils while others could. However, by April 17, 1950, the shocking news of the numerically superior bandit force at the battle of the Yellow Earth Field reached Luodai, and bandits were completely dumbfounded that their numerically superior force was completely annihilated. More bad news followed as the bandits learned that the communist forces at the battle of the Yellow Earth Field consisting of the 5th Company of the 87th Regiment and Longquanyi District (garrison) Squadron were on their way back to help their comrades. By 9:00 PM on April 17, 1950, they had reached Luodai. Communists were helped by their reinforcements consisting of two battalions of Western Sichuan Military Sub-region. After a fierce battle that continuously lasted a day and a night, bandits was completely annihilated and dispersed, and went into hiding as they fled the battlefield. Following their victory, the communists begun their mopping up operation by combing every single hamlet, and forced bandits to flee from the Luodai to Longquanyi District (referred simply as Longquan by the local populace).
Battle of Longquan.
While the battle of Luodai was raging on, several thousand bandits attacked Longquanyi District from two different direction, with one thrust from Baihe (柏合) Township, and another from Ping'an (平安) Township. The local communist garrison only totaled seventy, but there was an armory where mortars stored. Fifteen minutes after the bandits launched their attack, they were bombarded by mortar fires, which successfully checked the bandits' advance. The next day, communist reinforcements consisting of two Battalions of Chengdu Garrison Regiments arrived. Despite absolute numerical inferiority, the communists decided to launch a counterattack on the bandits, correctly deducting that despite enjoying absolute numerical superiority, the bandits would not fight as a cohesive unit because none of them would want to fight and die for others. Just as it had occurred in the earlier two battles, the bandits behaved exactly as the communists had predicted and despite having five thousands members, the bandits' offensive completely collapsed and every bandit started to immediately flee from the battlefield after suffering only four dozen fatalities, when attacked from both sides. As the communists begun their mopping up operation at the same night at Baihe Township, all of the seventeen bandits who failed to flee from the area were captured alive by the communists.
The communist victory of the battle of Longquan marked the end of the organized battles in the local area. Although the mopping up operation would last until end of the year, with another dozen smaller battles to be fought, all of the surviving bandits in the local area were completely eradicated by the end of the year. Political offensive and pressures from the communists played an important role in their success in that many of the bandits surrendered, and most of them was reeducated, finally switched to the communist side.
Outcome.
Although sharing the common anticommunist goal, the nationalist guerrilla and insurgency warfare was largely handicapped by the enlistment of bandits, many of whom had fought and killed nationalist troops earlier in the eradication / pacification campaign, and also looted, kidnapped and even killed landlords and business owners, an important faction that supported the nationalist government, but now must united against the common enemy, which is half-hearted at the best. Compounding the problem further with additional differences within the ranks of the nationalist guerillas themselves, the futile nationalist guerrilla and insurgency warfare against its communist enemy was destined to fail.


Stylianos Pattakos

Stylianos Pattakos (; 8 November 1912 – 8 October 2016) was a Greek military officer. Pattakos was one of the principals of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 that overthrew the government of Panagiotis Kanellopoulos in a coup d'état on 21 April 1967.
Biography.
Pattakos was born on 8 November 1912, in the village of Agia Paraskevi in Rethymno Prefecture, Crete, and studied at the Hellenic Military Academy. He was married to Dimitra Nikolaidi and had two daughters, Rosa and Eirini. His parents were farmers. He served as a Lieutenant during the Greco-Italian War (1940-1941) and as cavalry captain and cavalry major during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). He was a deeply religious man.
Pattakos eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier and was assigned to the tank training centre at Goudi in Athens.
He, along with Georgios Papadopoulos and Nikolaos Makarezos, planned and executed the coup on the night of April 20 to April 21, 1967, claiming political anomaly had made them do so. Many leading politicians and journalists were arrested that night and were led to a hotel in Pikermi. Among them were Kοnstantinos Mitsotakis, Andreas Papandreou, Georgios Rallis, Manolis Glezos. Pattakos was assigned the Ministry of the Interior. He became also the vice president of Kollias government. As head of that post, Pattakos made the decision to strip Greek actress and political activist, Melina Mercouri, of her Greek citizenship and to also confiscate her property. Mercouri retorted "I was born Greek. I will die Greek. Mr. Pattakos was born a fascist. He will die a fascist". On 25 November 1973, Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannides overthrew Papadopoulos. The following year, the 7-year Junta came to an end in the aftermath of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
The newly restored democratic government of Constantine Karamanlis put the junta officials on trial with charges of high treason and insurrection against Georgios Papadopoulos and other co-conspirators. Pattakos, along with the other leaders of the 1967 coup, Papadopoulos and Makarezos, were sentenced to death for high treason, following the trial. Shortly after the sentences were pronounced, they were commuted to life imprisonment by the Karamanlis government. Pattakos remained in prison for 17 consecutive years. He was released from jail on 28 September 1990 by the government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis allegedly due to health reasons and was put under house arrest. He was obliged to report to the police office for registration every 15 days. He later stated that he did not regret any of his actions during the dictatorship. In addition, he denied that people were tortured during the dictatorship, except Alekos Panagoulis and Spiros Moustaklis, who "had it coming". Pattakos died of a stroke on 8 October 2016 at the age of 104. His funeral took place on 11 October 2016, in Crete. Despite his requirement to his family to keep the funeral small when his death came on the news, many people were quick to attend it. Among them was Christos Pappas (member of the parliament and member of the ultra-nationalist party Golden Dawn and many others.
Other info.
Pattakos was nicknamed "trowel" since he frequently appeared at project inaugurations with a trowel in hand. A staunch non-smoker, he had ordered also all the restaurants in Greece to serve fried potatoes.


Que Bom Te Ver Viva

Que Bom Te Ver Viva (English: "How Nice to See You Alive") is a 1989 Brazilian docudrama directed by Lúcia Murat, which portrays the situation of torture experienced during the military dictatorship in Brazil.
Synopsis.
Lúcia Murat, who was tortured during the military dictatorship, chronicles the lives of some Brazilian women who took up arms against the military regime. There are a number of guerrilla testimonies and daily scenes from these women who have recovered, each in their own way, the various meanings of life.
Awards.
1989: Festival de Brasília
1990: Festival do Rio


Yang Rudai

Yang Rudai (; December 1926 – 24 February 2018) was a politician of the People's Republic of China (PRC). He served as the Communist Party Chief of Sichuan, then China's most populous province, and was the first native Sichuanese to become the top leader of the province since the founding of the PRC. He was a member of the 13th Politburo of the Communist Party of China, the top governing body of China. Yang was considered a protégé of the purged reformist leader Zhao Ziyang.
Early life and career.
Yang Rudai was born in December 1926 in Renshou County, Sichuan province. He received the equivalent of a high school-level education.
In the early 1950s Yang actively participated in the land reform that was carried out by the newly established People's Republic of China and was rewarded for his performance. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1952, and was promoted just two years later to Deputy Party Chief of Renshou County. During the political radicalization of the 1960s, Yang's humble family background made him a model of the "class line" of the Sichuan provincial chief Li Jingquan, and he was promoted to First Party Secretary of Renshou. However, he subsequently was persecuted due to this tie to Li Jingquan when Li fell from power during the Cultural Revolution.
Rise to prominence.
Despite his suffering during the Cultural Revolution, Yang worked hard and took a leadership role in the building of a major reservoir which solved a key irrigation problem. Zhao Ziyang, the new reformist Party Chief of Sichuan, was impressed by his performance and promoted him first to Party Chief of Leshan prefecture in 1977, and only a year later, to Vice Governor of Sichuan province. Yang became a close assistant of Zhao Ziyang.
When Zhao Ziyang left Sichuan to become the Premier of China in 1980, Yang was favoured to succeed him as the provincial chief. However, Tan Qilong, a senior revolutionary leader, was chosen instead to replace Zhao as a transitional leader to "assist" the relatively young Yang Rudai. Yang became one of the several party secretaries of Sichuan under Tan, but he took charge of the daily operation of the province.
Two years later, Tan Qilong retired from politics along with most senior leaders of the revolutionary generation, and Yang Rudai succeeded him to become the first Sichuan native to serve as its top provincial leader. He was also elected to the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1982. In 1987 he rose further to become a member of the 13th Politburo, one of China's top decision-making bodies, which was headed by Yang's old boss Zhao Ziyang as General Secretary.
Conflicts.
A man from the countryside with limited education, Yang was a cautious leader who avoided making mistakes or forming political factions. His carefulness attracted criticism that Sichuan did not achieve any breakthrough in reform under his leadership. He clashed with Governor Jiang Minkuan, who made reform proposals that were deemed "unrealistic" by Zhao Ziyang. The tension resulted in Jiang's transfer away from Sichuan.
Jiang was replaced as governor by Zhang Haoruo in 1988, who came from a "princeling" background and enjoyed a close relationship with Premier Li Peng. Yang and Zhang had serious conflicts during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Yang urged the central government to handle the protests peacefully, while Zhang supported the hardline advocated by Li Peng and others. After the imposition of martial law by the central government, Yang changed his position and adopted a harsh policy toward student protesters in Sichuan. Severe conflicts broke out after the arrest of many demonstrators, and the largest shopping center in the provincial capital Chengdu was burned down.
In the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests, Zhao Ziyang was purged and placed under house arrest in 1989. Yang, considered a protégé of Zhao, kept his Politburo membership until his term ended. However, he was not reelected into the 14th Politburo in 1992 despite not having reached the retirement age.
Three Gorges Dam.
In early 1992, the National People's Congress passed a resolution to build the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest. It was projected that at the completion of the dam, Sichuan would lose of land, and nearly a million people would need to be relocated. Yang Rudai was opposed to the dam and supported Sichuanese deputies who strongly protested the decision at the National Congress. In contrast, Governor Zhang Haoruo resolutely supported the national government's decision. Under strong pressure from Beijing, Yang changed his position and agreed to support the project. In compensation, he negotiated an increase of the central government's investment in Sichuan by 18.5 billion yuan. When the deal was reached, Governor Zhang expressed his support on behalf of Sichuan at a press conference, while Yang remained silent.
After Sichuan.
In 1993 Yang was replaced by Xie Shijie as Sichuan party chief, and was transferred to the national level to serve as a Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a largely ceremonial but prestigious post. He served two terms in that position until 2003.
In July 2010 Yang published a memoir in the liberal Chinese magazine "Yanhuang Chunqiu" praising Zhao Ziyang. It marked a rare break of the long-standing taboo in China against mentioning the former leader since he was ousted after the Tiananmen protests.
Personal life.
Yang was said to lead a simple private life. At least until 1988, after he became the Party Chief of Sichuan and a Politburo member, his wife Tan Xiaoying () was still a contract worker in a small street factory in Chengdu.
Death.
On 24 February 2018, Yang died in Beijing at the age of 91 (92 in East Asian age reckoning). He was extolled by the Chinese government as "an excellent member of the Communist Party of China, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier, and an outstanding leader in agriculture and the economic development of the country".
Career timeline.
Source:


If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home

If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home (sometimes printed as If I Die In A Combat Zone or incorrectly as If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Send Me Home) is an autobiographical account of Tim O'Brien's tour of duty in the Vietnam War. It was published in 1973 in the United States by Delacorte and in Great Britain by Calder and Boyars Ltd. It has subsequently been reprinted by multiple publishers under both titles, most commonly in the latter.
Synopsis.
O'Brien takes the reader through a typical day in the life of a soldier in Vietnam. We are briefly introduced to a small number of fellow 'grunts' and the commanding officer of Alpha Company, the rifle company O'Brien was assigned to, one Captain Johansen. (Names and physical characteristics depicted in the book were changed.)
Rather than proceed chronologically, O'Brien takes the reader back to the beginning of his induction into the US Army. The reader learns about the author's home town, Worthington, Minnesota, to which O'Brien moved when he was 9 years old. We are led through his childhood, playing various army games, and learning about World War II from returned veterans and the Korean War which was taking place at the time.
The story of his tour itself continues to unfold while the reader is simultaneously taken through O'Brien's training at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he acquaints a man of similar situation named Erik. Together, the two decide to engage in a psychological resistance against the government.
After debating over the idea of desertion, O'Brien arrives in Vietnam in 1969 and spends a week at a base in Chu Lai (home to the Americal Division from approximately 1967 until 1971), receiving last-minute training such as mine sweeping and grenade throwing as well as the essential do's and don'ts of jungle warfare, before being sent to Landing Zone Gator in Quang Ngai Province where he is assigned to Alpha company, 5th Battalion of the 46th Infantry, 198th Infantry Brigade.
O'Brien describes his time in Alpha Company and the various events that took place during his time there, as well as some of the people he encountered. Among the scenarios O'Brien describes is one about the various mines that are encountered by the infantrymen, and the indiscriminate way that these devices disfigure and maim both combatants and civilians.
Not long after the accidental shelling of a lagoon village by the A Battery, 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery Regiment, that Alpha Company was protecting (near an American firebase), O'Brien is offered a job at the rear and is airlifted away from the fighting, where he encounters a rear echelon officer, Major Callicles (battalion executive officer), who deals with the investigation into the My Lai Massacre committed by the Charlie Company of the same battalion. The memoir ends with O'Brien being flown home.
Reception.
"If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home" received warm reviews from critics. Observed by the "Washington Star" as possibly "the single greatest piece of work to come out of Vietnam", with equally positive reviews from "The Guardian", Gloria Emerson of the New York Times and was described as a personal account of "aching clarity... A beautiful, painful book," by the New York Times Book Review. Similar reviews were given from "The Times", "The Washington Post", "The Sunday Times", "The Financial Times" and "Time Magazine" who cited O'Brien as "Perhaps the best writer about Vietnam".
Notes.
The rock band Big Country references the words "If I die in a combat zone / Box me up and ship me home" in the song Where The Rose Is Sown, as do The Screaming Blue Messiahs in their song "Someone To Talk To" as released on the "Peel Sessions" EP.
The title phrase "If I die in a combat zone, box me up and ship me home" is a military marching cadence, dating back to the Second World War. Cadences such as "C-130 rolling down the strip" and "If I die in the combat zone" are also used by the United States Marine Corps. The full stanza that is most commonly used in these cadences goes " If i die in a combat zone, box me up and ship me home, pin my medals upon my chest, tell my momma I done my best."


Red House (Hong Kong)

Hung Lau is a house built between 1905 and 1910 on former farmland in Pak Kok, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. It was used by the Revive China Society () as a base for revolutionary activities against the Qing dynasty.
Nature and locale.
It is a Grade I historic building since 2009, a classification which does not mandate preservation. It is named for its red-pigmented external surface rendering. The two-storey house is a mix of Chinese and Western influences. It is near the Tuen Mun Public Riding School, Butterfly Estate and Castle Peak.
History.
Hong Kong merchant and financier of the original "China Daily" Li Ki-tong, who met Dr. Sun Yat-sen in 1895 and joined the Revive China Society in 1900, provided his farm to the Society as its secret base in 1901. The farm provided cover and sustenance to the group for the planning of its coup attempts in Guangzhou and Wuhan.
In 1968, a proposal was made by lawmaker Ellen Li, specifying that a memorial garden and museum be set up in the area. The proposal was declined because British colonial officials did not want to collaborate with the pro-Taiwan Sun Yat-sen Memorial Association of Hong Kong, a group which made repeated requests for the conservation of the site. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the District Council of Tuen Mun proposed spending HKD $86M to restore the area, but it did not move forward.
The house and garden remained in the Li family as of 2011 but was subject of a controversial sale to a mainlander in November 2016 for HKD $5M. In February 2017, 300 people protested the demolition of a wall by the new owner. It was declared a proposed monument by the Antiquities Advisory Board on 9 March 2017 to protect the building from further modifications and damages, for a period of one full year. In October 2017, the owner applied for a subsidy from the government, which mandated that the building should not be demolished or sold 10 years after restoration. In December 2017, the government decided to not promote the building as a declared monument, due to lack of concrete evidence linking the building to the 1911 revolution.
Since the Double Tenth Festival in 2018, celebrations of the Republic of China National Day and Establishment Day have been blocked by the owner, saying participants are not allowed to enter the grounds on those days. During 2018's National Day, approximately 350 people were turned away from the area.
On 10 October 2020, several police vans were parked outside of the area, and about a dozen plainclothes policemen checked IDs of visitors to the site. According to Johnny Mak, he had never seen this before, and said police presence was used to deter people from gathering there due to the National Security Law. In addition, private security guards in dark suits were hired by the owner to block off the area from any visitors. One such blocked visitor said that he had entered the site for more than 30 years. SCMP noted that the area where the National Day celebrations usually took place were now filled with plants and thorns, making celebrations impossible even if access were not blocked.
Sun Yat-sen Commemorative Garden.
Lying on the same plot of land and adjacent to the house is a garden commemorating Dr. Sun Yat-sen and one of few places in Hong Kong where the flag of the Republic of China is hoisted continuously. It was built in 1983, and contains an obelisk and statue of Sun Yat-sen.
The garden has been vandalized several times; in 2002, the statue or Dr. Sun Yat-sen was vandalized, and three Arenga trees were cut down. In 2014, the statue and monument were vandalized again, the signboard and a few steles were broken, and many Republic of China flags were torn.
In December 2020, the garden was vandalized again; five commemorative plates were spray-painted on and flag poles for the Republic of China flag were removed. Johnny Mak stated that he believed the damage could only have been done with the approval of the site's owner.
According to Johnny Mak, District Councillor of Yuen Long, ceremonies have happened at the garden and Hung Lau every January 1 (Establishment Day) and October 10th (National Day) since 1968, with Mak currently serving as the primary organizer of the October 10th ceremonies. Mak is the chairman of the Highwise Yuen Long Service Centre, the group that manages the memorial garden. Ceremonies have been attended by pro-ROC people, as well as officials from the Chung Hwa Travel Service, the precursor of TECO in Hong Kong.


Portugal during World War I

Portugal did not initially form part of the system of alliances involved in World War I and thus remained neutral at the start of the conflict in 1914. But even though Portugal and Germany remained officially at peace for over a year and a half after the outbreak of World War I, there were many hostile engagements between the two countries. Portugal wanted to comply with British requests for aid and protect its colonies in Africa, thus clashes occurred with German troops in the south of Portuguese Angola, which bordered German South-West Africa, in 1914 and 1915 (see German campaign in Angola). Tensions between Germany and Portugal also arose as a result of German U-boat warfare, which sought to blockade the United Kingdom, at the time the most important market for Portuguese products. Ultimately, tensions resulted in confiscating the German ships interned in Portuguese ports, to which Germany reacted by declaring war on 9 March 1916, quickly followed by Portugal's reciprocal declaration.
Approximately 12,000 Portuguese troops died during the course of World War I, including Africans who served in its armed forces in the colonial front. Civilian deaths in Portugal exceeded 220,000: 82,000 caused by food shortages and 138,000 by the Spanish flu.
1916.
When Portugal complies with the British request to confiscate the German ships interned in Portuguese ports, Germany reacts by declaring war on Portugal, thus forcing the Portuguese officially into the war.
1918.
The war causes Portugal 8,145 dead, 13,751 wounded and 12,318 prisoners or missing. At sea, 96 Portuguese ships are sunk (100,193 tons) and 5 Portuguese ships damaged (7,485 tons) by German submarines.


Stuart Gharty

Stuart Gharty is a fictional character played by Peter Gerety in the television series "".
He is introduced in the season four one-shot episode "Scene of the Crime", as a cowardly patrolman who allows two drug dealers to murder each other rather than venture into a housing project to prevent the crime. This exercise in poor judgment, compounded by his failure to call for back-up, and his attempt to later cover up these failings, leads to a hearing in which he is exonerated. At the end of the episode, Detective Megan Russert, the chief witness against Gharty, seems to be successful in her attempt to talk him into resigning and admitting to himself that he is not cut out for police work.
He is a Catholic. His father and grandfather were both butchers. When he was a teenager, he considered becoming a priest but changed his mind after meeting his wife. He had a brother named Joey.
At the time of his introduction, Gharty is 54 years old, with a wife, Flora; a daughter, Ellen; and two granddaughters, Sarah and Sandra. He tells Russert that he is six months away from being able to transfer into a desk job and get off patrol duty, and that concern for his family's welfare was the main reason that he did not go in after the shooters.
He later returns in the two-part season 5 finale, "Partners and Other Strangers" and "Strangers and Other Partners", in which it is revealed that not only did he not resign, he was promoted to Detective and given a senior position in the Internal Investigations Division — one of many unjust promotions featured in the show. He plays a key role in solving the murder of Detective Beau Felton, who, Gharty reveals, had been working for IID regarding possible corruption in the Auto Squad. Russert and Sergeant Kay Howard blame him for Felton's death for sending him undercover. When Lt. Giardello temporarily assigns him (and Auto Squad Det. Falsone) to the Homicide squad, Frank Pembleton originally does not want to work with him. Gharty later tells Pembleton that he suffered a brutal beating during an IID investigation and got over his fear of being hurt on the job. Afterwards, he works well with the homicide detectives and helps clear Felton's murder.
In season 6, Gharty is transferred to homicide as a result of a "departmental rotation" program recently implemented in the Baltimore Police Department. As a homicide detective partnered with Laura Ballard (to whom he is extremely loyal), Gharty sometimes displays racist paranoia, homophobia and other forms of pettiness, but for the most part redeems himself as a police officer, demonstrating aptitude, confidence, and devotion he had not exhibited as a patrolman. In the season 6 finale, he and Ballard are both wounded during a gunfight in the squad room; the shooter also kills three uniformed officers before being shot dead by several other detectives.
John Munch, despite describing Gharty as a "buddy" on at least one occasion, is openly disdainful of his presence in the unit, and begins in season 7 to openly question Gharty's statement that he served in Vietnam. Gharty and Munch also clash when both fall for bartender Billie Lou, as Gharty had begun an affair with her that led to his divorce but she ended up with (and briefly married) Munch. After Munch illegally obtains Gharty's service records and finds he received an "other than honorable" discharge, Gharty tells the whole story: he witnessed American troops committing atrocities against the residents of a village, and a superior officer ordered Gharty onto a waiting helicopter, only to then allow the unit to continue massacring the villagers.
Gharty gets a divorce from his wife early in Season 7, and begins drinking heavily later in that season before he is able to pull himself together.
The Movie.
In "", Gharty has replaced Lt. Giardello as homicide shift commander, since Giardello is running for Mayor. Gharty admits that he was promoted to Lieutenant - a position he has almost no qualification for - because the bosses know they can push him around and that he was not going to last much longer on the streets. Gharty is forced to stand by and watch Captain Roger Gaffney dismiss retired detective Pembleton, who return to work with his partner Tim Bayliss with the hope of helping find Giardello's shooter. Despite Gharty's personal dislike for Pembleton, he respects the man's investigative skills and ignores the bosses (on Pembleton's advice), giving him and Bayliss the chance to work Giardello's shooting, which they solve.


Li Xintian (writer)

Li Xintian (; January 1929 – 3 July 2019) was a Chinese novelist best known for his novels "The Sparkling Red Star" and "Two Little Fighters".
Biography.
Li was born in Suining County, Jiangsu Province, in January 1929. He started to publish works in 1953. His first stage play, "Little Eagle", was published in 1961. That same year, his novellas "Two Little Fighters" was published. This was made into a phenomenally successful film in 1978. After graduating from East China Military and Political University, he joined the People's Liberation Army, becoming a civilian cadre in Jinan Military Region. His most influential work "The Sparkling Red Star" was published in 1970, and was adapted into a successful film. In 1979 he joined the China Writers Association. He died in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong province, on July 3, 2019.


Military Ordinariate of Indonesia

The Military Ordinariate of Indonesia is a military ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. Immediately subject to the Holy See, it provides pastoral care to Roman Catholics serving in the Indonesian National Armed Forces and Indonesian National Police and their families.
History.
It was established as a military vicariate on 25 December 1949 and elevated to a military ordinariate on 21 July 1986.


Wang Enmao

Wang Enmao () (May 19, 1913 – April 12, 2001) was a People's Liberation Army lieutenant general and a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Yongxin County, Jiangxi Province. He was twice Communist Party of China Committee Secretary of Xinjiang. He was Communist Party of China Committee Secretary and governor of Jilin.


So This Is Washington

So This Is Washington is a 1943 American film directed by Ray McCarey starring Chester Lauck. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Recording (James L. Fields). It is also known as Dollar A Year Man.
Plot.
Abner Peabody runs the Jot 'Em Down general store in Pine Ridge, Arkansas. When listening to the radio one day, he hears Chester Marshall, head of the Civilian Aid on the War Effort Board, plead to the people and asking for help to come up with inventions and ideas that could be used to improve the life during war times.
Abner decides to build a chemistry lab in his own basement. Soon he develops a new improved formula for manufacturing synthetic rubber. His partner Lum Edwards wants them to go to Washington D.C. To present their work to Marshall.
When the two men arrive in Washington, they have a hard time finding housing for their stay. They are offered lodging by an unknown man they meet in a park, but it turns out the room they are given is the bedroom display in a department store window. As they wake up in the morning, they are chased out of the store, but encounter an old friend of theirs who is a newspaper columnist, Robert Blevine.
Robert invites them to stay at his house instead, and accompanies them to see Marshall. They have to wait in line to see him though, since hoards of people have gathered for the same reason. Robert is scolded by Marshall's secretary because of his harsh articles in the paper about him, while Abner and Lum go see the sights around the city.
While resting on a park bench, Lum listens to a conversation a senator has with another man, about drought problems in his state. Lum interrupts the conversation and advises the senator to plant worms to remedy the soil. Lum goes on to advise a congressman on stopping migration from small-towns to the big cities.
Lum and Abner develop quite the reputation around Washington, and word gets around that they are great consultants. They get a lot of visitors wanting to get their advice right there on the park bench. After a while Marshall shows up by the bench, and the two men show him their rubber invention. He is very pleased with their discovery and calls for an immediate press conference.
During the press conference, Abner is hit in the head by a falling statue, and knocked unconscious. When he wakes up again, he has lost his near memory and forgotten his rubber formula. The press doesn't believe he ever had a working formula and Marshall is publicly humiliated. Marshall gets an ultimatum, to produce Abner's formula in a week or he will lose his job.
Marshall decides to accompany Lum and Abner home to Pine Ridge, to try to extract the formula from Abner in his home environment. Abner ultimately gets his memory back as he hits his head once again, and finally remembers the formula on the last day of the ultimatum deadline.
Both Lum and Abner are rewarded for their great service to the country, and appointed heads of a special committee on farming problems and Marshall's reputation is restored.


Young Widow

Young Widow is a 1946 drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Jane Russell and Louis Hayward. It focuses on Joan Kenwood, a young journalist who cannot get over her husband's death in World War II. Kenwood is reminded in large ways and small of her late husband during every one of her assignments. With "The Outlaw" still being withheld from general release, "Young Widow" was Jane Russell's debut.
Plot.
Set during World War II, journalist Joan Kenwood (Jane Russell), whose Air Corps photographer husband was killed on an air mission, returns to New York City from England. The managing editor of the newspaper for which she worked, Peter Waring (Kent Taylor), offers Joan work, but she despondently rejects it and instead stays with two aunts on their farm in Virginia. Unable to stop thinking about the death, however, she decides to return to New York.
On the train, young bomber pilot Lt. Jim Cameron (Louis Hayward) persistently tries to charm her, but Joan rebuffs him. In New York, both are unable to find vacant hotel rooms, but Joan calls her friend, Peg Martin (Penny Singleton), whose baseball player husband is serving on a submarine, for a place to stay. Peg shares her apartment with Mac (Marie Wilson), a show girl who has just returned from entertaining the troops. A number of military men drop in on the apartment as Joan arrives, all invited by the scatter-brained Mac. Jim learns where Joan is staying, shows up too, and sees opportunity in the situation. Later, everyone goes out to a café. While Jim and Joan are dancing, her husband’s favorite song is played, and a distraught Joan leaves. Jim follows and takes her home. When he bluntly suggests that she get over the man she is in love with, Joan explains that the man is her husband, who was killed over Berlin. Ashamed, Jim returns to his base at Mitchel Field on Long Island, where he is awaiting orders for the Pacific.
The next day, as Joan is leaving the apartment, she encounters a remorseful Jim. After she accepts his apology, Jim accompanies her to the subway. While waiting for the train, Jim saves the life of an elderly woman who falls on the tracks. Joan's reporter instincts take over, and she investigates the story and offers it to the paper. Delighted, Peter promptly puts her on the payroll. She and Jim pursue an easy-going courtship when he receives a 72-hour pass.
Jim receives a telegram ordering him to report for cholera shots. He proposes to Joan, but still haunted by her husband, she rejects him saying that "it will always be this way." A few days later, Peg’s husband returns after losing his leg in combat, and moved by seeing them together, Joan decides to tell Jim that she will wait for him. Peter drives her to the airfield, but Jim's outfit is already taking off. She waves frantically at him from outside the gate as he takes off, and as he passes by, mouths the words that she loves him and will wait for him.
Production.
The film was originally directed by William Dieterle who left after filming began. He was replaced by Andre de Toth who then left reportedly due to a case of strep throat. He was replaced in turn by Edwin L. Marin".
The film went over budget by $600,000 and was a box office failure.
Release.
"Young Widow" was released March 1, 1946.


Gregory Chow

Gregory Chi-Chong Chow (; born December 25, 1930) is a Chinese American economist at Princeton University and Xiamen University. The Chow test, commonly used in econometrics to test for structural breaks, was invented by him. He has also been influential in the economic policy of China, including being an adviser for the Economic Planning and Development Council of the Executive Yuan in Taiwan, and being an adviser for the Chinese State Commission for Restructuring the Economic System on economic reform.
Life.
Chow grew up in Guangzhou in Guangdong province in South China, one of seven children in a wealthy family, and in Hong Kong, where the family fled after the 1937 Japanese invasion of China. The family moved to Macao after the 1942 Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, then back to Guangzhou at the end of World War II.
Chow spent one year at Lingnan University in Guangzhou, then finished his undergraduate work at Cornell University. He entered graduate study in economics at the University of Chicago in 1951. He did his 1955 dissertation there on the factors that determine the demand for automobiles, and in extending that work he developed the Chow test for determining the stability of regression coefficients across different data samples.
He subsequently was on the faculties of MIT and then Cornell. He then worked at the IBM Thomas Watson Research Center while also advising the government of Taiwan. In 1970 he joined the faculty at Princeton University, where he remains. In 1974 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Chow's wife Paula K. Chow is the co-founder and director of the International Center at Princeton. The couple have two sons who are engineers and a daughter who is a radiologist.
Contributions.
In addition to being the creator of the Chow test, Chow has done research on linear and nonlinear simultaneous equation systems, full-information maximum likelihood estimation, estimation with missing observations, estimation of large-scale macroeconometric models, and modeling and forecasting with time series methods. He made major contributions to optimal control theory and its application to stochastic economic systems.
Chow has written extensively on the economies of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, and has served as an advisor to those regions.
Chow has also made important contributions in China’s economics education. While every econometrics student learns the “Chow test”, Chow is actually more famous in China for another Chow test—an elaborate testing system designed by him in the mid-1980s to select top Chinese college students from all over China and bring them to the US to pursue graduate studies in economics. Today, over a hundred "Chow fellows" are active in the economics field, many have returned to China, and become accomplished academics, top policy makers, and prominent business leaders.


Suiyuan

Suiyuan () was a historical province of China. Suiyuan's capital was Guisui (now Hohhot). The abbreviation was 綏 (pinyin: suí). The area Suiyuan covered is approximated today by the prefecture-level cities of Hohhot, Baotou, Wuhai, Ordos, Bayan Nur, and parts of Ulaan Chab, all today part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Suiyuan was named after a district in the capital established in the Qing Dynasty.
In the early 1930s Suiyuan was occupied by the Shanxi warlord Yan Xishan, who mined Suiyuan's iron, reorganized the province's finances, and brought over of land under cultivation for the first time. Most of the work and settlement of Suiyuan at this time was done by Shanxi farmer-soldiers under the direction of retired officers from Yan's army. Yan's control of Suiyuan was sufficient to cause one visiting reporter to refer to Suiyuan as a "colony" of Shanxi.
The Suiyuan Campaign took place in Suiyuan during the Second Sino Japanese War. It became a part of the puppet state of Mengjiang from 1937 to 1945 under Japanese rule.
During the Chinese Civil War in 1935, Communist leader Mao Zedong promised Mongol leaders a "unified autonomous" administration which would include all "historic" Mongol lands within China, in exchange for Mongol support against the Kuomintang. This promise included the declaration that "Under no circumstances should other [non-Mongol ethnic groups] be allowed to occupy the land of the Inner Mongolian nation". But following the Communist victory in 1949, the administrators of the soon-to-be "Mongolian" territories with Han Chinese majorities, the biggest of which was Suiyuan with a population of over 2 million, resisted annexation by the new Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In 1954, Mao reached a compromise with Suiyuan, which involved the Mongols' taking over the administration of Suiyuan, but stipulated that the Han natives not be expelled from the territory. Uradyn Bulag thus notes that "ironically", the Mongols' territorial ambitions against Suiyuan resulted in their becoming a "small minority within their own [enlarged] autonomous region".


The Children of Soong Ching Ling

The Children of Soong Ching Ling is a 1984 Canadian short documentary film directed by Gary Bush. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. It is about the humanitarian work in support of children by Mrs. Soong Ching-ling, or Madame Sun Yat-sen. In particular the short film features an orphanage she sponsored.


Michael Horace Miller

Air Commodore Michael Horace Miller (14 January 1928 – 8 October 2016) was a senior Royal Air Force officer who was active in the post-war years. He served as Commandant Royal Observer Corps from 1975 to 1977, and was Station Commander of RAF Gutersloh from 1971 to 1973.
He died from anaemia on 8 October 2016 at the age of 88.


Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation

The Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation (abbreviated MSC) was an American corporation established in 1917 by railroad heir W. Averell Harriman to build merchant ships for the Allied war effort in World War I. The MSC operated two shipyards: the former shipyard of John Roach & Sons at Chester, Pennsylvania, and a second, newly established emergency yard at Bristol, Pennsylvania, operated by the MSC on behalf of the U.S. Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC).
MSC completed only four ships before the war's end. However, both the U.S. Shipping Board and Harriman himself anticipated a shipbuilding boom in the postwar period, and consequently MSC continued to work on its wartime contracts, eventually building some 81 ships, including not only the USSB vessels but also four minesweepers for the U.S. Navy, a number of oil tankers for private companies, and four passenger liners Harriman built for his own shipping lines.
Both Harriman and the USSB were completely incorrect in their anticipation of a postwar shipbuilding boom, and by the early 1920s there was such an excess of shipping around the world that over 1,000 ships were laid up in ports in the United States. With no market for its services, Harriman wound up the Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation in 1923.
Background.
In 1908, the Roach family, which had operated the famous shipyard of Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works at Chester, Pennsylvania since 1871, decided to retire from the shipbuilding business. The shipyard lay idle for some years, until being purchased by mechanic and former naval officer Captain C. P. M. (Charles) Jack in late 1913.
Jack renamed the yard the Chester Shipbuilding Company, and used it mostly for converting freighters into oil tankers. Lacking steel fabrication facilities of his own, Jack contracted with the American Bridge Company in Pittsburgh to supply the plates for the ships' hulls and oil tanks. This innovation in building ships from prefabricated parts manufactured in distant locations was made possible by Jack's simplified hull designs, which made as much use as possible of flat steel plates that could be easily produced and which required a minimum of post-production fitting. Jack's prefabricated method would later be emulated by the Emergency Fleet Corporation in its emergency wartime shipyards.
In addition to his ship conversions, Jack also built two complete oil tankers for a Norwegian company in 1916.
Harriman takeover.
In February 1917, railroad heir W. Averell Harriman, anticipating the entry of the United States into World War I, bought the Chester Shipbuilding Company from Charles Jack. Retaining Jack as a consultant engineer, Harriman renamed the business the Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation.
By the time the United States declared war in April, Harriman had secured orders with private companies for a total of 28 ships, including 22 freighters and 6 oil tankers. With the declaration of war however, the U.S. Shipping Board commandeered all the contracts, making itself the company's sole customer. To accelerate production, Harriman spent $3,000,000 upgrading the yard's facilities, increasing the number of building slipways from six to ten, and making further extensions and improvements.
Bristol yard.
In August 1917, Harriman secured a contract from the EFC for an additional 40 freighters. As the Chester yard was already busy with existing contracts, Harriman and the EFC agreed to build an entirely new shipyard to fulfill the order. Harriman pledged that the last ship would be delivered from the yard within eighteen months. A second contract, for an additional 20 freighters, was signed three months later, but this contract was cancelled in 1919.
Harriman chose as the location for the new yard the city of Bristol, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia and upriver from the coast—the northernmost location of any Delaware River shipyard. He purchased a block of property along the river, and built a yard containing a dozen slipways. Extensive dredging was necessary as the riverbank at this point was not deep enough for the launching of large ships. When completed, the $12,000,000 yard was leased by the EFC but managed by the MSC.
In addition to the yard itself, an entire township was built to provide housing for the shipyard's 3,000 workers and their families, estimated at 15,000 people in total. The township, which was given the name of "Harriman", was composed of 206 group houses, 26 single houses, 25 duplex houses and 212 apartments plus boarding houses and bachelor quarters, as well as a post office, hotel, hospital and other facilities. The EFC contracted the work to local realtors who arranged the mortgages. Construction of the township was the largest single housing project undertaken by the EFC during the First World War.
Wartime operations, 1917-1918.
The Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation launched its first ship, a freighter named "Sudbury", at the Chester yard on 29 September 1917, and delivered it to the USSB on May 5, 1918. In spite of the company's best efforts however, only four ships of the 68 ordered by the USSB were delivered before the end of hostilities—one freighter and three tankers, all built at the Chester yard. The Chester yard also received a contract from the U.S. Navy for the construction of four minesweepers, but the first of these was also only delivered a few weeks after the war.
Construction at the Bristol yard was delayed by the extensive dredging required to provide deep enough channels in which to launch the ships. A series of seven strikes in 1917, prompted by the failure of wages to keep pace with the large 25% increase in inflation brought about by wartime conditions, did not help matters, although the MSC quickly acquiesced to the wage demands, thus minimizing disruption. A further problem for the yard however was the inexperience of the employees, since all the experienced shipyard workers were already employed at existing yards.
In the event, Harriman was unable to deliver a single ship from the Bristol yard in the first eighteen months, contrary to his stated intention to have all forty ships delivered in the same time frame. The first ship from Bristol was delivered nineteen months after the signing of the initial contract, which was four months too late to see service in the war.
Postwar period, 1919-1923.
In the postwar period, a decision had to be made about whether or not to cancel the contracts for the as-yet 64 undelivered vessels, 22 of which were already on the slipways and work on the remainder having not yet begun. Both the USSB and Harriman himself anticipated a postwar shipbuilding boom, and so the decision was taken to complete the contracts. This decision would turn out to be woefully wrong, but the error was not yet apparent.
Both of MSC's yards were kept busy with the existing USSB contracts until late 1920/early 1921, and in late 1920 the Chester yard was able to secure private contracts for the construction of four oil tankers. Harriman had recently acquired several shipping lines of his own, and he now began to build ships at the Chester yard for his own lines. In 1921, he built the 7,300-ton passenger-cargo ships "Mount Carroll" and "Mount Clinton" for his transatlantic shipping line United American Lines, and in 1921 he built two further passenger-cargo vessels, the 5,900-ton and for his Hawaiian-American Line.
"Mount Carroll" and "Mount Clinton" had been outfitted as third-class passenger ships for employment in the immigrant trade, but when the Harding administration imposed immigration restrictions, Harriman was forced to refit the two ships as freighters. There were already far too many freighters in transatlantic service however, and Harriman was soon forced to sell both ships. Likewise, his two Hawaiian-American passenger liners were to fail due to stiff competition from the Matson Navigation Company. The global oversupply of shipping was becoming increasingly evident.
By 1922, more than a thousand steamships lay idle in the United States alone, and work in the shipbuilding industry was virtually nonexistent. When the last of the USSB orders rolled off the ways at Bristol, Harriman transferred the yard back to the ownership of the EFC, but he attempted to keep the Chester yard open by diversifying his product line. The MSC announced that it would diversify into "steel construction in general, manufacturing and power plant equipment, machinery and machine work, railroad equipment and material, and plate shop works." Due to increasing specialization however, the era in which shipbuilding companies could readily diversify into other fields had passed. Harriman was forced to close the Chester shipyard in 1923, and the Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation was subsequently transformed into an investment vehicle known as Merchant-Sterling.
The ships.
Unlike the other so-called "agency yards"—the yards built on behalf of the EFC—the MSC ships were not built to a USSB design. Rather, they were designed by the company itself, with Jack as a consultant engineer and with oversight by R. H. M. Robinson, the company's President who was also a well-known naval architect. The basic design was given the USSB number #1025, although some variants were given different numbers.
The #1025 type was of 8,800 tons deadweight, with a length of , beam and draft of . Each ship was fitted with three Babcock & Wilcox oil-burning boilers (convertible to coal), delivering steam to 3,000 horsepower Westinghouse oil-fired geared turbines driving a single propeller, which gave a speed of 11 to .
A total of 81 ships were built by the company—40 at the Bristol plant and 41 at Chester. All 40 ships from the Bristol yard were Type #1025 freighters. The Chester yard built 22 freighters, 10 oil tankers, four U.S. Navy minesweepers, four passenger-cargo liners, and one fireboat.
More than half the ships were scrapped in the 1930s. Of those that survived into World War II, most fell victim to U-boats. Only a handful of MSC ships survived into the postwar era. The longest-serving MSC ship was "Yapalaga", a freighter built at the Bristol yard in 1920. She was scrapped in 1970 having provided 50 years of service. The passenger-cargo liner "Missourian", built at Chester in 1922, was also scrapped in 1970.
Fate of the shipyards.
Following the Harriman sale in 1923, the Chester shipyard, which had been in existence since 1859 and built close to 350 ships during the course of its history, was sold to the Ford Motor Company and became a factory for Ford motor vehicles called Chester Assembly. The factory was closed in 1961.
The Bristol shipyard was sold privately and the site utilized for a variety of purposes. Today it is partly occupied by a marina. Some of the original shipyard buildings reportedly still exist.
Harriman township, built to accommodate the shipyard's workers, was eventually incorporated into the borough of Bristol. The township, built in a distinctive neo-colonial style, is listed with the National Register of Historic Places, and is known today as Harriman Historic District.