Evening star., 1942-03-13
BY LELAND STOWE.

that's a woman!"
What prompted my companions s
exclamation was not the mere pres
ence OF a woman in the war zone,
but the fact that this girls bobbed
black hair was protruding beneath
Chinese soldiers cap and hanging
across the neck of the regulation
Chinese Army uniform. If it hadn't
been for that well-combed bob, what
with the uniform and the bamboo
poles and laden buckets, we would
have missed her-and them-entire-
ly, but the first officer we asked made
1t plain that the bob was not due to
lack of BARRIERS.
"Oh, yes" he said, 1--WE have about
100 Chinese girls with every Chinese
division. They do political work and
give talks to the soldiers. Sometimes
they put on propaganda skits. or
course. they also cook and do all
sorts of jobs in camp. They live just
as the soldiers live. They are very
patriotic and very good for the
soldiers morale"
The officer took us to meet a group
of 10 Of these girl soldiers who
are the first Chinese of their sex to
come into Burma as an official unit
with the Chinese forces. They were
all girls between 18 and 81, and
most of them had left high school
to join the army. Some Of them
looked extremely young, but all were
full-cheeked and muscular and
seemingly as At as college athletes.
Wear Khaki Uniforms.
Unfortunately, we were unable to
converse with them very much, be-
cause their captain was so excess
sively eager to tell us all about his
prize bobbed-haired privates. The
girls were wearing tight-collared
uniforms of khaki. They carried
themselves very erect and in their
manner showed themselves accus-
toned to military discipline.
One girl with glowing, olive
cheeks, full lips and the acutely
intelligent eyes which so many Chi
nese have told us that she was 20
and had been in the army for more
lWO ycdlS AliC SoiAiS AAoAAN
Kwangsi and had three brothers
who were soldiers.
The girls all seemed surprised
that foreigners should want to ques-
ton them about their work. We got
the impression that they would have
quite enjoyed interviewing us If the
captain had not persisted In doing
ell the talking.
All day long you see Chinese SOL
diers plodding the roads and by
paths, moving up and up toward
the front, boyish little figures CLAD
in worn, faded denim. With their
visored caps Of the same material
thev look like coal miners In child
labor district, but they are carrying
heavy packs and rifles and all soros
of equipment. Some OF them carry
weapons that weigh more than loO
pounds. With their packs ana
rifles. in addition. and beneath the
pitiless. torturing sun, they march
more than 20 miles in one day.
Veterans Of Many Battles.
These are the Chinese soldiers
who have come to stem the Jap
tide in Burma and are now hololng
the lines alongside the British and
Indian troops. They belong to the
particular army which is renowned
in China. They are listed among
the picked troops of Generalisslmo
Chiang Kai-shek, for they nave
fought In many battles. They look
very young, yet they have been IN
uniform for three or four years.
strangely enough, despite tneir
slender bodies, their heavy burdens
the terrific heat, they do not look
tired. When you meet them, IKE
ali Chinese troops, they are quick
to smile.
We met them first making camp.
moving in camp kitchens, food ana
water and all sorts Of materials
and carrying everything on theI
inevitable bamboo poles. They hao
marched like this 300 miles or much
more than that, all the way down
the Burma road from Running.
far I'D in Yunnan Province. Their
feet churned up the dust in the ROAD,
their burdens bounced rythmically
I'D and down on the poles. When
we waved, they waved and smiled.
This is the fifth year Of their war
and we know that theirs Is the
simplest soldiers diet in the world:
That meat is something they are
lucky to taste once week and that
their pay is exactly so American
cents a month. Yet again and again,
when we hold out cigarettes they
refuse to accept them. Sometimes
they hold up clasped hands to ex-
press their thanks, but they won't
take even one cigarette. They seem
very happy simply to know they are
welcome here.
Calm Assurance.
You remember the gigantic noun
tains of Yunnan, which they have
crossed, and try to imagine that long
march OF hundreds of miles with
nothing much more than rice and
more rice to eat, and you look at
those back-breaking burdens which
they are carrying so lightly, and you
see the calm assurance in their
faces, and you marvel as to why
they do not look at all tired and
why they laugh at the first provo
cation.
They keep moving up and up.
Jap advance guards will be there
somewhere ahead, yet In every face
and gesture these little Chinese SOL
diers wear the armor of supreme
unconcern. Looking at them, some
how you feel stronger. These little
men and boys exude an indescrib-
able confidence. They know the
Japs will be there. What OF it? They
have dealt with the japanese be-
fore.
Their shoulder poles are bent
down in a steep arc to the earth.
Their black felt slippers tramp up