Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-11-16
Gen. Wonwiehts Own Story ~
Liberated Officers Find New Food, New Planes
Ando New Army On Trip to View Surrender
(Forty-frst OF q Series
BY GEN. JONATHAN M.
WAINWRIGHT.

Nal. Lamar, the OSS doctor VINO
had parachuted on Mukden to
evacuate me, woke me at 1880 on
the wonderful morning Of August
81, I945, to tell me that breakfast
was ready-the first such kind
arousing I had had in years.
He had attended to everything.
Two of his enlisted men had
cooked us an Incompatible feast Of
processed ham, powdered eggs,
fruits, toasted crackers and coffee.
Some one, some day, should write
a truly fitting tribute to the Arneri-
can breakfast.
We had just finished our meal
when Gen. Parker came to our
Mukden hotel from the nearby
prison camp. He had received nay
list of chosen officers and men, who
were flying out with me later that
morning, and had his men ready.
But he wanted to make one
change. He told me he preferred to
stay behind until all the others
had been evacuated and he recon-
mended that Brig. Gen. William E.
Brougher be evacuated in his stead.
It was a courageous decision to
make for Gen. Parker had suffered
as much as any of the senior
officers and was eager to get away.
Reunited With Friends.
We drove to the airport at 8 am.
and there I was reunited with
friends had not seen for many
months, Gen. Beebe, my aides,
Johnny Pugh and Tom Dooley, my
old assistant chief Of staff for sup
ply, Col. Galbraith, and others.
We took of just before 10 am.
on August u and in the air /
learned from Gen. Beebe how the
word of liberation came to the men
at Mukden.
They knew much more about the
progress Of the war then we at Sian
did, Near the end they were still
getting their papers and the Jap
press apparently was quite frank
about the seriousness of B-29 bomb
ings and the advance of the Rus
slams through Manchuria..
The officers at Mukden feared in
the last hours of the war that they
were. about TO be shipped to Korea,
for the sJaps seemed to be deter
mined to hold on to our rank as
long as possible. They were packed
and ready to depart on what would
have been a most heartbreaking trip
when to their wild joy they saw
an American plane drum over
Mukden on the afternoon of August
is and spill out number of chutes.
American Officers Arrive.
That evening several American
officers and men came into the
Mukden camp. They walked di-
rectly to the camp commanders
headquarters and one by one the
emaciated American officers and
men crept through the darkness of
the compound to peer through the
commandments window and behold
the phenomenon of a well-fed Amer
lean officer in obvious command
of the. situation.
They knew the end OF their shock
ing ordeal was In sight, SO they
broke open what was left of their
Red Cross coffee and drank it until
some Of the men actually became
intoxicated from such an aunaccus-
toned stimulant. The next morn
ing, after sleepless night, they
were introduced to an American
major named HenneSsey.
Gen. Parker at once took COM
mand OF the camp, received the
keys Of the storehouse and assumed
control of the camps administra-
ton. He and Gen. Beebe had for
some time been working on a plan
for just such an eventuality. A
complete scheme of organization
had been worked out on paper.
They had selected an American
guard and mess officer whose first
instruction was to double the ration.
That night four Russian captains
walked through the gate. They
called for the Jap camp commander.
Line up every japanese in this
camp, fully armed, and then have
them drop all rifles, pistols and
swords to the ground in front of
the ranks" the Jap was instructed.
I'VE will give you five minutes"
Get Jap Rifles.
The Japs scampered like wild
things to obey the order. Then
the Russian spokesman asked Gen.
Parker to select 20 deserving mem
bers of the newly formed American
guard. These men formed line
in front of the assembled Japs. The
Russian captain in charge of the
ceremony then picked up 20 rifles
and presented one to each member
Of the American guard.
Our guard ended matters by
marching the Japs of to conf1ne-
ment while some of our men
cheered.
Maj. Hennessey and his men. had
jumped on Mukden with a compact
but powerful radio. Communication
with Chungking was quickly estab-
lished and among the first messages
received was an order from Gen.
Wedemeyer's headquarters to evac-
uate me from Sian as speedily as
possible.
We exchanged a thousand other
stories in our CAT plane that Won
derful day of August ~ as we flew
across Northern China en- route to-
the kind of lives we had known
so many years before. At 4:30 that
afternoon we put down at the Amer
lean air base at Sian, in China, a.
place with the same name as that
of our late Manchurian prison
camp, but-well-as different as
night and day.
Sian, China, is q remarkable old
city that was the capital of China
1000 years ago. It has towering
walls, wide streets and taller and
stronger natives than you find in
Southern China. The buildings at
our field were well kept. well made
and beautifully arranged. The mess
was hard for any of us to believe,
for there was all the food we could
eat and, to top it of, the apparition
OF cherry pie la mode.
Eats Too Much Ice Cream.
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