Evening star., 1950-08-21
Burma Surgeon Held
On Suspicion Of fAiding'
Karen Rebel Chief
BY the Associated Press

TbxA4VSSS4Ns oQI AA4ds aug. ~ -
DR.. Gordon S. Seagrave, fame,
American doctor who has spent ;
lifetime caring for Burmese sick
is being held on suspicion of aid
ing the Karen rebels. the Burn,
government has disclosed.
Ofhcials said no charges hav'
been placed against DR.. Seagrave
whose book, Burma Surgeon,
made him known to millions
They said he will appear shortl!
before a Burmese court. He Il
being held in an undisclosed jai
in Rangoon.
A Burmese government Spokes'
man said DR.. Seagrave is suspect.
ed of aiding the Karen tribesmen
who have been fighting for two
years to set up an independent
state.
American Embassy officials sale
the 53-year-old surgeons arres
was serious matter" An EN-.
bassy spokesman said American
officials had been permitted te
visit the doctor in jail and founc
him "in good health and receiving
good treatment"
Arrested Last Friday.
DR.. Seagrave will be defended
by former Burmese Supreme
Court Judge Kyaw Myint. He i:
a brother of former Foreign Min.
lister Tin Tut. who was slain ir
l948.
Kyaw Myint. who was engaged
at DR.. Seagrave's request. is ex-
pected to meet the American doc
tor today.
DIR. Seagrave was arrested Fri
day at his mission hospital al
Markham. near the China Burma
border. He was flown to Ran
COON the next day.
The doctor accompanied the
late Gen. Joseph Stilwell on his
nous 1912 jungle retreat
through Burma to India. He
served as a lieutenant colonel in
the Medical Corps of the United
States Army during the war. His
best-selling book told of the he
roic trek.
The Burmese spokesman said
the government suspected DR.
Seagrave of aiding Kachin rebel
chief Nav Seng to fee across the
Chinese border, after an alleged
attempt by Nav Seng to over
throw the Kachin state govern
ment.
In Throes Of Civil War.
Nav Sengs Kachin rebels and
the Karens seized the central
Burma city of Toungoo last year
Later they were overwhelmed by
government forces. Nav Seng re-
portedly is now with the Chinese
Communists.
Burma has been in the throes
Of civil war since it won its in
dependence from the British in
January. 1948. Much of the
fighting has been between govern
ment forces and rebel tribesmen.
The Karens are the largest
group rebelling against Burma s
national government. Also, in the
many sided rebellion are Trot-
skyite Red Flag" Communists
and Stalinist white Flag" Com
munists. The Karens sometimes
have co-operated with the Com
groups when 1t has been
to their advantage. But more
often they have fought against
the Communists at the same time
they were engaged in battling
government forces.
Born i'm RangOon.
DR.. Seagrave was born in Ran
COON, South Burma, of long line
of missionaries. He spoke Karen
before he learned to speak Eng
lish. He received his M. D. degree
from Johns Hopkins in 1921 and
started his mission hospital with
a wastebasketful of medical in
struments discarded by a Balti-
more hospital.
For most Of his life he has
conducted a campaign against
disease and human suffering in
the wildS of Burma.
When war came to Burma, he
was thrown into the thick of it.
He performed delicate surgical
operations with scanty equipment
as bombs and shells fell around
his frontline hospitals. His medi-
cal missions operated with the
Chinese army and with British
liaison forces.
Decorated by George vi.
In recognition of his services
the British army offered him a
lieutenant colonel's commission
He refused fearing it might lose
him his American citizenship. He
was decorated by King George VI
and received the United States
Order Of the Purple Heart.
When Gen. Stillwell took over
the American command in Burma
DR.. Seagrave was transferred tt
the American army. After the wal
he returned to Burma and re.
Sumed his medical work, tellins
OF victory over the japanese ir
Burma Surgeon Returns. Lik,
his previous book, it also was s
beSt-seller.
Mrs. Seogrove Confident
Her Husband Is Innocent
PARKERSBURG, w. Va, Aug
81 (P).-Mrs. Gordon S. Seagrave
pretty wife of the famed Burma
Surgeon" who is under arrest ir
Rangoon, voiced stout confidence
in his innocence t0dav