Mission to Yenan : American liaison with the Chinese communists, 1944-1947 / Carolle J. Carter.

Maps of China 1945 on endpapers.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-265) and index.

Conventional wisdom informs us that "only Nixon could go to China." In fact, in 1944, nearly thirty years before his historic trip, the American military established the first liaison and intelligence-gathering mission with the Chinese Communists in Yenan. Commonly referred to as the Dixie Mission, the detached military unit sent to Yenan was responsible for transmitting weather information, assisting the Communists in their rescue of downed American flyers, and laying the groundwork for an eventual rapprochement between the Communists and Nationalists, the two sides struggling in the ongoing Chinese Civil War. Following extensive use of archival sources and numerous interviews with the men who traveled and served in Yenan, Carolle Carter argues that while Dixie fulfilled its assignment, the members steered the mission in different directions from its original, albeit loosely described, intent. As the months and years passed, the Dixie Mission increasingly emphasized intelligence gathering over evaluating their Communist hosts' contribution to the war effort against Japan. Carter strips away these simplistic portrayals to reveal a diverse and dedicated collection of soldiers, diplomats, and technicians who had ongoing contact with the Chinese Communists longer than any other group during World War II, but who were destined to be a largely unused resource during the Cold War.

1. The Origins of the Dixie Mission -- 2. Life in Yenan -- 3. The Observer Group in Operation -- 4. Communications -- 5. Diplomacy, Differences, and Patrick J. Hurley -- 6. The Communist Attempt to Bypass Hurley -- 7. Intelligence Gathering in Yenan -- 8. The Marshall Mission and the End of Dixie -- 9. The Dixie Mission in Retrospect -- App. Pinyin to Wade-Giles.