War Stories

Another Small World
By Leonard J. O’Dell
October 2000

This isn’t a war story about some super spectacular mission over China during World War II because its not. The narrative starts as a not-so-typical combat mission and ends up in a marvelous series of coincidences that occurred many years later.

Part 1 - Walkout Report

On October 4, 1944, four P-51 Mustangs took off at 06:15 from LIUCHOW Air Force Base in China for a dive bomb and strafe mission along the West River between WUCHOW and TAKHING in southeast China. Our flight leader was Lt. Myron Sees, his wingman Lt. Robert Raymond with element leader Lt. Alfred Baker and I on his wing.

The weather was operational all the way. In the target area, a number of troop barges were found in the river and we commenced our dive-bombing runs. Following our runs on the targets, the second element went down on the deck and individually made strafing passes at targets of opportunity along the north bank of the river flying in an westerly direction, while the first element remained alert as top cover.

The writer was in the process of strafing troop barges moored along the north bank flying at about 50 foot off the water when the first element radioed "There’s five TOJOS coming down on them and five more coming in to attack to lower element". I immediately climbed slightly to get out of the narrow valley – looked around and there sat two Japs right on my tail. I hit full emergency throttle – but where could I go? I pulled up above tree level - tried several hard turns, left and right, generally in the southerly direction towards the hill country but they stuck with me.

The whole episode took less than a minute, with 50 caliber slugs exploding on my armor plate and other parts of the plane. One shell tore off the right side engine cowling, another opened up about an 8" diameter hole in the left wing (about 12" from the cockpit) and several hit behind the cockpit generally tearing up everything to the rear, including the radio and the plane’s cooling system, which let go and drenched me with antifreeze. Nothing seemed to help, so I momentarily chopped the throttle completely and the two TOJOS whizzed on passed me. Good Riddance!

In our pre-flight briefing, we were told that everything north of the river was well controlled by the Japanese Army whereas the hill-country to the south was only sparsely occupied by enemy troops. And if any problems occurred – we were advised to head south into the hill country. That’s exactly what I did. The engine temperature immediately started to rise and I knew that engine failure was eminent.

By the time I got the canopy open, I was probably 5 or ten miles south of the river, well into hill country and at about 200 ft altitude with speed steadily decreasing. I gave a frantic leap out of the cockpit and unfortunately hit the horizontal stabilizer with my left leg as I passed by. I immediately pulled the ripcord, the parachute popped opened with one big jerk, the plane crashed and I hit the ground – actually a soft landing but only about 50 yards from the burning plane which crashed and exploded just beyond a small hill.

I was fairly well bruised up getting out of the plane but quickly gathered up the chute, cut off the jungle pack and crammed the rest of it into a nearby mud hole as a temporary hiding place.

Forgetting my ankle that had already started to swell, I ran up the hill along a small path heading in the south direction, hopefully away from the river. Along the way, numerous huff marks were noted in the path that seems to indicate the presence of Japanese soldiers. After a short time, I came around a bend and almost ran into a man dressed in a blue blouse and black trousers. We each took one look at each other and both of us took off in the opposite direction.

At that point, I was too tired and my ankle hurt too much to travel a great deal further; especially not knowing what might come of the recent meeting. So, I took off across a rice paddy that was partially flooded and found some dense bush overhanging the paddy that provided an excellent hiding place. After crawling in, I was concealed but almost completely submerged.

Shortly after choosing this spot, voices were heard nearby but I was unable to see without being seen from above; so I remained lying down and immobile as they searched the area. At 09:00, an hour and a half after going down, a flight of Mustangs passed overhead going east but there was no way for me to alert them. At 11:00, one of the searchers called out in broken English "Hey Joe, come on out". Uncertain about their nationality, I remained quite in my hiding place.

At 13:00 the same call was repeated with the addition of the words "We’ve Chinese" - but again I remained where I was, on my back in the water. While the searchers beat the bushes all around me. At 15:00, the call was repeated. By this time I had woven the bushes together so that I could move about slightly and look out without being seen and rising up to watch four men in what appeared to be "coolie clothes", climb the hill and disappear along a trail around the other side of the rice paddy. Everything was quite after 15:00 and I made up my mind to stay the night in my rice-paddy hiding place. But by 18:00 it had become so cold that I decided to empty the usable material out of the jungle pack and set out along the path that the searchers had taken. After walking a short distance, my ankle hurt so much that it was decided to hide in a clump of ferns and wait until someone came along that might be of help. It wasn’t long before two coolies came down the path and I held out my "Blood Chit" Chinese flag for identification. They were startled but apparently understood. They helped me walk down into the valley.

Approximately two miles from where I was lying, the three of us came to a village but the coolies wanted to continue on, probably to their homes. It wasn’t long however until the "Hey Joe" boy and several others from another village caught up with us lugging along a large picture of the Generalissimo as assurance that they were Chinese.

As soon as the general rejoicing had died down somewhat, the boy who had called previously introduced himself as Luke Yan Kwok, previously a house boy in KWEILIN’s hostel #4 (KWEILIN AFB) who had only that day succeeded in getting across the river having walked out of KWEILIN. SMALL WORLD.

Luke acted as interpreter and introduced me around although Luke himself was pretty much of a stranger in these parts. The Chinese villagers made a great show and to do of me; apparently, they had never seen a white man before. I was taken to the village magistrate and my shoe was removed, the swollen ankle examined and a doctor sent for. In the interim, some drinks were served which due to their potency, acted nearly as an anesthetic anyway.

Bath water was supplied as I was mud from head to foot and full advantage was taken of this luxury. A blouse and some tattletale gray shorts were provided while my own clothes were being cleaned. At their beckoning, all identification, personal property and insignia with the exception of my dog tags were removed and secured inside my clothes and then the Chinese doctor showed up to look at the injured ankle.

The foot was massaged and painted with some local remedy. Then hard-boiled eggs and tea was served along with the story of the villagers having only the day before had a fight with one hundred bandits and had been successfully in killing several. It was learned that there were many of these bandits along this stretch south of the river both east and west of WUCHOW. Most of them were deserters of the Chinese Army and preyed on the small towns along the way. As a consequence, everyone I met was armed with old rifles, homemade hand grenades of two types and with pistols. They said that they could hold their ground and fought the bandits but when the Japs came in they moved out.

A mosquito net was given to me and I gave the magistrate my flying gloves after he asked for a souvenir of my visit. Just before leaving, my newly acquired short pants were exchanged for a longer pair of the doctor’s; all the while the town fathers were deciding where I should go and they were preparing a sedan chair and enlisting coolies to carry it.

With four villagers as guards, we set out traveling west. After going about two miles, eight more guards turned up and fell in with the first group going ahead as scouts. The hills over which we traveled were not high but were difficult walking. All along the way, they had to give passwords by using bamboo torches and signaling from hill to hill. Had they not done so; Luke, who went along as interpreter, told me other villagers ahead would have shot them.

Late that night, we arrived at a small town where they were supposed to find the nephew of General Lee who was the power in this area but on finding that the nephew was gone, we continued on to the next village and to a large house, the home of Mr. Chow, an evacuee from WUCHOW and an ex-HONGKONG teacher of English who, it was learned, held a B.A. and M.A. degree. Here too were Mr. Lee, the nephew who had left school in KWEILIN as the Japs advanced, and Mr. Yao, a Lt. Col. in the Chinese Army now secretary to General Lee and previously to the Military Affaires Committee in KWEILIN, plus another man and his wife, refugees from HONGKONG and KWEILIN.

While my difficulties were being explained, they got more food for me and served wine while they discussed among themselves what should be done. Previously Luke had agreed to accompany me all the way out but here he asked to be relieved as he was seeking his wife whom he believed to be somewhere in the area. He did not seem too anxious to come out anyway. Mr. Yao made a big show of volunteering for the job at that point. Luke later left heading back but gave me the name of his brother-in-law who lives in Texas and asked that I write to him at his address in Texas.

The remainder of the night was spent in conference and conversation amongst the Chinese hosts. I supplied those that were not in the planning session with news of the outside world and showed them the various articles in the jungle pack and how they were used. During the three days stay at this house, I was made as comfortable as possible although sleeping on the floor in the attic. My biggest problem here was fighting the fleas that infested the attic – they seemed to like an Anglo diet! Another problem was absolutely no one remaining that spoke English and it was imperative that I stayed out of sight. Two very meager Chinese meals per day consisting of watered-down rice with some vegetables were provided. The high of the day, or rather the night, occurred after dark when I was able to sneak outside with one of my hosts and bath in a near-by creek. The mosquito bar provided earlier was really a blessing as the mosquitoes were thick in this area.

The time in the evenings was spent mainly in talk and it was learned that only two days before my arrival that the Japs had stormed through this town. The Chinese answer to this was to take everything moveable from their homes and go into the hills until the Japs had moved on. The evidence of their passing, however, was everywhere visible in the destruction wrought on real property. The Japs take everything they can lay their hands on, especially food.

The Chinese citizens usually have sufficient warning of the Jap approach because the inevitable dogs around all the little villages set up a continual howl when the Japs are moving. And on the proximity of the agitated dogs, the Chinese gauge their movement.

They also noted that the Japs usually traveled in groups averaging 300 along the south bank and slightly inland from the river. They travel at night. At that particular time, there were a number of Nips just ten miles from where I was staying but due to the mountainous terrain and trusty dogs, my hosts said that there was plenty of warning should the Japanese care to come this way.

During my stay there, the borrowed clothes were sent back to the doctor and my host gave me two new sets. The two coolies who first made contact with me asked for a reward but were told that I had already left and from that time on in this town no one but the residents in this particular house knew that I was still there.

On the morning of the second day, Mr. Tsang , a representative of General Lee arrived. Mr. Tsang, it was discovered, held a Ph.D. degree from Columbia, spoke excellent English and had been a professor in a CANTON University. He brought a gift of most welcome English Players cigarettes from the General and divulged the disheartening belief that it might not be possible due to the situation to get me out for six months or possibly until after the war. However, he did bring news that another pilot who had gone down was safe and the General thought it wise not even to try to get out until the two of us met and could make the attempt together.

Needless to say, I was not all that pleased at this prospect although I was in favor of joining the other pilot before starting out. This was delayed slightly because there were Japs at the town of DOSEN between the two of us. The Japs it was discovered left the town shortly afterwards but according to the information received from local Chinese, the eighty Puppet troops left behind had a raping good time before they moved on a couple days later. Rape and such carryings on were the usual procedure when Japs and their satellites enter the Chinese towns.

On the night of the third day, the elder brother of General Lee came as a second emissary from the General and we discussed the situation through an interpreter. It was finally decided that I should be taken immediately to meet with the other pilot and that the final decision would be left until the two of us could hold an audience with General Lee.

At 02:00 in the morning, I was provided with such necessities as a towel, a tooth- brush and extra sandals; and the party started out for WATLAM where we expected to find the other pilot. On leaving, I was told that there were only two things to worry about on the journey. One was the Japs who, the Chinese said could easily be avoided, and second were the Chinese bandits concerning whom the Chinese showed much trepidation. I was told that if captured by bandits one might by giving everything to them, pleading for mercy and possibly be spared. But if carrying arms of any kind when caught, it was sure death. Thus my .45 Army issue pistol was left at the house in which I had been staying.

Thus at 02:00 there were three sedan chairs provided: one for the elder brother, one for the nephew and one for me plus five guards to accompany us on our journey. Only one stop for any length of time that occurred was to discuss the possibility of landing a light plane on two side-by-side tennis courts. I immediately vetoed this suggestion. Not long after this, we stopped to rest momentarily at a town named after its larger counterpart across the river, TAKHING. This village was a mess having been host to numerous Japanese.

After a short delay, we traveled on and at 09:00 arrived at the village at which the meeting was to take place. Shortly after arriving, I was taken to a small building where I met Lt. Alan Putnam of the 26^th Fighter Squadron. Our host while staying here was General Lee’s son, P.K. Lee and his wife Lydia who were temporarily taking refuse in this is village. There was general rejoicing and considerable hilarity as Putnam and I viewed each other in our Chinese garb

. Mr. Lee spoke excellent English and it was quite reassuring to be able to talk to both him and Putnam after several days of communicating mostly by sign language. It was learned that Putnam had been shot down a day or so prior to my going down. There were about a dozen persons staying in this small building, including Mr. Lee’s one-year old son and all slept on the dirt floor - so one more person didn’t make much difference.

The festive mood was considerably enhanced by the presence of another Chinese doctor who insisted on imitating Charlie Chaplin. Another of the General’s nephews, a Mr. Lee, who was so helpful in getting Major James Williams, former C.O. of the 76^th Fighter Squadron out of HONGKONG last December, and a Chinese Chemical Engineer plus a slightly cracked Chinese artist who had studied and worked forty years in New York and claims to have designed the Chinese National flag and whose parting remark was "See you in Times Square".

The next day, the party including Putnam and me, went to visit General Lee in his mountain hideout that was well guarded from the Japanese. General Lee was introduced as being a member of the Chinese Military Affairs Committee and on the Military Advisory Council formerly stationed in KWEILIN. He wanted especially to be remembered to General Vincent and General Lindsay if and when Putnam and I returned to our bases. He also told us of his tentative plans for fighting in the area with guerillas organized from the local populace and what role the U.S. Air Force would have in these plans in the way of dropping supplies and arms to them. He went into considerable detail and sent an explanatory letter to General Lindsay to be delivered by Lt. Putnam.

He also discussed the possibility of Putnam and me walking out and when we said that we very much preferred to leave right away, he said that it would be arranged as soon as possible and he chose Lt. Col. Yao as the supervisor of the venture. Lt. Col. Yao would not be, it is understood, too happy about the choice and is presently disobeying orders to return immediately by making plans of his own to put himself in the service of the C.A.F.

A messenger was sent off to notify Col. Yao to come to General Lee and also he was requested to bring back my G.I. shoes that were left behind with my clothes. I had learned the hard way that the Chinese sandals furnished were nearly impossible to walk in!

General Lee spent most of the next day and one half making the necessary arrangements for the trip and writing ten or more letters to be carried and used to obtain assistance along the way. He also furnished expense money on an account of which was to be kept by Col. Yao who was to continue on to CHUNGKING to be reimbursed.

In the meantime, P.K. Lee’s mother, obtained a supple of black cotton cloth and fabricated a suit of Chinese-fashion clothes me, same as she had done for Putnam. This included a blouse and a pair of pants, complete with a draw-string, plus a set of underpants. Mrs. Lee did a wonderful job on very short notice! We were also given "pith helmets" which were customarily worn by Chinese gentlemen. This was probably done in order to hid Putnam’s blonde hair that would be a "dead" giveaway. But then, one doesn’t see many six-foot tall Chinese gentlemen either. We had our perfect disguise, except for our G.I. shoes that were considered a necessity. (Putnam’s Chinese suit is presently on display in the Air Museum at Warner-Robbins AFB, whereas I still have mine).

We said our many thanks for their hospitality and good-byes to P.K. and Lydia and off we went. On the first part of the day of the march, we walked only three hours partially because my ankle began to bother me considerably and it took a while to rig up a sedan chair to carry me. Tea was served in a small village at 17:00 that afternoon. This village had been very recently been evacuated of the populace due to the Japs passing through and they had not as yet returned. The town was nearly torn to pieces.

After resting a short while, we went over the hill to another village which apparently had not been lucky enough to receive early warning of the Nips approach and as a result a goodly proportion of their female population was missing; their heads having been shaved and them having been bodily carried off by the bringers of the "New and Enlightened Order".

In addition to the women, one hundred and fifty children had been "allowed" to tag along with the Jap soldiers, according to those that remained, as potential blood donors to the wounded Japanese soldiers.

The natives were, however, most cordial in their reception of our party and provided us with what they could in the way of food including an undoubted delicacy - roasted hornets. These tasted like parched corn and were devoured with relish by Putnam and me until the room lamps were lit and it allowed us to see what we were consuming. At this point, we suddenly lost our appetites.

It was not necessarily this particular diet that caused it, but at this stage of the journey, both Putnam and I developed mild cases of dysentery that hung on for the entire trip causing considerable discomfort.

After trying to sleep on the floor with brick pillows that night, we were glad to be off early the following day. This was necessary to keep up with the rigid schedule that General Lee had set. It was required that approximately twenty five miles be covered per day, or average nearly two and a half miles an hour while walking through the hills. And it was necessary to avoid the more obvious and consequently more dangerous avenues of travel. This walking over difficult terrain added to my still painful ankle and made it necessary, part of the time, to ride in a sedan chair. No matter -it was a hard day’s work!

At several places, we stopped at villages tucked away in the hills where it was obvious that no white man had previously been seen. Lt. Putnam’s age was variously put at forty-five to sixty due to his blond hair. At one stop, though, evidence of contact with the outside world was noted by the presence of several bottles of "Cherry Crush"; as produced by a SHANGHAI firm before the war and apparently it was kept for such an occasion as the arrival of two American pilots. The soft drink was equally as good as the pamelos and eggs that formed the rest of the snack. Also it was amazing to see that the village headman had a cane that was made of a gun barrel fitted so that it could be fired. And we also noted that the guards in this area had dum-dum bullets that were carried in their gun clips.

At this town too, the residents were just putting things back together after the Jap troops had crashed through. The first things the Japs had to repair when they came in and what the natives worked on when they left were the phone wires that seem to always be out of commission.

Along the route in one place, patches of armed Chinese, not regular troops or guerillas, were seen scattered out through the hills. It was said that they were trying to locate and raise havoc with three hundred Japanese whose passage had been observed along the same route being taken by our escape party.

It was in the area just east of SHUMKAI that out-crops of coal were noted. For a poor country with little natural energy resources, here was a place where abundant raw materials were present – just for the digging. Ah, reminiscent of my West Virginia home state!

From here on the travel was somewhat easier and more pleasant. Our party stayed one day with a Chinese millionaire, Mr. Wong Kin-Fan, whose large family included several concubines who entertained us with good food and accommodations plus a song fest in which numerous Chinese songs were sung including their National Anthem and several marching songs. Putnam and I reciprocated with the Star Spangled Banner, Home on the Range, Paper Doll and the Artillery’s "Caisson" song. All in this naturally protected section of the country had a pleasant time. It was learned that Mr. Wong was planning to guard his estate even better by training a number of soldiers and establishing a small garrison.

We were told that the Japanese were not very far from this home but had not as yet discovered it or at least had not tried to enter the area. Eight thousand Jap troops, it was claimed, had come up in two groups using different routes from Fort Bayard and had joined near the river before moving west and north. It was mentioned that these Japanese had been considerably less forward and destructive in their advance than had been those from the east leaving receipts for everything they stole and assuring the natives that these would be honored in full by the government after the war.

At JUNGYUN, we met a Father McKayhe who had the Catholic Mission in that town. He took good care of us while we were in this town. He also told us of the U.S. Air Force (26^th Fighter Squadron) bombing the town. Evidence of considerable destruction wrought was still plainly visible. The Father said that the Chinese had evacuated the town as the Japs came in and that they had all had a ringside seat for the air attack from a nearby hill. The number of Japs killed was only six men, so far as he knew, because the Japs were bivouacking on the outskirts of the town rather than in it. However, he did know that on the 11^th of October at about 13:00 hours, two Mustangs of the 26^th on a recon along the river to the north had caught a large number of Japs crossing the river and had strafed and killed three hundred men and seven horses. The residents of the town wanted the Father to express their appreciation to the Air Force through the two of us.

Actually the Japanese had not ram-sacked the town but the Chinese themselves had caused a great deal of damage by looting prior to the reentry of the residents.

During our stay in JUNGYUN, a British Captain and a sergeant joined our party temporarily. They were coming up from the region around the north end of the LIUCHOW Peninsula. They had operated a weather reporting station probably in connection with the British Military Mission. They were both of great assistance to us as they spoke Chinese and knew the country. In return, our presence made it not only more pleasant for the British but helped them as it seemed that the British were not too much appreciated by the natives in this section.

We were guests at several banquets given by the town officials and the military brass. These affairs went off well with a very happy and alcoholic time being had by all.

Many daring tales of escapes from CANTON and HONGKONG entertained us during the remainder of the trip, as told by both whites and Chinese that we met. Many of the stories were hair raising and some positively incredible: One Chinese told of the Japanese trying to cut off the civilians who were attempting to get out of CANTON when the Nips occupied it. They were mowed down in the road and those that were still alive were bayoneted where they lay. This particular fellow had jumped in a ditch and fortunately for him two of his companions had jumped on top of him. They were bayoneted and killed but he, being protected by their bodies was only slightly injured and managed to escape at night.

One of the HONGKONG missionaries told of an attack at his mission. It seems that some of the Canadian defenders of the island had taken over his mission as a likely and defensible building. They were finally beaten down and two dozen were taken prisoner. The missionaries had been held but not killed while soldiers were lined and tied up against the wall of the mission and bayoneted rather than being shot or held prisoner.

We were also told of some of the experiences of the fast Chinese motor boats which ran the blockade of the HONGKONG and CANTON harbors to bring out badly needed food and other supplies. The Jap harbor patrol vessels often caught them, but other times they fought successful battles. On one occasion, one of the Padres had gone along for the ride and the motor-boat was challenged by a small Japanese Patrol ship. During the running fight, the Padre was thrown overboard by a particularly violent maneuver and he later observed that the Chinese boat was cut to ribbons and blown up not a half mile further on. The Padre was fortunate in being able to walk out later on.

From here on west the party grew, the ranks being swelled by Father McKayhe and later by two other missionaries. The only difficulties encountered were the continued dysentery and minor annoyances caused by typical Chinese inefficiency.

Word got through from JUNGYUN to NANNING that we were OK. Plus arrangements were made with the 26^th Fighter Squadron for a supply dropping mission to bring us some of the items that were needed. The plane arrived on schedule and scored a bulls-eye with its loaded belly tank, using marker panels laid out on the out-skirts of town to guide it in. The somewhat battered supplies of food, cigarettes, etc. were very much appreciated.

We were treated to a scare when it was learned that the Japs were near KWEISIEN, southwest of KWEIPING and along our intended line of march. The route was varied slightly to detour around this area. But it was found out later that this information was not accurate.

Numerous other banquets were given as the party proceeded by walking, by sedan chair and by barge. The river travel was typical of the Chinese transportation system – numerous long waits being in order to catch the barge and secondly to "sweat out" the coolies or soldiers riding it who at the crucial moment when the tug was to start moving up the river would decide it was time to scatter out along the bank and cook their dinner.

Finally with many trials and minor tribulations, the barge was pulled through the rather hazardous stretch of rapids and the party was put aboard a good-sized river steamer. After three days, the steamer unloaded them at NANNING. We proceeded to the NANNING Air Force Base where I bid Alan Putnam a fond fair well and he returned to his squadron.. Lt. Col. Yao, who had accompanied us all the way during our walkout, and I boarded an Air Force shuttle plane and flew to LIUCHOW Air Force Base. Col. Yao spent a couple hours visiting with me at my hostel and recapping our somewhat trying journey. He, indeed, kept a large ledger of the expenses encountered along the way and planned to report to CHUNGKING. After taking a few pictures, thanking him for a great job in guiding us back to our air bases; we said good-bye and he took his leave.

I carried little money and actually found that in these particular circumstances I had little need for it. However, I absolutely feel that the "Blood Chit" Chinese Flag was an indispensable necessity and it was used it frequently along the route. I had no "pointy-talky" and really had no great need for one although I intend to carry one in the future.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have come out with only such minor inconveniences such as the G.I.’s and a slightly banged-up ankle. The walkout planning and guidance by the Chinese was excellent; although the trip was strenuous, slow and sometimes exasperating but non-the less the producing way the Chinese handled a difficult and rather delicate situation was remarkable. Throughout the ordeal, they maintain a great outer calm even though they had previously been severely hurt by the Japs and were at every moment in danger of additional attacks either by them or by the Chinese bandits. To all those persons who participated in this undertaking – my eternal thanks.

I returned to my squadron October 21, 1944 after being away seventeen days.

Note: This report is similar to that prepared by E. E. Paine, Captain U.S Air Corps., 76^th FS Intelligence Officer, as dictated October 22, 1944 by the writer. Tense change plus a few clarifying remarks were made.

Just returned to Liuchow – Leonard O’Dell

Lt. Col. Yao and Lt. O’Dell - Liuchow

October 1996

The following is from P.K. Lee of Roseville, Minnesota and Lt. Allan Putnam, referred to in his story, (26^th F.S.) is a Tiger Cousin and lives at 7814 Senrab Drive, Bradenton, FL 34209.

March 31, 1996

Gaylord L. Hall

Dear Gaylord:

Many thanks for your letter of March 13^th, it certainly contained a lot of long forgotten information. Yes, IT IS A SMALL WORLD. In fact it is unbelievable that you were able to come up with such a combination of incidences that occurred so long ago and to have involved such a large percentage of the world’s population. It staggers the imagination to think that two individuals from an extremely remote village in China who were good enough to help return two unfortunate pilots to their home bases, suddenly show up in this country and by coincidence tells the story to you. What do you suppose the odds of this happening might be?

From what I can tell after reading the information that you sent me, P.K. Lee and his wife must, indeed, be the two people that Putnam and I stayed with for a day or so. My intentions are to write P.K. and explore the situation with him further to get the facts straightened out (in my head). I didn’t realize that the General that he spoke of in the story was his father. It seems like we must have hiked about a half-day to reach the hide-away compound where this General and his staff were located. I thought at the time that he was a much older person - but there again anybody over 30 probably looked ancient to a 20 year old country boy from West Virginia!

Another coincidence, I recently learned from a friend of mine here in Louisville, who was in the Navy SACO unit, was attached to this very guerrilla organization. At that particular time, he was down on the south China coast observing enemy operations around Canton. He described the mountain hideout well enough for me to concur this it was the same place. Unfortunately, my good friend Art Wilding died this January. I’m sure that he would have enjoyed this story and likely would have recognized the name and photo of P.K.’s father. It’s possible that P.K. would recognize Art Wilding’s name and as such I will include this in my letter to him. (Another Small World !)

April 2, 1996

April 25, 1996

P.K. Lee

It was certainly nice to receive your April 6^th letter and to learn a little more about what has transpired with you in the last 52 years. I’m sure that there is a great deal of your "Large World" that I haven’t heard about. For instance: when did you come to the States?; in what type work have you been involved?; why you choose Minnesota as your new home; do you have family living in the States?; do you still have family in China?; how often do you return to China?, etc. I’m just curious - you don’t have to answer these questions if there is any problem.

I should have answered your letter before now but we have spent the last two weekends camping in our new RV. In fact, we are off again tomorrow to spend the weekend about 40 miles from Louisville with our regular camping club. Then next week we are off to Florida for a three- week "round robin" trip which we have been looking forward to all winter.

Spring has finally arrived in Kentucky and the weather is almost agreeable although it still has a few periods when it reverts to winter-like conditions. This weekend camp-out will be spent in a little town in Kentucky that has a "Dogwood Festival". We have been there previously this time of year and have enjoyed it very much.

Sorry that you will not be in Florida in October when we have our 23^rd Fighter Group Reunion. We plan to attend and expect to see Gaylord Hall while in Fort Walton Beach. This is a wonderful area and we look forward to spending a few extra days while in the area.

We would be delighted for you and your wife to stop by Louisville while on your way to Florida and visit with us. This should be a natural stop because it is about one (hard) day’s drive from St. Paul. There is one problem - - we may be in Florida ourselves at about the first of the year. We really haven’t made any plans yet, but one of the places that we plan to visit during our trip to Florida in May is a potential site from winter camping in the Punta Gorda area of south Florida. This would be the first time that we have spent any extended time in Florida during the winter, so we just don’t know how we might react.

If we don’t go to Florida before your trip, we would be happy for you to drop by. On the other hand, if we go to Florida before your trip; we could stop by and see you in Destin. Keep in mind that we will be traveling in our motor home and we would be staying in an RV campground. We can just about go any direction on our way home. We probably won’t spend more than about two months in Florida next winter; which means that you could stop in Louisville to see us on your way back to Minnesota. Anyway - keep in touch and we can make plans when the time is right. I was certainly glad to learn that you remembered the Chinese gentleman that sang "My Blue Heaven" in English during Putnam and my stay in your home in South China. Dr. Tsung was a most interesting person. I have told the story about him at least a thousand times!

Many thanks for sending me the photos of your father. I really didn’t get a chance to know him because the time spent at his headquarters was very brief. The arrangements made to get Putnam and me back to our air bases worked very well without any problems. I have asked some Chinese friends here in Louisville to translate the Chinese written material that was included with the photos.

I notice that you, too, have a computer and are using Microsoft WORD Processor. This is a good program and I enjoy using it for letters such as this. I’ve tried using WORD to write two different newsletters that I somehow "volunteered" to edit - however Word is difficult to use for this purpose. Microsoft Publisher is much easier to use and I will probably switch back to Publisher next time. You must have a very effective printer because your copies are very clear and precise. Is this ink jet or laser?

We look forward to hearing from you and remember - you have an open invitation to visit us in Louisville.

Yours very truly, Leonard O’Dell

August 23, 1996

P.K & Lydia Lee

Dear P.K. and Lydia:

Many thanks for your letter of July 13th, it was interesting to learn where you spend your winter months in Destin. Your condo "Jetty East" is just about due south of the Destin Army Recreation Area Campground where we hope to stay while in Florida for the 23^rd Fighter Group Reunion in October. We will have some spare time while there and will drive over to your "home away from home" and look around.

A week or so before we got your letter, my wife’s bridge group of ladies played at our house and one of them commented that their condo in Destin was very close to the Army campground. We got out the map showing the campground, and sure enough, it was close. Then my wife went to another bridge evening again the following week and she took along the brochure that you sent on "Jetty East". Guess what ? Her condo is next door to Jetty East. Another SMALL WORLD ……………………..

…………………………

Additional Comments:

During our winter travels to Florida, we met with Alan Putnam and his wife in 1997 while staying at Punta Gorda RV Park. It was such a pleasure seeing him after 53 years had elapsed. We had a very nice conversation about what had happened to each of us during the intervening years. And we learned that Punta Gorda, FL had been part of the area that Alan had supervised during his working years. We also learned that his wife’s father, years ago, had farmed the beach front land along the nearby coast and a Recreation area is named after him. Another Small World !

Alan and Jane Putnam with Leonard O’Dell, after 53 years after sharing a fantastic 
walkout experience in southern China.

The writer and P.K. Lee inside the Mall of Americas

Lydia Lee and Leonard O’Dell outside the Mall of the Americas

It was learned that P.K. and his family had come to the USA shortly after WW II; lived and worked in New York City for ten years before moving to Minneapolis. He worked as a Chemist for Minneapolis Mining for 27 years before retiring a few years ago. His daughter Wendy, from San Francisco, was visiting while I was there. Lydia Lee and Mike live in Minneapolis and both work for the local Board of Education. Mike, who was originally from Duluth, teaches English in school and it was interesting to learn that he speaks fluent Chinese and that they have made several trips to China.

All of the family members were eager to hear some of the details of Alan Putman and my trip from their "old" family home area in China back to our air bases. Some of the details of our walkout were reiterated, at least enough to satisfy their curiosity. More details have been covered earlier in this write-up that they may also find interesting. I must admit that I had forgotten some of the finer points that had to be clarified by looking through my notes. I told them that I had been encouraged by my son to put the whole episode in writing as it would, perhaps, make a good addition to the 76^th Fighter Squadron website. In fact, as I write, this story article Another Small World will be included in the website that is being put together by my son Douglas O’Dell, WebMaster. Its internet website address is: http://thevanguard.bizland.com.

P.K. advised that the book that he has written entitled "My Father Li Chi-Shen" is presently being printed in China (in Chinese). One chapter in it presently describes the rescue of two downed U.S. Air Force fighter pilots during 1944. He expressed the desire to up-date and expand the account using my input from this article. I told him that he could use any or all of it, but that he would have to translate it for me!

I presented a miniature CBI flag set (China, India, Burma and USA) to P.K. and Lydia as a very small token of appreciation for their friendship and help many years ago. After saying good-bye to Wendy, Lydia Lee and Mike, we continued our tour of Minneapolis and then drove out to the 3M Office complex. Quite a large facility! We visited their Employees Sales building and found many desirable products that could be purchased for practically nothing. What a temping place. I didn’t realize that 3M made so many consumer products.

It was certainly an interesting visit with some fine people that had befriended me many years ago. It is hoped and pray that they will be able to come to visit me sometime soon in Louisville, KY. It is indeed – Another Small World that we live in.

Leonard J. O’Dell