Ep. 116 | John Service (Part 2)
In this second episode covering the life of John S. Service, we take a look at the general situation and the proliferation of mistrust and bad faith in wartime Chongqing. Chiang Kai-shek remains baffled and frustrated with American efforts to cozy up to Mao.
He blames the China Hands such as John Service for feeding American officials the CCP propaganda. It’s a poisonous atmosphere in China and the spectre of civil war keeps growing. Factions within the US government begin to circle their wagons and listen only to each other rather than understand what was happening in front of their eyes.
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Terms in Episode
| Pinyin/Term | Chinese | English/Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Chengdu | 成都 | Capital of Sichuan province, birthplace of John Service |
| Chiang Kai-shek | 蒋介石 | KMT leader, military strongman and wartime president of China |
| Chongqing | 重庆 | Municipality in China that once was part of Sichuan. Served as the wartime capital of China after the Nationalists were chased out of Nanjing and Hankou |
| Clarence Gauss | - | Long-serving US diplomat in China. Appointed ambassador to China (in Chungking) during the the early war years. |
| Cordell Hull | - | US Secretary of State for most of WWII |
| FDR | - | Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
| Harry Hopkins | - | One of Roosevelt’s closest advisors |
| Henry Luce | - | China-born publisher of two of the most influential American magazines of their day, Time and Life. Chiang Kai-shek’s most valuable supporter in the US. |
| Henry Wallace | - | FDR’s Vice President, led the Wallace Mission |
| John Carter Vincent | - | Another China Hand and Foreign Service officer |
| John Paton Davies | - | Childhood friend of John Service and fellow China Hand and Foreign Service officer |
| John Stewart Service | - | China Hand, Foreign Service officer |
| Joseph Stilwell | - | US Army Four-star general. A legend in his own time. The bete noir of Chiang Kai-shek |
| Lauchlin Currie | - | A White House economic advisor and aide-de-camp to Franklin Roosevelt |
| Madame Chiang (Song Meiling) | 宋美龄 | Soong Mei-ling |
| Max Hamilton | - | Protégé of Stanley Hornbeck and Chief of the China Affairs Bureau at State |
| Milton E. (Mary) Miles | - | Naval Intel spook and Deputy Dirctor of SACO |
| Owen Lattimore | - | China, Mongolian and Central Asia specialist sent by Roosevelt to serve as an aid to Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing |
| Patrick Hurley | - | He will be introduced in Part II. He succeeded Clarence Gauss as Ambassador to China during the latter half of the War |
| Stanley Hornbeck | - | Special advisor to Cordell Hull. Very serious CKS supporter. |
| Tai Li (Dai Li) | 戴笠 | Called China’s Himmler…. He was Chiang Kai-shek’s chief of secret police. |
| Theodore White | 白修德 | Immortal American writer, historian and journalist. Got the word out to American about the Henan Famine. |
| “Wild Bill” Donovan | - | Founder of the OSS, forerunner to the CIA |
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