David D. Barrett
Encyclopedia
David Dean Barrett was an American soldier
, diplomat, and an old Army China hand. Barrett served more than 35 years in the U.S. Army, almost entirely in China. In that time period, Barrett was part of the American military experience in China, and played a critical role in the first official contact between the Communist Party of China
and the United States government. Notably, he was commander of the U.S. Army Observation Group
, also known as the Dixie Mission
, to Yan'an
, China, in 1944. His involvement in the Dixie Mission cost him promotion to general from colonel
when Presidential Envoy Patrick Hurley falsely accused Barrett of underminding his mission to unite the Communists and Nationalists.
, in 1892. At age 23, he graduated from the University of Colorado
, and proceeded to teach high school
English for the next two years. At the outbreak of the First World War, Barrett immediately enlisted only to remained stationed stateside as a second lieutenant in Utah
for the duration of the war.
Upon the war's conclusion, Barrett chose to make the military a career and was rewarded with a position on a troopship to join the American expedition to Siberia
in 1920. Barrett never made it to Siberia. Instead, his ship was diverted to the Philippines
, where he served for four years. It was in the Philippines that Barrett learned of an army program to trained officers in various foreign languages. Barrett signed up for a chance to travel to Japan
to learn its language
, but found all vacancies filled. He was then directed to the next alternative and was sent to Beijing
.
Part of Barrett's education involved the use of the Chinese Classics, such as the Confucian Analects, and I Ching
. Later in life, he instantly impressed and earned a greater respect and appreciation from Chinese for his ability to quote passages from the Classics. Barrett augmented his education with trips into the countryside to practice conversation with the less urban Chinese. In 1927, he was transferred to the Fifteenth Infantry Regiment headquarters in Tientsin. The executive officer of the regiment at the time was Lieutenant Colonel George C. Marshall, the future Secretary of State
. Battalion commander of one of the two battalions stationed in Tientsin, was then Major Joseph Stilwell
. Barrett encountered the two again a year later at the Infantry School
at Fort Benning
, Georgia
.
The three short years he spent at the school and in the United States was an anomaly in a career that was spent almost entirely in China. By 1931, he was permanently assigned at the Fifteenth Infantry in Tientsin as a regimental intelligence staff officer. From this position he watched the Kuomintang
suppression of the Chinese Communists
, who, in Barrett's opinion, were irresponsibly and wrongly designated as bandits by the KMT.
Barrett's tour of duty in Tientsin ended in 1934. Two years later, he was assigned to be an Assistant Military Attaché to the American Legation in Beijing. His executive officer in Beijing, and acting Military Attaché, was Joseph Stilwell
, then a full colonel.
Stationed in Tientsin and then Beijing, Barrett had a front row seat to watch the growing Japanese encroachment on China. The most notable event that Barrett personally witnessed was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937. On the day after the start of the conflict, July 8, Barrett was among one of the first foreign observers on the scene. Later the same day, Barrett returned with Stilwell, where both men were fired upon by Japanese troops. It was, Barrett noted, the first and last time he ever heard a shot pass him in anger.
Due to his position in the American Legation in Beijing, Barrett moved with the Nationalist government as it fled the approach of the Japanese. First to Hankow, where Barrett often drove out to the frontline to observe the fighting between the Chinese and Japanese forces. By 1938, Hankow fell and the Nationalists again retreated, this time to Chungking. It was in Chungking that Barrett remained until 1943.
until May 1942, where he assumed the post of chief attaché inherited from General John Magruder
. However, any sense of accomplishment for the post was stymied by the build up of a major American military presence in China. It was because the position of attaché was attached to the embassy, and so Barrett was removed from much of the military planning and operations executed by the regular American military, whose presence was constantly growing in the capital. Another problem was the habit of Nationalist officials to bypass Barrett and communicate directly with the American military personnel.
Barrett remained in the position up through the summer of 1943. Under the belief that he would never gain promotion to general officer, he requested a transfer out of the embassy detail. His wishes were granted and he found himself assigned to assist in the American creation of a Chinese field army at Kweilin in the Kwangsi Province in southern China. Due to supply failures and political entanglements, the army never advanced beyond the establishment of a headquarters. It was from this post that Barrett was plucked out and sent to command the observer group to Yan'an.
four days after his arrival in Chungking, did he learn he was to assume command of the mission. At the time, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek
had not yet provided his consent to the mission and Barrett waited a month in Chungking before being ordered back to Kweilin. He remained there until the start of July, when the success of Vice-President
Henry Wallace
's mission to Chungking signaled a green light for the mission.
Col. Barrett, Maj. Ray Cromley, Maj. Melvin Casbert, Capt. John Colling, Capt. Charles Stelle, Capt. Paul Domke, 1st Lt. Henry Wittlesey, Staff Sgt Anton Remeneh, US Embassy 2nd Secretary John S. Service
and political attaché Raymond Ludden arrived in Yenan on July 22, 1944. While Service handled political discussions, Barrett was in charge of working out a cooperative military strategy.
Barrett remained in command of the Dixie Mission up into November, 1944, when he was removed to help Ambassador Patrick Hurley in negotiations to unify the Nationalists and Communists, as well as help plan potential American-Communist cooperative plans at the theater headquarters of General Albert C. Wedemeyer. While serving as a courier and representative for Wedemeyer's chief of staff, General Robert B. McClure, Barrett was sent on two missions to Yan'an to speak with Communist leadership. The last discussion involved the possibility of a joint Communist-American military mission involving several thousands of American troops. As this plan, developed by McClure hurt Hurley's attempts to bring the Communist into a joint-government plan, Hurley accused Barrett of sabotaging his negotiations. Hurley stopped a promotion in motion to make Barrett a Brigadier General
and had him removed to a small corner of the China theater for the rest of the war.
to the Nationalist government after it had fled the mainland in 1949. This was his last post before retiring from the U.S. Army.
As a civilian, Barrett served as a professor at the University of Colorado
. He was instrumental in establishing a modern Chinese language course there and lectured in the modern history of China and occasionally in Shakespearean studies.
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, diplomat, and an old Army China hand. Barrett served more than 35 years in the U.S. Army, almost entirely in China. In that time period, Barrett was part of the American military experience in China, and played a critical role in the first official contact between the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
and the United States government. Notably, he was commander of the U.S. Army Observation Group
Dixie Mission
The United States Army Observation Group, commonly known as the Dixie Mission, was the first U.S. effort to establish official relations with the Communist Party of China and the People's Liberation Army, then headquartered in the mountainous city of Yan'an...
, also known as the Dixie Mission
Dixie Mission
The United States Army Observation Group, commonly known as the Dixie Mission, was the first U.S. effort to establish official relations with the Communist Party of China and the People's Liberation Army, then headquartered in the mountainous city of Yan'an...
, to Yan'an
Yan'an
Yan'an , is a prefecture-level city in the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province in China, administering several counties, including Zhidan County , which served as the Chinese communist capital before the city of Yan'an proper took that role....
, China, in 1944. His involvement in the Dixie Mission cost him promotion to general from colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
when Presidential Envoy Patrick Hurley falsely accused Barrett of underminding his mission to unite the Communists and Nationalists.
Early life
David Barrett was born in Central City, ColoradoCentral City, Colorado
Central City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...
, in 1892. At age 23, he graduated from the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, and proceeded to teach high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
English for the next two years. At the outbreak of the First World War, Barrett immediately enlisted only to remained stationed stateside as a second lieutenant in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
for the duration of the war.
Upon the war's conclusion, Barrett chose to make the military a career and was rewarded with a position on a troopship to join the American expedition to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in 1920. Barrett never made it to Siberia. Instead, his ship was diverted to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, where he served for four years. It was in the Philippines that Barrett learned of an army program to trained officers in various foreign languages. Barrett signed up for a chance to travel to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to learn its language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, but found all vacancies filled. He was then directed to the next alternative and was sent to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.
Pre-war life in China
Barrett arrived in Beijing in 1924 and assumed the post of Assistant Military Attaché for Language Study. The process by which Barrett learned the Beijing dialect consisted of daily practice with Mandarin teachers of approximately five hours, followed by an additional two hours of personal study. Barrett called his time with the teachers a joy and the dialect spoken in the former imperial capital, "the most beautiful Chinese in the world."Part of Barrett's education involved the use of the Chinese Classics, such as the Confucian Analects, and I Ching
I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...
. Later in life, he instantly impressed and earned a greater respect and appreciation from Chinese for his ability to quote passages from the Classics. Barrett augmented his education with trips into the countryside to practice conversation with the less urban Chinese. In 1927, he was transferred to the Fifteenth Infantry Regiment headquarters in Tientsin. The executive officer of the regiment at the time was Lieutenant Colonel George C. Marshall, the future Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
. Battalion commander of one of the two battalions stationed in Tientsin, was then Major Joseph Stilwell
Joseph Stilwell
General Joseph Warren Stilwell was a United States Army four-star General known for service in the China Burma India Theater. His caustic personality was reflected in the nickname "Vinegar Joe"...
. Barrett encountered the two again a year later at the Infantry School
United States Army Infantry School
The United States Army Infantry School is located in Fort Benning, Georgia. It is made up of the following components:*192d Infantry Brigade...
at Fort Benning
Fort Benning
Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
The three short years he spent at the school and in the United States was an anomaly in a career that was spent almost entirely in China. By 1931, he was permanently assigned at the Fifteenth Infantry in Tientsin as a regimental intelligence staff officer. From this position he watched the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
suppression of the Chinese Communists
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
, who, in Barrett's opinion, were irresponsibly and wrongly designated as bandits by the KMT.
Barrett's tour of duty in Tientsin ended in 1934. Two years later, he was assigned to be an Assistant Military Attaché to the American Legation in Beijing. His executive officer in Beijing, and acting Military Attaché, was Joseph Stilwell
Joseph Stilwell
General Joseph Warren Stilwell was a United States Army four-star General known for service in the China Burma India Theater. His caustic personality was reflected in the nickname "Vinegar Joe"...
, then a full colonel.
Stationed in Tientsin and then Beijing, Barrett had a front row seat to watch the growing Japanese encroachment on China. The most notable event that Barrett personally witnessed was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937. On the day after the start of the conflict, July 8, Barrett was among one of the first foreign observers on the scene. Later the same day, Barrett returned with Stilwell, where both men were fired upon by Japanese troops. It was, Barrett noted, the first and last time he ever heard a shot pass him in anger.
Due to his position in the American Legation in Beijing, Barrett moved with the Nationalist government as it fled the approach of the Japanese. First to Hankow, where Barrett often drove out to the frontline to observe the fighting between the Chinese and Japanese forces. By 1938, Hankow fell and the Nationalists again retreated, this time to Chungking. It was in Chungking that Barrett remained until 1943.
Second World War career
Barrett remained in the capacity of Assistant Military AttachéMilitary attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
until May 1942, where he assumed the post of chief attaché inherited from General John Magruder
John Magruder (Brigadier General)
John Magruder was a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army. Among his offices was that of Deputy Director for Intelligence for the Office of Strategic Services....
. However, any sense of accomplishment for the post was stymied by the build up of a major American military presence in China. It was because the position of attaché was attached to the embassy, and so Barrett was removed from much of the military planning and operations executed by the regular American military, whose presence was constantly growing in the capital. Another problem was the habit of Nationalist officials to bypass Barrett and communicate directly with the American military personnel.
Barrett remained in the position up through the summer of 1943. Under the belief that he would never gain promotion to general officer, he requested a transfer out of the embassy detail. His wishes were granted and he found himself assigned to assist in the American creation of a Chinese field army at Kweilin in the Kwangsi Province in southern China. Due to supply failures and political entanglements, the army never advanced beyond the establishment of a headquarters. It was from this post that Barrett was plucked out and sent to command the observer group to Yan'an.
Command of the Dixie Mission
On March 24, Barrett received an order to proceed to Chungking for temporary duty, unaware of the plans for the observer group to Yan'an. Not until he met John ServiceJohn S. Service
John Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
four days after his arrival in Chungking, did he learn he was to assume command of the mission. At the time, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
had not yet provided his consent to the mission and Barrett waited a month in Chungking before being ordered back to Kweilin. He remained there until the start of July, when the success of Vice-President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Henry Wallace
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
's mission to Chungking signaled a green light for the mission.
Col. Barrett, Maj. Ray Cromley, Maj. Melvin Casbert, Capt. John Colling, Capt. Charles Stelle, Capt. Paul Domke, 1st Lt. Henry Wittlesey, Staff Sgt Anton Remeneh, US Embassy 2nd Secretary John S. Service
John S. Service
John Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
and political attaché Raymond Ludden arrived in Yenan on July 22, 1944. While Service handled political discussions, Barrett was in charge of working out a cooperative military strategy.
Barrett remained in command of the Dixie Mission up into November, 1944, when he was removed to help Ambassador Patrick Hurley in negotiations to unify the Nationalists and Communists, as well as help plan potential American-Communist cooperative plans at the theater headquarters of General Albert C. Wedemeyer. While serving as a courier and representative for Wedemeyer's chief of staff, General Robert B. McClure, Barrett was sent on two missions to Yan'an to speak with Communist leadership. The last discussion involved the possibility of a joint Communist-American military mission involving several thousands of American troops. As this plan, developed by McClure hurt Hurley's attempts to bring the Communist into a joint-government plan, Hurley accused Barrett of sabotaging his negotiations. Hurley stopped a promotion in motion to make Barrett a Brigadier General
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
and had him removed to a small corner of the China theater for the rest of the war.
Post-war life
After the end of the war, Barrett was assigned to be the military attachéMilitary attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
to the Nationalist government after it had fled the mainland in 1949. This was his last post before retiring from the U.S. Army.
As a civilian, Barrett served as a professor at the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
. He was instrumental in establishing a modern Chinese language course there and lectured in the modern history of China and occasionally in Shakespearean studies.