OSS Detachment 101
Encyclopedia
Detachment 101 of the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...

operated in the China Burma India Theater of World War II
China Burma India Theater of World War II
China Burma India Theater was the name used by the United States Army for its forces operating in conjunction with British and Chinese Allied air and land forces in China, Burma, and India during World War II...

. On January 17, 1946, it was awarded a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation
Presidential Unit Citation (US)
The Presidential Unit Citation, originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United States and allies for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941...

 by Dwight Eisenhower, who wrote, "The courage and fighting spirit displayed by its officers and men in offensive action against overwhelming enemy strength reflect the highest tradition of the armed forces of the United States".

History

The unit was in existence from April 14, 1942 to July 12, 1945. During most of that time, it funded and coordinated various resistance groups made up of the Kachin peoples of northern Burma. One resistance force was known as the Kachin Rangers and was under the command of Carl F. Eifler
Carl F. Eifler
Carl Eifler was a U.S. Army officer.Eifler was a graduate of the Los Angeles Police Academy. As a young man, he served in the Los Angeles Police Department and in the U.S. Border Patrol. A reserve Army officer, he was called to active service when the U.S. entered World War II...

 though often the term Kachin Rangers has been used to describe all Kachin Forces raised during the war by the Americans in Northern Burma.

In July 1942, twenty OSS men moved in and set up headquarters in Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

. No operations of any significance occurred until the end of 1942. Starting in 1943, small groups or individuals were parachuted behind 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...

ese lines to remote Kachin villages, followed by a parachute supply drop. The Americans then began to create independent guerrilla groups of the Kachin people, calling in weapons and equipment drops. In December 1943 Stilwell issued a directive that Detachment 101 to increase its strength to 3,000 guerillas, they were recruited from within Burma many of them "fierce Kachins".

Once settled, the groups undertook a variety of unconventional missions: ambushing Japanese patrols, rescuing downed American pilots, and clearing small landing strips in the jungle. They also screened the advances of larger allied forces, including Merrill's Marauders
Merrill's Marauders
Merrill’s Marauders or Unit Galahad, officially named the 5307th Composite Unit , was a United States Army long range penetration special operations unit in the South-East Asian Theater of World War II which fought in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, or CBI...

.

Eifler held the rank of 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 he was discharged in 1943 because of injuries. Lt. Col. William R. Peers
William R. Peers
William R. Peers was a United States Army General, who is most notable for presiding over the Peers Commission investigation into the My Lai massacre and other similar war crimes during the Vietnam War.-Biography:...

 took over command. At the end of the war, each Kachin Ranger was given the CMA (Citation for Military Assistance) Award. The medal was actually the result of a mistake. One OSS officer, reading a radio message that advised him how to reward heroic Kachin action, had misinterpreted the word for "comma", "CMA", as signifying some kind of medal. Unable to leave the Kachins empty-handed, the medal was quickly created by the OSS and delivered.

Further reading

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