Sunday, June 30, 2019

Australian Warrior in China Admires His Yank Counterparts

Gilbert Stuart:
The OSS operational groups were the first American military men to achieve substantial success in training Asians.  Every last OSS instructor knew his specialty from A to Z.  Each had a record of success in his subject.  Therefore, he was given considerable independence in his teaching.
Each commando soon reflected his teachers' personalities.  And oddly enough, these tough Yanks who came to teach the Chinese how to kill also brough [sic] with them more brotherly love than many do-gooders I have met on Asian soil.
This is a quote from the 1965 book by Stuart and Levy, Kind-Hearted Tiger.

The passage appears in typescript notes made by R. Harris Smith for his own book, OSS: The Secret History of America's First Central Intelligence Agency.

The Harris notes are in the "China" file in the collection of R. Harris Smith papers: Box 2, Folder 1, Hoover Institution Archives.


We have read quotes from Stuart and Levy previously, here.

A New York Times book note of June 1, 1964 describes Stuart as follows:
"KIND-HEARTED TIGER. By Gilbert Stuart with Alan Levy. 375 pages. Little, Brown $5.95.
The bold adventures of Gilbert Stuart, a British-born Australian who served with Chinese forces during the Sino-Japanese War, are detailed in this fast-moving story of his life."
In this blog we have been examining events, personalities, and assessments within a particular field of interest; we are going to continue with more particulars.  For background and the big picture, which after all we all need, one place to start is good old Wikipedia: