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Whittlesey, Henry C. (0358386): Difference between revisions

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Rewrite bio from Gross Whittlesey note; death date 2 February 1945; Dixie Mission cites
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|death_date=2 February 1945
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'''[[Whittlesey, Henry C. (0358386)|Henry Clark Whittlesey]]''' (10 August 1906 – 1945) was a Ritchie Boy (from United States) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 3.
'''Henry Clark Whittlesey''' (10 August 1906&ndash;2 February 1945) was a China-born Ritchie Boy ([[Class 3]]) and Dixie Mission officer killed in China; he received the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
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== Biography ==
== Biography ==
Henry Clark Whittlesey was born August 10, 1906 in Chongqing, China. Henry attended Born and raised in China, Henry Whittlesey moved back to the United States before going to college. Henry was one of six kids born to his parents, Roger and Annie Withey Whittlesey.
Henry Clark Whittlesey was born on 10 August 1906 in Chongqing, China, one of six children of missionaries Roger and Annie Withey Whittlesey. He attended the Chefoo Schools in China through 1918 and later Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania (1924–1928). After returning to the United States he worked as a journalist in Philadelphia.


He went to Chefoo Schools in China through 1918. He was enrolled at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania from 1924-1928. He had training at the Military Intelligence Training Center, Camp Ritchie, Maryland, as well as the Yale University Chinese School in 1943.
During World War II he trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 3) and at the Yale University Chinese School (1943). Fluent in Chinese, he joined the Dixie Mission (1944–1945), the American observation group sent to Yan’an to assess the Chinese Communists and consider closer wartime cooperation. While preparing in India and working in the Yan’an area he also wrote short wartime sketches later collected by his daughter Ruth Schroeder as ''Sidelights of the War''.


He earned the following: Medals and Awards Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal Distinguished Service Cross Citation (Synopsis) The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Captain [[Whittlesey, Henry C. He was also a member of the Dixie mission (1944-5), an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, to investigate and consider establishing official relations with the Chinese Communists. From July 1944 to 21 January 1945, Captain Henry Clark Whittlesey was serving with an unspecified unit of the U.S.
On 2 February 1945, while on a reconnaissance trip south of Fouping connected with plans to evacuate downed pilots, Whittlesey was killed; accounts differ on whether he and a photographer were shot by Japanese snipers or captured and executed. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
 
He worked as a it was during this trip that the burgeoning thirty-year-old diplomat began to reveal his nascent literary talent. He was a writer and a member of the Dixie Mission. Captain Henry Clark Whittlesey was a Ritchie Boy, who never made it home.
 
Both were China Inland missionaries. Living in Philadelphia, he worked as a journalist. During that time, Captain Whittlesey, fluent in the Chinese language, was on a top-secret mission (the Dixie Mission) in Japanese-occupied Shannxi (Shensi) province in northwest China.


== Research notes ==
== Research notes ==
* To Yale. See: Mission to Yenan
* To Yale. See: Mission to Yenan
* Dixie Mission; death 2 February 1945 near Fouping (accounts differ)


== Technical record ==
== Technical record ==
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== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* Henry C. Whittlesey, ''Sidelights of the War'', ed. Ruth Schroeder (New York: Transfer Art, 2006)
* Carolle J. Carter, ''Mission to Yenan: American Liaison with the Chinese Communists 1944–1947'' (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1997)
* Dan Gross research archive (miscellaneous timeline-adjacent documents; not uploaded): ''Henry C. Whittlesey note.doc''
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
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