John Birch (missionary): Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{shortShort description|American missionary and military officer}}

{{Infobox military person

| name = John Birch

| birth_name = John Morrison Birch

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1918|5|28}}

| birth_place = [[Landour]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]], [[British India]] (now in [[Uttarakhand]], India)

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|08|25|1918|05|08}}

| death_place= Killed by Chinese Communist soldiers in= [[Xuzhou]], [[Jiangsu]], [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]]

| image = John Birch.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Captain John Birch, U.S. Army Air Forces

| allegiance = {{flag|United States|United States of America}}

| branch = {{Army|United States}}

| serviceyears = 1942–1945

| rank = [[Captain (United States)|Captain]]

| commands =

| unit =

| battles = [[World War II]]

| awards = [[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Army Distinguished Service Medal]] <br />[[Legion of Merit]] (2)

}}

'''John Morrison Birch''' (May 28, 1918&nbsp;– August 25, 1945) was a [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[military intelligence]] captain, [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]] [[field agent]] in China during [[World War II]], as well as former [[Baptists|Baptist]] minister and [[missionary]]. He was killed in a confrontation with [[Chinese Communist Party|Chinese Communist]] soldiers during an assignment he was ordered on by the OSS, ten days after the war ended.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}<ref name="ForCountry"/> Birch was posthumously awarded the [[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Army Distinguished Service Medal]].

The [[John Birch Society]] (JBS), an American [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] organization, was named in his memory by [[Robert W. Welch Jr.|Robert H. W. Welch Jr.]] in 1958.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Welch considered Birch to be a [[martyr]] and the first casualty of the [[Cold War]]. Birch's parents joined the JBS as honorary life members.

==Early life==

Birch was born to [[Presbyterian]] missionaries in [[Landour]], a [[hill station]] in the [[Himalayas]] now in the northern [[India]] state of [[Uttarakhand]], at the time in the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]]. His parents, Ethel (Ellis) and George S. Birch who were college graduates,<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>|p=32}} were on a three-year period missionary service in the country, working under [[Sam Higginbottom]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/11/a-view-from-the-fringe|title=A View from the Fringe|author=Thomas Mallon|date=11 January 2016|magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref> In 1920, when he was two, the family left [[India]] and returned to the United States due to his father having [[malaria]].<ref name="Birch">{{cite book|last=Welch|first=Robert H. W.|title=The Life of John Birch: In the story of one American boy, the ordeal of his age|year=1960|publisher=Henry Regnery Company (US)|isbn=0-88279116-8}}</ref> John Birch was the oldest of seven children.<ref name="Birch"/>

In the States, his parents left the Presbyterian Church, and Birch was raised and baptized in the Fundamental Baptist tradition. He lived in [[Vineland, New Jersey]] and [[Floyd County, Georgia|Crystal Springs]] and [[Macon, Georgia]].<ref name="John Birch 1980">{{cite booksfn|title=The Secret File on John BirchHefley|author=James & Marti Hefley|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.|year=1980|isbnpp=0-8423-5862-532–35}}</ref> He graduated from Gore High School<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chattoogahistory.org/photo-archive/old-gore-high-school/|title=Chattooga County Historical Society, Old Gore High School}}</ref> at the head of his class in Chattooga County, Georgia.{{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980|p=39}} Afterwards, he enrolled at [[Georgia Baptist Convention|Georgia Baptist]]–affiliated [[Mercer University]] in Macon.{{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980|p=39}} "He was always an angry young man, always a zealot", said a classmate many years later, saying that Birch "felt he was called to defend the faith, and he alone knew what it was."<ref name=WhoWasJB>{{cite magazine|title=Who Was John Birch?|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=April 14, 1961|url=https://time.com/vault/issue/1961-04-14/page/29/}}</ref> In his senior year, he joined a group of students who opposed liberal tendencies at the university. They brought charges of "[[heresy]]" against some professors, such as holding the [[theory of evolution]], and the university held a day-long hearing in the chapel. Defenders of the professors posted a sign on the door: "Do Not Enter: [[Spanish Inquisition]] in Progress". The charges were dismissed, but the incident made Birch and the group unpopular on campus, and he later regretted the "teacher episode." He graduated in 1939 [[Latin honors|magna cum laude]] with the highest grade point average in his class.{{sfnb|Lautz|2016|pp=55-60}}

Georgia.<ref name="John Birch 1980"/> Afterwards, he enrolled at [[Georgia Baptist Convention|Georgia Baptist]]–affiliated [[Mercer University]] in Macon.<ref name="John Birch 1980"/> "He was always an angry young man, always a zealot", said a classmate many years later, saying that Birch "felt he was called to defend the faith, and he alone knew what it was."<ref name=WhoWasJB>{{cite magazine|title=Who Was John Birch?|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=April 14, 1961|url=https://time.com/vault/issue/1961-04-14/page/29/}}</ref> In his senior year, he joined a group of students who opposed liberal tendencies at the university. They brought charges of "[[heresy]]" against some professors, such as holding the [[theory of evolution]], and the university held a day-long hearing in the chapel. Defenders of the professors posted a sign on the door: "Do Not Enter: [[Spanish Inquisition]] in Progress". The charges were dismissed, but the incident made Birch and the group unpopular on campus, and he later regretted the "teacher episode." He graduated in 1939 [[Latin honors|magna cum laude]] with the highest grade average in his class.{{sfnb|Lautz|2016|pp=55-60}}

==Missionary work==

Birch decided to become a missionary when he was twelveeleven years old. After college, he enrolled in [[J. Frank Norris]]' Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute in [[Fort Worth|Fort Worth, Texas]].<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>|p=65}} Norris had visited Shanghai in 1939, two years after the Japanese invasion had started the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], and returned full of enthusiasm for “the"the marvelous opportunity to proclaim Gospel and win souls.”"{{Quote without source|date=September 2024}} Birch, who was eager to finish his studies and had studied many of the topics before, completed the two-year curriculum in one year. He graduated at the head of his class in June 1940 and prepared to join Shanghai mission of Norris' [[World Baptist Fellowship|World Fundamental Baptist Missionary Fellowship]] (now the World Baptist Fellowship). When Norris and some 150 members of the church gathered to send Birch and a friend off to China, Norris said they went “fully"fully informed as to the dangers that await them, but they go like the Apostle Paul when he knew that it meant death at Jerusalem.”"{{sfnb|Lautz|2016|p=67}} Birch left his family with the words “Goodbye"Goodbye, folks, If we don’t meet again on earth, we’ll meet in heaven.”"{{sfnb|Lautz|2016|p=68}}

In July, Birch arrived in Shanghai, which was in [[Wang Jingwei regime|Japanese administered territory]], although Americans were considered neutral citizens.<ref name="tracesofwar">{{cite web|url=https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/50530|title=BIRCHBirch, John Morrison|work=TracesOfWar.com}}</ref> andWhile there, he began an intensive study of [[Mandarin Chinese]]. A few months later, he was assigned to [[Hangzhou]] which was also occupied by the Japanese. In October 1941, he left Hangzhou, going by a harrowing foot-trip, narrowly escaping Japanese fire, to run a mission station in [[Shangrao]], in northwest [[JiangsiJiangxi]]. The area was poor and isolated, but Birch reassured his parents that although malaria and [[dengue fever]] had "knocked me down a bit" (weighed 155 pounds/70&nbsp;kg), he was "coming back up," eating rice and vegetables with Chinese workers, and milk, besides. His Chinese became good enough that he could preach a short sermon.{{sfnb|Lautz|2016|ppp=74-7574–75}}

The Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, added patriotic anger to Birch's outrage at Japanese atroticitiesatrocities in China. He was also finding it harder and harder to survive in Shangrao, and his diet made it harder and harder to maintain his health, already weakened by disease. He may also have started to doubt the mission bureaucrats, who soured him on organized religion. On April 13, 1942, he wrote to the American Military Mission in China saysaying that for both patriotic and practical reasonreasons he wanted to "jine the Army." He explained that he had been preaching behind Japanese lines for more than a year but was "finding it increasingly hard to do on an empty stomach (no word or funds from home since November)." He wanted to be a chaplain but would cheerfully ""'tote' a rifle" or " whatever they tell me to do."{{sfnb|Lautz|2016|p=77}}

==Wartime work in China==

In April 1942, [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Jimmy Doolittle]] and his flight crew bailed out over China after the [[Doolittle Raid|Tokyo raid]], the first surprise attack on Japan after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. Their [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25 bomber]] was the first aircraft of sixteen B-25s flown off the aircraft carrier {{USS|Hornet|CV-8}} for the raid. After [[Doolittle Raid|bombing Tokyo]] and out of fuel during their one-way flight, Doolittle and his four crewmembers bailed out over southeastern China in mountainous terrain as planned.<ref name{{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980|p="John Birch 1980"/>106}} They were rescued by Chinese civilians and smuggled by river safely out of Japanese lines by a [[sampan]] in Zhejiang Province by Birch who was informed of their being hidden in the riverboat.<ref name="ForCountry">{{cite web |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2016/09/06/for-god-and-country-the-story-of-john-birch/ |title=For God and Country: The Story of John Birch|last=McGowan|first= Sam, WWII History Magazine |website=Warfare History Net |date= 6 September 2016|access-date=March 11, 2021}}</ref> When Doolittle arrived in China's wartime capital, [[Chongqing|Chungking]] (Chongqing), he told [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Claire Lee Chennault|Claire Chennault]], commander of the [[Flying Tigers]] (First American Volunteer Group-AVG, of the Chinese Air Force), about Birch's help, Chennault said he needed a [[Chinese language|Chinese]]-speaking American who knew the country well. After later talks with Birch who helped in the urgent finding and recovery of most of the Doolittle Raiders in China, about his experiences in China, Chennault who was now a [[Brigadier General (United States)|brigadier general]], commissioned Birch as a [[Second Lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] at ChungkingChongqing on July 5, 1942<ref name,{{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980|p="John Birch 1980"/>122–123}}<ref name="ForCountry"/> to work as a field intelligence officer for him. Birch had first wanted to serve as a chaplain.<ref name="ForCountry"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Doolittle |first1=James |title=I Could Never Be So Lucky Again |year=1991 |publisher=Bantam Books |isbn=0-553-07807-0 |pages=277–279 |quote=Chennault commissioned him as a first lieutenant on July 4, 1942, the official birthday of Chennault's 14th Air Force}}</ref> The AVG was disbanded on July 4, and replaced by the [[23rd Fighter Group]] of the [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Forces]]; Birch became a member of the [[23rd Fighter Group]] which took on the AVG's nickname "Flying Tigers" and the [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk]]s shark teeth [[nose art]].<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}

Birch served with the China Air Task Force under Chennault, which became the [[Fourteenth Air Force]] in March 1943. He operated alone or with [[Nationalist government|Nationalist Chinese]] soldiers, and often risked his life in Japanese -held territory. His activities included setting up intelligence networks of sympathetic Chinese, supplying Chennault with information on Japanese troop movements and shipping. He continued to hold Sunday church services for Chinese Christians.<ref name="ForCountry"/> He set up radio intelligence networks, rescued downed American pilots, and had two emergency aircraft runways built.<ref name="ForCountry"/> He received the [[Legion of Merit]] from Chennault on July 17, 1944.<ref name=WhoWasJB/>

Urged to take a leave of absence, Birch refused, telling Chennault he would not quit China until the last Japanese did.<ref name="tracesofwar"/> His political views continued to evolve. Birch wrote to Marjorie Tooker, with whom he had become closer and closer, that he found the Nationalist government “relatively"relatively small and unrepresentative,”" and with its “abuses"abuses, intolerance, and impotence”impotence" it never had the popular support needed to build a strong nation. Yet Chiang Kai-shek deserved praise for his “steadfastness"steadfastness of purpose”purpose" in fighting the war. The Communists, on the other hand, were “equally"equally small, non-representative group,”" “whose"whose leaders I consider hypocritical thugs.”" They should be “blamed"blamed for their lack of patriotism, but praised for their endurance and ingenuity in fighting the Japanese.” "{{sfnb|Lautz|2016|p=141}}

In 1945, Birch, now a captain, was seconded to the U.S. [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS), the U.S. wartime intelligence service in World War II.<ref name="ForCountry"/> At first, he criticized the OSS, wanting only to work for Chennault.<ref name="ForCountry"/> [[V-J Day]], August 14, signaled the end of formal hostilities, but under terms of the Japanese surrender, the Japanese Army was ordered to continue occupying the areas it controlled until they could be surrendered to the [[Nationalist government]], even in places where the Chinese Communist-led government had been the ''[[de facto]]'' state for a decade. This led to continued fighting as the Chinese communistsCommunists sought to expel all [[Empire of Japan|Japanese imperial]] forces, which it perceived to include U.S. personnel, who were then openly collaborating with the remaining Japanese forces.

In his diary, OSS [[Major (United States)|Major]] Gustav Krause, commanding officer of one of three air bases in China and now in command of Captain Birch, noted: "Birch is a good officer, but I'm afraid is too brash and may run into trouble."<ref>{{cite book |last = Manchester |first = William |author-link = William Manchester |year url= 2013https://books.google.com/books?id=1TYVAgAAQBAJ |title = The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932–1972 |publisher =RosettaBooks RosettaBooks|urlyear=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TYVAgAAQBAJ2013 |isbn=978-0795335570 |chapter=13 9780795335570|ref = none}}, [|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TYVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT540&lpg=PT540&dq=%22Birch+is+a+good+officer,%2C+but+I%27m+afraid+is+too+brash+and+may+run+into+trouble.%22&sourcepg=bl&otsPT540 |via=2y_GizgiHW&sig=Osr2zzxwdmMgB0XHDCerNckpeqE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TFlVVZ_zK8e4oQSmOQ&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Birch%20is%20a%20good%20officer%2C%20but%20I'm%20afraid%20is%20too%20brash%20and%20may%20run%20into%20trouble.%22&f=false[[Google Ch. 13Books]]}}</ref><ref name="ForCountry"/>

==Death==

After the formal Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, OSS agents in China were ordered to northern China to take the surrender of Japanese commanders at their installations.<ref name="ForCountry"/> The Chinese Communists, who controlled much of the mountainous area, were supposedly allies with the United States, but were not allowed to accept the surrender.<ref>Zachary{{Cite web |last=Keck, "|first=Zachary |title=The CCP Didn'tDidn’t Fight Imperial Japan:; the KMT Did," [|url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/09/the-ccp-didnt-fight-imperial-japan-the-kmt-did/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=The Diplomat, September 4, 2014]}}</ref> Birch told a friend that he was not worried about going into Communist -controlled territory, since he had worked with Communists many times and had little trouble with them.{{sfnb|Lautz|2016|p=144}}

[[File:GeneralWedemeyer.JPG|250px|thumb|General Wedemeyer arriving in ChungkingChongqing, 1944.]]

On August 20, Birch left [[Xi'an]] for [[Xuzhou]], where a Japanese facility and airfield was located, in command of a group consisting of two American soldiers, a civilian OSS operative, five Chinese officers, and two Koreans who spoke Japanese.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}<ref name="ForCountry"/> Birch's mission, under direct orders from Lieutenant General [[Albert Coady Wedemeyer|Albert C. Wedemeyer]], the commander of U.S. forces in China, was to go to [[Shandong|Shandong Province]] to seize Japanese documents and to obtain information on airfields from which American [[Prisoner of War|prisoners of war]] (POWs) could be flown.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}<ref name="OSS-China"/> Birch and his group traveled by foot, by Chinese [[Junk (ship)|junk]], and by foot again, until they reached Guide (now [[Shangqiu|Kweiteh]] (Shangqiu), along the [[Longhai railway|Lunghai railway]] (Longhai railway).<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}

On August 24, after spending two nights in a nearby village, Birch's group boarded a train at KweitehGuide, with a Chinese general and his orderly escorting them to SuchowXuzhou, where Birch was to meet a Chinese general.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Halfway and {{convert|45|mi}} from Xuzhou, the train was stopped at the [[TangshanDangshan County|Dangshan]] railway station, where the group was informed that the line ahead had been sabotaged.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Birch and his group continued for ten more miles (16&nbsp;km) until the train could not proceed because of missing track. A Japanese patrol arrived by [[handcar]] with replacement rails and repaired the track. Birch sent the train back to TangshanDangshan and his group spent the night in a nearby village, which had been ravaged andwith men being killed by Chinese communistsCommunists.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}

On the morning of August 25, Birch took over the handcar and continued to SuchowXuzhou with his group, the Chinese general and his orderly. Over a mile (1600&nbsp;m) down the line they ran into a group of 300 armed communistsCommunists.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Birch and Lieutenant Tung,{{clarify|date=November 2023}}<!--Name should be rendered in pinyin--> who was his aide on the mission, were told to surrender their weapons and equipment, which included three radios.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Birch, who was wearing his Army uniform, identified himself and refused to turn over his weapon; after arguing with the communistCommunist commander, they were allowed to proceed.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Further along the way, Birch's group encountered a group of communistsCommunists who were ripping up tracks and cutting down telephone poles.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} With Tung's help in speaking with the communistsCommunists, the group was able to continue by handcar, and passed through another group of Chinese communistsCommunists.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}

When they arrived at the [[Huangkou railway station|Hwang Kao railway station]], which was occupied by communistCommunist forces,<ref name="ForCountry"/> Birch and Tung met the communistCommunist military leader there, who was accompanied by about twenty soldiers.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Birch identified himself and refused to give up his sidearm.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}<ref name="ForCountry"/> Tung, who was unarmed and tried to help Birch talk with the communistCommunist leader, was ordered to be shot.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} He was hit in the right thigh, and then clubbed on the head with a rifle butt.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Afterwards, Birch, whose pistol was still holstered, was ordered shot; he was hit in the left thigh.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} His ankles and hands were then bound and, while kneeling, he was shot in the head.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}<ref name="ForCountry"/> Birch's body was then bayonetted and both bodies were thrown in a ditch.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}<ref name="ForCountry"/> The rest of Birch's team were taken prisoner.<ref name="ForCountry"/> When they were able to do so, Chinese farmers took both bodies to the Chinese hospital at Xuzhou, where an autopsy was completed on Birch.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}<ref name="ForCountry"/> Lt.Lieutenant Bill Miller, whose group was to have met up with Birch's group at SuchowXuzhou, arrived on August 29.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} After learning about Birch and Tung, Miller immediately interviewed Tung, who had lost his leg and an eye.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} The autopsy report revealed that Birch had been shot in the leg, had his hands and ankles tied, and had been shot in the back of the head and bayonetted.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Tung revealed to Miller that, after he heard the third shot, he was thrown into the ditch, next to Birch.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} Two weeks later, the other prisoners were released.<ref name="ForCountry"/><ref name="OSS-China"/> ThereA werenumber of different explanations and theories as to why Birch was killed, ranginghave frombeen proposed, including his party showing up at Hwang KaoHuangkou instead of Ninchuan,{{clarify|date=November 2023}}<!--Is "Ninchuan" in pinyin?--> Birch's scheduled meeting with [[Collaborationist Chinese puppetArmy|Chinese collaborationist troops]] of the Sixth Army under General Hu Peng-chuBengzhu, a misunderstanding by local guerillasguerrillas, and provocation from Birch himself.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spector |first1=Ronald H. |title=In the ruins of empire : the Japanese surrender and the battle for postwar Asia |date=2007 |location=New York |isbn=9780375509155978-0375509155 |edition=1st}}</ref>

Birch, andalong with two American pilots who had died in a plane crash at the Xuzhou airport, were interred in side-by-side [[crypt]]s.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} A [[Roman Catholic (term)|Roman Catholic]] service was held in the cathedral in Xuzhou by Italian [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit priests]]<ref name="John Birch ,{{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} and 24 Chinese individuals carried the three American-flag-draped coffins in a procession to the burial site on athe slope of Hung-lung Mountain, on the south side of Xuzhou.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Final rites were given at the graveside by a Chinese Christian minister.<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Miller, who was a friend of Birch, was in charge of the funeral, and Chinese officers and Japanese soldiers gave the deceased [[military funeral|full military honors]].<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}}<ref name="ForCountry"/>

Birch was the fifth of five OSS combat casualties in China.<ref name="OSS-China">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/oss-in-action-the-pacific-and-the-far-east.htm |title=OSS in Action The Pacific and the Far East |work=National Park Service |access-date=2021-04-14}}</ref>

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==John Birch Society==

{{Main|John Birch Society}}

Birch is mainly known today by [[John Birch Society|the society that bears his name]]. The John Birch Society was established in [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], during a two-day session on December 8 and 9, 1958, by a group of twelve led by [[Robert W. Welch Jr.]], a retired candy manufacturer and Conservative political activist from [[Belmont, Massachusetts]].{{Sfn|Lautz|2016|p=225–227}}{{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980}}<ref>{{Cite nameweb |title="John Birch 1980"/><ref>[Society founded {{!}} December 9, 1958 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-birch-society-founded History]|access-date=2024-09-22 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref> In 1954, Welch authored the first book about Birch titled ''The Life of John Birch: In the story of one American boy, the ordeal of his age''.<ref>[https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7769284&searchurl=an%3Drobert%2Bh%2Bw%2Bwelch%26sortby%3D17%26tn%3Dthe%2Blife%2Bof%2Bjohn%2Bbirch&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title7 Henry Regnery Co., Chicago, 1954, 1st printing]</ref> He organized the JBS to promote "less government, more responsibility, and a better world".<ref name="John Birch {{sfn|Hefley|Hefley|1980"/>}} Welch named the new organization after Birch, saying that Birch was an unknown but dedicated anti-communist, and the first American casualty of the [[Cold War]].<ref name="Schoenwald1">{{cite book | last=Schoenwald | first=Jonathan M. | title=A Time for Choosing: The Rise of Modern American Conservatism | year=2002 | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] (US) | isbn=0-19-515726-5 | chapter=3 – A New Kind of Conservatism: The John Birch Society}}</ref> [[Jimmy Doolittle]], U.S. Army, Retired, who met Birch in China after Doolittle's raid on Tokyo, Japan, said in his 1994 autobiography: "[Birch] had no way of knowing that the John Birch Society, a highly vocal postwar anticommunistanti-communist organization, would be named after him because its founders believed him to be the 'first casualty of World War III.' I feel sure he would not have approved."<ref name="doolittle">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/icouldneverbesol00jame_1/page/258|title=I could never be so lucky again : an autobiography|last1=Doolittle|first1=James Harold|last2=Glines|first2=Carroll V.|date=1991|publisher=New York, N.Y. : Bantam Books|others=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Welch received permission from Birch's parents to name the JBS after their son,<ref>{{cite book Sfn| last1=Hefley Lautz|first12016|p=James 225–227}}{{sfn| last2=Hefley | first2=Marti Hefley| title=The Secret File on John Birch | date=1980 | publisher=Tyndale House | isbn=0-8423-5862-5 | location=Wheaton, Illinois | pagep=225}}</ref> and both his mother and father participated in Society -related events.<ref>{{cite book |last=McManus |first=John F. | title=The John Birch Society: Its History Recounted by Someone Who Was There | publisher=Overview Productions | location=Wakefield, Massachusetts | year=2018 | isbn =9780692132968978-0692132968 | pages=255, 293}}</ref>

==Memorials==

* Birch's name is on the bronze plaque of a World War II monument at the top of Coleman Hill Park overlooking downtown [[Macon, Georgia]] along with the names of other Macon servicemen men who died in the military.

* Birch has a plaque on the sanctuary of the First Southern Methodist Church of Macon, which was built on land given by his family, purchased with the money he sent home monthly.

* "The John Birch Hall", a building at the First Baptist Church of [[Fort Worth, Texas]], was named after Birch by Pastor [[J. Frank Norris]].<ref>Stokes, David R. (2011). ''The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial that Captivated America''. Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press. p. 325. {{ISBN|978-1-58642-186-1}}</ref>

* "John Birch Memorial Drive", a street in [[Townsend, Massachusetts]], is named for him.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Microsoft Bing|title=Maps|url=http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=John%20Birch%20Memorial%20Dr%2C%20Townsend%2C%20MA%2001469&q=John%20Birch%20Memorial%20Drive%2C%20townsend%2C%20ma&form=LMLTSN&cp=42.61984778593879~-71.66749473440797&lvl=16&sty=r&encType=1|work=Bing Maps|access-date=July 1, 2011}}</ref>

Birch isHas burieda memorial Plaque in [[Rose Hill Cemetery (Macon, Georgia)|Rose Hill Cemetery]] in Macon, Georgia.<ref>[http://www.historicmacon.org/rose-hill-cemetery Historic Macon Foundation, Rose Hill Cemetery]</ref>

==See also==

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==References==

*''{{Cite book |last=Doolittle |first=James (Jimmy) |author-link=Jimmy Doolittle |title=I Could Never Be So Lucky Again'', [[Jimmy Doolittle|James "Jimmy" Doolittle]], {{ISBN|isbn=0-553-58464-2}}

*''{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=Carolle J. |url=https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/96 |title=Mission to Yenan: American Liaison with the Chinese Communists 1944–1947'', Carolle|date=1997 J. Carter, {{ISBN|isbn=0-8131-2015-2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506210110id_/https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1095&context=upk_united_states_history |archive-date=May 6, 2020 |url-status=live}}

*{{Cite book |author=Hefley |first=James |url=https://archive.org/details/secretfileonjohn00hefl |title=The Secret File on John Birch |last2=Hefley |first2=Marti |publisher=Tyndale House Publishers |year=1980 |isbn=9780842358620 |location=Wheaton, Illinois |via=[[Archive.org]]}}

*''The Secret File on John Birch'', James Hefley, Hannibal Books, 1995 (updated version), {{ISBN|0-929292-80-4}}

*''{{Cite book |last=Welch |first=Robert |title=The Life of John Birch'', Robert Welch, |publisher=[[Western Islands (publisher)|Western Islands]], {{ISBN|0-88279-116-8isbn=9780882791166}}

* {{citationcite book |titleurl=https://archive.org/details/johnbirchlife0000laut/ |title=John Birch: A Life |first= Terry |last= Lautz |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0-19-026289-1 |yearlocation=New York |via=[[Archive.org]] |year=2016}}

==External links==

* [http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent?file=ML_birch_bkp John Birch profile] -– Who2.com

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100226155555/http://www.jbs.org/index.php/john-birch Short History of the life of John M. Birch from the JBS.org Website.]

* [http://www.onthemedia.org/story/131234-american-society/ NPR's "On the Media" on the John Birch Society's 50th Anniversary, December 12, 2008 (audio)]

{{Protestant missions to China}}

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[[Category:1918 births]]

[[Category:1945 deaths]]

[[Category:John Birch Society]]

[[Category:Baptist missionaries in China]]

[[Category:Baptist missionaries from the United States]]

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[[Category:American expatriates in China]]

[[Category:American anti-communists]]

[[Category:American military personnel killed in action]]

[[Category:Military personnel killed in the Cold War]]

[[Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II]]

[[Category:United States Army Air Forces officers]]