Bob Forster
Letters from the CBI
My dad knew a man by the name of Lt. William Filiak when he was in India in 1944 and 1945. He roomed with him for about a month until February, 1944 when Filiak joined Merrill's Marauders as a communications specialist in Burma. Dad stayed in India until May when he also went to Burma under Stilwell's command. He was in the jungle for 6 months and in December, 1944, went on leave, again in India. During that time he met-up with Filiak and actually went to church with him in Calcutta. Dad was in the U. S. Army Signal Corps and earned the Bronze Star working under Stilwell and British General Francis Festing as an artillery communication officer. He served again in Bhamo, Burma, and then in Kunming, China. He was at the formal surrender of Japanese troops in China at Nanking on September 9, 1945, one of less than 100 Americans in still-occupied Nanking at that time. He had taken the equipment to handle the press traffic for the event and was in the room as they signed. I have written a book, "Letters from the CBI", soon to be published, and I do have a picture of Dad with Filiak in 1944.
