A Shanghai American

About the Book

A Shanghai American: From an American Childhood in Shanghai to Marine Combat Interpreter on the Pacific Island Battlefields of WWII Dan Williams, son of Baptist missionary parents, grew up in Shanghai, China, in the 1920s and 1930s. His experiences there as a Shanghai American shaped the rest of his life. Dan returned to the States at age sixteen in 1936 after a memorable journey on the Trans-Siberian railway. With the start of WWII, Dan was recruited by the US Navy and sent to the University of Colorado for a one-year course at the Navy Japanese Language School. After graduation, he became a Marine officer with the Fourth Marine Division and participated in the harrowing island invasions of Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. While under fire in intense combat, Dan’s job was to help his fellow Marines win battles by finding and translating Japanese documents and interrogating prisoners. This narrative memoir, told in Dan’s own words, vividly brings to life events that helped shape the history of the twentieth century.

About the Author

DANIEL S. WILLIAMS’ childhood experiences in Shanghai, where he grew up as the son of missionary parents, had a profound influence on the rest of his life. A number of his Shanghai American childhood friends joined him in learning Japanese at the US Navy Japanese Language School in Boulder, Colorado, during WWII. He went on to serve as a combat interpreter in the 4th Marine Division and participated in several island invasions during WWII. Gerald A. Meehl is the author of five books on WWII. He has written more than 200 articles on scientific and historical subjects, and has traveled extensively during the last four decades to visit sites of WWII Pacific island combat. He received his PhD from the University of Colorado, and he was on the science team of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.