The Foreign Service Journal, January 2012

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 37 After the ambassador’s residence was surrounded by Communist troops and his bedroom invaded by soldiers, Dad, though only a second secretary, was sent to the new authorities to protest this violation of diplomatic norms. Though they listened, and later reassigned the soldiers involved, the Chinese “alien affairs” officers re- fused to accept the diplomatic cre- dentials of the American Foreign Service officers because the Communists and the United States had no formal relations. For the rest of that anxious year the Americans in Nan- jing were threatened by Communist suspicion and occa- sional harassment within the city, as well as periodic, indiscriminate Nationalist attacks from the air. Ralph’s bland letters to his parents in Seattle deliberately conveyed an impression of normalcy, but when Mary Lou wrote to Jean Smith, she would sometimes strike a different note. “Don’t know when I’ll get your let- ter answered, as a British couple with a little boy has moved in with us. They were bombed out in an air raid last week. She is suffering from shock and is not well. I’m sick of the air raids — don’t mention this to anyone as I haven’t written home about the bomb- ings.” Once the new government in Nan- jing restricted the movement of Amer- icans, Mary Lou was forced to cut back on her charitable work. In spite of all our parents’ efforts to shield us, my brother and I began to feel fear, too. I remember my first glimpse of Communist troops from the window of the car. In their mustard-yellow uni- forms and tight, disciplined ranks, they seemed unlike any soldiers we had seen before. As we drove by they looked straight ahead, apparently as indifferent to the large for- eign car as they were to the Chinese civilians who moved F OCUS Both my parents saw it as critical that the three of us get back to Dad before the city fell to Communist troops.