Guests of the Kremlin is an almost completely forgotten account of the
Doolittle Raid, which was a turning point of the war against Japan. On
April 18, 1942, 16 airplanes took off from the Aircraft Carrier Hornet
on a mission to bomb Japan. They did not have enough fuel to return,
so their plan was to fly over Japan and find somewhere to land in
China.

In flight, one of the crews realized that they did not have enough
fuel to make it to China, but that they did have enough fuel to make
it to the Soviet Union, which is almost directly north of Tokyo.

Therefore, after dropping their bombs on Tokyo, they turned north.

All of the 15 other crews headed for China, but none of them landed
safely there. Some ditched in the ocean. Others parachuted out. Some
were captured, tortured and executed by the Japanese. However, the
crew that headed for the Soviet Union by chance found a remote landing
strip near Vladivostok and landed safely there.

As the Soviet Union was not yet at war with Japan and wanted to avoid
any conflict with Japan for the time being, the Soviets took this crew
of five and held them prisoner for the next 13 months.

At that time, the Soviet Union under Stalin was closed and isolated.
Nobody could get in, and nobody could get out.

Suddenly this crew of five was experiencing what nobody in the outside
world knew about it: Life in the Great Soviet Union. As prisoners,
they were moved about from place to place in Siberia. They were able
to see that the Soviet People were suffering from extreme poverty and
deprivation, not only because of the war, but because of the
inefficiencies of Soviet System. Even the Russians assigned to guard
them would actually fight to eat the left-over scraps from their
table.

Eventually, the crew volunteered to help in the war effort and were
given jobs. The jobs they were assigned were menial. They removed
rusted screws from discarded machinery for reuse. This job itself
demonstrated the failings of the Communist System. However, it also
gave then the chance to escape.

They had managed to hide some American dollars that they had with them
when they landed. The amount was small, only about $250, but that was
a fortune in the Soviet Union. In May, 1943, with this money, they
were able to pay a smuggler to smuggle them across the border to
Meshad, Iran.

The resulting account, Guests of the Kremlin, is not so much an
account of the Doolittle Raid that started it, which is well
documented from other sources, as it is an account of life in the
Soviet Union during 1942-1943. One wonders what happened to the
Soviets whose names are in this book. Some of them may even have
survived and still be alive.

This is an important work on the history of the Soviet Union, even
more than it is an account of the Doolittle Raid.

Guests of the Kremlin has now been updated with recollections of an
air force officer who was subordinate to the primary author of this
book, who had rejoined the war effort after escaping from the Soviet
Union.

The updated and reprinted Guests of the Kremlin is available from Ishi
Press International under ISBN number 0-923891-81-1 .

Sam Sloan

Introduction by Mario L. Sacripante, TSGT, USAF Tech Sergeant
(Retired)

This is the story about a great and distinguished American hero and
patriot. His name, though now nearly lost in time, is Robert G.
Emmens. What he and his fellow Americans accomplished 65 years ago on
April 18, 1942, to be exact, was a feat that may now seem
unremarkable, was unrivaled in the annals of military history. First,
a little background is necessary he

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, to quote
President Roosevelt "A day that shall live in infamy", America was
plunged into a catastrophic nightmare, namely World War II. There are
not many Americans living today who can remember this American
holocaust. Countless movies have been made and stories written about
this dastardly attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese and how it
started World War II for America. However, it is difficult today to
imagine and appreciate what it meant for America and for generations
of Americans at that time.

Think about it this way. World War II was not another Kosovo or Gulf
War or Iraq Conflict, or even our Viet Nam fiasco. World War II was
like a "tsunami" that engulfed almost every major country of the
world. America established a draft system and went into a war time
footing and eventually had 15 million men under arms in the Army,
Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. America geared up to produce arms,
munitions and all the tools of war. These had to be produced not only
for our forces but for our allies too, and America became, in FDR's
words, the "Arsenal of Democracy".

For the first year of the war, the Japanese were winning the war in
battle after battle. America's collective morale was in the doldrums.
The Japanese had conquered almost every country in Asia and the
Pacific, and there were rumors of an imminent invasion of America by
the Japanese.

Fast forward to April 18, 1942. America was desperate for a
significant victory but there was none in sight. In stepped Col. Jimmy
Doolittle of the Army Air Corps (the forerunner of today's USAF) with
a plan to bring the war to the Japanese and to avenge Pearl Harbor: A
plan so daring and bold in its concept that it was thought impossible
to execute at the time. It would be the first air raid on Japan.
Later, a movie called "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", was made about it.

Col. Doolittle recruited his pilots and crewmen for a one-way mission
to bomb Tokyo, a feat which had never been attempted before. He
selected the Mitchell B-25 bomber (16 of them) for the mission and had
his men practice take-offs from a short 500-foot runway to simulate
the deck of an aircraft carrier. They stripped the B-25s of all their
weapons and other unnecessary gear to lighten the planes and carried
only enough fuel for a one-way flight. It was, in effect, a suicide
mission. All of the men were volunteers.

The 16 aircraft were barely able to lift off from the Carrier Hornet
with loads of 500 lb. HE bombs. They bombed Tokyo and it was the
biggest news of the war to that date. However, most of the aircraft
landed in Japanese-occupied China. Three of the crewmen were summarily
executed in Japan as "war criminals". Two aircraft had to ditch in the
ocean and one, the aircraft carrying Col. Robert G. Emmens (a
lieutenant at the time), landed in Russia. The Soviet Union was our
ally at the time and was not at war with the Japanese. In fact, the
Soviet Union had a five -year non-aggression pact with the Japanese.
His stay in Russia as a "Guest of the Kremlin" was intended to last
until the end of the war in 1945. He was interned and not treated like
a "guest", but he was lucky to be alive.

Fast forward this to January 1959: I was recently stationed in Japan.
Col. Emmens had written a book about his experiences called "Guests of
the Kremlin". I first met him when I was assigned as a sergeant to the
Office of the Air Attaché in the US Embassy in Tokyo. In January 1959,
he was the Air Attaché, which is the third highest position in the
embassy. Needless to say, reading his book was almost required and we
passed it around the office. However, he was a shy, unassuming officer
and a gentleman and he never spoke of his experiences during the war.

Col. Doolittle received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his raid
on Tokyo. Col. Emmens and the others received nothing. They were
unsung heroes.

I knew both Col. Emmens and his wife, Justine. I was once annoyed with
his wife. I was walking around the base with my shirt-collar open. His
wife saw me and came up to me and said, "Button your shirt, Officer!"

I was annoyed because she was not in the military, although her
husband was. She had no right to order me to do anything. I almost
said something, but instead I sheepishly buttoned my collar, which
was, of course, the right thing to do.

I had arrived in Japan in 1946 after my mother had signed permission
papers allowing me to join the military even though I was under-age. I
studied Japanese language and calligraphy and eventually became fluent
in speaking, reading and writing Japanese. As one of the few, if not
the only, non-Japanese American who was fluent in Japanese, I became a
valued member of the US Embassy staff, as none of the others could
speak Japanese.

I was sometimes sent to see General Genda Minoru, the man who had
planned the attack on Pearl Harbor. He would have one of his aids pour
me a cup of saki and we would have a drink together. Genda is
portrayed by an actor in every movie about the bombing of Pearl
Harbor. In the movie, "Tora, Tora, Tora", he is referred to as
"Gandhi" and is played by actor Tatsuya Mihashi. Here, I was drinking
with the man who had planned the attack on Pearl Harbor !!!

On May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers piloting a U-2 Aircraft was shot
down over the Soviet Union. At this time, the US and Japan were
scheduled to renew a security treaty under which the US would provide
the defense of Japan and maintain military bases in Japan. The purpose
of this important treaty was to prevent Japan from ever again becoming
a military power and trying to take over the rest of Asia.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was scheduled to come to Japan to sign
the treaty. As the only non-Japanese member of the embassy staff who
was fluent in Japanese, I was assigned to be the official translator
for President Eisenhower.

Riots broke out led by the Japanese Communists who were protesting
both the security treaty and the flights by U-2 Pilot Francis Gary
Powers over the Soviet Union. The situation was complicated by dislike
of Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke, who had become Prime Minister in
1957 after having earlier served as a minister in the Tojo War Cabinet
and then after the war having been imprisoned as a Class A War
Criminal.

Demonstrations, strikes and clashes broke out, as the government
pressed for ratification of the treaty. In June, on his way to the
airport, White House Press Secretary James Hagerty was besieged in his
car by protestors. They caught him in a tunnel under the airport and
jumped up and down on the top of his Cadillac. He was rescued and had
to be evacuated by military helicopter.

In the middle of these riots and demonstrations, a young Japanese girl
was killed in the stampede. Many others were injured. Col. Emmens and
myself had to get somehow inside the embassy annex.

They gave a me a 1897 shotgun. That worked better than the more recent
varieties. I put the shotgun down my pants. Then, myself and Col.
Hegenbach strapped on our 45 carbines. We were joined by Col. Emmens.
We were dressed in civilian clothing, as with military clothing the
crowd would probably have ripped us to pieces. We had to wade through
a hostile crowd. It was a scary situation.

We walked together and, eventually, the Japanese Riot Police came and
we made it inside Embassy Annex, which was at that time in the Old
Matsui Building. Shortly thereafter, the Japanese government had to
request that President Dwight D. Eisenhower postpone his planned state
visit. The government of Japan resigned shortly thereafter. The
Eisenhower visit to Japan never took place.

Thus, my 15-minutes of fame never made it.

Colonel Emmens retired from the Air Force in 1964 and returned to
Medford, Oregon, his hometown. He died there on April 2, 1992.

Mario L. Sacripante

On Apr 22, 10:39 am, samsloan wrote:
Introduction by Mario L. Sacripante, TSGT, USAF Tech Sergeant
(Retired)

This is the story about a great and distinguished American hero and
patriot. His name, though now nearly lost in time, is Robert G.
Emmens. What he and his fellow Americans accomplished 65 years ago on
April 18, 1942, to be exact, was a feat that may now seem
unremarkable, was unrivaled in the annals of military history. First,
a little background is necessary he

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, to quote
President Roosevelt "A day that shall live in infamy", America was
plunged into a catastrophic nightmare, namely World War II. There are
not many Americans living today who can remember this American
holocaust. Countless movies have been made and stories written about
this dastardly attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese and how it
started World War II for America. However, it is difficult today to
imagine and appreciate what it meant for America and for generations
of Americans at that time.

Think about it this way. World War II was not another Kosovo or Gulf
War or Iraq Conflict, or even our Viet Nam fiasco. World War II was
like a "tsunami" that engulfed almost every major country of the
world. America established a draft system and went into a war time
footing and eventually had 15 million men under arms in the Army,
Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. America geared up to produce arms,
munitions and all the tools of war. These had to be produced not only
for our forces but for our allies too, and America became, in FDR's
words, the "Arsenal of Democracy".

For the first year of the war, the Japanese were winning the war in
battle after battle. America's collective morale was in the doldrums.
The Japanese had conquered almost every country in Asia and the
Pacific, and there were rumors of an imminent invasion of America by
the Japanese.

Fast forward to April 18, 1942. America was desperate for a
significant victory but there was none in sight. In stepped Col. Jimmy
Doolittle of the Army Air Corps (the forerunner of today's USAF) with
a plan to bring the war to the Japanese and to avenge Pearl Harbor: A
plan so daring and bold in its concept that it was thought impossible
to execute at the time. It would be the first air raid on Japan.
Later, a movie called "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", was made about it.

Col. Doolittle recruited his pilots and crewmen for a one-way mission
to bomb Tokyo, a feat which had never been attempted before. He
selected the Mitchell B-25 bomber (16 of them) for the mission and had
his men practice take-offs from a short 500-foot runway to simulate
the deck of an aircraft carrier. They stripped the B-25s of all their
weapons and other unnecessary gear to lighten the planes and carried
only enough fuel for a one-way flight. It was, in effect, a suicide
mission. All of the men were volunteers.

The 16 aircraft were barely able to lift off from the Carrier Hornet
with loads of 500 lb. HE bombs. They bombed Tokyo and it was the
biggest news of the war to that date. However, most of the aircraft
landed in Japanese-occupied China. Three of the crewmen were summarily
executed in Japan as "war criminals". Two aircraft had to ditch in the
ocean and one, the aircraft carrying Col. Robert G. Emmens (a
lieutenant at the time), landed in Russia. The Soviet Union was our
ally at the time and was not at war with the Japanese. In fact, the
Soviet Union had a five -year non-aggression pact with the Japanese.
His stay in Russia as a "Guest of the Kremlin" was intended to last
until the end of the war in 1945. He was interned and not treated like
a "guest", but he was lucky to be alive.

Fast forward this to January 1959: I was recently stationed in Japan.
Col. Emmens had written a book about his experiences called "Guests of
the Kremlin". I first met him when I was assigned as a sergeant to the
Office of the Air Attaché in the US Embassy in Tokyo. In January 1959,
he was the Air Attaché, which is the third highest position in the
embassy. Needless to say, reading his book was almost required and we
passed it around the office. However, he was a shy, unassuming officer
and a gentleman and he never spoke of his experiences during the war.

Col. Doolittle received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his raid
on Tokyo. Col. Emmens and the others received nothing. They were
unsung heroes.

I knew both Col. Emmens and his wife, Justine. I was once annoyed with
his wife. I was walking around the base with my shirt-collar open. His
wife saw me and came up to me and said, "Button your shirt, Officer!"

I was annoyed because she was not in the military, although her
husband was. She had no right to order me to do anything. I almost
said something, but instead I sheepishly buttoned my collar, which
was, of course, the right thing to do.

I had arrived in Japan in 1946 after my mother had signed permission
papers allowing me to join the military even though I was under-age. I
studied Japanese language and calligraphy and eventually became fluent
in speaking, reading and writing Japanese. As one of the few, if not
the only, non-Japanese American who was fluent in Japanese, I became a
valued member of the US Embassy staff, as none of the others could
speak Japanese.

I was sometimes sent to see General Genda Minoru, the man who had
planned the attack on Pearl Harbor. He would have one of his aids pour
me a cup of saki and we would have a drink together. Genda is
portrayed by an actor in every movie about the bombing of Pearl
Harbor. In the movie, "Tora, Tora, Tora", he is referred to as
"Gandhi" and is played by actor Tatsuya Mihashi. Here, I was drinking
with the man who had planned the attack on Pearl Harbor !!!

On May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers piloting a U-2 Aircraft was shot
down over the Soviet Union. At this time, the US and Japan were
scheduled to renew a security treaty under which the US would provide
the defense of Japan and maintain military bases in Japan. The purpose
of this important treaty was to prevent Japan from ever again becoming
a military power and trying to take over the rest of Asia.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was scheduled to come to Japan to sign
the treaty. As the only non-Japanese member of the embassy staff who
was fluent in Japanese, I was assigned to be the official translator
for President Eisenhower.

Riots broke out led by the Japanese Communists who were protesting
both the security treaty and the flights by U-2 Pilot Francis Gary
Powers over the Soviet Union. The situation was complicated by dislike
of Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke, who had become Prime Minister in
1957 after having earlier served as a minister in the Tojo War Cabinet
and then after the war having been imprisoned as a Class A War
Criminal.

Demonstrations, strikes and clashes broke out, as the government
pressed for ratification of the treaty. In June, on his way to the
airport, White House Press Secretary James Hagerty was besieged in his
car by protestors. They caught him in a tunnel under the airport and
jumped up and down on the top of his Cadillac. He was rescued and had
to be evacuated by military helicopter.

In the middle of these riots and demonstrations, a young Japanese girl
was killed in the stampede. Many others were injured. Col. Emmens and
myself had to get somehow inside the embassy annex.

They gave a me a 1897 shotgun. That worked better than the more recent
varieties. I put the shotgun down my pants. Then, myself and Col.
Hegenbach strapped on our 45 carbines. We were joined by Col. Emmens.
We were dressed in civilian clothing, as with military clothing the
crowd would probably have ripped us to pieces. We had to wade through
a hostile crowd. It was a scary situation.

We walked together and, eventually, the Japanese Riot Police came and
we made it inside Embassy Annex, which was at that time in the Old
Matsui Building. Shortly thereafter, the Japanese government had to
request that President Dwight D. Eisenhower postpone his planned state
visit. The government of Japan resigned shortly thereafter. The
Eisenhower visit to Japan never took place.

Thus, my 15-minutes of fame never made it.

Colonel Emmens retired from the Air Force in 1964 and returned to
Medford, Oregon, his hometown. He died there on April 2, 1992.

Mario L. Sacripante

post to appropriate group..
Who are you? Who is Sam Slaon?

Guests of the Kremlin is now out, reprinted from the original in 1949.

http://www.amazon.com/Guests-Kremlin...dp/0923891811/

Order it today from Amazon.com

Sam Sloan