For Whom We Fight?

During the United States presidential debate of 1960 between Nixon and Kennedy, the topic of defending the tiny island of Kinmen off the southeast coast of China brought worldwide attention. Little more than one year before, the island was a bloody battlefield between the Chinese Communists and the Nationalists. It was bombarded with a half-million artillery shelves. Thousands of innocent civilians, along with soldiers on both sides, perished. It was the height of the Cold War: the Soviet Union backed the Communists, the United States manipulated the Nationalists.This is the diary of a Taiwanese collage graduate who was drafted into Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Army to fight Communist Mao Zedong in the Chinese Civil War in 1961. The memoir is a record of the unique daily activities of the men in uniform, including the author himself, who did not understand what the fight was all about as he was stationed on the front lines of the war zone facing the Chinese Communist People’s Liberation Army. The memoir depicted the feelings of a young nerd serving in a military of a regime he distasted. The book also exposed the conflicts among the innocent young and seasoned, enslaved old soldiers; the ethnic struggles between the Taiwanese Islanders and the Chinese Mainlanders; the disarray of reluctant warriors; and corruption within the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party led by Chiang) elite. However, on the lighter side of the book: there were no heroes or outstanding personalities. In general though, with facing the same fate, despite the differences in ethnicity, education, family background and personal objectives, comradeship bonded these people together under the shadow of the Communists’ big guns. Some short stories told by fellow soldiers are interesting. The book also revealed the young man’s emotion, and his several first experiences on his way to an actual life of manhood.The old diary was discovered after 40 years from the author’s discharge; and he proceeded to translate it from Chinese to English right away. It took another 10 years for him to have the book published, another author’s first. The first print was made 50 years after his disassociation with the institution; nonetheless, the warmth of the people, no mater how much they differed from each other, would forever stay in the author’s heart.Dean Poling of the Valdosta Daily Times summarizes the book for his featured article in the Sunday, December 4, 2011 edition, "A recent book reveals the youthful Chiu, a Taiwanese college graduate serving in the Nationalist Army of Chiang Kai-shek's struggle against Mao Zedong's communists in the 1961 Chinese civil war...To introduce American readers to his situation, Chiu touches upon a well-known series of presidential debates in U.S. history. GOP Vice President Richard Nixon and Democrat Sen. John F. Kennedy discussed the defense of Quemoy, now know as the small island of Kinmen...The youthful Kun-young Chiu was drafted into the aftermath of this world. In the memoir, the young Chiu admits he doesn't understand the reasons for the fight...Stationed in a war zone, he expresses the fears, frustrations, uncertainty and tedium of life on the front line. He lived with 'the innocent young and seasoned enslaved old soldiers; the ethnic struggles between the Taiwanese Islanders and the Chinese Mainlanders; the disarray of reluctant warriors; corruption within the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party led by Chiang) elite.' Framed within the history and the struggle, "For Whom We Fight?" is also a coming-of-age story about a young soldier learning to become a man in his dealings with the world, responsibilities, duty and love."