brief version of his life story. He was born December 1, 1899, on a farm in Chowan County, North Carolina. 3 His ancestry included farmers and Baptist preachers. For four years, he attended the University of North Carolina, though he doesn’t mention that he enrolled at the age of twelve. He does acknowledge a two-year stint at the Naval Academy and two years at Harvard Law. But most of his education he attributes to forty years in the school of hard knocks.
Welch went on to highlight his career in the candy business and his extensive activities in the National Association of Manufacturers. After his retirement, Welch claims that he gave up most of his income to devote all of his time and energy to the anti-Communist cause. He described himself as someone who “will climb on a soapbox to argue against the evils of socialism whenever anybody will listen.”
Apparently, a lot of people listened. According to historian Jonathan Schoenwald, by the mid-1950s, “Welch was undeniably one of the best known—and well-respected—conservatives in the United States.” 4
In early December 1958, Robert Welch invited eleven men to join him in Indianapolis for a weekend. 5 For two days, Welch climbed on his proverbial soapbox where he opined about the decline of civilization, the destruction of America’s Constitution, and the looming threat of Communism which he described as an “octopus . . . so large that its tentacles now reach into all of the legislative halls, all of the union labor meetings, a majority of the religious gatherings, and most of the schools
of the whole world
.” 6
According to Welch, “The human race has never before faced any such monster of power which was determined to enslave it.” 7
On the second day of the meeting, Robert Welch outlined specific plans for a national organization dedicated to stopping the Communist advance and restoring America’s constitutional purity. He named his group the John Birch Society.
If only a small number of Americans know Robert Welch, it’s a safe guess that only the tiniest sliver knows John Birch. For my parents and most of Welch’s associates, however, Captain John M. Birch was not unknown. Welch had memorialized him in a book written in 1954,
The Life of John Birch: In the Story of One American Boy, The Ordeal Of His Age
. In it, Welch described John Birch as the first casualty of the Cold War and an unsung American patriot. 8
A week after the end of World War II, six days after I was born, John Birch, a twenty-seven-year-old Baptist minister and field officer for the 14th Air Force, volunteered to lead a secret mission into Suchow, China, (now written as Suzhou). The American was known in that area, having worked both as a missionary and an army officer. He was also semi-fluent in Mandarin.
After several days of travel, the group encountered Red Chinese soldiers who assumed that the men were working as spies. The Communists insisted that Birch turn over his weapons. The captain refused. Birch was bound, forced to kneel, and shot from behind. In an attempt to prevent identification, Birch’s body was mutilated.
Eventually, the body was taken to a morgue in Suchow, where an American officer, William T. Miller, arranged for a public memorial. Birch was buried on a hillside overlooking the Chinese city. 9
The facts about Birch and his death at the hands of Communists on August 25, 1945, were never clear. Did Birch provoke the Chinese? Was he on a clandestine mission for the army? Why did he argue with his captors? These questions went unanswered, and Birch’s army records remained sealed.
Robert Welch determined that the failure of our government to demand an accounting from the Chinese, who were supposed to be our allies, constituted a deliberate cover-up. Welch often cited the silence around Birch’s death as proof that the American people were being deliberately kept in the dark about the nature of our Communist enemies. 10
For Robert Welch, Captain
Welch went on to highlight his career in the candy business and his extensive activities in the National Association of Manufacturers. After his retirement, Welch claims that he gave up most of his income to devote all of his time and energy to the anti-Communist cause. He described himself as someone who “will climb on a soapbox to argue against the evils of socialism whenever anybody will listen.”
Apparently, a lot of people listened. According to historian Jonathan Schoenwald, by the mid-1950s, “Welch was undeniably one of the best known—and well-respected—conservatives in the United States.” 4
In early December 1958, Robert Welch invited eleven men to join him in Indianapolis for a weekend. 5 For two days, Welch climbed on his proverbial soapbox where he opined about the decline of civilization, the destruction of America’s Constitution, and the looming threat of Communism which he described as an “octopus . . . so large that its tentacles now reach into all of the legislative halls, all of the union labor meetings, a majority of the religious gatherings, and most of the schools
of the whole world
.” 6
According to Welch, “The human race has never before faced any such monster of power which was determined to enslave it.” 7
On the second day of the meeting, Robert Welch outlined specific plans for a national organization dedicated to stopping the Communist advance and restoring America’s constitutional purity. He named his group the John Birch Society.
If only a small number of Americans know Robert Welch, it’s a safe guess that only the tiniest sliver knows John Birch. For my parents and most of Welch’s associates, however, Captain John M. Birch was not unknown. Welch had memorialized him in a book written in 1954,
The Life of John Birch: In the Story of One American Boy, The Ordeal Of His Age
. In it, Welch described John Birch as the first casualty of the Cold War and an unsung American patriot. 8
A week after the end of World War II, six days after I was born, John Birch, a twenty-seven-year-old Baptist minister and field officer for the 14th Air Force, volunteered to lead a secret mission into Suchow, China, (now written as Suzhou). The American was known in that area, having worked both as a missionary and an army officer. He was also semi-fluent in Mandarin.
After several days of travel, the group encountered Red Chinese soldiers who assumed that the men were working as spies. The Communists insisted that Birch turn over his weapons. The captain refused. Birch was bound, forced to kneel, and shot from behind. In an attempt to prevent identification, Birch’s body was mutilated.
Eventually, the body was taken to a morgue in Suchow, where an American officer, William T. Miller, arranged for a public memorial. Birch was buried on a hillside overlooking the Chinese city. 9
The facts about Birch and his death at the hands of Communists on August 25, 1945, were never clear. Did Birch provoke the Chinese? Was he on a clandestine mission for the army? Why did he argue with his captors? These questions went unanswered, and Birch’s army records remained sealed.
Robert Welch determined that the failure of our government to demand an accounting from the Chinese, who were supposed to be our allies, constituted a deliberate cover-up. Welch often cited the silence around Birch’s death as proof that the American people were being deliberately kept in the dark about the nature of our Communist enemies. 10
For Robert Welch, Captain
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