 The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present the Pacific Story. In the mounting fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taking on ever greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and the millions of people who live around this greatest sea. The drama of the people whose destiny is at stake in the Pacific War. Here, as another public service, is the tale of the war in the Pacific and its meaning to us and to the generations to come. Nan King. 37. I'm riding this atop North Star Hill. This may be the last time I shall ever see this beautiful city. I look down upon it, stretched below me there, a city that has known such splendor and terror as few cities have ever known. Now it is to be destroyed. Nan King is condemned. This is a warning to all foreigners to leave it once before the final phase of the bombing. Admiral Hasegawa made the announcement yesterday. From where I sit, I can see the destruction left by the 16 bombings of the past week. The heavy bombings are to start at noon today. It is incredible. Nan King was 600 years old at the time of Christ. In my years here as a missionary, I had come to love it and all of its lore. See, the hills around the city are shaped like the back of a dragon. Chu Hongwo, the one who started as a beggar and rose to be the first of the Ming dynasty in 1368. Chu Hongwo said that when he saw the grandeur of these hills over there. I will build my capital on the back of the dragon and it will last forever. The Ming's built the city on the back of the dragon, and they built the walls around the city, those walls that are still down there. They made Nan King the finest city in China. There were 7,000 tapestry weaving machines in the city. Emperor Yong Lo built the glorious porcelain pagoda. Today I beheld with my own eyes the wondrous porcelain pagoda. Chinese made pilgrimages to see it. It reaches to heaven. It was more than 200 feet high and octagonal in form. It is a tower of beauty encased in glazed tiles of a hundred colors. Its graceful overhanging eaves are sparkling green, and from its delicate cornices hang 150 bells. With this porcelain pagoda, Emperor Yong Lo has commemorated the virtues of his mother. Those who came up the broad Yangtzee 200 miles from Shanghai marveled at it from their boats. Travelers and adventurers who came overland paused in wonder before it. And through the hundreds of years, even after the capital of China was moved to Peking, the porcelain pagoda was guarded and protected like a fine jewel. The people of Nan King never tried talking of it, but by the middle 1800s, they were speaking of something else. He is a fanatic, this one who calls himself the heavenly king. But he is strong and ruthless. He must be stopped. Even the imperial troops could not stop his forces at Yong Gan Chao. They cut their way out. Yes, and now they are sailing down the Xiang to the Yangtzee. They are heading here for Nan King. We must prepare to fight him and all of his followers. They are bloody and merciless. We must stand before them and fight or we are lost. Yes, we must fight. Chinese who called himself the heavenly king named the territory he conquered, the heavenly kingdom of great peace. But he left no peace in his wake, only desolation and misery. With his rebels, he sailed down the Yangtzee, plundering the river cities one by one. At last, they came to Nan King. Down with my dollars, please. No, no, you shall not touch the porcelain pagoda. No care to oppose the heavenly king. I shall defend this priceless treasure with my life. Tear out his infamous tongue. Let it fell here. No, no, no, no, no. You see, the pagoda has brought him ill-foreseen as it will all men. Blow it up. The means of the porcelain pagoda is the great bronze dome that once was its crown. Turned upside down and mounted on the base of marble. Not another vestige of the pagoda is left. The Taiping rebels left Nan King in ruins and slaughtered its people, particularly the Manchus. But 50 years more with the past before the Manchus were toppled from the throne of China. Dr. Sun Yat-sin made Nan King the capital of the new provisional government. But there were still problems. What will happen to the capital in Nan King? Now that Dr. Sun is withdrawn from the presidency in favor of Yuan Chi-kai. This question will own everyone's lips. Will Yuan Chi-kai, the new president, come here to Nan King? Yuan Chi-kai's strength was in the north, and he established a capital at Peking. It remained there for the next 15 years while we, and Nan King, saw the storm brewing. It was in 1926 that Chiang Kai-shek started his march north, and by 1927 the fighting reached Nan King. Within our compound we'd listen to the shooting outside. Excitement ran high. China cannot survive such chaos. Who is fighting? Who? There is even dissension within the warming dawn. It is a fight to death between the left and the right. But if something is not done in the name of unity, Anarchy will sweep all of China. Chiang Kai-shek established the Nationalist government here by Dr. Sun had wished it would be. For now Dr. Sun was dead, and his remains enshrined in the beautiful white marble mausoleum on Purple Mountain overlook in the city. The Nationalists continued their drive northward, and in June 1928 word came of their victory. Dr. Townsend, the king has been captured. The northern capital captured? Yes, and now once more Nan King is to be the capital of China. Nan King was the capital once more. Now the reconstruction began. You see what we are doing Dr. Townsend is cutting Chong Shan Road here from the Yangtze Waterfront straight through to Chong Shan Gate. The modern road for Nan King. It will go through the old city wall near the drum tower, then on through the banking circle in the business section of the new city. Working coolers were swarming over the road. Thousands of Chinese houses must come down to make way for the highway. The property owners are complaining, but they are being compensated. Not already many of them are seeing the increased value to the property along the road. I can see Chong Shan Road below me now. I can see it's many magnificent buildings. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Metropolitan Hotel. Moving picture theaters. Hospitals. Some of them have already been hit by bombs. I remember those earlier reconstruction days we relaxed and talked down in those tea houses. I've never seen such animated chatting as you have here in your Nan King tea rooms. Nan King is famous for them. Hey, who's that interesting Chinese over there, huh? Oh, probably a politician. They come here to laugh and chat. I mean, they're political fences. Just as Americans do, to be seen in the right places for the right people. Well, yes. Look at those three at that table over there. Yes? What could they be talking about that would be that important? Oh, everything is important to these people. They not only come here to express their own opinions, but also to learn what they can from others. Is all this part of the new spirit of Nan King? Well, no, but Nan King has changed a great deal. Oh, indeed it has. But the last time I was here, there wasn't even running water. Now you can draw water out of a faucet anywhere. Where did you get the water then? It used to be paddled in the streets by water carriers. Yes, Nan King has only had a waterworks for a short time. In the buildings? In a matter of a few years, Nan King's become China's most important metropolis. Well, look at those neon lights out there. The thing I know this is that Nan King is different from the other Chinese cities I visited. In what way? Well, I don't know. Is it because Nan King isn't a seaport? Well, Nan King's on the Yangtzee. But there are no foreign concessions here. Nan King is a Chinese city. That is what the Chinese are determined to keep it. Nan King grew and prospered. The warehouses on the waterfront and the three railways hummed with trade. I used to stroll along and see the great quantities of silk and sheepskin, drugs and peas and beans and turnips being shipped out. I used to watch imports of cotton and wood, of cigars, sugar and kerosene. Nan King has grown so much that we have taken the trade of Wu Hu and Qing Qiang. Traders were proud. But as the middle 30s came, we sensed that all this prosperity was in danger. And so it was. Last night, by the Japanese at the Marco Polo Bridge just out of Beiping, the Japanese are today moving in force against strategic points, and Chinese troops are hurriedly being mobilized. While foreign capitals are taking measures to bring about... It started outside Beiping, but it was almost as if we could hear the echoes in Nan King. Is this to be a real war against us, Dr. Townsend? Everyone was apprehensive in our town town. Has the war really spread to Shanghai? Yes, it has spread to Shanghai, while the Japanese will come here after they have taken Shanghai. For Nan King is the capital. And besides, the Japanese know it's strategic importance. The old Chinese was right. Obama's king more quickly than we expected. Run! Run for shelter! Run! Mr. Townsend, you must go. You must find shelter. I couldn't go and leave the Chinese who had worked with me for so many years. Go, Mr. Townsend, you will be killed. Yes, Mr. Townsend, most of the other foreigners have gone to their shelters. Go quickly. Some of the far-seeing foreigners had built deep, strong shelters of country. In them, the Chinese said, the foreigners had all their equipment to live in safety for days. When the raid was over, we started to build dugouts. Our dugouts will not be comfortable, nor have stoves or ice boxes, but they will give us some shelter. We shall never have enough if the Japanese send over very many planes. We must never stop digging until we have enough. Pray heaven that we have enough time. We all worked making dugouts. Arrows were put up everywhere pointing to the nearest shelters. But we did not have enough time. In bombings last week, what these defenseless people have suffered. I look down now at the cruel destruction below me. Sparks of brutal ruinations scattered throughout the city. I see Chongshan Road and Taiping Road and the beautiful buildings lining them. Now, in another hour, Admiral Hasegawa's heavy bombings are to start. It is time to walk down the path that has been worn smooth by the passing generations. It is time to join my people in our compound. Down there in Nanjing. Are you frightened, Dr. Townsend? Yes. A little chowl. Are you? It is the waiting. The bomber should have been here ten minutes ago. When will they come, Dr. Townsend? It is an hour past noon. I don't know, Juan. The skies are overcast. There is thunder beyond the horizon. We have watched the skies all this afternoon. Now dusk is falling. The word has come that ministers of the United States and Britain have made appeals in Tokyo. We respectfully protest the propel bombing of Nanjing. Yes. Not only will it be contrary to international law, but it will mean the slaughter of thousands of defenseless civilians. Gentlemen, Admiral Hasegawa has given the enemy warning of our determination to wipe Nanjing from the face of the earth. But it is impossible to clear out more than a million people. Every good can come from sparing Nanjing, but nothing good can come from ruthlessly destroying it. It is our humane objective to end the war as quickly as possible. And this cannot effectively be achieved by the destruction of Nanjing. We have waited all night. Wang, Chao, and the old ones die and die. Now, the first light is beginning to show in the east. There is not a sound. Wang, Chao, string the young years for ever sound. We have had our rights. Now it is 10.30 in the morning. Listen. Listen, the siren. There's Chao who discovered it. That's the air raid warning. Everyone down on the shelters. Down into the shelters. I, the old one, went down into the shelter with the others. Wang and Chao and I watched for the coming bombers. Look. Look over there, planes. Those are our Chinese interceptors. There are 13 of them. There come the Japanese back there to the southeast. Yes, look at them. How many are there? There are more than 40 Japanese bombers. They headed for the heart of the city. Our anti-aircraft guns are firing on them. Japanese bombers kept coming. There go our reserve fighters up after them. They are going straight for the bombers. Japanese bombers kept coming as if there was no hostility to them. Then they dived on the city. Because the bombs thundered down. Then, just an instant after the bombs had fallen, there was chaos in the sky. Look, the Japanese planes, they are running into each other. There are two of them falling. They're on fire. No, there are three. Four of them. Four of them. All at once, plummeted like flaming meteors for their... That one. That one is coming down here. It's going forward, Dr. Townsend. Look out, look out. The compound were destroyed. We fought the flames to try to save those in the shelter. But Tsai, the old one, and the others in his care, all died. Dr. Townsend, they're coming back. They're coming back. There's more of them. Look at them. The second raid came a little more than 30 minutes after the first. We had no protection against them. Burn, Dr. Townsend. Look at it burn. The flames licked high up into the sky. More and more Japanese bombers kept coming back. When night came, the blackness of the sky was pierced with the light of the blazing fires. It was taken off from Shanghai with bombs dropped on Nanking. Intelligence, a force of 50 times. This was the intelligence that came from Shanghai. What Chinese fighting planes we had left took off to meet them. Nor from the formation, dived almost straight for the city. Is he going to commit suicide? He has singled out something to hit. The anti-aircraft guns are concentrating on him. He's going to dive straight into the earth, straight through the fire. No, no, he is pulling out. Look at him come up. He's dropped his bombs. Electric power plant. The others at the squadron dropped their bombs on hospitals and the waterworks. Dr. Townsend, Dr. Townsend. Yes, Tsai? Japanese soldiers. Japanese soldiers, I saw them. You saw Japanese soldiers, Tsai? Where did you see them? Small party. They are at the Sun Yatsen Memorial on Purple Mountain, looking down on the city. We had known for days the ground forces were closing in on us. Now the advance units were here. They could not dream of what was before us. December 12, 1937. The Japanese entered Nanking today. Thousands of Chinese civilians and soldiers tried to cross the Yang seat to the North Bank. That is all this boat will hold. Get out there. You must let us on, me and my little boy. There is no room. The boat will go down in the rushing waters. Are we to stay here and die? No one will take us across. Move over, you fool. Make room for him and his boy. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Squeeze in there. There, quick. We are all right now. All right. Push off. Out into the stream. Out. They pushed out into the raging Yang sea. The river was filled with boats fighting the current. Fighting to keep afloat. Fighting to get across. The waves almost swamping them. Look. Japanese planes. Japanese planes. They are dying to scrape the boats. Look out. The boats have seized them. The boat has just gone out to under the father and his little boy. They are machine gunning them. Tens of thousands have died. The city is drenched with blood. Today, the Japanese troops stormed through the city. They looted stores and houses. Wagons and rickshaws and all automobiles and trucks loaded with the personal property of those slaughtered are passing our compound now. The Japanese are taking the loot away from this doomed city. The Japanese swarmed through the city. There was no place for us to go, but to the international safety zone. I've never seen such a mass of seething humanity. Such misery. They say there are more than 200,000 of us refugees in here. Foreigners, as well as Chinese, were crowded into the international safety zone. Do you think the Japanese will respect this zone? They should, if they have any regard for foreign opinion. If what we have seen in this city is any measure, then... By the way. By the way, get back here. By the way. By the way. Those we select will be taken now to serve as laborers to clean up the debris of the city. They cannot force us far enough to work. They'll force anyone to work. Take those two. Those three over there. That one. That one. That one. Those three. Fall there. That one. That one. They are picking old Chinese. They know the Chinese can't help themselves. All right. All of you are selected. Right up here. One was one of the Chinese taken. He looked at me without a trace of emotion as they lined him up. As they started to march them away, he threw back the last glance. Doctor, do not drag. Up. Up. Keep them in line, doctor. Never turned around again. The Japanese marched the helpless Chinese out of the international zone. Quiet settled over all of us. The 200,000 seemed to be holding their breath. Then we heard it. Some were burned alive. None of the Chinese came back. Thousands of girls and women were outraged. All this, the Japanese are calling the celebration of their heaven sent victory. It's Chaoyong time. The foregoing is from the diary of Dr. Townsend. Gradually the killing and the torturing and the looting seized. Then famine came. The farmers had been killed and the transportation systems into Nanking Rect. So there was no food. Dr. Townsend and I, who were the only ones left from our compound, started out to search for some. We rolled through the wreckage. Everywhere, splashed with blood and blackened by fire. The beautiful Nanking we knew was gone. Miles of desolate empty houses and smashed government buildings. The thousands of refugees that fled for their lives have met with the gentle soothing of the Japanese Army. We heard a radio in a wrecked store. We went closer. It was a message from the radio station in Tokyo. The bandits responsible for so many deaths and so much destruction in Nanking Rect have been captured and executed. They were mal-contented Chinese troops. When the Japanese Army entered Nanking, I looked at Dr. Townsend as we listened. He just stood there looking at the ruination around us. Our soldiers are giving food to the suffering poor people and they are pleased and grateful. They politely receive it. Dr. Townsend started walking slowly away. I followed. We are fortunate, Chow. At least we can walk. We made our way through the wreckage toward one of the camps that had been set up by the Relief Committee. Perhaps we can get some rice here. All Dr. Townsend had was the diary he had kept so faithfully. He asked me to carry it. I helped him walk. He was very quiet and it seemed that he had become old within a few days. Line up down there. Stay in line and have your pants ready. Give this young man some rice, please. He thought of me first. We sat down and ate our rice together. When we had eaten, he got up and started a wing. No, no, Chow. I have work to do. Where I am going would not be safe for you. You are a Chinese? He would say no more. I stood there and watched him limping away alone. He became a silhouette and then he disappeared into the shadows. Chow, you will have to leave. The Japanese are rounding up every Chinese in Nanking. Come with me. I could not go. In time the Japanese did come and wound us up. They put me into a labor battalion cleaning up the wreckage. Japanese soldiers were everywhere with fixed bayonets. Are they going to shoot us down in cold blood? As they did those first Chinese they took out of the international safety zone? I do not know. Have you seen a missionary, an elderly man with deep lines in his face and who walks with a limp? The same one you have been looking for all these months? Mr. Townsend. All I know of him is what you have told me. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs over there. How beautiful it is. Standing there almost untouched. It is one of the few buildings not destroyed. Stop talking. There is work to do. The Japanese soldiers stood over us and watched every move. When the guard had moved away we could ease up for a moment. It is said that the Japanese and the Minister of Foreign Affairs were the head of their puppet government in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over there. We had known a long time that the Japanese were organizing the Chinese puppet government and there was talk that the Japanese would make the man king the capital of occupied China. Perhaps they are working so hard because they want to get the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ready for the inauguration of Wang Qingwei in March. Quiet. Here comes the guard again. What way are you talking about? Tell me. Is the new government of Wang Qingwei to be set up over there in the beautiful Ministry of Foreign Affairs? No. That is to be the headquarters of General Nishio, the commander of a Japanese army of occupation. Where will be the headquarters of the new government? Stop talking and work. In March 1940 the Japanese inaugurated their puppet government here and set it up in a shoddy, unpretentious building. So man king is a capital once more. But the beautiful old man king is gone. And so is Dr. Townsend. I think of the two together and I remember my last impression of him as he walked away until he became shadow and then disappeared. A reprint of this Pacific Story program is available at the cost of ten cents. Send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. The principal voice was that of Jack Edward Sr. This program came to you from Hollywood This is the National Broadcasting Company.