THE PASSWORD WAS MANDALAY                  
 
                                by                          
 
                  Lt. Col. James W. Bellah, Inf.            
 
                                                            
 
 
This is how Phil Cochran and his gang flew the vanguard of 
      General Wingate's forces over the mountains in bright moonlight 
      and put it down deep in the heart of Jap held Burma. This is 
      how some men died, but hordes of men lived to strike a vital 
      master stroke to save China and to help Stilwell and Wingate 
                     conquer Northern Burma.                
 
                                                            
 
 
Seven months of back-breaking, mind-searing work ended abruptly 
      that last morning. Only hours were left - slow hours until take-off. 
      Jerry Dunn kept talking about death and I kept shutting him up. 
   Herd smile and say: "If you talk about it, it won't happe
 
                                                            
 
 
There were two open spaces on the map: open spaces ringed 
      with Jungle and mountain. Let's call them Fifth Avenue and Bond 
      Street. Nobody had even been on the ground at either place - 
      but there were photographs. The troop-carrying gliders would 
      start down into those places shortly, and the first ones down 
      would pop a red flare if they draw enemy fire - that would warh 
      all the endless succeeding waves to turn back - only it wouldn't 
      - for enemy fire or no enemy fire that red flare wouldn't be 
      popped. Fifth Avenue and Bond Street had to be then and held 
      at all costs because the gliders eouldnlt go back. The two ships, 
      stripped bare to haul the heavy loads, had barely gas enough 
      after release to get themselves back through the hostile night 
      miles. So it was agreed and so it was known by everyone. Nobody 
                      would fire the flare.                 
 
                                                            
 
 
You would hit the ground and go into action and behind you 
      in wave after wave would come the American combat engineers and 
      more British troops and bulldozers and graders and Jeeps and 
      mules to build an airport between dawn and dusk, so that the 
      next night huge troop- carrying power plames could fly in and 
                     start landing the army.                
 
                                                            
 
 
In the vast glider park there were voices from Brooklyn and 
      Carolina, London sad the North C %ountry, Liverpool, Texas and 
      Nepal. But nobody seemed to have any nationality suddenly. Phil 
      Cochran must have felt that complete loss of all the non-essentials 
      of life. He closed the briefing with "Tonight you're going 
      to find out you've got a soul. Nothing you've ever done or nothing 
      you are ever going to do counts now. Only the next few hours. 
                           Good luck".                      
 
                                                            
 
 
Dunn and I lay down on the ground in the shade of a glider 
      wing while I loaded his Tommy gun clips with tracers. We were 
      first wave. Dunn talked about his wife in London. Every once 
      in a while as he talked the whole thing would surge up inside 
      me like a dental appointment when I was a kid. If it ever breaks, 
      it spatters like blood into the outer reaches of your soul - 
      and you run screeching. You have to stop it and when you do, 
                 you feel good inside. Damn good.           
 
                                                            
 
 
The time drew on, Dunn slapped me lightly on the shoulder 
      "See you" he said and he walked back to his glider. 
      Chaplain Marlin F. Kerstetter came by and we talked for a minute. 
      It was Sunday night. "As soon as you take off" he said, 
      "I'm going back to hold my service, but I will be in the 
                          second wave."                     
 
                                                            
 
 
All the rank- Slim, Stratemeyer, Baldwin, Old, Wingate, Cochran 
      and Allison were in a huddle. It was coming up on time. Our troops 
      were lined up to go aboard. Doc Tulloch, co-piloting with John 
      Allison looked over his medical equipment and suddenly Cochran 
      called a quick, emergency briefing.