Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA VETERANS ASSOCIATION
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA VETERANS ASSOCIATION. A non-profit organization founded in 1948 for veterans, the Association served military personnel who had fought in one of the lesser known fields of battle during WORLD WAR II. Infantry soldiers in the CBI served with few resources and a sense of physical isolation. The volunteer force first known as Galahad and later renamed Merrill’s Marauders skillfully adapted to fighting in the jungles of Burma. Their guerrilla tactics defeated an enemy force with superior numbers and firepower.
Explaining the American war effort in Southeast Asia was even the focus of short newsreels shown before movies in the United States during the war. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMpRIdRx0wQ)
Raymond ALDERSON of Dubuque was one of only two Iowans to serve as national commander of this organization for veterans of the WORLD WAR II China-Burma-India Theater. Chapters, called bas has, an Indian name for "hut" or "house," are located throughout the United States. Alderson had received the CBIVA Award of Merit, one of twenty-four recipients to receive the honor at an annual national reunion.