Chu Te (Zhu De), Colonel David D. Barrett, and Mao Zedong, 1944Chu Te (Zhu De), Colonel David D. Barrett, and Mao Zedong, 1944
Yan’an, Shaanxi Province
Courtesy of the David Barrett Papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, Envelope E
Ambassador Patrick Hurley meeting with Mao Zedong and others, 1945Ambassador Patrick Hurley meeting with Mao Zedong and others, 1945
Yan’an, Shaanxi Province
Courtesy of the National Archives at College Park, MD, Still Picture Unit, 111-SC-WWII-763-360599
The United States Army Observation Group, commonly called the Dixie Mission, was the first effort by the U.S. government to establish official relations with the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army. General Joseph Stilwell chose Colonel David D. Barrett as the mission’s leader, whose duty was to evaluate potential collaborations with the Communist Party between 1944 and 1947.