"I had not realized what a mountainous country China was…the mountains looked like ice cream cones upside down." (Audio Interview, Part 2, 11:29)

Robert H. Haines

War: World War II, 1939-1946 Branch: Army Air Forces/Corps Unit: 14th Armored-DS, 14th Air Force Service Location: Arkansas; Kentucky; Burma; China; Tennessee; China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater Highest Rank: Captain Place of Birth: New York, NY

Although his first assignment during World War II was with the Armored Force, Robert Haines eventually found himself in China with the Army Air Force as a communications officer. Due to the limited number of U.S. forces serving in the China-Burma-India Theater, Haines spent much of his time with British, Indian, and Chinese troops. He offers colorful accounts of the British habits and mores, including their affection for Scotch, and was also a keen observer of the dire poverty in China and the toll that war and the Japanese occupation had taken.