File:Letter, 24 January 1939, page 4 of 7.jpg

English: "A portion of the Japanese fleet is anchored in the Whang Poo, are battle ship, one cruiser and several destroyers. The destroyers look modern and formidable, but the other two-Gently Jesus! The cruiser is a dead ringer for the Olympia, Dewey’s flagship at the battle of Manila Bay, and the battle ship, which is the Japanese flagship, was captured from the Russians during the Russo-Japanese War, which terminated in 1898. You can imagine what she looks like. On the way to Shanghai whenever a foreign man-o-war is passed, the Marines go to quarters, the bugles sound attention and the two ships exchange salutes. Every Japanese ship we passed observed these formalities, but the buglers, who sound like two year olds attempting to play an intricate solo, would invariably crack a note making it sound more like a Bronx cheer than anything else.

Chinese girls are exceptionally pleasing to look at and contrary to popular belief are constructed along the same lines as the girls one sleeps with in the States."

From the Edward L. Parke Collection (COLL/5627) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division

OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH