John S. Service
| John S. Service | |
|---|---|
| Born |
John Stewart Service August 3, 1909 Chengdu, China |
| Died | February 3, 1999 (aged 89) Oakland, California |
| Occupation | Foreign Service |
| Known for | China Hands |
John Stewart Service (3 August 1909 – 3 February 1999) was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an. Service correctly predicted that the Communists would defeat the Nationalists in a civil war, but he and other diplomats were blamed for the "loss" of China in the domestic political turmoil following the 1949 Communist triumph in China. Near the end of World War II, Service was arrested in the Amerasia Affair in 1945. The prosecution sought an indictment for espionage, but a federal grand jury unanimously declined to indict him. In 1950 U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy launched an attack against Service, which led to investigations of the reports Service wrote while stationed in China. Secretary of State Dean Acheson fired Service, but in 1957 the U.S. Supreme Court ordered his reinstatement in a unanimous decision, finding that Acheson's action had been illegal because "it violated Regulations of the Department of State which were binding on the Secretary." Service was cleared by numerous loyalty boards. Only a final one suggested there was "reasonable doubt" as to his loyalty. It was this opinion that forced Dean Acheson to dismiss him.
John Service was born on August 3, 1909, in the city of Chengdu in the Sichuan province of China, the son of Grace Josephine (Boggs) and Robert Roy Service, missionaries working for the Y.M.C.A. Service spent his childhood in the Chinese province. By the age of eleven, Service had mastered the local Chinese dialect, and then attended the Shanghai American School for high school. The Service family moved to California, where John graduated from Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California at the age of fifteen. Those who knew him say he always went by "Jack" and he never used his middle name.
...
Wikipedia