Remembering Juchen Thupten Namgyal and Donyo Jagortsang
January 24, 2012Two more veterans of the Tibetan resistance passed on in 2011: Juchen Thupten Namgyal on August 31, and Donyo Jagortsang on December 19. Both were from Derge, a kingdom in the Kham region of Eastern Tibet. And both were part of Tibet's underground resistance army backed by the CIA, the Chushi Gangdruk.
After fighting since 1956, Juchen Thupten Namgyal was part of the Dalai Lama's guard during the uprising of March 1959; following him to India as back-up security during his escape. He was later a key member in the Tibetan exile government. He led the first fact-finding delegation to Tibet in 1979, was part of the first negotiations with the Chinese in 1982 and '84, and eventually served as Prime Minister from 1985 to '90.
The son of a Derge Chieftain, Donyo Jagortsang was trained by the CIA in Camp Hale, Colorado. After being dropped with his team of 18 into Pembar, another area of Kham, he was caught in an unexpected siege by the Chinese in 1960. Over 10,000 resistance fighters and their families had gathered there, making them a clear target for the PLA. Few survived, and Donyo made it to India with only 4 others from his team. Soon after, he left the operation.
Including footage of Chushi Gangdruk soldiers from the CIA archives, this video is in memory of them both. May they rest in peace.
Thanks to Doma Norbu and Jamyang Norbu for help with translation.
Tashi Paljor on the Camp Hale Commemoration
December 12, 2011If you happened to see the video on the Camp Hale memorial that took place on September 10, 2010, you may remember Tashi Paljor, one of the Tibetan veterans who spoke that day. Born in Tibet, Paljor left for India in 1954 to learn English for an intended career as a trader. Living in Kalimpong, he became acquainted with Gyalo Thondup, an elder brother of the Dalai Lama and the main CIA contact for its Tibetan operation. Thondup arranged for Paljor’s English studies at St. Joseph's College in Darjeeling, then sent him to the CIA’s Tibetan training base in Camp Hale, Colorado. From May 1959 to the end of 1960, he worked there as an interpreter and also took part in training. Later he worked for Lhamo Tsering, Gyalo Thondup’s right-hand man, from 1962 to 1989 (including a transition to Indian intelligence after all CIA aid ended in 1974). He currently lives in Canada.
I interviewed Tashi Paljor on October 27, and among many other things, asked him about his feelings at the Camp Hale commemoration. Here's a short bit on that.
Thanks to Doma Norbu for the photo of 4 of the Camp Hale veterans that attended the ceremony. Left to right: Tashi Paljor (Noel), Sonam Wangchuk (Lee), Chime Namgyal (Conrad), and the late Tashi Chutter (Mark).
Bhusang: Surviving War and Prison
June 26, 2011In wake of the recent release of several Chinese dissidents from prison – artist Ai Weiwei, three of his associates, journalist Wen Tao, and activist Hu Jia – I thought I’d share a related story from one of the Tibetan veterans I interviewed, Bhusang. Imprisoned in Tibet from April 1961 to October 1978, Bhusang was a resistance fighter trained by the CIA at Camp Hale, Colorado and the only survivor of his team soon after they were dropped back into Tibet. For more background on him, see “Democracy for Breakfast: Ode to Bhusang” and "Battle for Lhasa".
The interview took place on the 8th and 9th of November, 2009, in his small room just below the Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala, India. Bhusang passed away only four months later, so we were lucky and privileged to be able to record some of his stories while we could. I’m not yet able to subtitle this interview on video as I’ve had limited funds to get exact translations for most of Bhusang, as well as other Tibetan-language interviews that count more than 40 hours at this point. I’m planning on getting on that this summer, and will soon be starting a kickstarter.com campaign to raise funds to go towards finishing translations, a little more production, and post-production. As I have more translations done, I can start working with them in the feature editing, as well as share more bits on this blog. Look for an updated fundraising video and trailer coming up soon.
The transcription below consists of the questions I asked the interview’s interpreter, Tenzin Norkyi, and her translation at the time – a rough summary of Bhusang’s replies.
Bhusang after the interview, Nov 9, 2009
HOW DID THE CHINESE CAPTURE HIM?
He was part of seven Tibetans trained in the US [Camp Hale, Colorado] that fought and were killed in Markham [Eastern Tibet]. The only thing the Chinese feared is the Americans, and because they had trained with the Americans, they are their double enemy. After fighting a long time in Markham, they were outnumbered and surrounded by around noon on April 15th, 1961.
They had parachuted close to Markham on March 15th, 1961. First of all, they were dropped in the wrong place. From there, the problems started. One good thing is the team leader, Yeshi, was from the area. But the first people they met thought Yeshi was in India, and had no idea he was trained by the US so they didn’t believe him. The locals didn't trust that they weren't Chinese spies and wouldn't give them any food or sell anything to them. Soon, the Chinese heard about them.
Once the secret was out that they were there, after a few days they met the people they were looking for. They told them about how the Americans would supply weapons, money, and help them fight. They discussed plans for what to do.
Soon after, the Americans dropped weapons and supplies, so four of Bhusang’s team, plus six other teams, went to get them. By then the Chinese had already pressured the family they first met to give them all their details; that they trained with the US, and were there to fight. So the Chinese started coming to Markham.
When Bhusang and his team reached Markham, there were a lot of other groups there to fight the Chinese. They started fighting at 6am on April 15th and by the time they realized they needed to retreat, the Chinese had surrounded them; thousands and thousands, too many to count, herds like cattle. After most others were killed, he and three others were the only ones left of his team. They decided to each face north, south, east, west and keep shooting until they had no more bullets left, then take their suicide pills the Americans gave them in case of capture.
Two of the others took the cyanide pills. Bhusang put his in his mouth while the Chinese were shouting, “Surrender”. At the same time there were two girls crying a lot. They came to fight because their families had been killed and they had no one left. As the girls surrendered, Bhusang was knocked unconscious, hit on the head by a PLA soldier before he could bite down on the pill. Of his seven-man team, Bhusang was the only survivor.
He was kept in a Markham prison for a week after that. There was a big hall and you could see thousands and thousands other prisoners, many of which had been fighting that day. He was put into a black dark cell. He got better food than the rest; three times a day. The rest would get only a small amount of tsampa [Tibetan staple of roasted barley flour] in the morning and a little thukpa [noodle dish] in the evening. Other than that they had nothing else to eat and everyday were made to do hard labor building roads. After that he was transported to a prison in Chamdo. There was always a Chinese guard by his cell throughout the day and night. They beat him until he crumbled. Because of the medicine they gave him, he couldn't talk, and he was tortured often. On May 18th, he was taken from Chamdo to Lhasa. When he was transported from one prison to another, there was one Chinese jeep ahead of them, one behind and four policemen with him. They were very suspicious; thinking the Americans would do something, try to rescue him, since he was trained in America. He was stripped of all American clothes he had. All the time his arms and legs were bounded together.
When they got to the army camp prison in Lhasa, the police took off his shackles and the new prison guards put their own chains on him, and took him inside. There he saw that all the prisoners were abbots and lamas, no lay people. Since he had previously been a doctor in Lhasa's Tibetan Army, he knew some people there – one was an uncle.
Most of the time he was kept in a small room where he was with another inmate, a Chinese Kuomintang [Nationalist Party] who was captured trying to escape to India. In every cell there were eight rules. (1) Whatever work you do, you have to get permission from the officials. (2) You cannot move, you have to stay sitting down, you cannot get up and look around. (3) You can never talk to anyone, except when a Chinese officer talks to you. (4) You cannot give anything to others, and you cannot take anything from others. (5) You cannot draw or write anything on the wall, or even touch or make a scratch on the wall. (6) You cannot listen to anything happening around you. (7) You cannot look around when you are going out to work or whatever situation. (8) He can't remember.
There were 2 high lamas and a General, they were the only ones not made to work. All the other lamas had to work. Cleaning, or any sort of work. Guards would always be around watching them.
In Memory of Tashi Chutter and Roy Clarkston
April 25, 2011Sadly, two members of the CIA's Tibetan Task Force passed away last week; Tashi Chutter on April 18, and Roy Clarkston on April 20. Both served at the CIA's main training base in Camp Hale, Colorado as translator and instructor, respectively. In honor of their memory, I'm showing some excerpts from the ceremony held there last September honoring the Tibetan freedom fighters.
Tashi Chutter devoted much of his life to the Tibetan resistance; with the CIA's operation and later with the Tibetan government in exile. For more information, you can download this short biography sent to me by his daughter, Tashi Chodon. I first met him in October 2009 at a CIA ceremony in Langley, VA where a small group gathered to witness the unveiling of a painting commemorating the operation (commissioned by Bruce Walker, one of the Camp Hale instructors and later a case officer in India). Among a few speeches by various attendees, Tashi made an impassioned plea to help resettle the Tibetan refugees in Nepal to the US, who have not been allowed to leave in an increasingly dangerous political climate there. He repeated that same request to Colorado Senator Mark Udall after his speech at the Camp Hale ceremony (click here for my digested video from that day). Remembering that Tashi Chutter never stopped fighting for the Tibetan cause, his appeal for help is shown in today's video.
And in memory of Roy Clarkston, who couldn't attend the Camp Hale ceremony having just undergone heart surgery, the video closes with a few words from his friend Cmd. Sgt. Major Harold E. Caldwell. Just before the ceremony began, I enjoyed a conversation with his daughter Kelly Witchey and granddaughter, Brianna. My deepest sympathies to both families in this time of loss.
(On a side note: One of the attendees at the ceremony was Todd Stein, Director of Government Relations for the International Campaign for Tibet, who later informed me that Senator Udall had contacted the State Department regarding this issue, and in an ICT report last February he gave details of a visit to Kathmandu by Under Secretary of State Maria Otero and US Ambassador to Nepal, Scott DeLisi.)
US Presidential Briefings: March 1959
March 17, 2011For this 52nd anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight from Lhasa, here's a couple of interesting documents from 1959 found at the Eisenhower Presidential Library. CLICK HERE for the "Synopsis of Intelligence material reported to the President" dated March 17 and March 23, with bits on Tibet as part of other international matters of the time.
The sources for at least the second Tibetan report were Athar and Lhotse, two of the initial six-man team that was trained by the CIA and dropped back into Tibet in the fall of '57. Here's an excerpt from the translation (thanks to his daughter, Doma Norbu) of a 1999 video recording of Athar, a few years before his death:
I safely reached the military quarters in Dhapo Lhagyari. There I met my friend. We sent a wire to the US that we had arrived safely. We had a lot of work to be done and had started preparing. We requested the US for more weapons as we needed them. One plane with weapons were sent. It was just like the last drop.After collecting the weapons we reached Nyende Dzong. The March 10th trouble had occurred in Tibet and a messenger was sent to us. It had taken the messenger 7 days to reach us. It was a letter from the Lord Chamberlain, Phala, about His Holiness’ escape. We sent a wire to the US about the troublesome situation in Tibet. We were told to leave immediately and go near Lhasa to evaluate and report on the situation. My friend said that this was not good. If His Holiness was to escape, the weapons should not be sent to the Chushi Gangdruk headquarters. Around a 100 cavalry that did not have weapons needed to be armed. There were weapons for around 150 men.
I asked my friend to follow later with the cavalry that would be needed to escort His Holiness. I left ahead with six other horsemen. When I reached Chunjo Riwochen, His Holiness arrived there. From there on, I sent detailed reports of our journey.
Gompo Tashi’s Letter to Eisenhower, 1959
March 10, 2011
CLICK HERE to download the 9-page letter, a list of gifts also given, and the US memo that acknowledges the delivery to the Embassy.
The term "Do-med" is used often in the letter, so I asked Jamyang Norbu, noted author and activist for Tibetan independence, for clarification. He explained that the term refers to the Eastern Tibetan province of Kham, where many of the fighters in the Chushi Gangdruk were from. Along with the letter -- delivered to the US Embassy in New Delhi, India on December 13, 1959 while Eisenhower was visiting India -- Gompo Tashi also offered a few gifts to the president which included a full traditional Khampa outfit; the exact one he's wearing in the photo above. (Tashi himself was from the Lithang region of Kham.)
According to Norbu -- who had briefly been a member of the resistance forces based in Mustang and knew some of the Chushi Gangdruk leaders close to Gompo Tashi -- the above picture was taken in a photo studio in Kalimpong, India to document the outfit just before he and others left for New Delhi to give it to Eisenhower. Norbu added, "The spectacles were a studio accessory meant to make the subject look more educated or refined". The photograph is printed in Gompo Tashi's memoirs Four Rivers, Six Ranges: Reminiscences of the Resistence Movement in Tibet, published posthumously in 1973 by the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Unfortunately the gifts weren't found at the Eisenhower Library. If anyone out there has any information regarding their whereabouts, please let me know through the "contact me" link in the right column.
Jamyang Norbu recently posted another significant archival letter on his blog, this one from the Dalai Lama to President Kennedy sent the following year.
Revolt & Propaganda in “Unconquerable Tibet”
February 25, 2011
As revolution fever whips through North Africa and the Middle East, I thought I’d post an archival film called "Unconquerable Tibet". It's also timely as we approach the 52nd anniversary of March 10th, a day the Tibetan exile community commemorates as Tibetan National Uprising Day. That landmark revolt against the People's Republic of China wasn't the first or the last display of Tibetan rebellion by far; protests continue today (albeit unarmed since the 70s) within Tibet and the worldwide diaspora.
Looking through some US government documents from the ‘50s, I came across an interesting memo titled, “Peking Publicity for Tibetan Rebellion and Unrest”. I’ll post it in full next month, but for now here’s the final passage, dated just a few months before the March 1959 revolt began: (Note: the opening paragraph is the US intro.)
January 1, 1959 – The Tibetans persisted in their opposition to Communist reforms and in their desire for independence; a New Year’s statement by a leading official of the Chinese Communist Party control committee for Tibet admitted continued Tibetan resistance which, as usual, he attributed to imperialist influence.
An energetic effort should be made to struggle against the enemy and to expose the schemes and subversive activities carried out by all the reactionaries and imperialists. This must be done for the defense of our country. Under the guidance of imperialism and some special service agents of the Chiang [then the leader of the Republic of China/Taiwan] clique, a small number of reactionaries are carrying out a series of subversive activities to deceive the Tibetan people under the flag of nationalism and emancipation. For this reason, we must heighten our vigilance against imperialism and all reactionaries and be prepared to deal a fatal blow to them.
While that has a familiar ring to it these days, the difference for Tibetans in 1959 is there was no world watching. There was no press allowed in Tibet then (and very little now, for that matter). Few Tibetans had cameras then to document what was happening. So no one was there, that I have record of, to film what sounds like a massacre from first-hand accounts. The men I interviewed who were there all tell the same story: the rebels were crushed with overwhelming force. By March 28, 1959, the PRC had claimed the Dalai Lama a fugitive and Tibet officially under China’s rule. The party line claimed they were liberating the Tibetans from imperialist influence. Their tune changed in 2009 when China began touting March 28 as “Serf’s Emancipation Day”.
Propaganda was also, of course, a significant part of the CIA’s Tibetan Task Force (as with all US operations). Today’s video is a good example of US anti-Communist propaganda, made in 1959 following the March revolt in Lhasa. Produced by the United States Information Agency (USIA), here is “Unconquerable Tibet”.
Interview Excerpts: Carole McGranahan
November 11, 2010Carole McGranahan is a professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. As an anthropologist and historian, she's lived off and on with Tibetan families in Nepal and India since 1989, focusing her study in 1994 on the Tibetan resistance to China. Her depth of experience with many veterans of the Chushi Gangdruk (the CIA-backed Tibetan resistance army) brings fresh insight into Tibet's history of armed resistance and how it's remembered (and not remembered) in Tibetan exile society today. In her recently published book "Arrested Histories: Tibet, the CIA, and Memories of a Forgotten War", she argues that the telling of this history has largely been put on hold, and while it's begun to be told over the past decade or so (through books and Tenzing Sonam's BBC documentary "Shadow Circus"), there are particular reasons why the story of Tibet's armed resistance to China is still little-known today, even within the Tibetan community.
For more on the subject, here's some of her interview from September (just after the Camp Hale ceremony that honored the Tibetan freedom fighters, the video of which also touches on this topic).
Camp Hale Commemoration
September 30, 2010It's been busy since my last post. I've shot a few more interviews, which I'll post excerpts from in October. But the main story this month was the commemoration for the Tibetan freedom fighters and their CIA instructors at Camp Hale, Colorado on September 10. Ken Knaus, one of the instructors and project managers for the Tibetan Task Force, worked with Colorado Senator Mark Udall to install a plaque in memory of the Tibetan's training by the CIA there.
At almost 10,000 feet altitude, Camp Hale was originally used for training by the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division during WWII, then underwent preparations in 1958 for training some 265 Tibetans by the CIA which began in May 1959 and ended in November 1964. Many trainees were killed after returning to fight in Tibet. Perhaps 20 or so are still alive today, 5 of which were able to come to ceremony.
It was a remarkable day--an historic day actually-- the first time the US has ever officially acknowledged the CIA's operation with the Tibetans. Many flew in from all parts of the US and Canada to attend. Unfortunately there wasn't enough notice for those in India and Nepal to make travel arrangements, and many were sadly disappointed about that, including myself. Some who did attend expressed a wish that the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala, India would also commemorate the sacrifices their resistance fighters made. Since this subject is not politically correct for many in the Tibetan hierarchy, we'll see if that ever happens. If so, you know I'll have a camera crew there if I can.
It was a hard task compressing the whole afternoon into this 10 minute video. Some speeches couldn't be included, and I could only take short bits from those I showed. Basically I wanted to get the gist of the day, but if time permits, I'll try to post some more excerpts in the future. There's also a photo album of the event-- click here to view it on the Kefiblog Facebook page.
Below is the main list of attendees at the event.
Colorado Senator Mark Udall and staff: Jennifer Barrett, National Security Advisor/Deputy Legislative Director; Matt Sugar, Regional Director, Central Mountain Region
Camp Hale Translators/Trainees (including their American training names): Pema Wangdue (Pete); Tashi Paljor (Noel); Sonam Wangchuk (Lee); Tashi Chutter (Mark); Chime Namgyal (Conrad)
Camp Hale Instructors: Kenneth Knaus; Ray Starke; Don Cesare; (Roy Clarkston was represented by Command Sargent Major Harold E. Caldwell)
Descendants of Tibetan trainees/fighters: Doma Norbu, daughter of Athar Norbu, translator and instructor at Camp Hale; Karma Namgyal, President of NYC Chushi Gangdruk; Sonam Wangchuk, son of Pema Wangdue (listed above); Sonam Yangzom, daughter of Ratu Ngawang, Commander in the Chushi Gangdruk army
Descendants of CIA officers: Kevin McCarthy, son of Roger McCarthy; PJ Whelan, step-daughter of Roger McCarthy, and her daughter Chelsea; Julie Holober, daughter of Frank Holober; Lisa Cathey, daughter of Clay Cathey (also producer of this blog and the upcoming documentary "CIA in Tibet"); Kelly Witchey, daughter of Roy Clarkston, and her daughter Brianna
Authors/Scholars: Carole McGranahan, Author and Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder; Warren Smith, Radio Free Asia; Jamyang Norbu, independent Author/Blogger (also a member of the Mustang operation in Nepal)
Local Tibetan Americans: Nawang Sherap, Treasurer, Tibetan Association of Colorado, and other members
Forest Service: Dave Neely, District Ranger, Eagle/Holy Cross Ranger District, White River National Forest; Buck Sanchez; Bill Kite; Andrea Brogan
International Campaign for Tibet: Todd Stein, Director, Government Relations
CIA Impact on Tibet? Part 6: Donyo Jagortsang
July 28, 2010AKA the Prince of Derge, Donyo Jagortsang was a Commander in the Chushi Gangdruk (the Tibetan resistance army) and CIA-trained in the US at Camp Hale, Colorado. After being air-dropped into Pembar late in 1959, he and his teammates unexpectedly encountered a massive air and ground attack by the Chinese PLA, which eventually killed tens of thousands of Tibetan fighters and families gathered there. Out of his Camp Hale class of 18, only 5 survived it. Jagortsang fought his way out of Tibet, and left the CIA operation after making it to India in 1960.
The Chushi Gangdruk Begins
April 29, 2010Here's a bit of background on the Tibetan resistance that began fighting against the Chinese occupation in the 50s. After the CIA started training some of the Tibetans in communications and guerrilla warfare, the many different groups of fighters eventually organized into one main army they called Chushi Gangdruk, made up mostly of Khampas from the Eastern Tibetan region of Kham.
Note: Other than Thupten Juchon in this video, the Tibetan interviews haven't been fully translated yet, so they aren't included here.
Many thanks to Doma Norbu and Mikel Dunham for lending some of the photos used here.
Music by Green Goose Music
Democracy for Breakfast: Ode to Bhusang
April 19, 2010I was sad to hear that Bhusang, one of the fighters trained by the CIA in the Tibetan resistance to China, died on March 25th. I had the opportunity to interview him in his tiny room last November in Dharamsala, and was struck by how kind and gentle he was for someone with such a tragic history. As the video says, a lot of his interview still needs to be translated, but this one story had stuck with me, and I thought it would be good to share as a memorial for Bhusang. 1930-2010. RIP.
Tenzin Norkyi, translation. Photos of Camp Hale, collection of Bruce Walker. Bhusang's photo in Lhamo Tsering's book "Resistance: Volume II: The Secret Operations into Tibet (1957 - 1962). Joel Langley, Green Goose Music.
The Battle For Lhasa
March 28, 2010About two days after the Dalai Lama fled Lhasa on the night of March 17, 1959, war began raging between Tibetan rebels and the Chinese PLA in Tibet's capital. The uprising was crushed by China by March 24th. Here's an account of those dark days from five Tibetans who were there, four of whom began working on the CIA operation after surviving the devastation.
According to Mikel Dunham's book "Buddha's Warrior's", it's estimated that over 15,000 Tibetans were killed in this battle, and tens of thousands imprisoned. I haven't found an estimated number of Chinese deaths, perhaps because the Chinese government has maintained that their takeover of Lhasa was welcomed by the Tibetans as a liberation from an oppressive Feudalist system, and was little more than a riot caused by a few troublemaking serf-owners.
On March 28, 1959, China announced the dissolution of the Tibetan government, and denounced the Dalai Lama as a fugitive--considering him an "evil separatist" to this day. In 2009, China appointed March 28th "Serf's Emancipation Day", something none of the Tibetans I've met would celebrate.
Thanks to Tenzin Norkyi and Doma Norbu for their help with translation.
Music by Green Goose Music.
3/31/10 ADDENDUM: I just heard that Bhusang, one of the men in this video, passed away March 25. Recruited into the CIA's Tibetan Task Force, he was captured at the battle of Markham, and imprisoned by the Chinese from 1961 to 1978. As with all the former fighters I've talked to, he was a hero of his country and its cause. Bhusangla will not be forgotten. --Lisa Cathey
Ratu Ngawang: We Must Never Forget March 10
March 10, 2010Ratu Ngawang is respected among many Tibetans as a former commander in the Chushi Gangdruk, the Tibetan resistance army that fought the Chinese PLA from the 50s through the early 70s. He was also the head of security in the escape of the Dalai Lama, which began one week after the Tibetan uprising began on March 10, 1959.
Here's a clip from my interview with him in November, 2009.
