Battle Hymn of China

Words at war. The voice I heard in the cities, in the villages, along the river banks,

in the Malaria swamps, in the hills where the guerrilla fighters hide and strike from. That is the voice I heard for the 12 years I lived in China. Words at War The National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with the Council on Books in War Time brings you another in its series of radio adaptations of important war books.

Tonight, the story of a woman who has lived and worked with the guerrilla armies of China. The Battle-Him of China by Agnes Smedley If you listen to my voice, it is only because I can tell you something, some little something about your ally in this war, the people of China.

First, in a hospital. Not the spicken-span and sanitary hospital you know. No, more like a hovel. The straw pallets on the floor are crammed close together. There are more than enough wounded to fill them.

The people in this village behind the battle lines and the streets outside are noisy. Carts pushing their way through the jammed streets, some of the carts bringing in more wounded. And the constant tramp of other soldiers going up to meet the enemy.

In this place called a hospital, I saw one wounded soldier crouching beside the straw pellet of another wounded man. I went up to them. I spoke to the crafting soldier. This is your friend soldier?

Yes. You should be on your own cart. You're wounded. They'll put someone else in your place. He is worse off than I am. He carried me. What is his name? He will tell you. But he doesn't open his eyes.