b') instead, which served as his first foray into the realm of the military. Afterward, he attended and graduated from Jinling University (, University of Nanking) where he received a bachelors degree in chemical engineering. His name is still featured on a list of notable alumni. Military Career and Service in Mainland ChinaWhen Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 and set into motion a second world war in the West, Lih Chiens part of the world had already been embroiled in conflict for over a decade. In 1927, the communist Red Army began an open revolt against the Nationalist (Kuomintang, KMT) government and cast the nation into civil war. By 1935, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had suf-fered several major defeats and its armies were forced to retreat to northern China. Whereas the people of China saw their lives overturned by massive and bloody in-fighting, certain elements of Japanese leadership saw a gold-en opportunity instead. In 1937, the Empire of Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China, resulting in the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which would later become part of the broader Pacific Theater of World War II. In the midst of its own grueling civil conflict that had already lasted adecade, China was ill-equipped to defend against Japanese forces, which hadbeen industrialized and mobilized for total war. Furthermore, the KMT andCCP were still at each others throats, and even with a common enemy on their shores, refused to work together. Within a year the Japanese had taken the key cities of Shang-hai, Beijing, and Nanking, the latter of which has become infamous for being the site of someofthemostvile,grotesquehuman rights abuses ever recorded in human history.The photo was taken in April 1937, when Lihwas just promoted to the rank of Major. In July of the same year, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident oc-curred, signifying the official onset of Chinas war against Japan.12'