3 by 3.1 inches
provenance Morton Cohen
r.
Free Thai
By companson with the Jingpos
Rangersand Kachin Rangers SSl, the Free
Thai SSl are a complete mysiery
These
SSl are machine-embroidered on OD wool
and have the look and feel of W WIl-period
pieces.
Who were the Free Thai? The tem
'Free Thai', as far as I can determine, was
used to denote a number of groups There
were Free Thai organizations
comprising
primarily That university students-
-in En.
gland and the United States whose mem-
bers volunteered for military service 10
berate their homeland from the Japanese
The term 'Free Thai' is also applied to the
guerrilla forces that sprang 10 life in Thai.
land during what they considered to be
Japan's occupation. And both OSS and
SOE (through its Force 136) trained groups
of Free Than for so filtration into Thailand.
For whom, then, were these SSI
made?
Given the presence of the SSI
among Detachment 10l veterans. one
thinks first of the Free That trained by OSS.
The Free Thai trained by OSS numbered
just 21, most being That university stu-win displayed by Amencans fighting in
Europe,
John Sitarsky was wounded in Ger-
many and received the Purple Heart. This
may account for his being in England in
Apol, 1945 while the unit was still in Ger-
many
He remained in the Army for years
and died of natural causes later in life.
Who was Johany Sitarsky? Beyond being
a well loved person in his community, he
was somewhat of a spons figure before the
war. He was, in 1933, che quarterback who
led his team, diminutive Buckoell Univer-
sity, to victory against the goliath Univer-
sity of Miam in the very furst Oraoge Bowl
ever played!
