The Story of an American Marine in China

It was a typical thirteenth birthday for Jeffrey Bingham Mead -that is, until Mead’s father walked in to present his son with an Imperial Japanese samurai sword. Little did this young American teen know at the time that it was the beginning of a journey into rediscovering his father’s role as a China Marine after World War II. 

Just before Herbert Bingham Mead passed away on his 86th birthday in 2010, he asked his son to research and publish a book about the time he served in postwar Beijing and Tianjin with the 1st Marine Division. With pictures and stories his father left behind, Mead has been researching those chaotic, tense times. His history blog, My Dad the U.S. China Marine, has attracted the attention and interest of other China Marine descendants and others interested. 

Jeffrey Bingham Mead is a native and descendant of the founders of Greenwich, Connecticut. He earned his B.A. in Communications from Pace University, and continued his Master’s studies in Education at Manhattanville College. Mead is a former trustee of the Greenwich Historical Society, an author, educator and historian, the co-founder and president of History Education Hawaii, the official council of the National Council for History Education, a former instructor at Hawaii Tokai International College and the Honda International Center of Kapiolani Community College in Honolulu. Mead is the president of The Pacific Learning Consortium, Inc. 

Mead will be speaking to the China Institute in America about his research and journey into this area of history few in America are aware of. His desire is to bring to life for Americans, Chinese and all others a vivid and informative narrative of the everyday lives in postwar China, why it is important and what we can learn from this unique period of world history.