Download or read book Burma, 1942, 7 December 1941 - 26 May 1942: The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II (Pamphlet) written by Clayton R. Newell and published by Department of the Army. This book was released on 1995-12-21 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 23-page pamphlet showcases the strategic setting, operations, and analysis of American commitment to China that drew the United States Army into the Burma Campaign of 1942. The loss of Burma was a serious blow to the Allies. It completed the blockade of China, and without Allied aid, China’s ability to oppose the Japanese invasion was extremely limited. In the larger picture however, the conflicting goals of the countries involved made the loss of Burma almost inevitable. Neither the defenders nor invaders saw Burma as anything other than a country to be exploited. To Britain, Burma was simply a colony and a useful buffer between China and India; to China, Burma was the life-line for national survival; to the United States, Burma was the key to keeping China in the war against Japan, which in turn would keep large numbers of Japanese tied up on the Asian mainland nad away from American operations in the Pacific.