Mission to Yenan: American Liaison with the Chinese Communists, 1944-1947Conventional wisdom informs us that "only Nixon could go to China." In fact, in 1944, nearly thirty years before his historic trip, the American military established the first liaison and intelligence gathering mission with the Chinese Communists in Yenan. Commonly referred to as the Dixie Mission, the detached military unit sent to Yenan was responsible for transmitting weather information, assisting the Communists in their rescue of downed American