A Shanghai American: From an American Childhood in Shanghai to Marine Combat Interpreter on the Pacific Island Battlefields of WWII Daniel S. Williams and Gerald A. Meehl Dan Williams, son of Baptist missionary parents, grew up in Shanghai, China, in the 1920s and 1930s. His experiences there as a Shanghai American shaped the rest of his life. Dan returned to the States at age sixteen in 1936 after a memorable journey on the Trans-Siberian railway...