Ten days after World War II ends with Japan <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_over_Japan_Day" id="mw2w" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Victory over Japan Day">announcing its surrender</a>, armed supporters of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Communist_Party" id="mw3A" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Chinese Communist Party">Chinese Communist Party</a> kill U.S. intelligence officer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_(missionary)" id="mw3Q" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="John Birch (missionary)">John Birch</a>, regarded by some of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism_in_the_United_States" id="mw3g" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Conservatism in the United States">American right</a> as the first victim of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War" id="mw3w" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Cold War">Cold War</a>.