Families of Flying Tigers urge Sino-US cooperation
By: By LIU YINMENG in Los Angeles
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Families of Flying Tigers urge Sino-US cooperation
A photo shows US Lt Donald Kerr (left), a 14th Air Force "Flying Tiger" pilot, with his rescuers at the East River Coloumn headquarter in Tuyang, Guangdong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Descendants of the Flying Tigers recalled the cooperation of China and the United States during World War II and urged the two nations to work together for the benefit of humanity.
In letters shared recently with China's Embassy in the US, families of the Flying Tiger veterans who passed away in the last two years, along with former US military leaders, called for enhanced efforts by China and the US to transcend their differences and work together, according to a statement by the embassy released on Friday.
The letters were written in response to a letter by China's Ambassador to the US Qin Gang in remembrance of the veterans' contributions to Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), and in honor of the spirit of the Flying Tigers and China-US cooperation.
Sept 3 marks the 77th anniversary of China's victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Former US Air Force Chief of Staff General Ronald Fogleman, former Commander of the US Pacific Command Admiral Richard Macke, former NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden and former US Air Force Major General William A. Cohen conveyed their gratitude through letters forwarded by the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation.
Macke told the ambassador that he visited China several times and met with some Flying Tiger veterans as well as Anna Chennault, the wife of General Claire Lee Chennault, who led Flying Tigers pilots in the fight against Japanese invaders in China during the conflict.
Those were all memorable visits and proved that China and the United States can be friends, Macke said.
Cohen noted that his father, Lieutenant Colonel Sidney Cohen, was a member of the 7th Air Force in the Pacific Theater of operations. As a child, he was well aware of the Flying Tigers' work in China and their background in the American Volunteer Group.
As one of the two generals invited to accompany the veterans on a trip to China in 2015, he got a real appreciation for the heroism of the Chinese people and their gratitude for the contribution of the Flying Tigers during the war, he told the ambassador.
James E. Bryant Jr, son of 14th Air Force Flying Tiger fighter pilot James E. Bryant, is among the six descendants of the Flying Tigers who wrote to the embassy.
The younger Bryant recalled seeing the ambassador in his father's jacket during the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition hosted by the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation at the Smithsonian earlier this year. The sight "still brings tears of appreciation to my eyes", he told the ambassador.
His family was deeply honored by the speech delivered by Qin during the event. After his father's death several years ago, Bryant's mother received a recognition poster signed by dozens of surviving Chinese veterans and their family members, he said. The poster and the story behind its creation continues to provide great comfort to his mother and his family, Bryant said.
"Great friendships are never accidental. They are the consequence of shared dreams and common experiences. Eighty years ago, Americans and Chinese dreamed and fought together. Your words reinforce that inseparable bond," he wrote in his letter, a copy of which was posted on the embassy's website.
Paul Friday, son of Air Transport Command "Hump Pilot" Captain Joe Friday, said the most common sentiment he heard from veterans of both countries is the closeness they felt for one another as they struggled against the Japanese.
The Chinese he met were enthusiastic in their memory of the Americans and the sacrifices they made so far from home, and the Americans told him time and again of their fondness and respect for the Chinese, Friday said. It seems people from both nations have an affinity for one another, he added.
Friday hopes that people might remember their fathers and grandfathers so closely supporting each other and fighting side-by-side in the greatest of all struggles of the 20th century, he said.
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About 14 years ago I toured the Flying Tiger museum in Chongqing, China, which was once the home of American General Joseph Stilwell (known as Vinegar Joe). There I met and spoke with one of the original Chinese Flying Tiger Pilots who flew "over the hump" (the mountains) to Burma. Here I am with him, standing in front of a poster showing him in uniform and with his family back then.
These days I doubt that the wishes stated in the article will see much fruition since the American government is dead set upon containing and preventing China from deposing America to being the number 2 economy in the world, by demonizing and bashing it, pressuring other nations to join it against China, interfering in its domestic affairs, contravening its complying with the One China Policy agreed by it years ago by provoking a third world war over Taiwan.
“These days I doubt that…”
Well, I didn’t see that coming…
i would point out , that the "China " that existed in those times , currently only exists in Taiwan . So it can be seen that the spirit of cooperation that started then is still being upheld with those that started it .
i think to the ones currently calling themselves "China " are not to happy that the spirit of the sino -american cooperation that currently exists with the desendants of those families in the taiwanese relationship
What is China today , is NOT what it was back then .
It's all one China - the Taiwanese consider themselves to be Chinese. Think about America - aren't BOTH Democrats and Republicans American? Relations between China and the Chinese and America and Americans were pretty good until America started demonizing China. Isn't it time for America to start another war, after all, war is good business for America.
yeah , i read Smedley D. Butlers , "War is a racket" when i was but a yonker , still eating canned peaches by the fistful. his warnings were not lost on ike , and ike thus warned the US people when he left office about the military- industrial complex . it didnt take though .
One china? not hardly in my estimation of whats been said . now if i were to only take one sides story , then maybe , but as a man called paul harvey said , there is always the "rest of the story ".
LOL. Thanks for that reference, Mark, I was an avid listener to Paul Harvey's broadcasts. Unfortunately there's nobody similar around today, and I have posted more than once on NT "Where's Paul Harvey when we really need him?"