Oral History--Tracing Back the Old Days

Until now， my very first mission is still fresh in my mind. At that time，our crews were broken up， so we could gain experience flying with more ex-perienced people. So， on that very first mission， I was fiying as a co-pilot for a very experienced pilot， and our rmssion was to go to an airfield to try and de-stroy the air strip the enemy was using.

We carried out our mission，dropped the bomb in the air strip，turned for home， and as we did， I looked out the window， and I could see a large number of enemy planes were in the air， heading in the same direction. “Gosh”， I thought， “this is my first mission， and ifit is going to be like this， there is no way in the world I can ever get home.”

It was a difficult situation. Our plane was the slowest in the formation， and we were soon left behind. Normal-ly， the lead pilot does not leave a friend behind， but there was too much inter-ference on the radio， and the planes did not have very good vision toward the rear. As a result， they did not know we were left behind， and here we were all by ourselves.

There was one of the Japanese airplanes that was showing off and do-ing rolls alongside. By the grace of god， I am here today. I am not pretty sure why， but the fighter pilots went away maybe because they felt it might be a trap. After that experience， I think I knew what a big problem really is， and I swore I would never again worry about little problems. That was my first mission， and I continued on， and flew another 52 missions.

I certainly grew up while I was here in China. I learned responsibility.I leamed that if a job needs to be done， get in and do it， don’t make a lot of excuses， don't try to blame somebody else if there is something I am respon-sible for. Our pilots were taught that， if something goes wrong， do not blame on somebody else， but ponder and talk about it and figure out what could you have done differently to avoid it. So it was a character building experience，and that happened in China.

I still keep many of the articles I used in China， such as maps， money， etc.， because they are memorial for the war and are invaluable in my heart.There was a translation book called“Pointie Talkie” which was intended for use in the event of being downed over China. To conununicate with any native Chinese encountered， the pilots would find a phrase in English and point to the Chinese language transla-tion. For example the pilots could ask a question such as“please show me on any map you may have where I am.”

My co-pilot， and also my friend Ted Stevens， after the war， became the senator of Alaska. He was a real friend of China for 40 years， and was fairly well-known here. During the many years he served in the US Senate， Ste-vens had always actively promoted China-US relations， and hope that the future generations would not forget the bond between the two countries.Unfortunately， about five years ago，he was killed in plane crash in Alaska. He sent me a mail on Friday， and was killed on Monday.

For all ofus， it was a growing-up experience in China. We did our best to complete our mission and I thought we were all satisfied with the results.I sincerely wish that both Americans and Chinese could remember that darkhistory we walked through together，and just like Stevens， do our parts to contribute to China-US friendship.

It was January 1945， and I had been fiying the Hump for nearly tlrree years. One fiying experience in storms was unforgettable. On the night of the 6th， I was ordered to carry 24 55-gal-lon gasoline cans and some other things to Kunming. The weather was getting worse. Through I was worried about the weather， I still obeyed orders and flew. I had no idea that what was waiting for me was the most severe weather over the Hump route in three years.It was 24 hours of strong storms from Kunming to Eastern India，and it was so strong that all the radio communication and navi-gation signals were lost. Some planes fell down because the rain iced over the airframe.

Before long， I saw the lights of Kumning， and that was the most beautiful scene I have ever seen in my life. In the end， I suc-cessfully landed and was out of the most dangerous flying expe-rience in the Hump. It was that night that nine planes and 42 crew members were lost. During WWII， there were hundreds of crew members who were laid to rest in the land of China. I am a lucky person. I am 92 years old，and I still expect to be 93. I hope everyone can enjoy life and say no to war.

To commemorate the V-J Day， the Hump pilots had a re-union in Beijing. It was rare. It takes the whole village to fight the war. None of us were doing it by ourselves. We were helping each other. China and the US helped each other in history， and today，we should band together and help achieve world peace. If you feel like we were doing well as ambas-sadors， we plan to do it as long as we can.

My husband was a fighter pilot. In 1941， he came out with the American Vol-unteer Group with General Chennault. They had such success that the Chinese named them Flying Tigers. Kunming was once the headquarters for the Flying Tigers in 1941 and 1942.

When they had their first encounter with the Japanese over the skies of Kunming，the Japanese were not prepared for them，and the Flying Tigers shot down about 10 of the enemy without losing any of their P-40s. After the first raid in which they shot down so many ofthe Japanese， the people of Kunming came， the mayor came， and they brought gifts， flowers and fruit to thank AVG.After that， the enemy never came back to Kunming again as long as the Flying Tigers was there.

It was May in 1942， the Japanese had taken over Burma and intended to invade Kunming and Chongqing. The Japanese had to come across the Salween River， since the Chinese army was backed up. When the Chi-nese came across the bridge， they blew it up，so that the Japanese could not come after them.

However， the Japanese sent their en-gineers to build another bridge， and at the same tune bomb the Burma Road，which was the life line of supplies into China. It was 400 miles from Kumning and 600 from Chongqing. General Chennault sent his squadron over there，and they bombed the cliff side and shut the whole Burma Road， so the Japanese were unable to cross it. That is consid-ered their most successful battle.

My husband was the president of the Flying Tigers Association for 60 years. We were invited to many places to air shows， and we were invited to China quite a few times. The last time I was here was 10 years ago for the last celebration of WWII. My husband sat his table with the Chinese leader and was toasted by him for what he and the Flying Tigers had done for China. It was a wonderful， wonderful celebra-tion. I wish my husband was here， but he died in 2008. I keep doing the work he was doing all the time， and I hope people do not forget the history.One thing I do recall is a strange thing. I was walking on the street in Hankow one time， and a family in-vited me into their house， so I went in. We could not confer with each other because I did not speak Chinese， andthey did not speak English. However，I remember I drank three cups of hot water. They did not have tea， but they gave me hot water. At that time， I truly felt the friendship between our two peoples.

Other than that， when I was here in 2010， I went to Chongqing to speak at a memorial for the anti-Japanese war. I had noticed， before I got to speak， sitting behind me were some Chinese veterans. When I spoke， I also talked about dropping the food for the Chinese. When I was going back to my seat， there was one fellow saying:“you fed me， you fed me ! ”

He turned out to be one of the vet-erans who were there in Burma. Then we met after the ceremony and had a dinner cruise on the Yangtze. It was a wonderful， wonderful day!

I feel honored to come to China again and felt the respect from Chinese people.

It was 1941， my brother Charles Bond joined American Volunteer Group (AVG) to help China fight against Japa-nese invaders. He departed from San Francisco to China in September. At that time， General Chennault set up a ground school， taught them flight tech-niques， including how to navigate P-40 fighter， how to take off， attack， land etc.

I remember Charles told me his first contact with Japanese army was on December 21. On that day， Japanese bombers attacked. Although it was the first time for Charles and his compan-ions to engage in a real battle， their strong resistance led to a lot of Japa-nese f'ighters being downed. So， the Japanese learned and they were very worried whenever they saw Flying Ti-gers from that point on.

I remember Charles also told me that， once， it was March 24， when members of Flying Tigers were train-ing when they suddenly heard the alert， which meant a Japanese attack. So，Charles went out to his plane， checked it out， and they found there were about 25-30 enemy bombers.

Some of the members were a little afraid. At this time， Charles said finnly that we can make it! Af'ter saying this，he started the engine and prepared to take off. Encouraged by him， all the other members fought bravely in the battle. They shot down a lot of Japa-nese bombers and fought against Japa-nese army to a large extent.

I’m very proud to have such a brave brother. Without soldiers like hun， we cannot have a peaceful life to-day.