Surviving Flying Tigers and Their Enduring Spirit:an Unforgettable Meeting with Survivors

On the evening of September 4， on behalf of General Fang Fenghui，chief of the PLA General Staff， I met some members of the legendary Flying Tigers of World War II.

An Exciting Conversation

Decorative lanterns illuminated Chang’an Avenue， greeting a rainy evening. The grand ceremony had just concluded. At 4:00 a.m. the next morn-ing these veterans would be traveling home.

Having learned that I would visit him on behalf of the chief of PLA Gen-eral Staff， Jay Vinyard waited for me at the lobby of his hotel. The old man，wearing a blue T-shirt and white slacks，with a baseball cap on his head， looked well. I introduced myself to him，“I’m Colonel Li from the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National De-fense. I am here to bring you the re-gards of General Fang Fenghui， chief of the PLA General Staff. It’s my honorto meet you．”

The old member of Flying Tigers looked into my eyes，“I feel honored that General Fang has sent you to visit me. Please thank him for me and ex-tend my congratulations on the suc-cess of the military parade. And I hope everything goes well with GeneralFang”.

“I was not a member of the Fly-ing Tigers in its real sense”， he told me in a soft voice that had attracted my attention from the very beginning.“I was not one of those heroic pilots who fought the Japanese enemy in their fighter aircraft at the front line. I was flying a C-46 transport aircraft to carry aviation fuel and logistic supply.Of course， I agree that the Flying Ti-gers was a team. Every member was ahero.”

“Last night， when watching the show at the Great Hall of the People，we were excited to see old photos of Flying Tigers on the background screen. We are grateful to the Chinese people because they never forget us.When I first came to China at the age of 19， I didn’t know much about the country， but I was deeply impressed by the honesty and kindness ofits people.At that tine， all the members shared a sinple goal-to help China fight Japa-nese aggression till the end of the war，never considering our own safety. The Japanese soldiers had high morale and they were fierce and cruel. Many Fly-ing Tigers members never returnedafter taking off for the battle. The re-mains of some of them haven’t been found even now.

“Luckily， many others survived with the help of Chinese people. Some are still alive today， including me. Iwon’t forget that period of history and nobody should forget it. I will continue telling stories about Chinese and Amer-ican people fighting together against Japanese aggression， just as President Xi said yesterday， ‘Justice will pre-vail! Peace will prevail’. Yesterday， hea warded me a war memorial medal in person， which is indeed a supreme hon-or for me.”

“China is my second homeland”

The gift examined and approved personally by General Fang for Mr.Vinyard was a porcelain plate with the Chinese character hun (literally“soul”)and the Great Wall painted on it. Mr. Vinyard carefully listened to my ex-planation of the meaning of the present and then expressed his gratitude and told me that he would keep it in the Hump Pilots Association Museum.

“when we volunteered to come to China to f'ight against Japanese ag-gression， we had no idea we were mak-ing history. I only realized the true meaning when looking back long after.China is my second homeland， and Iam amazed at the changes it has un-dergone every time I come back. Yes-terday on Tian’anmen Square， I was amazed by what I saw.

“I am not moved by what we did in the past， but by the progress China is making. Today the Chinese are hardly the same as I knew more than 70 years ago. I feel that China has really stood up! By declaring further disarmament yesterday， China is delivering a sig-nal of call for peace， one that carries strength and confidence. I feel proud of China. I admire the Chinese leaders for their vision and feel honored to have once fought side-by-side with the Chi-nese people.”

Veterans remain young

By that time two other veterans had joined in our conversation. They pronounced Kunming， a Chinese city，clearly and proficiently， though with an accent， telling me about the cruelty of the war and how the flames of the aer-ial bombs swept the dark sky. Having gone through the war and death， they remain powerful in their mind， con-ceivably because they always hold fast to their belief.

Lines from Youth by Samuel Ull-man came into my mind at that mo-ment，“Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over tinidity，of the appetite， for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty.Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals．”

At the end of the meeting， I shook hands with them in turn. These el-ders are like Santa Claus. Peace is the best gift they have brought to us. We wouldn’t have enjoyed our today with-out thousands of them fighting against the aggressors in the wartime. The randdaughter of one of the veterans thanked me for visiting her grandfa-ther.

“These old people will find their life more meaningful because of your visit. They expect people to listen to their stories about fighting for China and for their ideals. And they are proud of everything about today’s China. It will be hard for my grandfather to fall asleep tonight， not out of sadness， but out of excitement，”she said， with tearsin her eyes. Moved by her words， I was at a loss what to say for a moment.

Mr. Vinyard was the last one to leave. The veteran said only one sen-tence，“Thank you; thank China”. but the sincerity was enough for me to per-ceive his emotion at that moment. Fare-well， my respected veterans! We will remember you forever. I stood straight to solemnly salute the veteran in front of me. He stood straight as well and returned a standard American military salute with a forceful gesture. At that moment， I believed he was retuming to his role 70 years ago.

At the time of departure， we leamed that the US ambassador to Chi-na had met these veterans that moming at the embassy. AIl military attaches waited in line for the veterans to ar-rive. The Flying Tigers members asked the ambassador why the US refused to send someone to attend the anniversary celebration on September 3 in Beijing in disregard of the history of the US fighting together with China against theJ apanese aggression. Some even criti-cized America for lacking the courage to face a peacefully-rising China.

On the following day， other Fly-ing Tigers members were excited to learn about our meeting the day be-fore. Some regretted having missed it. They said， “China is a great coun-try. We did not contribute to the great changes that have taken place today，but we are proud of being part of Chi-na’s history.”

I once again saw the signifi-cance of my work and felt honored for having the opportunity to attend the unforgettable meeting when I read the historical archives of these Fly-ing Tigers. Heroes transcend borders，their stories always exerting positive impact on us. I wish to remember this great experience. General MacArthur once said， “Old soldiers never die.They just fade away.”I sincerely hope that all these veterans will remain young forever.