Flying Tigers Reception in SF; Oct 24, 2014

[DOCUMENT TITLE][DOCUMENT SUBTITLE]

LARRYMICROSOFT

[Company address]

[DATE]

Reception Honoring

Flying Tigers

& WW II Veterans

October 24, 2014

Program____________________________________________________

6:00 pm Social interaction; view artifacts and photos of museum progress

6:30 pm Welcome by Consulate; Remarks by Counsul General Yuan Nansheng

6:45 pm Speech and Remarks by General James T. Whitehead Jr., Chairman,

Flying Tiger Historical Organization; Special Guests Nell Calloway,

Captain Moon Fun Chin, Christopher Nixon Cox; Tracy Thompson -

remarks on behalf of all veterans.

7:00 pm General Whitehead, Chairman of Flying Tiger Historical

Organization, and President Larry Jobe present commemorative gift to:

Captain Moon Fun Chin - China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) -

Captain Moon Chin pioneered Hump Route

David Thompson 14th AAF 528th Squadron (“Dragonflies”)

Roy Dillon CBI (China – Burma – India)

Frank Gurney CBI

Hank DeGraaf CBI

Wes Arment CBI

Max Kernaghan CBI

Bill Behrns 14th AAF P-38 Ace

George Franke 14th AAF 528th Squadron (“Dragonflies”)

Bob Hong China-born Veteran, served in Italy

7:30 pm Buffett dinner; DVD of Guilin Flag-raising Ceremony

8:30 pm End

Flying Tiger Historical

Organization Chairman

General Whitehead, Larry

Jobe and KC Ma meet with

Consul General Yuan

Nansheng to discuss hosting

event at San Francisco

People’s Republic of China

Consulate to Honor Heroes

of WW II.

Counsul General Yuan Nansheng presents Captain Moon Fun Chin with Certificate of

Appreciation for his services in helping to defeat the Japanese invaders in WW II.

Captain Moon

Fun Chin

Although never in

the military, he

was awarded four

Major Military

Medals for his

courage and

heroics during

WW II.

WW II Veteran (Italy) Bob Hong Flying Tiger Ace Bill Behrns

On August 15th, Counsul General Yuan Nansheng presented certificates to China-

born veteran Bob Hong & Flying Tiger Ace Bill Behrns in celebration of the ending

of hostilities.

David Thompson

Flying Tiger Fighter Pilot

14th Army Air Force, 528th

Fighter Squadron

(“Dragonflies”)

David flew P-51s out of Xi’an, China, and was shot down in July 1945. He was

rescued by Chinese and safely returned to his base shortly after the hostilities

ended in August 1945.

David in cockpit of P-51 at 2009 528th

reunion.

Below: David in P-51B over China

and on 2004 China tour with

528th pilot Bill Creech

(deceased).

Dr. Roy Dillon, DVM

Dr. Dillon flew the infamous and dangerous Hump (most dangerous flying in

the world) supplying China’s needs during the war. As a CBI pilot, he was

awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and other citations.

Flying Tiger Heritage Park Museum

Artist’s rendition of what will greet

visitors to Flying Tiger Heritage

Park Museum. Center memorial

statue will depict Chinese rescuing

a downed Flying Tiger pilot.

Inscription on the base will read:

“Safe in the Hands of Friends”

Located in Guilin, China, at the

site of General Chennault’s

Operations and Command cave,

the museum is opening in March

of 2015 and will be part of the

Flying Tiger Heritage Park.

Chinese all over China formed an

early warning network alerting

General Chennault to Japanese

movements and air raids. These

alerts came into General Chennault’s

Command and Operations cave in

Guilin (Kweilin) and allowed General

Chennault to effectively use his very

limited resources.

Captain Moon Fun Chin

As a pilot with China National Aviation

Corporation (CNAC), he pioneered the

Hump route keeping China supplied

and alive after the Japanese cut off the

Burma highway.

Captain Moon Fun Chin’s skill and

daring as a pilot saved many lives.

Along with other CNAC pilots, he helped

supply China’s war needs.

Frank Gurney and Evelyn

Frank flew B-24s making 19 trips over the Hump as a member of the 9th Bomber

Squadron “Flying Cobras”. Between 1942 and 1945 the Hump claimed 1659 pilot

lives. “Dangerous Dance” is the B-24 in which Frank and his crew returned home.

Hank DeGraaf

Hank was a CBI pilot flying C47s and

C46s across the Hump. He made

about 70 trips over the Hump. CBI pilots

were so successful at their mission that

during the 1948-1949 Berlin Blockade,

the airlift which was mounted to supply

Berliners was modeled after the Hump

flights which had so successfully supplied

China in WW II.

Flying Tigers Bill Creech – Hank Snow – David Thompson – Mark McDonnell

Picture taken in Chongqing at banquet honoring four 528th “Dragonflies” Fighter

Squadron pilots on tour of China. They were greeted by Chongqing Mayor Pan

before the banquet.

Wes Ament (in uniform)

Wes flew 166

missions over

the Himalayan

Mountains (“The

Hump”) – the

most dangerous

flying in the

world. His

awards include

the Air Medal

and the

Distinguished

Flying Cross.

Bill Behrns

ACE

Flying P-38s, Captain Bill

Behrns became an ace.

His fighter group with 25

P-38s went up against

550 Japanese fighters.

They shot down 200

preventing the Japanese

from entering India. 28

of their pilots were killed.

Bill was shot down and

rescued the next day.

Bob Hong (AAF Italy)

Bob was born in China on

August 8, 1924,

immigrating to the

United States in 1936. He

served with the 15th Army

Air Force in Italy. Mee

Yoke, his wife, and Bob

have made many trips to

China and he has trekked

the Himalayas several

times.

Ernest Garner

Flying as part of the 14th Army

Air Force, 528th Fighter Squadron

(“Dragonflies”), Ernest’s P 51 was

shot down and he was killed in

action (KIA) on April 14th, 1945.

His remains were never recovered

so today he rests among friends in

China.

Max Kernaghan

Max flew in the Ferry Command;

then late in the war, he flew B

24s over the Hump as a CBI

pilot. Max

was awarded

the Air Medal

and CBI

Service

Ribbons.

Donald Westfahl and Crew

Pictured to the left,

with note below:

This chronological

order was typical for

military pilots in

WW II.

Weather crews

provided what little

information Hump

pilots could get about

the weather conditions

to be encountered and

expected over the

Hump.

No satellite pictures to

guide them.

Besides Japanese

fighters, weather was

the biggest enemy.

The Hump route was, and is, called the

“Aluminum Highway” due to all the

wreckage along the way.

Infamous Hump route over the Himalayas

into Kunming, first stop of supply route.

C46 pictured above the Himalayan

Mountains.

Shoulder and Jacket Patches plus Blood Chit

USAAF

14 AAF

CATF

CBI

(China – Burma – India)

Blood Chits saved many

downed pilots and they are

used extensively today.

Steering Committee______________________________

Flying Tiger Historical Organization Board

Chairman - General James T. Whitehead, Jr. President – Larry Jobe

Vice President - KC Ma Treasurer – Patti Jobe

Board members - Phil VanZandt - Dave Thuillez - Joe Eng

Beth Sandefur - Flying Tiger Historical Organization

Stanley Barratta – Flying Tiger Historical Organization

Greg Mills – Flying Tiger Historical Organization

Nell Calloway – Chennault Aviation and Military Museum

Acknowledgement___________________________

The Flying Tiger Historical Organization wishes to thank our host, The

San Francisco Consulate of the People’s Republic of China, Counsul

General Mr. Yuan Nansheng and his staff.

About Flying Tiger Historical Organization________

The Flying Tiger Historical Organization, Inc. (FTHO), is a California

non-profit organization, registered with the IRS as a 501(c) (3). We are

working with the Lingui County authorities in China to renovate the Flying

Tigers Command Cave in Guilin, China.

Our Save the Cave project is to restore the Flying Tiger Command

Cave and establish a museum and memorial park at the site of the Flying

Tiger Airfield located in Guilin, China. The FTHO promotes continued

friendship, cultural understanding, and cooperation between our peoples.

This will provide citizens of both countries, and all over the world, a

firsthand opportunity to see, hear and understand the significance of

what transpired in China during World War II.

They watered the flowers of Sino-US friendship with their blood and lives,

leaving a bridge we can cross today, together building a better world.

[ www.FlyingTigerHistoricalOrganization.com/ ]

(Email: [email protected] ) (Telephone: 209.962.5501)

Flying Tigers & 14th Army Air Force

General Claire Lee Chennault