BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) — In a memorial corridor in Zhijiang, a small county in central China’s Hunan Province, 69-year-old Rick Peterson lingered earlier than a show of jackets, flashlights and light snapshots, his eyes reflecting each surprise and grief because the relics instructed the story his father had lived, the legendary saga of the Flying Tigers.
“Seeing some of the supplies, equipment and pictures like these, which show what he was doing, was really, really emotional,” Peterson stated.
During World War II (WWII), Peterson’s father served with the Flying Tigers, a gaggle of American volunteer pilots who fought alongside Chinese forces towards Japanese invaders, forging a friendship that withstood the take a look at of blood and hearth.
More than 2,000 Flying Tigers airmen misplaced their lives within the conflict, and the Chinese individuals, at nice private price, got here to their help, rescuing greater than 200 pilots in misery whereas hundreds of Chinese sacrificed their very own lives in the course of the rescue operations.
Earlier this month, Peterson joined different American guests on a tour of Flying Tigers websites in Hunan, Guangxi and Chongqing, as a part of occasions commemorating the eightieth anniversary of victory within the Chinese People’s War of Resistance towards Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
What struck him most was how meticulously China has preserved the relics of the Flying Tigers. “It must have been difficult to gather the photos and get people to donate these items,” he stated. “They did a great job organizing everything and making the timing real.”
PRESERVING RELICS
There is not any exact depend of what number of Flying Tigers websites or relics stay in China, however the nation has spared no effort over the many years to maintain their reminiscence alive, from constructing museums and organizing exhibitions to preserving former airfields and rescue websites the place villagers as soon as risked their lives to guard American pilots.
At the doorway of the Flying Tigers Memorial Museum in Zhijiang, a four-meter statue of Claire Lee Chennault, commander of the Flying Tigers, stands alongside a sculpted group of pilots, evoking their wartime braveness. Inside, guests cross by means of doorways formed like an plane cabin hatch and are greeted by flight fits, oxygen masks, wreckage from downed planes, and the instruments Chinese individuals as soon as used to construct airfields.
Completed in 2005 beside Zhijiang airport, one of many Flying Tigers’ wartime bases, the museum now covers 53 mu (about 3.5 hectares) and preserves historic websites comparable to an air drive membership and a command tower. It receives about 300,000 guests yearly, together with a number of hundred Americans. Its assortment has grown to greater than 5,000 artifacts.
“Over one-fifth of the relics were donated free of charge by American friends,” stated Wu Jianhong, head of the museum, including that he hopes guests will acquire a deeper appreciation of the sacrifices made by numerous predecessors and the significance of safeguarding hard-won peace.
Zhijiang shouldn’t be alone. In Lingui District of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Flying Tiger Heritage Park was constructed on the previous Yangtang airport at a value of practically 300 million yuan (about 42 million U.S. {dollars}). It preserves the world’s final surviving C-47 transport airplane to have flown the treacherous “Hump” route over the Himalayas, together with practically 300 different relics. After a serious improve, the park reopened earlier this yr.
In central China’s Hubei Province, a village was named “Flying Tigers Village” in 2017 to honor an American pilot rescued there and the Chinese who risked their lives to avoid wasting him. The outdated wood home the place he as soon as recovered nonetheless stands, preserved amid rows of latest concrete buildings. When the veteran later died, a part of his ashes have been laid to relaxation in Hubei, the very land that had as soon as sheltered him.
“The grave has long been under dedicated care and management,” stated Yan Jun, an area official. “Many Chinese make special trips to honor this American friend.”
LASTING BOND
This yr, exhibitions have been held throughout China, together with in Liuzhou and Chongqing, to commemorate the particular wartime friendship between China and the United States. Flying Tigers veterans, their descendants and peace advocates have traveled to China to assist carry that bond ahead.
“Americans don’t know very much about WWII in China. That’s why visiting a few cities here is so important,” stated Jeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation.
For years, Greene has devoted himself to the Flying Tigers Friendship Schools and Youth Leadership Program, bringing American college students to go to Chinese cities, WWII battlefields, airports and museums to discover and honor the distinctive bond between Chinese civilians and American pilots.
He stated about 110 Chinese and 40 American colleges will take part on this program subsequent yr.
“Humanity was more important than self-survival. What this shows us is a story from 80 years ago — how America and China worked together and faced any odds and won. It tells us that today, if America and China work together in technology, ethics, science, or space, we can win,” Greene stated.
For Peterson, the journey was deeply private. His father had spent years talking in colleges, sharing the story of the Flying Tigers as a result of he by no means needed to witness one other conflict that claimed so many lives.
Now Peterson hopes to hold the torch. “I will share my experiences in China with more people,” he stated.