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on september 3, the nanjing anti-japanese aviation martyrs memorial hall published for the first time the list of 2,590 american anti-japanese aviation heroes. at the same time, a ceremony was held to add the name of lieutenant jack w. hammel, an american pilot who died in china, and the hero's name was added to the monument in the museum. it is understood that jack hammel is currently the 2,591st american anti-japanese aviation hero known to the museum.

jack hamel's name on the monument

jack hamel was born in michigan, usa on january 23, 1922. he graduated from west point military academy in june 1943 and later went to china to participate in the war. he served as a pilot of the 17th fighter squadron of the 5th fighter group of the sino-us combined air force. on july 25, 1945, jack hamel was flying a north american p-51d "mustang" fighter and was hit by japanese ground fire during the battle. he died in jiangxi, china.

jack hamel

in early 2023, mr. huang huaxiang, a chinese american from philadelphia, pennsylvania, contacted the chinese embassy in the united states, saying that he was entrusted by jack hamel's relatives and friends to contact and communicate. jack hamel's relatives and friends visited the nanjing anti-japanese aviation martyrs memorial hall in 2017, but did not find hamel's name on the monument to heroes in the hall. his relatives and friends believed that hamel was a us air force pilot who died during the chinese war of resistance against japanese aggression, and hoped that the memorial would re-engrave hamel's name. after active coordination by relevant parties, the nanjing anti-japanese aviation martyrs memorial hall obtained hamel's information. at the same time, the chinese embassy in the united states successfully found more information about the hero lieutenant hamel through the us-china aviation heritage foundation and other institutions, confirming that it met the conditions for re-engraving his name.

dou ruoqi, a researcher at the nanjing anti-japanese aviation martyrs memorial hall, said in an interview that many american air forces fought and died in china, and hamel's name may not be the only one who was omitted, but they should not be forgotten.

modern express/modern+ reporter zhang ranlong qiuli wang xinyue/text gu wei gu wen/photo

(source: modern express all media)

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