flying tigers, long-lasting friendship: american flying tigers delegation visits zhijiang, hunan
2024-09-09
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on september 8, members of the u.s. flying tigers delegation visited the flying tigers memorial hall in zhijiang, hunan (mobile phone photo). photo by xinhua news agency reporter yu chunshengchangsha, september 9 (xinhua) -- a delegation of the u.s. flying tigers, composed of members of the u.s.-china aviation heritage foundation and descendants of veterans of the flying tigers, visited zhijiang, hunan on september 8. although many members of the delegation were not visiting zhijiang for the first time, the trip was still full of surprises, and some members looked forward to "bringing more students to zhijiang again."
during the anti-japanese war, zhijiang, as a military town, had the second largest military airport in the far east of the allied forces, attracting many air force units to station in zhijiang. among them, the flying tigers had the longest garrison time. the squadron entered zhijiang airport on june 9, 1943 and did not leave until september 19, 1945, after the victory of the anti-japanese war.
the zhijiang flying tigers memorial hall is an important stop on the delegation's trip. entering the memorial hall, the delegation members carefully looked at the old photos, military uniforms, aircraft models, combat maps and other exhibits in the hall, among which several color photos taken in the 1940s were particularly eye-catching.
"these precious color photos were donated by joseph de, a communications soldier of the sino-us air force wing. he witnessed the entire process of the japanese surrender in zhijiang and took a large number of photos," said wu jianhong, director of the zhijiang flying tigers memorial hall.
on september 8, margaret kincannon (center), a descendant of a flying tigers veteran, showed photos she donated to the flying tigers memorial hall in zhijiang, hunan (photo taken with a mobile phone). photo by xinhua news agency reporter yu chunshengthe memorial hall is filled with exhibits donated by friendly american people.
"this is the photo you donated last year." in front of a newly installed display cabinet, wu jianhong and margaret kincannon, a descendant of a flying tigers veteran, recalled the scene when they met last year.
this time, margaret kincannon brought three new photos to donate to the flying tigers memorial hall. one was a portrait of her father, and the other two were photos of her father with chinese pilots and technicians.
"my father was a member of the sino-us air force joint force. decades have passed, but he still remembers the names of the chinese technicians at that time." margaret kincannon said, holding up a photo. "i will bring more photos to zhijiang in the future to let more people know about our history of fighting side by side."
"oh my god!" in the last exhibition hall of the memorial, margaret kincannon was surprised to find that the photos of herself attending an event in zhijiang last year were also placed in the memorial.
wu jianhong told her that the flying tigers memorial hall should not only show the public the history of china and the united states fighting side by side, but also record the inheritance of the friendship between the chinese and american people.
on september 8, members of the u.s. flying tigers delegation took a group photo in front of the statue of general chennault (mobile phone photo). photo by xinhua news agency reporter yu chunshengtoday, the "flying tiger friendship" is continuing among the younger generations in china and the united states.
zhijiang no. 4 middle school is less than 2 kilometers away from the former site of the flying tigers barracks. in november last year, zhijiang no. 4 middle school and scofield academy in the united states became the "flying tigers friendship school."
returning to zhijiang no. 4 middle school and looking at the young faces, green, chairman of the us-china aviation heritage foundation, said emotionally that zhijiang has important historical significance for both china and the united states. this is his fifth trip to zhijiang, and he has different feelings every time he comes. he hopes that more american students will come to zhijiang to learn about the history of the flying tigers, and he also hopes that more chinese students will go to the united states to communicate with the veterans of the flying tigers and their descendants.
on september 8, members of the u.s. flying tigers delegation visited the flying tigers memorial hall in zhijiang, hunan (mobile phone photo). photo by xinhua news agency reporter yu chunshengin the sino-us friendship forest next to the flying tigers memorial hall, a cypress tree planted by green and the veterans of the flying tigers in 2005 stands tall and lush. looking at the group photo taken in front of the tree, wu jianhong smiled and said to green, "we are not young anymore, but i hope that the sino-us friendship can be as evergreen as this cypress tree."
