Three American veterans of the legendary "Flying Tigers" air
squadron that helped China during World War II on Friday visited
picturesque Dianchi Lake in southwest China's Yunnan
Province, where the wreckage of a fighter plane is being
salvaged.?
The "Flying Tigers" fighter crashed into the lake near Kunming,
capital of Yunnan Province, during a training flight in April 1942.
The pilot, John Blackburn of Amarillo, Texas, was killed. His body
was recovered, but the plane has remained in the lake for six
decades.
Peter Wright, one of the veterans, had once worked with the
pilot and he hoped to see the day when the plane would be lifted
out of the water.
John Rossi, one of the "Flying Tigers" ace pilots, was excited
to return to his old battleground. The 88-year-old wore a leather
coat with the marks of the "Flying Tigers" specially for the trip.
He was responsible for six and a half "kills." He could remember
their troop was stationed near Wujiaba International Airport in the
city of Kunming.
The three veterans recalled one major battle over Kunming in
December 1941. The next day when they transferred to Kunming from
Thailand, the city was bombarded by intruding Japanese planes and
12 "Flying Tigers" scrambled and shot down nine enemy aircraft,
saving the city from more air raids.
At that time, local residents in Kunming were very grateful and
friendly to the "Flying Tigers" and civilians would give them fruit
and food in the streets, Peter Wright said.
The "Flying Tigers" were formed more than 60 years ago by
General Claire Lee Chennault, prestigious commander of the US 14th
Air Fleet, to transport arms and other materials, and to support
China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression
(1937-1945).
Many "Flying Tigers" pilots laid down their lives during the war
and local people have been trying hard for the past decades to
search for their remains in China's southwestern mountainous
regions.
(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2003)
