More than 70 US veterans who flew the Hump route or fought in
China during WWII arrived with their families in Kunming, capital
of the southwestern province of Yunnan,
on Thursday to commemorate victory in the war.
"Nobody wins in war, too many were killed. Peace is the best
thing we can have, and I'm just glad for having helped to achieve
it, and for the appreciation of the Chinese people," said Alfred
Gallup, who served in the 10th Air Force and flew over the
Himalayas 35 times.
He was awarded the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Medal and
the Asian-Pacific Medal for bringing fuel and ammunition into
China.
"I always wish I could walk where he fought. Maybe I really
can," said his 84-year-old wife who stood up from her wheelchair
with much effort to wait for her husband while he was fetching
their luggage at Kunming Airport.
Sixty years ago her husband was a 30-year-old pilot from Kansas and
they have returned to China to mark yesterday's 60th anniversary of
the end of the
War of
Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and WWII.
Opened in 1942, the 500-mile Hump route began in the northern
Indian state of Assam, and passed over the Himalayas to southwest
China. As the major air passage connecting China and the Allied
Forces, the hazardous route saw the loss of more than 1,500 pilots
and 500 planes from US and Chinese air forces.
"I made 65 round trips over the Hump, bringing everything
imaginable from Assam to 12 Chinese cities and air bases, and
Kunming was the place I came to most frequently," said Mel Hodell,
84.
"The visiting group consists of veterans from nine
organizations, including the Flying Tigers and the 14th Air Force
Association, the Hump Pilots' Association, the China-Burma-India
Association and others," said the reunion's organizers.
On Monday afternoon, the veterans and their families joined local
people to attend a ceremony hosted by the Yunnan Provincial
Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference.
During their 4-day stay in Yunnan, they will lay floral tributes
at the Hump Monument in Kunming and revisit former battlefields
like Baoshan and Shangri-la.
(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2005)
