[papasmurf]

“My dad flew C-46 cargo planes over the Hump in the China-Burma-India Campaign after the fall of the Burma Road.”

My Dad was a flight mechanic on some of those flights.

BTW, I hadn’t heard that tern, “over the Hump”, used in that context since he last said it, he passed in ‘87.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The first C-46s were painted green and carried Nationalist Chinese stars. Later, he flew the silver C-46s with Army stars.
The CBI was such a hellhole that they would take just about anyone for duty including my dad who was about 38 years old. He had been a pilot for CNAC, owned by American Airlines at the time (later owned by PAA.)
He was among more than a dozen civilian pilots who wore military uniforms with the CBI patch but no rank insignia. He was referred to as "captain."
25 back and forth flights into China from India and on the last flight, a crash landing that left him with burns on his back and neck. He was flown back to the Army burn center at San Antonio and received some of the first skin grafts. He never received veterans' recognition because he had officially been a civilian.
There have been dozens of civilian pilots in war zones, up through the current day. CAT and Air America come to mind...