Posted on 02/11/2020 10:40:31 AM PST by Borges
A Columbus man who was considered the last of the surviving Flying Tigers from World War II has died.
Frank Losonsky, 99, died Thursday at home from natural causes, his son Chris told the Ledger-Enquirer in a phone interview Monday. No funeral service is planned, he said.
According to a 2019 article on the Voice of America website, Losonsky was the last survivor of the Flying Tigers.
That’s the nickname of the legendary World War II bombardiers officially called the American Volunteer Group.
They were 311 U.S. military service members recruited to help the Chinese Air Force fend off the Japanese invasion in mid-1941, according to WarBirdNews.com. Losonsky became a crew chief and sergeant with the 3rd Squadron, nicknamed the Hell’s Angels.
After the United States joined the war in December 1941, the AVG disbanded and became part of the U.S. Air Force 23rd Fighter Group in July 1942..
“It wasn’t easy for Frank, who had to wend his way around the world, via South Africa, before he eventually found himself back in the States,” WarBirdNews.com reported. “He got married in the interim, and then returned to China as a mechanic with China National Aviation Corporation, a quasi-civilian airline which took part in the massive logistics operation flying supplies between India and China over the Himalayan Mountains during the period when Japanese forces had cut off the normal land route via the Burma Road. After the war he joined TransAsiatic Airlines in Burma, eventually becoming a pilot himself.”
Losonsky’s military memoir, “Flying Tiger: A Crew Chief’s Story,” written with his son Terry, was published in 2004.
In 2012, Losonsky was among the surviving Flying Tigers honored at the National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center in Columbus.
“He was kind of a hero,” said Chris, president of Part IV Inc., the restaurant group that owns the Speakeasy in Columbus. “We went to many, many of the reunions these individuals had over the years. It was always exciting being among those gentlemen. I kind of grew up with it, but everybody acknowledged him for his duty and his service.”
And it never got old for him.
“When he got around Flying Tigers stuff,” Chris said, “he lit up.”
My dad was a civilian pilot in the China-Burma-India Campaign. He flew “the Hump” in a C-46 and had previously worked for China National, owned by American Airlines at the time.
He passed away in 1966 at age 60.
I was in high school...
Rest in peace, Chief Losonsky, and thank you very much for your service and sacrifice on our behalf. Condolences to his family and friends.
My father trained with one of the flying tiger’s. His Nick name was Earthquake McGoon. I don’t recall his real name.
Awesome what those guys up and decided to do, particularly with the primitive transportation back then.
James McGovern. I believe he was shot down in 1954 flying a C-119 in Vietnam.
I bought the book when I was 11 or 12. What sold it was the color picture of the P-40. It really grabbed your attention.
RIP.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.