[correctthought]

Wow, don't even know what to say. One comment is precious, a poster thinks that some student's came up with this by themselves.

[Vaquero]

[null and void]

I hope my dad gets one.

[Larry Lucido]

Wow.

[edge10]

God bless those who served and helped keep the world free from tyranny.

[ozark hilljilly]

http://www.saconavy.com/history.htm

My Dad was part of this bunch in China back then. Up to all kinds of mischief against the Japanese. He never talked about it. I’m just now discovering what all he did. The cover story was that they were “monitoring weather stations for the Fighting Tiger squadron”, but in between that they were blowing crap up! ; )

[NonValueAdded]

Amazing ... God Bless those students, their teacher, and the brave men of The Greatest Generation.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

I don’t know if this even applies, but a few years ago I was asked to drop a PRC Chinese engineer off at a hotel in Dallas. We got to chatting in the car and he told me he was thirty-five years old and had lived in in the PRC (Communist China) his entire life. Being a WWII history buff, I asked him if knew what the AVG (Flying Tigers Group) was. Chinese folks always refer to the Flying Tigers as the American Volunteer Group!!! He immediately responded with, “Oh, you mean General Chenault’s P-40 fighter aircraft, Flying Tigers.” I was taken back, and said to him, “How do you know about the AVG, you were not even born at that time?”. He answered that the history of the AVG is taught in Chinese schools, so that China will never forget the contibutions and sacrifices of these young American volunteer aviators prior to the opening of WWII!! He said many Chinese citizens were tortured and slain protecting the life line to freedom provided by these young American volunteers. He said the blood of those Americans that lost their lives protecting China is forever imbedded in the soil and earth of the very being of China!!! The AVG still is alive and well in many Chinese thoughts, he said!!!

[xkaydet65]

When the people of Communist China after 63 years of communist rule show greater gratitude for the sacrifices made by American soldiers for Freedom than has ever been offered by the current POTUS it is a day that makes you want to cry, but also want to cheer.

[mountainlion]

It is sad that American Soldiers get more respect form the Chinese than form our own pRedident and government.

[Redbob]

“Wow” is all I can think to say.

[EternalVigilance]

Bump for a great story.

[BuckeyeTexan]

That’s an amazing story. Thanks for posting.

[Candor7]

The story of the 1st AVG is one of the most fascinating aspects of US WWII aviation.One of my favorite reads is about how dozens of Chinese farmers dove into the water with one bamboo pole at a time to place under the wings of a ditched P-40, to refloat and salvage it.

This book is about the best:

“Chenault of China”

http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Tiger-Chenault-China-Robert/dp/B00113542Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318693591&sr=1-1

[Grampa Dave]

I have been fortunate to know two of these hero’s.

One helped to train the Tiger Pilots, he was considered too valuable to fly the fighters. He finally got to fly cargo missions over the hump, which was another dangerous job.

Later, he was one of the top pilots re # of missions in the Berlin Air lift.

The other was an MD who never really said much. He was a fighter pilot for the Tigers and later flew cover for our bombers over Europe. He became a doctor/surgeon after the war.

There are only a few of them left. If you know one, tell them thanks.

[left that other site]

Gosh...my Dad didn’t get one. Of course that is probably because when HE was in China, he was ferrying Chaing Kai Shek’s troops into the country to fight Mao Tse Dung!

Maybe he should get one from Taiwan.

[TEXOKIE]

bfl

[gitmo]

Very nice story.

[af_vet_rr]

He wants the students in China to know how much he appreciated their note. "It kind of helped me, in my recovery from a stroke, to remember things I thought I'd forgotten."

Another veteran, Jay Campbell, 86, of New York, also received a postcard. The message was the same as Denzler's, but the picture showed a Chinese boy with his thumbs up.

Campbell was so befuddled that he took the card to the post office to verify it really came from China.

"I couldn't understand it," he said.

Campbell served with the Marauders in Burma, earning three Purple Hearts.

"A lot of these guys don't talk a lot about it," said his daughter, Debbie Campbell Rice. "All he's ever said to me is, 'If I told you what I saw or did or about my nightmares, you'd lock me up in a straightjacket,' so it must have been pretty bad."

When told that the card likely came from a Chinese student, Campbell was delighted.

"I'll be darned," he said. "That is something, isn't it? Boy, oh, boy!"

Very moving story.

[gaijin]

Great story..! I also love this history.

Did anyone know that Pappy Boyington got his start with the AVG? He was also later a POW.

But times change —the old China is the modern Japan. The old Japan is the new China. To say otherwise is like claiming that Uncle Joe is still our ally —he ONCE was, sure...but times change.

Keep a clear head. Is there any reason other than sheer magnanimity that China should now so publicly overflow with gratitude to the USA for our help during WW2..?

BONUS QUESTION: Why did Japan ask that Obama NOT offer a public apology for Hiroshima?

I ask because the answer is EXTREMELY important, and it is relevant here.

EXTRA BONUS: Why did South Korea just donate a bunch of ships to the Philippines?