New park near Guilin features legacy of US pilots in WWII
HALF MOON BAY, California: As a young child, Michael Bianco grew up with stories of his uncle's time in East Asia during World War II. As one of the first airmen in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater during the war, Major S. Thomas Bianco was a part of the "Flying Tigers," a WWII unit that played a critical role in fending off Japanese military strikes in China, especially in the initial days following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Nearly 70 years later, Bianco and a group of like-minded WWII and aviation enthusiasts gathered at Half Moon Bay Airport on December 21, the site where the first Flying Tigers initially took flight, to formally announce the launch of the Flying Tiger Heritage Park near Guilin, China.
The Flying Tigers, or "Fei Hu" in Chinese, was the name of the first American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force who originally earned their name from the shark designs on their plane noses. Under the direction of General Claire Chennault, the Flying Tigers achieved considerable recognition for their effectiveness in fighting Japanese aircraft with limited resources. Much of the unit's activities and strategic operations were concentrated in Lingui County which will be the site of the new park.
The park will be a joint development project between the Chinese government and the Flying Tiger Historical Organization, a US-based non-profit dedicated to preserving the story and contributions made by both China and the US in WWII. Once completed, the park will be part of a 300-acre resort that will include a museum, the Yang Tang airfield, and the original command cave used by General Chennault between 1941 and 1945.
"That field was virtually unchanged since 1945," said Larry Jobe, a retired United Airlines pilot who serves as the organization's president.
Historians salute unsung flyboys with stop on coast
By Greg Thomas [ greg@hmbreview.com ]
Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 11:36 AM PST
Founding members of the Flying Tiger Historical Organization aim to forge peaceful ties between the United States and China by way of a new war memorial.
A few of the organization directors held an impromptu press conference inside Three-Zero Café at the Half Moon Bay Airport Monday afternoon to explain their plan for restoring a venerable U.S. air base in subtropical southeastern China. The decommissioned base, built inside a cavern imbedded in what is currently a public park in Guilin, China, served as headquarters for a special team of about 300 Americans who helped defend China against Japanese invasion during World War II. “The Flying Tigers provided a bridge for the two countries to interface on a warm and mutual basis,” says organization president Larry Jobe.
The 100-aviator Flying Tiger brigade famously painted bright, fierce displays on the noses of their aircrafts showing gaping jaws lined with sharp teeth beneath pairs of menacing eyeballs. The heroics of these airmen have gone unsung in America, say members of the historical organization. But the flyboys and their demonic-looking fighter planes stay fresh in the minds of the Chinese even today as icons of liberation.
“The Flying Tigers are very famous in China. … (They’re revered as) some of God’s soldiers from the sky or something,” said Victor Tong, a supporter of the historical organization who grew up in Guilin and has close family there.
“They worship the Flying Tigers,” said Jim Whitehead, chairman of the historical organization. “Any child on the street (knee-high) knows about the Flying Tigers.”
Whitehead, of Bakersfield, wrote the proposal last year to reinvent the abandoned air base as a museum to memorialize the famed fighters and their contribution. The Chinese government responded with an offer to contribute $23 million and 300 acres of parkland surrounding the base to the idea. The project includes reforming the command cave into a museum, restoring Flying Tiger artifacts, erecting a memorial wall and constructing replica fighter planes. Building a luxury hotel nearby to attract tourists is also in the budget. For its scenic beauty, Guilin is a major tourist attraction, Tong said.
The nonprofit historical organization, formed earlier this year in California, vowed to chip in an additional $400,000 and round up Flying Tiger paraphernalia for the museum.
Spearheading the fundraising campaign stateside is Michael Bianco, a former Navy aviator who lives in Moss Beach. The 68-year-old served two nine-month tours flying reconnaissance missions over Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. His uncle was a Flying Tiger.
“I kind of grew up with the legacy of him … so this is kind of a memorial for him, from my perspective, as a way of honoring him and the other American aviators and ground crew who served in China and Burma during the Second World War,” Bianco said. “I want to make sure that as many Americans and Chinese know this story. So this is one way of giving back.”
Aside from his uncle’s inspiring example of bravery and sacrifice, and his own experience in the cockpit, Bianco chairs an American merchant bank that does a lot of business in China. The memorial weaves together Bianco’s savvy and passion into one project.
The press conference Monday was the organization’s first attempt to get the word out on the project. As the organization kicks off fundraising, the Chinese government is prepping the grounds in Guilin. Funds raised thus far are “fairly nominal,” Bianco said.
The museum is slated to be complete by March 2011.
Honoring the Flying Tigers in this way is a gesture that will help strengthen relations between two of the world’s most powerful countries, says Jobe. And forging a bond will prove critical to world peace and America’s prosperity as Chinese industry and the country’s cultural influence continues to swell, he says.
“I think the Chinese saw (the presence of the Flying Tigers) as an opportunity to build relationship with (Americans), and that’s some of what we’re trying to do here,” Jobe said.
Ben Read is an assistant professor of politics at University of California, Santa Cruz whose academic expertise encompasses East Asian history and politics. He says such a project as the memorial sounds like a productive if not small drop in a large bucket.
“The U.S.-China relationship is so complicated and multidimensional that it might be setting the bar very high to ask whether projects like this might improve the big picture, but it certainly looks like a step in the right direction indeed,” Read wrote in an e-mail to the Review. “Reminding people in both countries about this part of history is a worthy goal in itself, it seems to me.”
