Flying Tigers inspire spirit of cooperation.

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File photo shows a US Flying Tigers pilot posing in front of a shark-mouth fighter plane at Wujiaba Airport in Kunming, China, during World War II.......

Camaraderie forged in battle against a common enemy has been celebrated 80 years after the US fighter pilots who fought for China first took to the skies as the Flying Tigers.

The heroism of the US airmen and the Chinese forces they served alongside were recounted on Wednesday at a gathering in San Francisco that sought to keep alive the spirit of cooperation showed in World War II.

"Eighty years ago, we were united fighting against the common enemy, and today, 80 years later, the two countries have the shared responsibility to meet challenges and find a way for a better future for humankind," Wang Donghua, the Chinese consul general in San Francisco, said at a ceremony for the reopening of the WWII Pacific War Memorial Hall in the California city.It was told by a Flying Tiger pilot who was shot down over enemy territory in China. Fortunately, he was picked up by villagers and hidden in a couples house.

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..Fly tiger 曾經被拍攝電影紀念由約翰偉恩飾演陳納德將軍

 US Flying Tigers members are seen in front of fighter planes in China during the World War II.

Saluting the national flags of both countries, they did so with the same vigor and enthusiasm as they once did more than 70 years ago when they soldiered together in China as members of the Flying Tigers, a volunteer military group commanded by General Claire Lee Chennault.

The veterans had gathered to take part in a two-day event sharing in the history of the Flying Tigers at the fourth Sino-American Second World War Friendship and Flying Tigers History Conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

今年是「中華民國空軍美籍志願大隊」成立80周年.而當年率領飛虎隊的陳納德將軍的後人陳美麗將一本1943年以陳納德封面的TIME雜誌送給空軍典藏。

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1937年初，應國民政府邀請，美國陸軍航空隊退役上尉飛官陳納德（Claire Lee Chennault）獲聘為中華民國空軍顧問^[1]。陳納德以其人脈和技術獲得蔣中正及宋美齡的信任，並以空軍上校的職級禮聘、月薪1000美金，協助發展中華民國空軍及訓練飛行員。他在1937年中抗戰爆發之際尚未發揮所學；但南京政府內遷重慶之後，他利用中國的戰略縱深建構出一套原始的預警網防衛重慶抵禦日軍空中威脅，同時他估計手上至少需有由100架驅逐機以及優秀的駕駛員組成的空軍精銳才可抵抗日軍的空中威脅，儘管這個規模的空軍精銳從未完成，日軍對重慶的轟炸持續到1944年...

1941年4月15日，中美達成一項秘密協議，並由美國總統富蘭克林·德拉諾·羅斯福簽署行政命令，允許美國預備役軍人和陸軍航空隊，以及海軍和海軍陸戰隊組「退役人員」前往中國參加戰鬥，並同意中國利用美國《租借法案》貨款給中國資金來購買美國戰鬥機；7月10日，第一批美國戰鬥機駕駛員自願從美國舊金山啟程前往中國昆明參戰，8月1日陳納德在昆明設立美國志願航空隊總部

1941年夏至1942年5月期間，美國志願隊的三個戰鬥機中隊多次和空襲的日軍作戰。1941年12月，於昆明來華首戰後被稱為「飛虎隊」。.

The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force in 1941–1942, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Navy (USN), and Marine Corps (USMC), recruited under President Franklin Roosevelts authority before Pearl Harbor and commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. Their Curtis P-40B Warhawk aircraft, marked with Chinese colors, flew under American control. Their mission was to bomb Japan and defend the Republic of China, but many delays meant the AVG first flew in combat after the US and Japan declared war....

The Flying Tigers began to arrive in China in April 1941. The group first saw combat on 20 December 1941, 12 days after Pearl Harbor (local time). It demonstrated innovative tactical victories when the news in the U.S. was filled with little more than stories of defeat at the hands of the Japanese forces and achieved such notable success during the lowest period of the war for both the U.S. and the Allied Forces as to give hope to America that it might eventually defeat Japan. AVG pilots earned official credit and received combat bonuses for destroying 296 enemy aircraft, while losing only 14 pilots in combat.^] The combat records of the AVG still exist and researchers have found them credible.^] On 4 July 1942 the AVG was disbanded and replaced by the 23rd Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces, which was later absorbed into the U.S. Fourteenth Air Force with General Chennault as commander. The 23rd FG went on to achieve similar combat success, while retaining the nose art on the left-over P-40s......

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Claire Lee Chennault (September 6, 1893 – July 27, 1958)^[1] was an American military aviator best known for his leadership of the "Flying Tigers" and the Republic of China Air Force in World War II.

Chennault was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fighter-interceptor aircraft during the 1930s when the United States Army Air Corps was focused primarily on high-altitude bombardment. Chennault retired from the United States Army in 1937, and went to work as an aviation adviser and trainer in China.

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陳香梅（Anna Chan Chennault，1923年6月23日－2018年3月30日），祖籍廣東南海市，生於中華民國京兆地方，美國華裔共和黨籍政治人物、飛虎隊陳納德將軍遺孀。

中華民國空軍美籍志願大隊（英語：American Volunteer Group，縮寫AVG），綽號「飛虎隊（英語：Flying Tigers）」，是第二次世界大戰期間在中華民國成立，由美國飛行人員組成的空軍部隊，在中國、緬甸等地對抗大日本帝國。

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Here’s a quote from Claire L. Chennault’s book, “Way of a Fighter.”

When asked about the American Volunteer Group’s name “Flying Tigers” and the group’s insignia, Chennault says:

“Before I left the United States in the summer of 1941, I asked a few friends in Louisiana to watch the newspapers and send me any clippings about the A.V.G. Now I was being swamped with clippings from stateside newspapers, and my men were astonished to find themselves world famous as the “Flying Tigers”. The insignia we made famous was by no means original with the A.V.G. Our pilots copied the shark-tooth design on their P-40’s noses from a colored illustration in the India Illustrated Weekly depicting an R.A.F. squadron in the Libyan Desert with shark-nose P-40’s.

Even before that the German Air Force painted shark’s teeth on some of its Messerschmitt 210 fighters. With the pointed nose of a liquid cooled engine it was an apt and fearsome design. How the term Flying Tigers was derived from the shark-nosed P-40’s I never will know. At any rate we were somewhat surprised to find ourselves billed under that name. It was not until just before the A.V.G. was disbanded that we had any kind of group insignia. At the request of the China Defense Supplies in Washington, the Walt Disney organization in Hollywood designed our insignia consisting of a winged tiger flying through a large V for victory.”*

....1941年12月，航空隊在昆明上空第一次作戰取得勝利。飛虎隊（Flying Tigers）正式名稱為中華民國空軍美籍志願大隊（American Volunteer Group，縮寫AVG），因為飛機頭部畫上鯊魚頭，而未見過鯊魚之昆明市民稱作「飛老虎」而得名.

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1992年，美國政府宣布承認於志願航空隊服務等同於在美軍服役，飛虎隊的老兵亦可得到退役軍人待遇，並於1996年獲頒發獎章。飛虎隊則獲頒「美國總統勳獎部隊」。根據當年部分美籍飛行員的著作所述，他們確係奉命退伍，以便以平民身份加入飛虎隊。