Warbird Information Exchange

Don't know if this has been posted to WIX but I thought some of you may be insterested in this. Anyone have more details on it?

Several years ago, I had several very nice conversations with Erik Shilling before he passed away. I was lucky enough to get an autographed copy of his book.

Anyways, he told me that he's been back to the PRC several times. I asked him if he got typical "American running dog capitalist" treatment from the Chinese.

He said no, in fact to this day the Tigers are revered and treated like heroes in the PRC.

That is true. My wife is from the PRC and has mentioned to me that even in the depths of the Cultural Revolution, the AVG were viewed favorably. For that matter, the Chinese always had a positive view of the US insofar as WWII was concerned, whatever our differences later -- much as we acknowledged the contributions of the USSR to WWII even during the Cold War. The Chinese view of Americans has always been textured; they didn't just see us as demons, as our own propaganda would have had us believe.

On the other hand, most depictions of the AVG in China were sanitized of any Kuomintang references, and it would have been very unwise to wear an authentic AVG jacket with the blood chit prior to 1990 there. Maybe still.

August

I knew Erik quite well. In fact,my wife and I visited with him on our way out to Garden Grove California shortly before he died.

You are correct about the Tigers. They are well thought of even today in China.
Bob Scott in fact, (Bob wasn't a Tiger contrary to popular belief by some) was invited by the Chinese to come back to China and walk the wall, which was something Bob always wanted to do and finally did thanks to the Chinese invitation.

The Chinese never forgot what the Tigers did and probably never will.

If what I'm reading here in this thread about this new series about the Tigers is correct, the series will be doing a mis-service to the AVG. It looks as though the show might be leaning toward portraying the group as a bunch of hard living, hard drinking daredevils. I sincerely hope this isn't the case, as the day to day life inside the Tiger organization from Chennault on down was a fairly serious operation.

It will be interesting to watch who they obtain as a technical advisor for this series. My vote would be for Lydia Rossi, who survives Dick Rossi and knows more about the Tiger operation in my opinion than anyone else alive. If Lydia turns it down, or isn't asked to participate in any way, that should be an indicator of what to expect in the way of quality and truthful production.

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Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship

One thing else that you need to keep in mind that to the Chinese all airmen who fought in China during WWII are Flying Tigers. They don't hold one group over another.

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Don't touch my junk!!

That's kinda what I was thinking. The blurb certainly starts to skew that direction...

But you know who they will certainly portray... So Jack, who would you like to see them cast as Pappy?

The craziest guys, drinking and partying, then getting in these planes? Somebody please find him, please teach him what really happened. This is what happens when Hollywood people get their education from other historically inaccurate films, "Pearl Harbor", "Mash", "1941" (great film anyway).

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REMEMBER THE SERGEANT PILOTS!

I'll chaw on that for a while and get back to you

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Don't touch my junk!!

Not sure how you mean that. They most definitely know who the AVG were.

August

Ok find I'll talk in complete senrences
The Chinese view all US airman who fought in China in WWII has Flying Tigers and hold all in great esteme.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Anyone know the connection to the Flying Tigers storage unit rental places?

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Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

I noticed that too, Dudley! OH NO, can you say "Black Sheep Squadron", Part 2? This could end up destroying the reputation of the AVG.

I hope it's not a sappy, overdramatized, unrealistic portrayal of the AVG.

Calling John Paul, calling John Paul......what can you tell us? Have they contacted you yet about this?

Oh, okay. Your statement is not quite true. There are 1.3 billion Chinese, so no such generalization COULD be true, although it could be true of the ones you know. The ones I know are not familiar with the expression "Flying Tigers" and they are well aware of the difference between the mercenaries and the official US forces. (Given their own history they have a very well developed understanding of mercenaries!). They do, however, generally appreciate the efforts of all US airmen who fought there.

August

It would be a shame if they did this. Boyington was an advisor on Black Sheep but both he and the surviving guys from 214 thought the show was terrible. Pappy needed the job at the time and from that aspect anyway, the show helped him.
Personally I hate these Hollywood hyped up monstrosities.
Bob Scott had this happen to him as well. When Warner made God Is My Co Pilot, they inserted the character of "Tokyo Joe" played by fine character Richard Loo.
Scotty ok'd the script. After the war and all through his life wherever Scotty spoke on the rubber chicken circuit, the first question he got in the Q&A after his talks was about his "famous" air to air with Tokyo Joe.
I think Scotty spent the last 30 years explaining to people that he didn't actually shoot down Tokyo Joe.
Scotty was a wonderful guy. He wrote God Is My Co Pilot in a single weekend locked up in a hotel room in New York. He dictated the entire thing on one of those carbon cylinder talking machines. Warner Bros. took a lot of liberties with the story.

There is a sort of truth in these things; that being that actual absolutely truthful war stories have a tendency not to carry a plot well.
The reality is that the periods between action doesn't lend itself well to a screen play. This is why producers insert characters and take license
with the story line.
For Scotty it was Tokyo Joe. For Boyington it was the "antics" of 214.
I'm afraid for the upcoming "Tigers" series, there might be a whole lot people are looking at that simply didn't happen or happened differently than that portrayed.

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Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship

Watching movies, smoking, sleeping, helping out on maintenance, reading about your airplane (the manual), cleaning up the hooch, eating, loading ammo belts, looking at recognition slides, briefings, throwing a ball back and forth, sleeping, more smoking, more sleeping. I'm glad Hollywood takes up the slack and glorifies the waiting time when you are at war.

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REMEMBER THE SERGEANT PILOTS!