Harry Moyer (C), a 99-year-old veteran Flying Tigers member, pose for photos with Windsor Buzza (1st L), commanding general of the 91st Training Division of the U.S. Army Reserve, Wang Donghua (2nd L), Chinese Consul General in San Francisco, David Haubert (2nd R), mayor of Dublin city in the U.S. San Francisco Bay Area, and Jeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation, during an event honoring contributions of Flying Tigers in World War II (WWII) in San Francisco, the United States, Dec. 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
He praised his Chinese worker friends who toiled, at the risk of their own lives, to build dozens of airfields in China using only picks, shovels and massive stone rollers pulled by hand.
The "Flying Tigers" protected the vital shipments of war munitions coming into China by air and rail, such as guns, bullets, and bombs.
"I was happy the Flying Tigers were able to come and do their part to help protect Chinese villages and runways when help was most needed," said Moyer.
He told Xinhua he remembers his time in China fondly, despite the wartime horrors. "Those memories and occasions were special. We and the Chinese shared with each other, flew with each other, and fought together ... Serving side-by-side against a common enemy established a bond that really meant something."
"That bond that we forged with the Chinese people has never been broken and it must be honored," he added. "The Chinese people still honor it more than our younger American generations do."
"The Chinese were good to us. They knew we were there to help them and they made us feel appreciated. They still rolled out the red carpet for us over there," Moyer said, recalling the extraordinary hospitality and welcome he received there when he returned to China after the war.
Jeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation, which brings WWII servicemen back to China and co-organizes special events between the United States and China, also believed it is essential to keep that special bond alive.
"The Chinese and American people share a common heritage that was forged in the skies above China during the Second World War," said Greene.
"During World War II, a large number of young American pilots, including you came to China to fight a just war with the Chinese people against the Japanese aggression," wrote Deng Lan, director general of the Research Center for People-to-People Diplomacy of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, in a congratulatory letter to Moyer, adding that those young U.S. pilots "were fearless of danger, difficulty and sacrifice and have forged deep friendship with the Chinese people."
"You are truly a glorious member of the Flying Tigers, a witness to the China-U.S. friendship and to peace and justice of the world. We will always cherish our friendship with you as you are an old friend of the Chinese people," Deng said in the letter.
