The air-raid sirens would sound and the people would run for cover, defenseless against what happened next. Bombs exploded upon impact, littering the streets with bodies and body parts. With no electricity, the night skies filled only with the sound of weeping.
By then, Japanese forces had rolled through much of China, and the outmatched Chinese military seemed unable to stop them.
But half a world away, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration had authorized a secret unit that would change the course of the war in Asia. Soon, Yee would find himself working as a translator to Claire Lee Chennault and the American Volunteer Group, the aviation legends who became famously known as the Flying Tigers.
Now an American citizen and a retired high school history teacher living in Aurora, Yee is one of the last men alive today to have served with Chennault and the original Flying Tigers.
His unique spot in history — a member of the Chinese air force who served with a secret American unit, then traveled to the United States and was allowed to stay for fear of reprisals in Communist China — means he has never been officially recognized as a veteran by the country he served and has called home for more than 65 years.
You know, I usually tag these things The War Isn't Over, because so long as there are veterans living with it, it isn't.
A.
One of the first blog-based books, the anthology Special Plans examines Feith's role in misleading America into war. Buy from 
Surprised me that there were any still alive. My uncle was Chennault's mercenaries's diesel mechanic. He had his own plane, crew and mechanics flying from base to base.
He made the mistake of coming back to the United States for a personal emergency. Drafted and delivered in handcuffs, trained as an artilleryman and had part of his guts blown out in a training accident.
He went from making $500 a month in gold to making $17 in American paper dollars. Then he and his wife used up all of his savings having a civilian doctor re open his wound and take out the festering mess that the military and VA doctors hadn't been able to treat.
Died very young.
Posted by: evil is evil | June 20, 2011 at 12:12
Well, you know, they have to offset the extra spending with cuts somewhere else.
(rolls eyes)
Posted by: racymind | June 20, 2011 at 15:13
lost in the papers. keep shouting!
Posted by: pansypoo | June 21, 2011 at 12:44