WWII Flying Tigers want to see history respected

Lieutenant General Claire Chennault (with black hat), the Flying Tigers' leader, goes over the map with his team in China. Provided to China Daily

As the tension between China and Japan deepens since Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, US soldiers who fought in the World War II who were members of the Flying Tigers, shared their stories and called for respect for history and peace.

"I was very angry over the news," said Marty Oxenburg, 91. Oxenburg served about a year in operations supporting the pilots in the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG), nicknamed the Flying Tigers, to back the Chinese air force in the final battles against Japan during WWII.

Last December, Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 class-A war criminals are housed. The visit invited a series of criticism from countries, including China, Korea and the US. Abe defended his visit at the World Economic Forum last week, which further ignited tension between China and Japan.

"They (the Japanese) never apologize which means they carry on the culture that existed in the war," said Oxenburg, who also said that Japan should learn from Germany regarding attitudes toward WWII.

Lucky enough to survive the war, Oxenburg said that he witnessed the tragedies that happened to his colleagues and local people involved in a war they did not have a choice to avoid.

"One day a plane crashed at our airbase in Yankai, 30 miles north of Kunming. Three Americans were onboard. They had third-degree burns. We got them to a hospital and two of them died," he said. "They were only about 24 or 25. In 1995, I found the families of the two men. I spoke to them and gave them the information they never had."

Having to leave home for the WWII battlefield, Oxenburg never had the chance to witness the birth of his first daughter. His wife, Shirley Oxenburg, wrote to him every day during his service in China, including telling him that his baby was born right after he arrived in Asia.

"I have got over 300 letters. And I named the truck I drove from India to China 'Sugar', the nickname I gave to my wife," said Oxenburg, who with his wife celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary on Jan 31 and the Chinese New Year, a tradition the Oxenburgs started after the war.

"I remember that the moment I got home after the war, I was so excited. Shirley's mother and Shirley jumped on me and I just couldn't get rid of them," he joked. "And for the first time I saw my daughter. She was already 1-year-old."

Nell Calloway, granddaughter of Lieutenant General Claire Chennault who led the Flying Tigers and died in 1958 at the age of 64, said that people should not forget that chapter of history.

"Yes I hate war, but the thing about war is that we need to remember what's happened so that we won't repeat that history. We need to learn how to settle things in a different way," said Calloway, now the director of the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum in Louisiana.