[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 15487-15488]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       IN RECOGNITION OF THE FLYING TIGER HISTORICAL ORGANIZATION

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                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 10, 2010

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the heroic Flying Tigers 
of WWII. In 1941 a group of former soldiers, under the direction of 
General Clair Chennault, formed the First American Volunteer Group of 
the Chinese Air Force twelve days after Pearl Harbor. I would note that 
the initial flight of the Flying Tigers took place at Half Moon Bay 
Airport which is now in my district.
  Funded at first as private contractors by the Chinese government, the 
Flying Tigers were absorbed into the 23rd Fighter Group on the Fourth 
of July, 1942. The Tigers' shark-faced planes remain among the most 
recognizable of any WWII aircraft.
  Some 300 Americans were members of the Flying Tigers, with 24 either 
killed in action, in accidents, captured or unaccounted for during the 
war. Comprised of three squadrons of 20 aircraft each, the Flying 
Tigers are credited with destroying 115 enemy aircraft.
  In 2006 Retired Major General James Whitehead asked Chinese 
authorities to consider restoring the Tigers' decommissioned air base 
built inside a cavern that now serves as a public park in Guilin, 
China. The Chinese Government was receptive to the project and now has 
plans to commit $23 million to a 300-acre resort that will include a 
museum, airfield and the original command cave used by General 
Chennault between 1941 and 1945. The Flying Tigers Organization has 
been asked to raise money for restoration of the command cave and 
construction of a museum that will inform visitors about the role of 
the Flying Tigers during WWII.
  Madam Speaker, at a special dinner in San Francisco on October 26, 
2010, the Flying Tigers Historical Organization will present Ambassador 
Gao, Consul General of the People's Republic of China, with Flying 
Tiger memorabilia to be placed in the museum in China. We should 
applaud this gesture and be supportive of this effort to restore a 
piece of American history in mainland China.

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