377 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/819b39565b37a4a31cb94b66af89c200.mp4 a0fda6b64d06ba5c4c66a7f5d3dd55c8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/936fa889a46d27c34fb08d06f55801cb.pdf 70bf5cf728a9af874d0a5bf0f45a2f8f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Tex Hill Date of Interview: February 22, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 6] FRANK BORING: Towards the end you were already getting rumors and you started to see American military personnel starting to come on the scene. What was the reaction from you and from other AVG people as to the change that was now occurring? You were coming close to the end of your contract and what was going to happen next? What was going on at that period? TEX HILL: There had been plans for a second AVG, another contingent of people to come in that was in the plans. We would like to have seen it stay that way because the supply problem was so critical. Everything - by that time the Burma Road had been closed everything was having to come across the hump and they… it just made sense. We could do so much with a small group of people. A good example of that is that …(break) …but just for an example as I say, the hump tonnage was so critical there, but I had about 4 to 5 ground personnel and about 20 pilots and the same outfit that I activated, when our group broke up in July of '42, I came down off a flight , and a guy said, take your oath, sign here and I just put on a different hat and did the same thing I was doing the day before. Except the table of organization for that squadron was about 265 ground personnel and about 35 officers. And that's what happened really. But we knew that eventually we were going to have to be replaced, but they weren't doing this. These guys they said we will no longer give you any more supplies, so that's when we knew that �we were short-lived. So the 4th of July was set up as the date for the AVG to come to an end. But the units that we activated, which was the 23rd Fighter Group, actually there were about 80 - roughly 80 AVG people involved in that, counting the two week period that stayed over to get that organization going. Plus the guys that stayed over and took a commission like Ed Rector, there were five of us that stayed over to activate the 23rd Fighter Group, and about 20 some ground personnel. They took commissions and stayed over there. But that 23rd Fighter Group, it had a hell of an infusion of American Volunteer people to get it rolling. So when the time came, that's what happened, some of us stayed … well like Bob Neale said, "I'll come back" and they were going to make him Group Commander, give him a Lieutenant Colonelcy. And Bob said "if you just give me some time to go home and rest and come back, I'll do that." And it was a problem too because Ed and I were Navy and Gil Bright was Navy, he stayed over. So we came into the Army Air Corps that way. But we knew that they had to have somebody there to take these new guys that were coming in and never had any combat experience at all. And here, we'd been out there a year. Not only that, but the tactics that we developed over there, they never imparted those to the people back in the States, they never taught them. So it finally came to an end and that 23rd Fighter Group was probably the best fighter group in the war because of the heritage that they had. FRANK BORING: Did you ever meet Bissell? TEX HILL: I have. I've met him on about two occasions. FRANK BORING: But you weren't at any of his lectures where got up and…? TEX HILL: No, no. But I sure heard about them. I guarantee you those guys really took a dim view of it. But it was people like that that turned our guys off. Most of them wanted to go back in the military when they got back to the States. And they would have gotten a lot of them to have stayed if Bissell hadn't come over there and �approached them the way he did. It's a shame because a lot of that talent was lost. See a lot of the guys went to work for CNAC, a lot of them went to work for Pan Am. About 12 of our good pilots went to work there and then the others with CNAC. FRANK BORING: I wonder if you could tell us about the incident they called the Salween Gorge, the Salween Bridge - what do you recall about that? TEX HILL: Well, the Japanese - when Burma collapsed in about - I can almost tell you the date - it was about the 23rd of April, 1942, and the Chinese had two armies. They had the 6th Army, which was kind of a green army, and they had the 5th, which was a pretty good army. When they broke through, you could stand off a road 100 yards and watch the armored cars go by. They drove right on up to Salween. Well the bridge was knocked out and they had a pontoon bridge across there. So we were running missions strafing and dive bombing missions, Ed and I, were trained in the Navy and came out of a dive bombing squadron, so knew something about it and we went down there and bombed that bridge out and also the road. We'd knocked the edge of the road off. If you hit above it and a bunch of dirt over the road, they shoveled it off, but the idea was to try to - see they had to cut into the mountain to make that road you knocked the edge of that road off and then they got a real problem. So we were able to do that with our dive bombing. Something happened. We must have gotten a bomb - there's a big overhang on the approaches to that bridge and we must have gotten a bomb under there some way, where all the headquarters and things were because, on our last mission that evening, all that army column was turned around, they were going back the other way and then that was the end of it. They never tried to cross it again. FRANK BORING: What was the importance of the Salween Bridge? TEX HILL: Well it was the fact that if they'd have gotten across that one point, China would have collapsed. I mean China was on their last legs. �As a matter of fact, we'd already started talking about going out through that old Marco Polo route - how we were going to get out of China. And I feel sure that that was kind of a turning point in history because at that time Rommel was just about in Cairo and there was a diversion of some of the forces from India that went over to assist in stopping Rommel. But had China collapsed, we'd have had no place to go. We'd have been out of it. The Japanese and the Germans probably would have linked up across India and Africa, that's my opinion. The infrastructure was there. The Indians hated the British and all they needed was some leadership and somebody with some forces to go in there because all of their forces were out of there and they would have taken over India and I think it would have been a different ball game. The forces that came out of India, they were able to help stop Rommel. FRANK BORING: Looking back now to that period of time now, what do you feel personally about your experience there with the AVG? TEX HILL: Well I think we made a big contribution because the whole basic thing was to keep China in the war and that really was what our mission was. We definitely accomplished that. Of course the forces that came in later and everything, even strengthened our position even more. But that little handful of guys in the AVG who really kept China in the war when things were really dark. I think that was the major contribution that we made. I mean hell, we shot down 2 or 3 hundred airplanes, but that's not going to win the war and I know a lot of historians put our effort down as not very significant, but I think they lose the bubble because it wasn't shooting down airplanes to win the war, it was keeping China in the war that enabled us to win the war. FRANK BORING: How about you personally - what do you feel that you accomplished over there? TEX HILL: Well it's one of the few things that I ever did in my life I wasn't sorry for. No, it's something about war, if it weren't for so many �people getting hurt and killed, it's very stimulating. My God, you wake up in the morning you're ready to go out there and get them. It's a very stimulating experience. I'm just happy that I had the opportunity to experience it. FRANK BORING: In terms of the Chinese people themselves, they view the Tigers in a very - If I may say - exalted position. How do you - when you deal with the Chinese, themselves, how do you look at how you affected their lives? TEX HILL: Well the friends that I made with the Chinese over there - and we really made friends with the Chinese - they've been the best friends we've ever had. You make friends with those people and you're friends for life. It's just very unfortunate that we let China go Communist because we set the stage for every bad thing that's happened to them. These guys were our friends and we have people today - these activists that get in there - they don't like Batista, so you get Castro. You don't like the Shah, you get the Ayatollah, you don't like Chiang so you get Mao. You know they never look on the other side of the coin. These mothers they go back in the woodwork, they come out and not responsible to anybody, to anybody, and they create all of these problems and a lot of people get killed, they go back in the woodwork. They don't take care of the consequences of their actions. When we let China go Communist we set the stage for every bad thing that's happened to us. FRANK BORING: When you look at the scheme of things in terms of the history of World War II, one of the things that always bothered me is they usually start with December or they start with the European war and don't even begin with the early days. Where do you think AVG fits into the history of World War II? TEX HILL: Well I think the very dark days. After Pearl Harbor the Japanese moving right on down through Indo-China and Indonesia and Hong Kong falling and Singapore. God, these were real dark days �and that's when we were doing our best work. We were the only good news anywhere. I mean coming out of Germany or anywhere else. But in the Far East we were the only people that were winning. That was a big deal. That's why we got so much press coverage back there during our period. People back in those days God I've got tons of clippings. That's all that people had to write about. The rest of it was all bad news. FRANK BORING: What was your reaction to the press clippings and people coming over taking pictures of you and all that? TEX HILL: You know I don't know. I never have thought much about things like that. It's nice to go back and reminisce. Like Time-Life people had a real nice thing - you know the one that's got Shirley Temple on the front in March of '42 - that was during the time that we were in Rangoon. Then of course, I don't know I've been in about 6 or 7 Time Magazines. But it was a real important time there that's why these guys were over there. Teddy White, he stayed over there even after the AVG broke up with the 23rd Fighter Group. FRANK BORING: Especially given the fact that when you came out to China you had this desire to be in the Far East and you had the background of your parents, what was the effect on you of witnessing the Japanese bombing of the helpless Chinese population? TEX HILL: Well really that's the first thing that made me realize what a terrible thing war was. See, when we got that first report on the Japanese coming in and bombing Kunming, we immediately moved two squadrons up there, the Hell's Angels in Rangoon. And all these dead people laying around there. Gosh there must have been 200 or more people dead that were laying there, their bodies, people trying to identify them and whatnot. There was no defense at all. They were just using it for a bombing target right in the town. That first encounter with them that cured them forever. They didn't come back for a year. You know when you send a force out and you don't get any of them back, you wonder what happened. �But that was one of the important things too, though, about our operation over there, is that we had such high mobility. I mean we could take a squadron like we did from Toungoo and move that thing into Kunming and do it in just a matter of hours. And we even had many occasions where we moved crew chiefs in the baggage compartment. You know a guy gets in the baggage compartment and we had to stage out of some advanced base and that's - if we'd have had the forces to sustain our operation, we could have attritioned the Japanese Air Force from China bases. But we'd move into one of these areas, the Japs would be there the next morning, we'd fight till we'd lose our combat effectiveness, and then we'd have to move back to a rear echelon area and regroup and put the airplanes back together and get forced and go again. FRANK BORING: So unlike the Japanese, you didn't have a supply route coming in with regular tires and everything else to replace your stuff. TEX HILL: No, it was a baling wire deal. Very soon after our group broke up, we had to drain fuel out of bombers just to keep fighters with the air alert. FRANK BORING: There was a period of time in May, which was the evacuation of Mengtse [?], that your squadron and the Third had to evacuate that area and you reached Kunming. I guess you were being chased from one …could you tell us more about that? TEX HILL: Yeah, but I can't because I wasn't on that part of the evacuation. I came from Loiwing. But we went back from Loiwing to Paoshan and that's when we lost Bennie Foshee, a nice guy from Red Level, Alabama. We didn't have enough planes for the guys to fly out of Loiwing, so he brought one of the convoys up. When you get all these refugees coming in - and you know how it is over there in China, you just got one road, there's no network of highways you've just got one way to go. Well Paoshan was a big choke point with all the refugees coming out of there and the Japanese came in �there and bombed right in the middle of the people. And it blew Bennie's leg off and in the meantime Charlie Bond had come in and had gotten off the ground and he shot down a bomber, came back over the field doing a victory roll and there were two Japs set him on fire and shot him down. So Doc Rich was taking care of Charlie and there was such a mass of humanity, they could not get to Bennie Foshee to save him, bled to death. FRANK BORING: What can you tell us about Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek? TEX HILL: What contact I had with him and the opinion I had of him over the years was he was a very benevolent person. I've heard people - I know the Sung family there was a lot of stuff going on in that family, that side of it. But the Generalissimo lived a very austere life. He never took money or anything. Now where they get mixed up I think is that H. H. Kung was Minister of Finance when we were there and he was married to one of the Sung sisters and H. H. Kung was in that position. He I'm sure made an awful lot of money. Of course T. V. Soong was also a big financier. But the Generalissimo himself was very benevolent. I don't know of any case where he had anybody actually killed, even the guy that kidnapped him. He was benevolent to him. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Hill_Tex_1991-02-22_v06 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hill, David Lee Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Tex Hill interview (video and transcript, 6 of 7), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of David Lee "Tex" Hill by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Tex Hill served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as Squadron Leader to the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Prior to joining the AVG, he served in the US Navy as a torpedo and dive bomber pilot and SB2U-2 pilot. During his AVG service, he became a double ace and had more than twelve victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Hill discusses the period of change when the AVG was approaching the end of their contracts and American military personnel arrived on the scene. He also describes his overall experience with the AVG, their accomplishments and the relationships made with the Chinese people during the dark days of World War II. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/142757713941c752af9b15e3bbfdb184.mp4 d53547cebf1dff4ed27cfecb21fe9eec https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/71cebd38dd6834f53ac678cf8334f3d9.pdf c24951d48636504e9f133d7f3636567f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Tex Hill Date of Interview: February 22, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 5] TEX HILL: You know it was just a toy, it wasn't worth a damn. Gun platform on the damn nose… and then we were so short legged that in 25 minutes you were looking for some place to land. FRANK BORING: We're going to talk now about personalities, people that you knew that were there. So I'll just be asking you about some of the people that were there. First of all I'd like to start with - as I understood it, Christman was a fairly good friend of yours in the very beginning. TEX HILL: Yeah. Bert Christman and I were shipmates. Actually we were in flying school together at Pensacola. He was a class ahead of me, one class ahead of me. Then when I wound up on the Ranger, I ran into Christman and we renewed our acquaintance and at that time Christman was doing this Scorchy Smith column, comic strip. He also did a strip on the way over there called Logan's Log. If somebody could get a hold of those drawings, but each day he would depict some highlight of that day and depict it with a cartoon. I don't know what happened to all of those things. I know they probably sent them back to his folks, but what happened to them, I don't know. But he was one hell of a good guy. As I say, He and I and Ed Rector were just inseparable. FRANK BORING: How did that affect you when you heard that he'd been? �TEX HILL: It was a terrible, terrible experience. I can tell you there was no such thing as funeral parlors in those days, and no way to embalm anybody and they picked him up and had him in that box and Ed and I were taking him out to the cemetery and here's your best friend in there and the body deteriorating and everything, it's really terrible. But they buried him there at Rangoon. FRANK BORING: Would you say that was - of all the Tigers that you knew - that was the one that affected you the most? TEX HILL: Yeah. I saw two other occasions where people had premonitions that they were going to get killed. Newkirk was one of them. Newkirk, when he went on that mission to Chiang Mai, he sat down and wrote a letter and he asked Chennault, he said "if something happens to me and I don't get back I want Tex to have this squadron". See Jim Howard was senior to me, but the old man called me in and said that Newkirk wanted me to have his squadron, so he gave it to me. Then the other guy was Donovan. He wrote a letter and he didn't want to go on that mission, but this guy had called him and said "let's go down to" - somewhere in Indo-China, I forget now it might have been Hanoi. They were going to go down there and strafe the place and Donovan said "I know who that is and he wants me to go", so he saddled up and he never came back. FRANK BORING: Do you know how Christman was killed? TEX HILL: He was killed in his parachute. He got shot down and he bailed out and the guy shot him in his parachute. He got shot down twice and they got him on this one. FRANK BORING: Did you ever get a chance to have any contact with P. Y. Shu, who was Chennault's interpreter? TEX HILL: Only when I was around the old man. P. Y. was right there, was his right hand man and interpreter and stayed right with him all the �time. And then over the years I've seen him off and on over the years - a wonderful person. FRANK BORING: How about Tiger Wong? TEX HILL: Tiger Wong was a real great guy. I didn't have as much contact with him during those days, but he was more or less in charge of monitoring the people that they had along the coast. We'd get this information - it was real good - like they'd say there's so many airplanes taking off from Hanoi or whatever. Why he was kind of in charge of that operation at that time as I recall. FRANK BORING: You've talked about the Tigers as being like a family and this question always has to come up. I guess the bad boy of the family was Pappy Boyington? TEX HILL: Yeah. He hurt us worse than the Japs. You know Pappy - I didn't have any real problem. I can tell you the first time I saw him. See he was the last guy to get there and the first one to leave. Moose Moss and I were down at Toungoo prowling around and we heard this commotion and we jumped back in the brush and here comes Pappy pulling a rickshaw with a [?]. He was tough as hell - I mean he was really a tough guy. But I don't know, he may have flown maybe 6 missions the whole time he was there. But you see, you know to get a dishonorable discharge from our group, you really had to work at it, it wasn't easy. But Pappy managed it. You see we had those flight schedules we were talking about. Well when you're drunk and not fit for duty some guy's got to get up there and get his butt shot off and guys took a very dim view of that. On one occasion where a guy was killed, how do you live with stuff like that? But that was his problem. He would be drunk and not fit for duty. So that really hurt us. See he got there in November and he left in March. So he was only there about 4 months. FRANK BORING: How about some of the non-pilots, non-crew chiefs and whatnot, like Dr. Richards, for example. Did you get a chance to? �TEX HILL: Oh yeah. Doc Richards - I had more contact with Prevo. Doc Prevo was a real great guy. He and I became very close friends. They used to call him "The White Hope of Purdue". He was a great big guy. He was an Orthopedic Surgeon and he did a little plastic work too and I remember Moose Moss had a gunshot wound where some irate husband I think had shot him, and it was pretty bad up in here and so Prevo did a little repair job on that. He was really a great guy. He could drink a quart of whiskey for a nightcap. I never will forget we had this party that Governor Lung gave us and as a matter of fact it was quite a while before we knew how Governor Lung - we didn't know exactly what his allegiance was he was one of the War Lords that they never conquered. He had his own army and everything, so anyway it finally looked like he wanted to give us a big party. But the old man didn't want us to go because he thought he might poison everybody, wipe us all out at one time if he was aligned with the Japanese. But he wasn't and he was our very close ally at that time. He threw a big party for us and Prevo didn't go, he had the duty. But one of our guys by the name of Cribbs turned over in the jeep and cut his head so they brought him in and Sam was sewing him up, woke up Sam, his hand was shaking, he turned around and he said "Nurse" he said "hold that patient still". Old Cribbs was out cold, he wasn't moving. But he stayed on over after our group broke up and came on in with the 14th Air Force. FRANK BORING: How about the nurses? I understand they were real popular. TEX HILL: Oh yeah very popular, yes. And both of them are still alive. I made passes at all of them. I didn't score well but I gave it a go. FRANK BORING: Now there was another personality there too that a lot has been written about and that was Olga Greenlaw. TEX HILL: Yeah oh yeah. She was quite a character. Lord, man, that Olga was something else. She was a good looking gal and I had quite an �encounter with her one time which I can't go into detail on. But Duke Hedman and I had gone over to pick up some P-40E's over in Karachi and we stayed. Chennault sent us over there because the first two flights didn't get - one of them got back with one, one got back with two and there were P-40E's scattered all the way across India. So the old man sent Duke and I over there so we got them all back to as far as New Delhi and Olga and Harvey were there at the Cecil Hotel. So they invited us to stay there in the hotel and we just made up some bunks in the place. We had a big party one night and Olga and I were singing Mexican songs. I could speak Spanish pretty well and I was raised among Mexicans and Olga came from down south of Ensenada, down in that area there's a White Russian colony down in there and that's where she originally came from. So we were having a good time. Harvey got mad at her and I grabbed her by the arm and started off from the mezzanine floor there there's a stairway in the New Delhi Hotel that's just a straight shot down to the next floor and Harvey had her by the arm and she kind of balked a little bit, got him ahead and gave him a shove and boy he looked like a teddy bear going end over end. So Duke and I we decided we're not going to be very welcome there, so we slept by the swimming pool that night. That's about as far as I can go with that one. FRANK BORING: How about Harvey, himself, though. There's some guys, at least in the books, they talked about - they didn't see what he was doing there. I mean he just walked around with a pipe in his mouth. TEX HILL: Well Harvey was a West Pointer, he had some military background, he was a pilot and did some of the training over there. There weren't a whole lot of people available to go to China that would want to live under those conditions, it was real primitive. You know that Yunnan Province, they were living just the way they were 5000 years ago. Still binding feet and I've got a lot of their little old shoes, but it was very primitive. So it wasn't easy to get a lot of people. But Harvey he was ineffectual really, I mean �Chennault ran the show. Harvey shuffled a little paper and that's about all. But he never got involved at all in any of our operations. FRANK BORING: One of the major events that we've read about, that everybody's talked about was the fall of Rangoon. Were you around in any of that period? TEX HILL: No. We'd gone out. Bob Neale was the one. Have you talked to Bob? FRANK BORING: Not yet. TEX HILL: He'll be a good one to talk, because that guy really did a job coming out of there. He drove himself. Bob was one of these kind of guys that really had to he was absolutely a nervous wreck when he came out of there. FRANK BORING: That leads me to another point. Towards the end when it was getting closer and closer to your contract running out, there was a lot of frantic activity and some of the guys apparently were just getting perhaps battle fatigue might be one way of putting it, but there was a lot of stress and whatnot, what can you tell us about that particular period of time as you got closer and closer to [?]. TEX HILL: Well Chennault could see that they were not going to be able to have replacements in there and he asked me to go around and talk to the different guys and see if I could get them to extend for two weeks. The Third Squadron, they wouldn't extend. Most of the guys out of Bob Neale's Squadron did and mine all agreed to stay. During that period of course I lost Petach and Shamblin, God, it just killed me. Petach had his bag packed, he was over at Paseit [?] that time and the headquarters was at Chungking. I'll never forget old Petach had his bag packed and suitcase, and sat down and was going in to tell the old man goodbye and I asked him, I said if you'd extend. He said "oh sure", unpacked his bag. And I put him and Shamblin on a mission that was - I knew they wouldn't get into �air opposition. There was a ground target that the Chinese wanted hit over there, a little village, insignificant. But apparently it was a pretty important thing because they both got shot down by ground fire. They had heavy, heavy ack-ack [?] and Ajax Baumler and a guy named Butch were the other two guys. See this was right after our group had broken up, it was during that two week period. FRANK BORING: There was a period of time where, as I understand it, the Chinese wanted these morale missions, so to speak, for you to fly over areas and perhaps strafe or whatever and some of the pilots didn't think that there was any real strategic advantage to this. Can you tell us anything about that? TEX HILL: Yeah, I'd come out of Burma, and it was real rough on these guys. I mean the evacuation of Burma was real rough and then the guy that came up through Magwe, it was a hell of a deal. I mean the driver had no early warning, Japanese catching them on the ground and real heavy fighting. They backed on up into Loiwing and I was at Loiwing and I had the Commander responsibility there. So when this thing came up about the morale missions, these guys were in a frame of mind where they just didn't want to get down there. They'd taken some pretty good beating, so Arvid Olson, Third Squadron guys, they signed a petition. My guys didn't sign it. So it was kind of labeled as a revolt or something, but the guys were just expressing the deal that they just didn't want to do that. Well, it never really came to a head because the Japanese were moving so fast. They moved into Lashio and from the time they hit Lashio, I had to figure how long it would take them to go from Lashio up a back trail into Loiwing and not up the road, because there's a trail there, some troops could come up there, and the weather socked in. Good God and we had these airplanes, we were fixing to burn them. We didn't know, and then take off on foot, car, or anyway we could get out of there. The ceiling lifted about 800 feet and we were able to sneak out and go up to Paoshan. But that revolt, so called, it resolved itself real fast because we were too damn busy doing other things. It wasn't any big deal. �FRANK BORING: During this period of time also, the rumors had already started and I guess some of the American military, official American military people, were starting to come in. What was the reaction of AVG and you, specifically, to the fact that it looked like there was going to be a transfer? AVG was going to be over with and something else was going to take it over. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Hill_Tex_1991-02-22_v05 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hill, David Lee Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Tex Hill interview (video and transcript, 5 of 7), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of David Lee "Tex" Hill by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Tex Hill served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as Squadron Leader to the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Prior to joining the AVG, he served in the US Navy as a torpedo and dive bomber pilot and SB2U-2 pilot. During his AVG service, he became a double ace and had more than twelve victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Hill describes his friendship with Bert Christman and how his death affected him. He also discusses the other personalities he encountered such as P. Y. Shu, Tiger Wong, Pappy Boyington, Colonel Harvey Greenlaw and his wife, Olga. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/09796df49db5e5773e43eff342e6e03a.mp4 0ab65bc9331bd839791eefa9ec26c0a9 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5f5f1fae0df27c5e67bb74f7a26f332a.pdf 105cc135b54a7b23fac54754dfd46cd9 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Tex Hill Date of Interview: February 22, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 4] TEX HILL: …airplane and people were getting killed and that was from the Philippine side of it, that's from the AVG side and they had to go talk to the people in the plants to tell them that the P-40 was a good airplane. Johnny Housman had demonstrated them up in Russia but Wagner, he gave it a real bad name. So the people in the plant working on the airplane, they just didn't want to work on an airplane that was giving [?] You know it was a bad airplane. FRANK BORING: What do you account for - you say the airplane was good - why were these planes getting shot down? TEX HILL: Because they didn't use them properly. The tactics that they used like I was telling you that you cannot turn with that Zero and that's what they were doing. Because everybody's trained in fighter aircraft, it's a classical dog fight and you're trying to get more out of that airplane and get it around on the guy's tail. And sometimes you don't have that going for you. Now that was the problem that we had when they moved the Brewster Buffaloes, they only got that one squadron out of Singapore. They shot all the rest of them down. They got one squadron left and they came up to Rangoon. They were great guys. They had a lot of experience. Some of them had been through the Battle of Britain. But the Brewster Buffalo and that environment had nothing going for it, couldn't turn inside of it, couldn't get away. Nothing was working. But that same �aircraft on the Russian front, the leading living ace guy that I was on the program with, he made his record as a Brewster Buffalo on the Russian front, but he was in a different environment. Now the Hurricane, which they brought over then and tried to get us to take for replacement aircraft, and we flew the Hurricane and said "hell thanks, but no thanks". It was another case. That was a great airplane in the Battle of Britain but in our environment, there again, it would turn inside of a P-40, but it still couldn't quite get inside of a Zero. So it too didn't have the speed and couldn't get away. So it's very important in any theater to have equipment that's tailored for that environment. FRANK BORING: Chennault was a master of that. TEX HILL: He was an absolute master. I mean anything you did, I'm sure that if we'd had Burst of Buffaloes, he would have devised some kind of a tactic where we'd had a better survivability than these other guys did. But it's just natural for a guy trained in a fighter aircraft to dog fight. And it's come right on back around to that now in the high performance aircraft. They're back into dog fighting. Because now when you make contact with a guy, if you can't get around on his tail, you can't break it off, because if you do that they've got a heat-seeking missile right up your tail. FRANK BORING: In January, in fact January 8th we have Newkirk, you and Howard were attacking Tack again, but apparently there was a formal Japanese ceremony going on in honor of one of the Thais. Could you tell us a little bit about that? TEX HILL: No I don't think that's right. I didn't go back there. Now, I'll tell you who did go back there though on that deal, was Charlie Mott. He was our first POW and we had argued that day. I wanted to go back and he said "hell you want to hog all the missions" he said "I'm going to go back." He was all revved up. So he went up and the first mission he got shot down and spent the rest of the war up in the River Kwai. Incidentally, he's still alive and he's in �Washington, one of the smartest guys we ever had over there. He built the gun sights that we used, the optical gun sights, you know we had to ring and bead. He got a hold of some of the British equipment and he located in the floor board of the airplane and he'd throw a beam up on through a radicule [?] he had there that would project it on the windscreen, and it was just a circle with a dot in it. And that circle was a certain width so if you were within, we knew what the wingspan on the Japanese bombers were and you could actually use it like a range finder. You could move in on the airplane and when that wingspan filled that circle, you knew you were set like 250 yards. FRANK BORING: In the same line as this, what were some of the additions that you guys had that sort of jerry rigged together to make that airplane fly the way you wanted it to fly? TEX HILL: Well different requirements - well like they say - necessity is the mother of invention. Like dive-bombing, for instance. We decided we wanted to try to use it as a dive-bomber. Well we had to rig up racks for it. The airplane didn't come with any kind of racks. We also had to do that for belly tanks. You talk about primitive. Your Chinese - we had no belly tanks as such. The Chinese made these out of bamboo with plaster and it had a bamboo stem in there that would hook onto a hose that would feed into the airplane. They were good. I'd say they'd carry maybe 30 gallons. Sometimes they'd feed, sometimes they wouldn't feed. But we'd burn that out first and it gave us quite a bit more range. Because once we had to start going out after them, why we were always operating at the extreme range of the airplane. But that was another example of creating something there that we could use. FRANK BORING: What about - we talked earlier about communications between the airplanes. We didn't get into a lot of detail. I guess they used hand signals. I mean how did you actually communicate with the other guys you were flying with? �TEX HILL: Well we had radios all right, but they weren't all that great, but we had radios. So were able to communicate okay. We didn't have any problem with the radio size - you see during the AVG days mostly all of our fighting was done mostly over our own field. It was a fighter pilot's dream. He's got to come all the way over and fight and then we had the speed advantage. They couldn't go home unless we let them go home. As a result, they were about - there's a new history coming out, they found over 50 airplanes between Rangoon and Moulmein that nobody'd claimed, that we'd shot down, but nobody claimed them. FRANK BORING: Could you describe and perhaps have any stories you have about the actual scrambles? I understand it wasn't just one plane after another, when the alert would go out you guys would go up to fight the airplanes. What were the scrambles like? TEX HILL: Well everybody would make a mad dash for the airplane and of course the runways were a lot of dirt and stuff on them and we'd take off in a real big cloud of dust. You'd jump in and you had your parachute in there and usually your helmet would be sitting on the stick and you were buckling up and everything while you were rolling. Particularly when that interval got real short down at Rangoon, the British had a rudimentary kind of radar set up there, but it really wasn't all that great. But we did get a little early warning. We never got caught on the ground there. Of course it was when they pulled the radar out and everything that's when we finally evacuated. The Japs were almost there anyway. FRANK BORING: Do you have any humorous stories or anything you can recall about one of these scrambles? TEX HILL: I remember one we had. I was off duty and we had an alert and I ran and jumped in Jim Howard's airplane and he's got a head much bigger than mine and that helmet of his fell down over my eyes and I was trying to get that thing adjusted and trying to get in his parachute and take off and he got mad at me too because I got up �there - well Lawlor and I were the two guys that got off and we shot down 4 airplanes that day and I got his airplane shot up that day and he came down mad as heck because I'd gotten bullet holes in his airplane. FRANK BORING: How did that work in terms of your airplane or his airplane and how did it work in terms of you had days off and days on? TEX HILL: Each evening, we'd have posted what the next day's operation would be and everybody was listed by flights and you had two or three backups on there and everybody was assigned a flight whatever the mission was. But in the early days as I said all we were doing was sitting on alert and waiting for the guys to come in. I'll tell you an interesting thing that happened down there. I took off one day, the guys were away on a mission and I was off duty and they had an alert and I got in an airplane, the Crew Chief said they've got an airplane out of engineering that's ready. So I got in that airplane and I got up there and I looked down and I saw this black airplane and hell, I'd never seen anything like that before, but it was an alert and I knew that we didn't have anything like that. I set up on it and I was coming down, had my gun switches turned on and I saw the stars on their wing and I pulled off. It was what they called an LB30, it was a B24 and on that airplane was General Wavell and General Brett and most of his staff and those guys came that damn near to dying. I talked to his boy up here at Langley just recently, Rocky Brett was retired a two star General, he said "my daddy kept a diary and writes that incident in his diary, when they landed he dove out of that airplane in a slit trench and broke his glasses.” But that's how close that guy came to dying. FRANK BORING: In January, as we understand it, the Panda Bears were basically strafing Japanese bases. Do you recall any of the missions that you had? There was Newkirk and Howard and you were strafing the Japanese bases? �TEX HILL: No I don't. Other than going over there to attack, but there was a lot of activity whether they were strafing like the Chiang Mai raid which was really a big one. But I was not on that. FRANK BORING: We have here also that on January 23rd the Japanese attack almost catches AVG by surprise and only 2 airplanes got up. You and Lawlor. Later on some of the AVG came in and… TEX HILL: That's the one I'm talking about yeah. FRANK BORING: You recall when Christman went down? TEX HILL: Let's see. Christman… FRANK BORING: That was late January… TEX HILL: Christman. Yeah I wasn't in the air that day but apparently Bert was killed in his parachute. They didn't see these airplanes. They really got shot up that day. As a matter of fact Paxton came in and his airplane was absolutely riddled. He came in and landed and he still had his gun switches on and those tracers, when he pulled back on the stick, the tracers were bouncing off that runway and it came to a screeching halt and we went out there and pulled him out of the airplane and he was bleeding like a stuck hog. One of the bullets had hit the armor plate and it shattered and in his shoulder it looked like he'd been shot with a shotgun. But a funny thing, he got up and he said "I still say those little bastards can't shoot" and he fainted. So after that we put Paxton - and he was an old guy - I mean Paxton had lied about his age. He was behind me in flying school and he must have been 30 something years old when he went through Pensacola. But anyhow he had had some banking experience and so they put him kind of like a comptroller and put him in charge of our finances and everything. But he was pretty old to be flying combat. �FRANK BORING: What would you say was your most dangerous experience? What was the one that really got to you? TEX HILL: Oh gosh. I never had really thought about it. They all …all they time you know you had quite a bit of exposure. I really didn't have any one particular time. All the combats were … well on one occasion we back to Toungoo after Burma had fallen and we went back there to Toungoo and these bombers were landing and we went down there to strafe these guys and they an antiaircraft gun set up down there and when I pulled up, which was real bad, when you're strafing the field that's another bad thing that you just get grooved in when you're training, to make a short interval, you come in and strafe and you pull up to make that interval short to come back down, and you just do it instinctively when you - but what you want to do is when you come in and you're strafing, just pull up just enough to miss the ground and bend it right back over and get the heck out of the area and then come up. Well I pulled up like that and this guy hit me and knocked a hole about that big in my wing. Then the other time that worried me, I shot down a bomber. There were 7 bombers that came in and I remember Bob Neale and me and there was an RAF pilot, we were flying a Brewster Buffalo and we shot down all 7 of the bombers, but the third to the last one it blew up right in my face and a lot of the debris and stuff knocked some big holes in the wing and I didn't know what damage had been done so that really worried me. FRANK BORING: During this period of time when the fighting was intense and everything, did you have much contact with the Chinese people when you went into the villages or went into the town or anything like that? Did they react to the fact that for some reason the skies weren't full of Japanese as much anymore? TEX HILL: Well every time we'd have a big battle, I know up in the Hengyang area where I was most of the time, the village would turn out and they'd give us presents. I've got some of the most beautiful embroidery work. See the Changsha area is where most of that �work comes from. The villagers would just shower us with presents. They were very grateful. But a lot of this stuff was personalized and I have a translation on it and like the people of Kweilin or the people of Hengyang they just showered us with gifts. We had a very good relationship with the Chinese and did right up until the day we let them go Communist. Because when we let them go Communist we set the stage for all the bad things that has happened to us. FRANK BORING: When did you first start hearing about this term "Flying Tigers" Fe Hu? TEX HILL: Fe Hu. You know I've been trying to pin that thing down but they hung that handle on us real early. I'd say probably maybe as early as January and I don't know how the term came about, but I do know that the markings and everything on the airplane that was picked up from some publication that came out of India and they were showing the P-40's in the desert. Now the Germans also had this shark’s mouth on them, but the one that was copied really, was the one - and contrary to what a lot of people believe - Charlie Bond is the guy that really put the first one on the airplane. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Hill_Tex_1991-02-22_v04 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hill, David Lee Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Tex Hill interview (video and transcript, 4 of 7), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of David Lee "Tex" Hill by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Tex Hill served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as Squadron Leader to the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Prior to joining the AVG, he served in the US Navy as a torpedo and dive bomber pilot and SB2U-2 pilot. During his AVG service, he became a double ace and had more than twelve victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Hill discusses his most dangerous experiences flying with the AVG and the reaction they received by the local Chinese people, in addition to his thoughts on the term "Fe Hu" or Flying Tigers. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/95f0f22cf732fc9c45bd7ec9c370945f.mp4 a096e8615d00f253631d0045b84ad048 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/424563e27c214b190349054c7bab1c84.pdf 58cb8a231ab3e9f5d43413cec730ae18 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Tex Hill Date of Interview: February 22, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 3] FRANK BORING: How effective was Chennault's training in the classroom and how did that translate into the actual fighting? TEX HILL: Well Chennault gave us roughly 60 hours of classroom training, teaching us tactics. Having been over there since 1937, he had observed the Japanese and maybe in fact had done some flying against him. We don't know for sure. But in his tactical lectures, he told us exactly how to use the equipment we had against the Japanese. He knew the Japanese equipment, he knew what their capability was, and he knew the P-40 and how to use it properly. Well basically it was that you just don't turn with them. I mean you've got to use the strong points of your airplane against the weak points of his. The Japanese had the maneuverability, they had high rate of climb, they could climb faster than we could and they had the altitude advantage. But we had two big advantages and one of them was speed, we had the speed advantage and if you have the speed advantage you can choose the time you want to fight and if you don't want to fight, you can go home, but they couldn't. We could catch them and make them fight and that was a big advantage. Then the other thing of course was that we had a very rugged airplane and heavy fire power, we had more fire power than they had. As long as we used that, the tactics of trying to make contact with a guy and get a shot at him, but don't stay in there and try to turn with the guy, just dive out, come back up again and try �to make contact again with something. Now in theory, we used a two ship element, which is a basic formation. And Chennault was the first guy to do that. Now Admiral Thatch, we were shipmates, he had Fighting Three when I was on the Saratoga, and I know when I left the Saratoga we were still flying ABC formation, three ship formation. But he got credit in the Pacific as the Thatch Weave, they called it. But Chennault was the first guy to develop that tactic with the two ships and it gave us a lot more flexibility so we built up from there. Just as a basic concept, say you had three flights of four, say you had four, four, four. Okay, the one flight would come in and hit the fighters, the Japanese would come in with bombers and they'd have these fighters stacked up. The first flight would go in and you'd hit the fighters and that would pull them off and the bombers were fast and they never would catch them again. So then the second element would go down and go to work on the bombers, and then the third was in reserve and then as soon as they saw everything was clear they'd join in wherever. But that was the theory, but in practice actually when you made contact, hell, there were airplanes all over the sky. Everybody trying to get on something. But theoretically that's the way it should work. But like I say, once contact was made - and not only that, we never had enough airplanes to really just do these things. I think the most we ever got in the air at one time was 16. And there may be 80 or 100 planes coming in and boy, I mean that's a lot of airplanes in a small space and your chances of a mid-air collision were pretty good. But you could always find some guys up there scratching their butt or something and didn't see, and slip up behind him. FRANK BORING: Can you describe what it was like - they called it a beehive I guess? TEX HILL: Yeah it's like a beehive because the minute you made contact these guys are going around and around and around like that and you get in one of those things and you're going to really get shot up bad. But I know later on some of the Army pilots that came in after our �group broke up, I can remember one in particular was a guy named Dallas Klinger and of course the inclination is to dog fight 'cause that's what you're trained to do, try to get around on the guy's tail and he got in a beehive then and really got his airplane just about totaled and Chennault called him in and he said "Look we can get some more pilots, but we can't get any more of those airplanes and you use that airplane properly." So he really chewed him out. But you see they had the same equipment down in the Pacific when the war - the P-40's and they came off real bad with it because they didn't use them properly, same thing. But our tactics were simple, direct and as a result, why we came off very well. FRANK BORING: Prior to December, you were still in training and a new batch of guys came in. What was that like as new people started to come in? Was there a difference in terms of you guys were there first or any of that? What was that like when new guys would start to come in? TEX HILL: No we just greeted the guys. You know it's a funny thing about our group. You probably noticed, we're like a family. We're a very close knit organization. We've had our reunions and we've taken care of orphans and widows and we still have some money in the till and we subsidize guys who can't make a trip to our reunion and it's just like a family. The new guys coming in, they were welcomed into the family. Our operations got under way after Pearl Harbor. I mean we really got very busy. FRANK BORING: So prior to Pearl Harbor then it was basically just training, routine. Was there an anticipation? Did you feel like you were about to get into war? TEX HILL: Yeah. As a matter of fact, I came down off a flight in Toungoo and the word came that the Japs had just hit Pearl Harbor and I remember the remark I made. I said "well I sure hope free problem 21 works". That free problem 21 was a rehearsal to guard against just exactly what happened. We'd divide the fleet up and assume �some foreign power could come into the Philippines primarily we thought, we weren't thinking so much of Hawaii and we'd divide that up and play these war games and sure enough it eventually happened. So the Navy, they definitely figured the Japanese were the only people who had any capability to do that. FRANK BORING: What was your reaction personally and what was the reaction of the guys around you when you heard? TEX HILL: Well I guess it didn't come as a shock except we couldn't believe that they hit Pearl Harbor. We just couldn't believe that the Japanese could have done that. But as far as getting into the war, I think we were pretty much aware of it when I was still on the Ranger and we were out doing this scouting mission for the British. So I don't remember any big reaction, other than the fact that on down the line when we had some problems that our country was at war, so we got a different ball game as far as discipline and doing the things the General wanted us to do. FRANK BORING: Were you there with the General? What was the General's reaction? TEX HILL: Well the General's reaction, and it's something I brought a copy of it, I don't know what anybody did, but on the 11th of December he put out a memorandum, proclamation, a charge to us that we were now at war and so forth and it's a historical document and it should be published, it's not too long. But he charged us with our responsibilities, that now our country is at war and we should do this and do that and what to expect. FRANK BORING: What was your first encounter with the war - there was a 3:30 a.m. alert and you ended up crashing. This was before the war… TEX HILL: Yeah down in Toungoo I lengthened that runway down there at Toungoo. I came in - we had an alert - and of course there's no lighting facilities for the runway, we just had lamps on the side �there and they had a jeep parked on the end and however we had about 4000 feet there which is pretty long - it's not today - but it's pretty long for us - and I believe it was Ed Rector that just landed ahead of me and he was coming back down this way and it's a fairly narrow runway and I came in and I should have gone around, I didn't and so I went off through the boonies there. But you know flying out of a field at night down there, we had another very tragic thing happen with Pete Wright. I don't know whether you knew that or not but the same operation. We went down there on a night alert and Ed and I weren't flying, but we were in this car that was parked on the end of the runway there for the light. We got out and one of our guys just stayed in there and was asleep and Pete Wright came in and when he put his gear down, a hydraulic line ruptured and the fluid got up in his face and he set it down and he set it right on top of that car and killed the guy's name was Ken Merritt of Austin, Texas, and he was killed. But I mean operations were so primitive up there with the facilities they have now, but when you start thinking about lamps and the jeep on the end of the runway, short runways. Up in Yin Lang later on, my God, we operated off that field at night and every 900 meters, that's less than 3000 feet. FRANK BORING: On January 3rd, Newkirk led you and Christman and Jim Howard on a mission over Thailand. I wonder if you could tell us…? TEX HILL: Yeah this was my first taste of combat and we took off in daylight hoping that it - as a matter of fact it was still kind of dark - just before daylight and we arrived at this little field of tack, which is just right on the western edge of Thailand, right close to the Burma border, and so Christman had engine trouble, he turned back. And I was flying Howard's wing, Newkirk was leading. So we got there to the field and of course we didn't bother to look around, we thought we were going to have complete surprise, but the first thing I noticed there were more than 3 of us in that traffic pattern and this guy got on Howard's tail and he was really - and I got so excited I didn't even look through the gunsight at all, I just pulled �right up behind him and the tracers were there and I just kind of hosed him down. In the meantime, another guy came over and did an overhead pass on me and shot 33 holes in my airplane and I was just pulling into another one head on. It all happened I guess, within two minutes. Howard kept strafing the field. He didn't even know he'd been attacked, he really didn't. When we got back I said "look at your airplane." But on this second one, it was a head on deal and some of those bullets stuck in the prop and it threw the prop out of balance and, hell, it was just like the engine was going to come right through the side of the airplane. So I throttled back and limped back to Mingaladon, back to Rangoon. I got out of that airplane it looked like a sieve. So Howard didn't have a whole lot of holes, he had about 11 bullet holes in his plane, and Newkirk pulled into another one. I saw him get one head on across the field. He went down and made a strafing pass and then he pulled up into one. FRANK BORING: On your first encounter, were you thinking about Chennault's tactics? TEX HILL: I wasn't thinking about anything, just looking through that windscreen and all I could see, I was just right directly behind the guy. No I wasn't thinking about anything. You see the thing about it is, you're apprehensive any time you get an alert, getting ready to go into combat. You're not scared, but you're apprehensive - is a better word I think. And once that contact is made, why you immediately go about doing what you're trained to do and just hope you do it better than the other guy. Those were my feelings. I never was frightened, but I always was apprehensive and waiting for that first contact. FRANK BORING: You had to fly under some very unusual circumstances. One thing was your areas were not exactly mapped out very well. I wonder if you could talk about how you got around, navigating? �TEX HILL: Oh Lord! We were issued these French maps when we got there. And any resemblance between those maps and the terrain would be a coincidence. They were just terrible. So the first Japs we got, why then we began to get a pretty good map and it wasn't until the last part of '42 that our government started flying these big trimets [?] over there and really getting some good maps. But we used Japanese maps right up to the time, during the AVG period. FRANK BORING: What about communications between airplanes? TEX HILL: Well we just had those little old Command sets, a little coffee grinder deal and it really wasn't all that great. Another thing on the communication and navigation, there was no age, there was no navigational age at all. If you were lucky enough after your first mission, when you get engaged in combat you get disoriented, but you pick up certain landmarks and big features that you have some area and hit it and orient yourself, like on a river or something like that. It was real hazardous. Though that net system, that's the thing that really saved a lot of our guys. Chennault had set up this net. He had every little village in the area which had these little command, what we call CW dah dit dah dit deals, and when we'd move into a base, say if you moved into Hengyang, why you'd put the map up on the wall and this would be the center of concentric circles. You'd draw these hundred kilometer circles on out to about 300 kilometers. Then all the Chinese villagers would have to do is say I hear something, I see something, it was very simple, or engine noise, heavy engine noise, light engine noise, that was about all the refinement in it. So immediately that village would send that report in, we'd put a flag right on that village. And pretty soon those flags would line up and you knew the guys were coming in. It was very accurate. When they hit that 300 kilometer mark, why then we'd launch and had to give us time to get to about 20,000 feet, which was our best altitude to fight and then they'd be there. Not only that, it worked real well for us in navigation because if a guy got lost, the procedure was he'd just first village he'd come to he'd go down and give them a short burst over that �village and boy, they'd have a report right in to your field immediately and then the guy could give you a vector. He knows where that village is, you don't know, you just see a village down there. But the guy back here, all he does then, he says well you're over this village here and fly heading of so and so. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Hill_Tex_1991-02-22_v03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hill, David Lee Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Tex Hill interview (video and transcript, 3 of 7), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of David Lee "Tex" Hill by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Tex Hill served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as Squadron Leader to the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Prior to joining the AVG, he served in the US Navy as a torpedo and dive bomber pilot and SB2U-2 pilot. During his AVG service, he became a double ace and had more than twelve victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Hill describes the training the AVG experienced with General Chennault and how the group welcomed the new batch of members into the family. He also goes into detail about their reaction to the news of Pearl Harbor and how it informed their work for Chennault during wartime. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cc3a3ff794d64b42317b79d474475334.mp4 c469fb45a2eeab766a7a4278e82ba588 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6e4267bddf2b490ead6c5015520b1ee4.pdf 475293213af36032f7277b7ce8f7a02a PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Tex Hill Date of Interview: February 22, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 2] FRANK BORING: You had already thought about transferring to the Houston at that point because it was going to the Far East. TEX HILL: Well I'd thought about going to the Far East because having been born over there, my father was a missionary there and I was born in Korea, so I had an interest in getting back over in that part of the world and I had actually thought about, had even tried to get a transfer to the Houston. In those days in the Navy if you could find someone who had comparable experience, that you could effect a transfer, they would try to accommodate you that way. The Houston was in Southeast Asia in water. So that would have given me an opportunity to get there. But I'm glad it didn't happen because the Houston was sunk. So when I got to Norfolk to the Ranger I was able to take advantage of that opportunity to get over there. FRANK BORING: Once they actually said that it was all right for you to go, what was the process like of getting out and then getting in to the AVG? TEX HILL: Well there wasn't any problem at all once the decision was made. Commander Irvine was right there with the contracts and all we did was sign the contracts and they mustered us out of the Navy. One of the things that happened to us in the Navy, we got a complete discharge. Whereas the other branches, they had some �kind of reserve status so they didn't lose any service time. But we lost a year of service. See our contracts were for a year. FRANK BORING: What was the contract like? What were they actually promising you in the contract? TEX HILL: Well they set forth - well there were a lot of legal things in there but they mostly basically the thing we were interested in was the pay. So they set forth in there depending on what your status would be, what the pay grades would be. In my case, I was a Flight Leader and then of course later on I became a Squadron Leader. FRANK BORING: In terms of you, yourself, if it was a Navy operation and they were going to give you Navy pay, would you have gone to China anyway? TEX HILL: Yeah I think I would have. Yeah, I don't think that pay - of course it was attractive, gosh we were only making - an ensign - making $125.00 a month you know and then the lowest pay grade was $600.00 as a wing man, $650.00 for a Flight Leader and $750.00 for a Squadron Leader. That was some incentive, but it's just like the bonus - and incidentally that was not written into the contract but the $500.00 bonus for each airplane we shot down, that was a gentlemen's agreement, but they honored it and they paid off on 297 airplanes. FRANK BORING: In the contract itself did it say that they were going to guarantee your trip back home? TEX HILL: Yes, they paid our way both ways. FRANK BORING: What was it you were expecting? They told you this is what you were going to be doing and you'd never been there, but what were you expecting before you ever got there? �TEX HILL: Well you know we went over on these Dutch ships and you get a bunch of guys from different branches of services and strangers and everybody's sitting there evaluating each other and it's a funny thing. The guys you think are most likely to succeed will be the ones that don't. The little guys that you wouldn't think could do anything, he's a tiger. But I think that it was really just an unknown. We really didn't know what to expect. We knew we were going to fly airplanes, we thought we'd be patrolling the Burma Road, it would be our primary mission and we certainly didn't anticipate the living conditions that we had there. They were very, very rough. However, everybody was in the same boat and it didn't affect our morale. When we landed in Rangoon they moved us immediately up to Toungoo and we started our training there. The forward exit line that went ahead of us, the first group, they were all down at the train to meet us. We pulled in there late at night and they were all down there to greet us and some of them had been shipmates that we knew in the past. But the environment there was really hostile. Insects, heat, no refrigeration, it was just…The only really surcease you would find would be at night when you got under the mosquito net. We had a funny instance there, speaking of mosquito net, we had a guy named Fred Hodges and we called him "Fearless Fred Hodges". He had a thing about insects and they'd just drive him up a wall and once people knew about that then they really made life miserable for the poor guy. They'd put those bugs under that net, you'd have to have a net to catch him. He'd come out and just go wild. But actually when they served the food there, they'd have two plates - have a plate on top of a plate and you'd pull that lid off and get after it as fast as you could before the insects beat you to it. You know you bathe with a bucket over there, they didn't have a shower. Of course outhouses, everything was very primitive. FRANK BORING: Before we get into more detail about that, could you tell us a little more about the trip over, the boat trip itself? �TEX HILL: The trip over was really great. We were on the Bloemfontein and we had about half missionaries and half AVG people and I'm not sure who converted who on that trip over, but they had a fertile field to operate in I'll tell you that. We were at sea quite a while. From San Francisco we went in to Honolulu and then from Honolulu we went in to Australia, to Brisbane, and then we went up through the Barrier Reef on into the Philippines and then into Batavia, which is now Jakarta and Surabaya and then on into Rangoon. But we were running under blackout. The Dutch were at war so we running under blackout from the time we left Australia. FRANK BORING: What were some of the job descriptions that you guys were listed under that you can recall? TEX HILL: Well they were just pay grades really. As far as the flying guys were concerned, you had Squadron Leader, Flight Leader and Wing Man. FRANK BORING: No, I mean on the boat? Because you guys weren't listed as Squadron Leaders or… TEX HILL: Oh no, no. Our passports. Oh yeah we all had phony passports. I know mine was a rancher and some of them were clerks, bankers. The Japanese, really though they knew everything that we were doing. They had I'm sure very good intelligence. Of course they didn't know - the intelligence wasn't all that great once we got into China. But as far as our moves and going into these different places, they knew about it. I mean they weren't fooled by the passports. FRANK BORING: So they did want you to maintain some semblance of secrecy. You're saying you didn't think that was effective? TEX HILL: Well because we didn't know a whole lot about what our operation would be. We were just going over there to patrol the Burma Road, we're not going over there to go to war with the Japs, but that in �fact was what we really were going over there for. That's probably why one of the reasons the President was convinced that it was necessary to keep China in the war. Otherwise, we'd have been out of that whole area. There'd be no presence there at all. FRANK BORING: Who else was on the boat with you? TEX HILL: Well Ed Rector was there, Bert Christman, Bill Reed, R.T. Smith, P.J. Green, Jack Cornelius. We had about 30 people and you know we lost some of our people that defected. A lot of the guys got out of the service. It was very difficult to get out of the service at that time. Some of our guys just used this contract as a means to get out. I guess they picked them up later after the war started and the draft started, well I'm sure they probably got these guys. But a lot of them jumped ship. We only got over there actually with about out of the 100 pilots that were recruited - I think we got over there with about 87 or something like that. By the time we weeded them out, we actually had roughly 87 ready to go to war. FRANK BORING: Once you arrived - we'll talk about the shipboard - there was apparently a bunch of missionaries that were on there and a few of them caught your eye I understand. TEX HILL: Yeah there was a little Ceylonese gal that I got very much enamored of. She was from a little town of - she was from Ceylon and she'd been in training in the States, going back to do a little missionary work and I kind of coached her a little bit. Really there weren't that many eligible women aboard. You know when you're drowning and a log floats by you don't ask how big it is. FRANK BORING: Once you arrived at Toungoo, what was the procedure? I mean you got there, they billeted you, they told you where the mess tent was or whatever, what was that whole process like? TEX HILL: Well it's really hard to remember. I know that they took us right to some barracks and our barracks were just a rectangular building �with bunks side-by-side with mosquito nets and that was it. Then the mess hall - we had a place for the mess and that was it. There was no furniture or anything like that at all in them, it was very sparse. Then of course we drew our equipment. They issued us a flying suit, a flight jacket, helmet, goggles, oxygen mask and that was about it. FRANK BORING: What about sidearms? TEX HILL: No. Most of the guys took sidearms. I know I had a 45 that my uncle gave me from World War I. It was a government 45, I still have it. But a lot of guys had some rifles, pistols of different kinds. FRANK BORING: What were your first official duties, if you will? I mean who from the AVG greeted you? I mean introduced you around and when did you start working on the airplanes themselves? TEX HILL: Well the airplanes were just being put together down in Rangoon. This was all held by CAMCO, Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. That was their job to do and we had 100 P-40's except one that was damaged, got some salt water on it but we used it for our Hangar Queen. Then as they put the airplanes together and they had a Chinese down there - as a matter of fact he was General Lo - I wish you could have called him on an interview. Of course he died - Lo Yin [?] I'm sure you knew him. Anyway he was the acceptance pilot for the Chinese and he flew all the P-40's before we did. Of course we had to put him on about 3 cushions so he could see out of it. Then they brought them up there, then we started our check-out and it was pretty hairy because in the Navy we were flying round engines and that big, long nose out there boy I'll tell you it was really awesome! But we managed to get by pretty well on our check-out. The big boat people had the guys that came out of the big boat squadrons, flying the big sea planes. They had a little problem. They'd land them about 50 feet in the air. They had to take these people because actually Chennault wanted 100 pilots with 500 hours pursuit time. That's what he would have �liked to have had. When he went to Arnold to tell him what his requirements were he said "if I were to give you that many pilots with that kind of experience, that would be my entire pursuit section." And the old man said "General if you can't spare that many pilots with that kind of experience, you don't have any pursuit section to begin with". So that always endeared him to Hap Arnold. They had to recruit whoever they could and they finally got down to where they were having to take P-Boat people, but some of them turned out real good though. FRANK BORING: So your first experience was then with the P-40. What can you tell us about that? TEX HILL: Well just as I said, the thing was awesome, the P-40B or the Tomahawk that we had, it had a real bad ground looping characteristic and you had to stay on top of it all the time. I was very happy to make it around the pattern and get used to it. Being an experienced pilot, we were all professionals and it didn't take us very long to really get the feel of the aircraft. FRANK BORING: What's ground looping? TEX HILL: Well that's when you lose your directional control and your tail comes right around and you're going the other way. FRANK BORING: What's a Hangar Queen? TEX HILL: A Hangar Queen would be an airplane which you use to salvage or take spare parts off of to repair other aircraft. FRANK BORING: What is your first impression, your first memory of meeting Chennault? TEX HILL: Well he greeted us there at Toungoo and my first impression of him was he was very dynamic guy. When you first meet him he just exuded strength and you had a lot of confidence in him right �off the bat. You knew he was a guy that knew what the heck he was talking about. He didn't do a lot of talking. If you read anything that he's written everything is right to the point, there's no verbiage. When you listen to his tactical lectures why you knew the guy knew exactly what he was talking about and when the test came for us, why things were just exactly the way he had told us, so we had no surprises. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Hill_Tex_1991-02-22_v02 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hill, David Lee Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Tex Hill interview (video and transcript, 2 of 7), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of David Lee "Tex" Hill by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Tex Hill served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as Squadron Leader to the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Prior to joining the AVG, he served in the US Navy as a torpedo and dive bomber pilot and SB2U-2 pilot. During his AVG service, he became a double ace and had more than twelve victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Hill discusses his desire to return to the Far East after being born in Korea and his father being a missionary there. He also discusses the process of getting into the AVG and the group's journey aboard Dutch ships on their way to Rangoon. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7abd153191fe877fd0ef1890a1fba064.mp4 9eafd0034086710a4d7b9da24ee9329d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/426332353896d3450c6ec1e17dac91f8.pdf 2b4483dfe11df545acf98209fe6d08b1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Tex Hill Date of Interview: February 22, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 1] FRANK BORING: We'd like to start off with Tex, what were you doing before you got involved in the AVG? TEX HILL: I was a Naval Aviator. I went through Pensacola and after graduation was assigned to the fleet. I went to the Saratoga. I was assigned to Torpedo 3 and I was on the Saratoga for a year and then I was transferred to the Ranger to Bombing 4 which later became Scouting 41 and I was recruited out of the Navy to go to China. FRANK BORING: Well how did you first hear about this opportunity in China? TEX HILL: When I was on the Ranger we actually were at war, really. We were helping the British with the convoys. These convoys would make up in Bermuda and then they'd pull out and we would go out ahead and run these search patterns out there and anything we'd see why we'd just report it in the clear. The British had a task force. I remember they had the Aircraft Carrier Eagle and they had the Diomedes, they had a couple of heavy cruisers and so we'd call out whatever we'd see in the clear and then the task force would come over and take care of it. As a matter of fact on one of our searches, we picked up two submarines and a tender and when we made our next run over there, why the Diomedes was steaming around and there was nothing but debris and oil slick all over the place, so I presume they must have sunk them. �FRANK BORING: When did you first hear that there was an opportunity in China? TEX HILL: Well then we came back off this cruise and Ed Rector and myself and Bert Christman, we were inseparable, we were very close friends, so we had just come down off a flight and go into the operations shack there and Gus Widhelm, who was the operations officer, he said "here's some guys that'll go with you" and he was always very intense and he grabbed us and we didn't even know what he was talking about, and he introduced us to Commander Irvine and he said "Commander Irvine is looking for some people to go to China to keep the Burma Road open." Well, hell, we didn't even know where Burma was. So he pulled a big map down and said "This is Burma, this is the Burma Road, and these are the way supplies are going into China." So we said it sounded like a great idea. So a few days after that we shoved off and we didn't think we'd ever hear any more about it. But when we came back in March, I believe it was, of '41, here this guy was, had a bunch of contracts and the Navy was very much opposed to it. As a matter of fact, our Skipper flew up to Washington to try to block it, his name was Bill Harris and he tried to block it but he came back he said "I don't know what this is all about fellows, but it's bigger than me" so he gave us a party. But actually, Hap Arnold was against it, Admiral Tyler was against it and it was only by Presidential Decree that we were able to have this thing happen. FRANK BORING: What was your personal motivation? Why would you want to go to China? Was there anything in your background that would lead you to want to do that? TEX HILL: Yes, there really was. My father was a missionary. I was born in Korea and I'd heard him talk about the Orient and particularly about the Japanese because the Japanese occupied Korea at that time and my Dad wasn't real happy with the treatment that the Japanese gave the Korean's. But I'd always wanted to go there. As a matter of fact, I had already put in for a transfer to the Houston �when I was on the Saratoga. In those days in the Navy, if you could find someone with comparable experience, you could effect a transfer and I'm glad it didn't happen because the Houston was sunk. So then when this opportunity came when I was on the Ranger, why, I jumped on it right away. Actually there were six of us off the Ranger that went. You see the Ranger at that time was the only carrier that we had that was really ready to go to war. I mean we were trained. The Navy was undergoing expansion and they didn't want to let people go with any kind of experience because they were getting spread pretty thin. But the President decreed that the recruiters could come on base, Army, Navy and Marine Corps facilities and try to get whoever they could. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Hill_Tex_1991-02-22_v01 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hill, David Lee Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Tex Hill interview (video and transcript, 1 of 7), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of David Lee "Tex" Hill by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Tex Hill served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as Squadron Leader to the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Prior to joining the AVG, he served in the US Navy as a torpedo and dive bomber pilot and SB2U-2 pilot. During his AVG service, he became a double ace and had more than twelve victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Hill describes his work as a Naval Aviator prior to joining the American Volunteer Group, how he first heard of the opportunity in China, and his personal motivations for going oversees to serve with the AVG. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e2f23bcc75fc94f3a8070afe59df5472.mp4 af0d401eaf01aea13f2a730d3bbe490a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ade48d179094be0fc3461cb60c0324a1.pdf 6240387a20a48328b8da554e71caa8c8 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 14] FRANK BORING: What do you think the AVG accomplished in its brief history? J. J. HARRINGTON: I think the AVG accomplished an awful lot during the years that they were in existence in the China theater. One thing that it brought out loud and clear that the air tactics and strategies that General Chennault had tried to teach over the many, many years was proved to be fact and not something of Chennault's imagination from the time that he was in the service, and that was brought out loud and clear, at least, finally proved that he was right, regardless of the criticism he might have received over many, many years. I think it also proved that the air tactics that were used by General Chennault proved beyond a question of a doubt that you cannot have a ground force without air superiority to support it, and that was the big argument that General Stilwell and General Chennault had at length all the time. It takes a combination of two and I don't think air power alone can do it and I don't think ground troops alone can do it, but it's a combination of two will win out, and I think that certainly was proven in China as we did not have an active ground force and we did not have sufficient air force. It takes a combination of a ground force and an air force to accomplish a mission. �FRANK BORING: It was said in the beginning that the AVG wouldn't last a week. Why do you think the AVG didn't collapse and all the Japanese come over? J. J. HARRINGTON: The consensus of opinion of a lot of people in the War Department that the Flying Tigers were going to fold up - I don't think they really took into consideration the caliber of people that the Flying Tigers were made of in the first place, not because I was with - a small part of it, but the people that we had were the type of people that didn't say "no" and "I can't do it" - they put forth an effort and did what had to be done regardless of the time and hours that they took to do it, and one of the things too - after the Flying Tigers had disbanded, and I had gone to Chunking and checked with Skip Adair to finalize the number of airplanes that the Flying Tigers had of the original group that we turned over to the army air corps at the time we disbanded, so in figuring all these airplanes up, and I'm not talking about wreck of airplanes, I'm talking about operational P40B aircraft, and we finally came up with a total of 35 P40B aircraft. They were turned back over to the army air corps at the time we disbanded and at that time we were winding up our figures on this, General Chennault came in and we told him and showed him a list of the P-40B's that we originally [?] at Rangoon that we finally turned over to the army air corps when we disbanded on the 4th of July, '42, General Chennault's comment was, "I wonder where those people that said we would only last for a week became experts and how they became experts in the first place." So, he just said "That's good, that's better than even I expected, under the circumstances." FRANK BORING: What do you think the AVG accomplished in terms of the Chinese? �J. J. HARRINGTON: During our stay, the Flying Tigers' stay in China, we made an impact on all Chinese, whether they be Nationalists or whether they be Communist. As most people know, the Chinese at one time, were trying to fight one another and fight the Japanese all at the same time. They finally had a meeting of the minds and decided they couldn't do that, then nobody would survive and they joined forces to fight the Japanese, but shortly after the war was over with, then the Communists were better organized than the Nationalists were and therefore, that's the reason they took over at the end of the war. But while we were over there, we worked both with the Communists and the Nationalists and we won the friendship and the gratitude of both the Nationalists and the Communist, and even though we - I'd like to see a united China, the way it should be - and just like when we go on a tour - I've never been on a tour because of difficulties that I've had - but the tours that the Flying Tigers and still do make of China, the red carpet is rolled out at any place they ever stop. FRANK BORING: The next question, I want you to, in a sense, not worry about talking about yourself. So many of the Tigers we've talked to are proud of what they did - feel what you personally accomplished during that period and what effect did that have on the person that you are now. J. J. HARRINGTON: My own personal experience as being a member of the American Volunteer Group and the Flying Tigers - I can tell you one thing, I matured in a heck of a hurry. I was 24 years old when I left to go over there. I had never been to a foreign country, I'd never been out of the United States, and the closest thing I'd ever come to combat was maneuvers - but to get over and run into the situation that we did with the lack of parts, or no parts - initially I thought we were going to go over and maintain P40's and have support. When I get over there and find out that we're not going to have spare parts, we're not going to have support, you had to sit back and take �a hard look at the situation and just like I've said before, I think all of us matured in one heck of a hurry. When you get over there and start - and it's for real, it's not maneuvers, it is for real, and to run into a dedicated bunch of people, not only the pilots but the ground crew, I've never seen a more dedicated bunch of people in my life, and they could talk about what their - I mean about the caliber of people over there, but they were outstanding from one end to the other, and I'll always have a debt of gratitude for all of them to the day I die, and I think the feeling is pretty much mutual with the entire clan of the Flying Tigers. FRANK BORING: How do you react - how do you feel to be called a Flying Tiger? What does it mean to you to be a Flying Tiger? J. J. HARRINGTON: I take pride in being a Flying Tiger. I think all the Flying Tigers take pride in being a Flying Tiger and I'm sure I can speak for all the other Flying Tigers that we don't want some credit that's not rightfully due the accomplishments of the Flying Tigers. I think that we have accomplishments that we're rightfully proud of and that is all that we care about, but we do sort of take exception from the little nitpicking to reduce what we feel was our own capabilities, and for them to be exploited then that leaves a bitter taste in their mouth. But I'm proud to be associated with the Flying Tigers and I will to the day I day, and I think that we did accomplish a lot over there under the most adverse conditions of any actual fighting unit and the circumstances that we encountered. J. J. HARRINGTON: During my tour with the Flying Tigers - I had never been overseas, I'd never been in any type of combat other than maneuvers in the military and I might have had some illusions when I signed up to go China in the first place because I was not really briefed on the exact duties that we were going to be required to perform, and then after I did get to China and run into the obstacles that we ran into, I think �that we all matured real rapidly. I know that I did, very much so, and instead of throwing up our hands and saying we're just going to have to call this whole darn thing off, we can't make it. And as I said to a lot of people before, that anybody, regardless of the obstacles that they run into, if they have a can do type of attitude and if they work hard enough and long enough, they will accomplish something and by the same token, and just like when we first got over there, that we found out that ingenuity was not a lost art and we applied it. And so if you apply the ingenuity and if you work hard enough and long enough, you're going to accomplish something and the degree of it is how much effort that you put into it. I want to tell you more on how that did affect my life after the Flying Tigers. Most certainly it did, I matured in a hurry when I first got over there and we worked for a year and were pretty much in combat on a continuous type schedule, except for just a few break periods, and during that entire time we were over there, there were a lot of people quitting and coming home and people that I knew that I was very much disappointed in them quitting, but they did and that was a fact of life. I had always been a conservative, I was a conservative before I went to China with the Flying Tigers, I became more of a conservative after I was with the Flying Tigers until what could be done if you apply yourself, and that benefitted me in later years, and after I came back to the States, by then I was still in maintenance - until the main time in the service, but then when I came back to the States [?] and of course I was on the line getting acquainted and this airplane was out of commission, I mean out on the line, so I asked him why this had an electrical problem and I said, Are you doing anything about it?" and they'll be waiting on an electrician, and I stayed for quite a while, had a lot of airplanes there and before I really started sort of stepping on the people that don't wait for electricians. I said, "You went to airplane mechanic school and you should be able to actually analyze a lot of these problems and not wait for a specialist. �That type attitude I carried throughout the entire service career and I know my last assignment was directed mainly through our headquarters [?] and that had all the reserve forces in it. I was in Germany at the time, I had received my assignment and those material losses [?] and I wasn't too happy about being assigned to [?] I figured that would be the last step before you jump off the cliff and disappear, but anyway [?] was setting the table - we were having lunch - and I was griping about it. He said, "If you go into headquarters [?] you must have a pretty good report card. When you get over there take a look at your files and see if General - I can't even think of his name now but - Timberlake's initials are on your record, if it's not on your record, you wouldn't have been going to [?] in the first place. He left the Pentagon - he has to go down and straighten out some of the dead wood." So I did shut up when I did look in Personnel and saw his initials on my record. I visited all the reserve units that they had in the system and at the time I went to [?] in '62, you got to thinking, if only half of the reserve forces and eliminate them, you wouldn't have lost any of your capability whatsoever, and my job as Director of Maintenance - I've travelled a lot and I want people to take a look at me and I want to look at their operation, because you can do business if you get personally acquainted. I knew that General Timberlake was going to back me up because he was a maintenance and material type anyway, but my primary job in this and all these units was to make sure that there was only one standard of maintenance and that was an air force standard. For so many years they had used a standard of maintenance up so high for the air force and a somewhat lower standard for the reserves, so my approach was that we only had one standard of maintenance and so we can forget about the other one. I mean we've got one standard of maintenance and that's an air force standard and I never did - in maintenance you don't get involved in politics and if that's the only purpose I had in mind - if somebody wanted to bring up politics in the reserve unit, I �told them you have to see General Timberlake on that. But basically that's what we did and I had to leave the service at 65 to do the disability. But now, I'm proud to say that the reserve unit can perform equally as well as I could do the units and that is the product of people like General Timberlake could get in and change it. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v14 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 14 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington discusses the accomplishments of the American Volunteer Group and the pride he feels in being a Flying Tiger. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/54a8438c47260734d822fb6a19953292.mp4 80e4fce75e20789f1b4629c4986b3453 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/639f948bbd6b0d54213c768f12388462.pdf 1499e9909197b45cfae6eac07c9e0a5e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 13] FRANK BORING: I wonder if you could give us your impressions of the new personnel that started to come in to replace the AVG towards the latter part of the two weeks. J. J. HARRINGTON: While we were still down at Kweilin, as I mentioned, I did get discharged really from the Flying Tigers and accepted in the regular air force, then the extension of the two weeks of quite a number of people that Chennault asked if they would extend it to regular duty - that people could come in. We were not getting regular duty people in and at the end of the two weeks - and then all of the Flying Tigers left., we were down to the bare bottom of the barrel, then we did start getting a few people in, the highest rank that we got in for a long time was a Staff Sergeant, and that was not sufficient, we should have been given a lot higher rank. To take over not only what we were doing but active military unit consists of more than just mechanics and pilots, you had specialists and stuff like that involved in it which we never did. We were being short changed on the specialist support that came in and I never did get rid of my tool box for quite a long time, and I was still basically the line chief of the squadron down there. Actually I don't think that they really started manned fully until the - it was reorganized into the 23rd Pilot Group and Tex Hill had the 2nd Field Squadron and Frank Schiel had the 74th and Ed Rector had the 76th which I was with down at Kweilin. The �76th moved back to Kunming and I was left down there by myself to repair [?] and try to get the airplanes that were still located there in shape so they could be flown back or maybe bring some of the parts like engines, back to Kunming. At the time, I did get back to Kunming, where the 76th had received additional personnel, manning, which did bring it up to what it should have been that it started with. But that was three or four or five months from the time that we disbanded, before we could ever get adequate manning of the organization. FRANK BORING: If you could explain somewhat of the difference in attitude between these new recruits coming in and the AVG spirit. J. J. HARRINGTON: When I think back over the personnel that we received, that came in, the active duty personnel after the Flying Tigers had disbanded, the majority of them were not as skilled in their specialties as we were when we went to China in the first place, and I don't really understand why the skill level was little bit lower than I had anticipated, but instead of working on their own like we did from the time we got over there, they needed additional help from somebody when they ran into a complicated job, and by the time I - and that remained in effect to just before I left China, that the units were manned as they should have been on the 4th, or 5th of July, the year before. FRANK BORING: I'm going to go through a few different points of people and incidents and whatnot and then we'll finish up with the last few questions. How did - first of all, a comment that you had mentioned in your interview, you said that one thing that Chennault wanted to do while he was out there was to stop the merciless killing of the Chinese civilian population, this is what he saw one of his purposes of being out there. Can you comment on that? �J. J. HARRINGTON: Actually a lot has been said about Chennault, from the time he received a letter from Generalissimo to go to China in the first place, and actually the goal that he had in mind after surveying the situation over there, and I would think that really, his goal - he had a burning desire to help the Chinese people and he'd seen - the four years that General Chennault was over there, he had seen a lot of horrible things happen to the Chinese people, and it was perpetuated on them by the Japanese, and one of his goals and it had always been, to relieve the pressure on the Chinese that had been inflicted on them by the Japanese, and really I think that he had accomplished a lot of that the time that he was over there, and to what degree that he would think he had accomplished that, I don't really know, but I think the facts point out that he did help the Chinese people an awful lot. FRANK BORING: If you could, two of your - at the very beginning of this interview, two pilots that you admired a great deal in the States that eventually became Tigers in the AVG, were Merritt and Mangleburg, I wonder if you could comment on the affect that it had on you when you'd heard they'd been lost. J. J. HARRINGTON: My experience in China, and we lost a lot of people over there, and I mentioned about Lieutenant Merritt and Lieutenant Mangleburg which were in my organization on active duty prior to the time I left to go to China in the first place… FRANK BORING: Just begin along that line - of Merritt and Mangleburg. J. J. HARRINGTON: The two pilots that I admired a great deal that I was associated with prior to going to China in the first place, Lieutenant Merritt and Lieutenant Mangleburg - they did all they could after they became Flying Tigers, and as far as I'm concerned, they did all they could while they were on active �duty in the United States Air Force, the army air corps at the time, and we lost a lot of people over there, while we were over there, but those two officers at the top of my list - of the people that - I later heard - to lose - because I had known them longer than others, also I thought that Lieutenant Merritt and Lieutenant Mangleburg had really not been given a fair shake really, and I don't think that their capabilities were fully utilized while they were on active duty in the army air corps because I was personally aware of the capabilities of those two officers. I thought they were both outstanding. FRANK BORING: Comment if you will on a friend of yours, a person you worked with, who had the nickname, "Herman the German." J. J. HARRINGTON: I would like to make a few comments regarding unusual incident that happened in the Flying Tigers, and that was appeared on the scene a guy by the name of Neumann, and he and his mother were in China, and they'd lost all this family in Germany when the Germans made their… FRANK BORING: Stop, stop… J. J. HARRINGTON: That was not really a problem in the communication between me and Herman because the things that we were talking about finally were things of maintenance and repairing the machines, and that he thoroughly understood. FRANK BORING: We'll start from the top with Gerhard Neumann. J. J. HARRINGTON: Herman. I'd like to make a comment regarding some of the personnel that Flying Tigers were associated with while I was in China and I was surprised to learn when I was in Kunming and I met Gerhard Neumann and come to find out that he was an outstanding engineer, he was a good mechanic, and fortunately he was assigned to the 1st squadron, and I thought - Herman, we used to just call him Herman the German - but �he fell in good and got along good with everybody in the squadron and he did his share, not only the maintenance work that had to be done - hours were no problem because we never did go by any type of hours done, we'd just work until the job was done, then we'd just quite until the next day, and if it took all night to do it, that's what we did too, and Herman just fell right in with everything that we had to do and he was liked and respected by everybody, and there will always be a warm spot in my heart for Herman the German as a result of our contact and association. FRANK BORING: During the last two weeks, one of the men that had actually married one of the nurses from the AVG, Red Petach and Petach himself, Petach got killed. I'm just wondering what kind of reaction you had, what you observed to the death of Petach. J. J. HARRINGTON: What was that nurse's name? FRANK BORING: Red, she was Red Foster. J. J. HARRINGTON: In looking back over some of the personnel, that were members of the Flying Tigers organization, and going back to the end of the contract, and things seemed to be going along real smooth and coming up to the end of our contract on the 4th of July, we had a couple of members of the Flying Tigers, a guy named Petach, he married one of our nurses, and we just referred to her as Red, her last name was Foster - they were two wonderful people and they were liked and appreciated by all the members of the Flying Tigers Association, and at the end of the contract, we did not have sufficient active duty military people to take over the responsibilities and operate the equipment that we had hoped for, and General Chennault had asked for volunteers if they would extend for two weeks active duty until such time as the active duty army air corps could get some people in there. I �forget the number of people that actually volunteered for additional duty but one of those that did volunteer for additional duty was Petach. He was a pilot and he was married to one of our nurses, we always just referred to her as Red, and on the mission, during this two weeks active duty, then Petach was killed along with another pilot, Shamblin, and that was one of the horror stories that we encountered during the time that we were in operation for a year over in China. As far as Red, she was just an outstanding nurse to everybody over there and Petach was just as fine a gentleman as you ever want to meet. So the loss of Petach put a deep cloud on the deactivation of the Flying Tigers. It did more to put a cloud than any one item than I can think of at this time. FRANK BORING: If we could just have a few comments or stories that you may be able to tell us about a man they called Tex Hill. J. J. HARRINGTON: In thinking back on some of the personnel that were with the Flying Tigers, I'm always reminded of one individual with the name of Tex Hill. He was in the navy at the time he started and went with the Flying Tigers, and he was operating off the aircraft carrier at the - Tex was the son of missionaries in Korea… FRANK BORING: We have his whole background… what we're looking for mainly is your - something you can remember… J. J. HARRINGTON: We went over on the same… FRANK BORING: Just one story? Is there any one story that you can think of that - about Tex? J. J. HARRINGTON: Can you cut that off for a minute? I have so many of those it would be difficult to relate to specifically to what but he and I went over on the Bloemfontein together and he was one of a kind, you'd never see another one like him. He was just like - �Johnny Allison talking about Tex Hill - him [?] with a Zero on a collision course and just lucky that Zero blew up, before him and Tex just run together but that happened after the Flying Tigers, but John Allison says he was hoping that Japanese would break off. "I know darn well," he said "that Tex was so bull-headed that he wouldn't break off for nothing, he just went right to get him," and I guess he would, he's just that type of individual. But I don't really know of anything, see, he was in one squadron and I was in another when we were over there, and even though we worked - I worked on a lot of Tex's airplanes and just like that little item that I quoted about when Tex went up to Hankow, taking off from Hengyang and going up to Hankow, then missing the turn to go back to Hengyang. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v13 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 13 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington discusses his impressions of the new personnel that arrived to replace the AVG during the two week extension and their differences in attitude in comparison with the Flying Tiger spirit. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/429b5032e39cf57459594d6138b33788.mp4 5e0f83243e448bfd079fb366142901e3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c661abc70205b439fb1c5fdf3ebe8e86.pdf a6f65e945b260ae24caab85d774aca50 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 12] J. J. HARRINGTON: As far as the session with General Bissell and General Chennault, it was a strange meeting in the first place - for the first time for the Commanding General to come in and visit the unit that had been fighting a war for almost a year and did have an outstanding combat record and they had been sending in good reports, and I just still cannot comprehend the reasoning for it. They never did send - we were not getting parts and they knew that we were going to be - that the Flying Tigers were going to disband on the 4th of July - that was the end of the contract, but they still did not send active duty people over there to replace the ones that we were losing, and that required Chennault then to ask for volunteers to stay an additional two weeks combat, instead of quitting on the 4th of July when it did. During that two week period we lost two outstanding pilots, Petach and Shamblin, that would probably have been on their way home, and Bob Neale - I forget how many volunteered to stay for an additional two weeks, but Bob Neale was one, he was a top ace over there too. We still did not get replacements in, even though they knew that we were going to be gone on the 4th of July and I didn't understand that either. FRANK BORING: Before we get too far into the last days of the AVG and meetings that you had, apparently there was a time when Stilwell came over, and you personally overheard a �discussion between Stilwell and Chennault, I wonder if you could relay that on to us. J. J. HARRINGTON: There were quite a few instances that came up during my stay in China with the Flying Tigers - actually a lot of them I couldn't comprehend, and I just mentioned some of the things between General Bissell and General Chennault that should not have come about - the two commanders. By the same token, the overall commander in the theater over there was Lieutenant General Joe Stilwell. He was placed as overall commander of the theater over there which encompassed the air corps and nearly everything else - it was operating in that theater. General Stilwell was strictly a ground soldier and General Chennault was strictly an airman and General Stilwell did not understand air power at all and I know that I saw them get into arguments. I was under the wing of an airplane one time and General Stilwell with his campaign hat on and General Chennault was out there - they were both a little foul mouthed when they got bad and excited and General Stilwell, he just told General Chennault, he said, "Claire, by golly the boys in the trenches are going to win this war yet." And General Chennault would extend that courtesy of letting General Stilwell finish whatever he had to say and how long he wanted to talk about it, then once he quit, then it was time for General Chennault to have a few words. He would sort of shake his finger in General Stilwell's face, and he called him "Uncle Joe", and he says, "Uncle Joe, what I'm trying to get through your head is, we don't have any men in the trenches over here and we don't intend to have any men in the trenches over here, and all we have is a handful of little airplanes." And that went on for a long time, and finally - not only did - General Stilwell didn't get along with General Chennault, he didn't get along with Generalissimo, and would insult Generalissimo, calling him "Peanuts", and when you insult the Chinese and they lose face, that's a horrible thing to do to a Chinaman. Generalissimo was one of the most �brilliant Chinese, I think, they've ever produced over there, and he knew what he wanted in the way of a military. It was how to go about getting it that he was striving for, and I know that the relationship between General Chennault and Generalissimo had always been real close, for the last five years, including the four they spent over there, before we went there - but any correspondence or any dealings with Generalissimo - it was "His Excellency" as far as Chennault was concerned. He treated Generalissimo and the madam with the courtesies due a head of state which General Stilwell, for some reason, did not extend that courtesy to a head of state even though he was assigned over there as the overall theater commander, but still Generalissimo was the head of state in China. FRANK BORING: Try and describe for us the what the last days of the AVG was like, going to the induction boards, and the mood of the AVG in terms of fatigue, and then this thing with Bissell and now they're going to this induction board system. What was the mood like? What was the morale like? J. J. HARRINGTON: As we were still down at Kweilin and prior to going to Kweilin - when we were down there - we were coming to the end of our tour of duty over there on the 4th of July, and as I mentioned previously, that Chennault did ask the AVG people that did not plan to stay over there, to extend for two weeks, which a lot of them did, and in respect to Generalissimo and the [?]. The problem that existed because [?] duty to fill the slots that were going to be vacant on the 4th of July, and the induction board came around and General Chennault was pretty much head of the induction board but then had a Colonel Homer Sanders that was active duty Colonel that came around with him, and at Kweilin, they set up office in a cave there with the operations and the ones that were there went in to see him and at the time I went in, General Chennault introduced me to Colonel Sanders as head �of the induction board. I knew Colonel Sanders because he was squadron commander of mine as a Lieutenant Sanders. So Colonel Sanders asked me, "Harrington, you're making a pretty big jump from a Staff Sergeant to a First Lieutenant and Chennault just butted in and told him that he had a letter on his desk from the Chinese Air Force headquarters that requesting I be transferred to their headquarters as a [?] and says, "I told Harrington that I'd probably get him a commission and if he doesn't get a commission, that's where he's going." He was setting the point down that really I was - I don't what I'd have done if I hadn't got a commission. I was going back to the States anyway. So anyway, General Chennault cut Colonel Sanders short and I could have told Colonel Sanders, "Sir, back at the time you knew me, you'd gone from a First Lieutenant to a full Colonel also," but I didn't, I kept my mouth shut. But anyway, they didn't say any more after Chennault butted in and when he hadn't approved Chennault's recommendation. So then I didn't see any more of the induction board, but later on, at the time we disbanded, someone came in to Kweilin after I got off work on line. I went back to the hostel where we stayed, I met this gentleman when I was going from my place over to the place to get something to eat, and it was getting a little dusky dark, and this gentleman - I can't think of his name now - he wanted to know if my name was Harrington and I said, "Yep" and he says, "Jasper J?" and I says, "Yep". He says, "Hold out your right hand," so I did, and he read the oath of office to me and I says, "I do" and shook my hand and said, "Now you're a First Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. That was the first time I ever saw him and I've never seen him since. But he didn't have the courtesy of bringing me some insignia that I could put on. My job didn't change any, I still had my tool box and I still worked with the people on the line until we could get enough people left to support us. FRANK BORING: Could you tell us that story you were telling us… �J. J. HARRINGTON: I'd like to make a comment before you report. I'd like tell of an incident that happened a Kunming just before I went down to Kweilin. General Chennault called me in the office and wanted to have a talk with me. He showed me a letter from General Mow, requesting that I be transferred to Chinese Headquarters as a technical adviser. That was as a result of, as I've quoted previously, my contact with General Mow and going to Karachi to get the P-40E's and doing the work on the P-40E's after they came back into China. After reading that, General Chennault informed me that really, he'd worked with the Chinese for a long time, and pretty much knew the requirements and the situation I'd be in and requirements that I'd have to live up to if I went over there by myself. After considering the situation - I was familiar with the personnel man at Chinese headquarters anyway - I told General Chennault that I would really prefer to stay with the American troops, and we let it go at that. FRANK BORING: I wonder if you could just make a quick comment on - you had heard a speech that Churchill had made about the fighters in the Battle of Britain, and that the AVG was compared by Churchill to the men in the Battle of Britain. J. J. HARRINGTON: The RAF? There had been a lot of quotes and statements made by a lot of important people as far as I'm concerned. I remember one particular quote of Churchill and he was making a comparison of the Flying Tigers that they were similar to the problems and the odds that the RAF went through in the Battle of Britain. His approach was that it was similar, if not in scope - and of course, the RAF had a larger scope than the Flying Tigers, which was understandable, but they were similar as far as the activity and what they were up against. But the only thing I made reference to regarding Churchill's quote - I know he meant well, but he didn't go back far enough - I didn't want to take anything at all away �from the RAF pilots, that was undoubtedly up against odds, no fine, young - had ever been placed before, and they say the British people as a result of it - but the only difference, if you look at it a little bit further, at least when the RAF pilots were on the ground from a mission - but at least the slept in clean beds, clean sheets, and the mechanics - due parts, and plenty of parts to replace the old, worn parts which were on the aircraft at the time, and that was where the Flying tigers came up a little light in that we did not have the accommodations as far as the sleeping quarters are, the parts to put on the airplanes when they were worn. FRANK BORING: Can you describe the July 4th party given by Madam Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Kai-shek, and if you could comment you've already commented on Chiang Kai-shek, but comment also on your impression of Madam Chiang Kai-shek. J. J. HARRINGTON: That was the party… FRANK BORING: The last party where you played musical chairs or something like that. Were you at that? J. J. HARRINGTON: I've got to say something about the Madam because she was a wonderful lady. FRANK BORING: Let's get that little bit first because I think that's kind of humorous, the day of the party boys and I think they were getting a big kick out of it. J. J. HARRINGTON: I'd like to bring up something about Madam Chiang Kai-shek, while we're discussing the Chinese portion of it. Madam was a wonderful lady and she told all of us that there were occasions that we were her boys with or without wings, and she was just a gracious lady, and she visited the areas where the Flying Tigers were. On one occasion that she had a party for the Flying Tigers, for the work they did and they �accomplishments as far as reducing the Japanese inventory of aircraft that were flying over Rangoon, and just to give thanks to the Flying Tigers for all they did in supporting the Chinese cause. It so happened that the time they had this party, the 2nd and 3rd squadron were at Kunming and they had a party and there some - I understand it was a nice party except we were down at Rangoon fighting for our lives down there about eight or nine airplanes, fighting the rest of the Japanese air force. One other time that they did have another party at Kunming and that was the deactivation of the Flying Tigers it was going to be deactivated on the 4th of July, and Madam Chiang Kai-shek had this party which was a nice thing to do. As the night went on and it was nearing midnight, everybody was counting the minutes to the end of the contract that we had with the Chinese government and counting them right on down to midnight, except that was the 2nd and 3rd squadron. The 1st squadron was fighting for their lives down at Kweilin because we were the only combat to combat duty in all of China at the time. So anyway, we were referring to the 2nd and 3rd squadron as - they took care of the social activities, the parties for the entire group, sort of left the 1st squadron out on the side. We remind them about that once in a while. FRANK BORING: The last few days in Kweilin, you said that there still was battle activity going on. Can you give us an idea of what that was like the few days? J. J. HARRINGTON: During the actual last days of our contract, it was still at Kweilin, the Japanese knew exactly when the Flying Tigers were going to disband the unit and quit, but I don't think they knew that they were going to get volunteers to stay with the unit for another two weeks, and we were still down at Kweilin - that was a hectic time for us because the Japanese were still coming out of Canton and then they would still run flights out of Hankow into Hengyang and Ling Ling to do what damage they could in that area, and so really the activity �intensified the latter part of the time of the Flying Tigers was - and being over there, and then past the 4th of July is when these additional people stayed on and volunteered for the additional two weeks, the Japanese knew when the contract was up, they would not be any more Flying Tigers in that area, and the 5th of July, they went out and intensified their bombardment and activity, and try to knock out these unskilled pilots, and probably come over there and take over the Flying Tigers, but they were a little disappointed when they found they did have material pilots and people with a lot of know-how in control of those P40's, so I think they were quite surprised when they ran into that situation. FRANK BORING: What was your impression of the new personnel… � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 12 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington describes the last days of the AVG and the morale among the Flying Tigers at the time. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/17f374734e6c1578531f26e8b16eb778.mp4 c3d741582504fac5fa183d1ee1342222 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/75a96e4ca3689d199df9a220bdfdc13e.pdf 4bbb639b2f3105f4c00cd47529938073 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 11] FRANK BORING: We'll have that as a separate thing, but you talked about hearing from Chennault about the B24 bomber? You said it was also B-25's, and then there's the B-17. You flew, I believe in a B-17? J. J. HARRINGTON: Yeah, we could have used that a lot better but they were coming in to - that was after Magwe and the B-17's - looked out one morning and here come these brand new B-17's into Magwe and I couldn't hardly believe - I thought I was seeing so we went out and was talking to the crew and they were coming in from India just for evacuation purposes I guess, that hauled people from - women and kids and whoever from Burma back out into India. So we went out and talked to the crew and it's just so hard to believe that a brand new B17 coming all the way from the United States. You could put bombs in it and go out and do what it was manufactured to do in the first place. But I know they did not - at Magwe they did not have any early warning systems, period, and Bob Neale the reason he was - I could just keep naming names and put good things on Bob Neale, I guess, but just like when those B-17's come in, the British was there, but they didn't have an early warning, but nobody was taking any steps at all to protect incoming aircraft like those B-17's. That would have been a real jewel, I guess, for the Japanese coming over and tore up three or four of those, brand new ones on the strip. So �Bob then got up and said, "Let's go and get the airplanes, and spread out, get up there and fly top cover for them and at least have a warning system, the P40's, and extend it far enough that they can get airborne and get the heck out of here, before the Japanese come in." But the British weren't going to do anything like that, so Bob Neale just took it on himself. But incidentally, those B-17's was - I talked earlier about my trip to Karachi - those were the same B-17's that had started flying in to Burma, before I went to get those P-40E's, because that was one of the B-17's I flew from Karachi to Calcutta, so I talked to the people and those were the same ones that started flying bombing runs from Calcutta all the way in to Rangoon but they couldn't fly a bombing run because that would mean when we needed them [?] and the ground troops were trying to come in on Rangoon. I don't understand the logic in a lot of things that took place over there is what it amounts to. FRANK BORING: Give us any stories that you may have before Bissell addressed you to get you to come back into the army air corps, one that relates to a B-24 and another to some B-25's. J. J. HARRINGTON: I would like to bring to your attention some personal experiences I've had - with our association with General Bissell as our 10th Air Force Commander and General Chennault. As most people know that General Bissell was promoted to General and at the same time General Chennault was except General Bissell was promoted just ahead of General Chennault so that he would outrank General Chennault. General Bissell - he was under the - Indo China [?] was under the 10th Air Force and General Bissell had his headquarters at New Delhi, India. That's a pretty good piece from a combat zone in New Delhi, but anyway, that was the situation and General Chennault got to go through 10th Air Force Headquarters and General Bissell, before he did anything - and that was - General Bissell had instructed him instructed General Chennault to do that. It wasn't the point in �time - there was the B24 that came in from North Africa and some Major, I forget his name, but he came in for the sole purpose of making surveys of airstrips in China that larger airplanes could be used on them. I was out on the parking lot in Kunming and talking to the engineer about the airplane and one thing and another and what they were doing - they were from North Africa but and General Chennault came by in his car - his chauffeur drove him by and he got out and came over to the B24 where we were sitting talking - standing on the wing, and General Chennault asked me, "How long would it take you to get all that mess out of that airplane so we can hang some bombs on those bomb racks?" I knew what he had in mind, when he mentioned - I said, "Sir, I'd just as soon - I guarantee one thing, we'll have that stuff out by the time Hoffman can get over here with a load of bombs, to start hanging them." Which we did. He left and in a little bit we had the entire aircraft, this B24, off -loaded and the stuff out on the wing. General Chennault came back in a little while and then seeing the [?] with the bombs coming over. General said, "Forget about using them B-24's, I decided I'd better check with my spares before we load it with a load of bombs and my superior informed me that it was not practical to bomb with one bomber and he told me that I would not use that B24 for any combat purposes and said, he not only told me not to use it, he gave me a direct order not to use it, and so I guess that project went by the wayside. Another instance that - conflict between General Bissell and… FRANK BORING: Before you get to that, let's do that story again. J. J. HARRINGTON: As I was underneath the wing of this B24 talking to the engineer that came over from Africa with it, Chennault drove up and got out and come over to where we were at and he spoke to us and he wanted to know, he says, "Harrington, how long would it take you to off load all this stuff you have in that B24 so we can use it?" Jim [?] says. "By the time �Hoffman can come out here with some bombs, we'll have it cleaned out and I can assure you of that." So he left and the engineer and myself went ahead and cleaned the stuff out, but no too much - and Chennault didn't come back. Hoffman [?] the bombs, but later Chennault did come back with a long face, more so than normal, and he said, "I'm sorry to cause you the trouble but I decided before we use that airplane, I'd better check with General Bissell and get authority to use that airplane, since I'm supposed to go through Generals and as General Bissell was the 10th Air Force Commander - and General Bissell informed me that it was not practical to bomb with one bomber, and he told me that I would not use that airplane for any bombing mission at all. In fact, he gave me a direct order not to use that airplane, and says, "Therefore, I guess we have to cancel our little project that I had in mind." So then he left, but another instance of the difference of opinion of what should be done between Bissell and General Chennault. We did have four or five B-25's, that was the entire bomber fleet that we had in China, and General Bissell was going to send six additional B-25's into China but he was going - that's after we had evacuated Burma and the Japanese had taken over Lashio which is in northern Burma, but they were going to send them on a live bombing run to Lashio and then turn and go on up to Kunming, and General Chennault tried to talk him out of taking some crews that had never flown in that territory and run a live mission from India via Lashio, drop the bombs and then turn north and head on into Kunming. Of course, General Bissell didn't pay any attention to what General Chennault said, and that was typical of the relationship between the two the time that I was over. So I was in Kunming the time this did take place, and I was out there on the flight line when two of the B-25's came in, and one of the did have a radio operator killed and in talking to the crew - there was a few puffy clouds scattered around and they were coming into Lashio they got attacked by some Zeros, so they ducked into the clouds to try avoid contact �with the Zeros, and one of the pilots said he just happened to look through the haze of those clouds and he saw some green right in front of him and he just turned and pulled the stick back as far as he could and it just barely missed the mountain and he said that the people who were on the left of him just went clonk, clong, right into the side of the mountain. So they lost four of those B-25's and two of them actually arrived in Kunming with one of the crew dead. That was a sad state of affairs because we could ill afford to lose airplanes which we needed so bad. FRANK BORING: Now if you could tell us about the meeting that was called by Bissell to talk to the AVG about staying on in China. J. J. HARRINGTON: While I was still at Kunming, we were still getting our equipment in shape, and we still had a ways to go with General Bissell. They had reorganized the entire theater, and we came under the 10th Air Force which was organized, and their headquarters was in New Delhi, India, and General Bissell was the Commander of the 10th Air Force and therefore we came under his command, being in China. General Bissell decided to make a trip to China, his first trip to China and I guess it was the day that he came in that they called a meeting of all the Flying Tigers and General Bissell was going to address the group for the first time that he'd ever addressed the group. So I happened to be at Kunming, of course, and it seemed like it was either two squadrons or part of another one there. We met in the first hostel, that was the big building on the other side of town from the airport that most of the people were housed. We were in this conference room, it was a good sized room, and General Bissell and General Chennault were sitting at the table in the front, and were all in the back, and General Bissell got up to address the Flying Tigers that were there and they were quite a number of them. His approach was that, to start off with - and it was addressed to us - that we really hadn't done anything in China, �that the people back in the States were so hungry for information, they'd come up with a little small tidbit of information, and then they'd blow it out of proportion and he said that's the way it gets them in the headlines - the Flying Tigers - he says, "Really, you haven't really accomplished anything over here. They were just hungry for information. Then by the same token, if you people had not joined the Flying Tigers and been discharged from the service, you would have been discharged from the service before the war started in the first place. Most of the people that joined the Flying Tigers were incompetent, incapable people and were not the type of people that were needed in the professional military association." He just implied that we were just a bunch of eight balls, and we took that as a way out, to get out of the military, rather than being discharged, court-marshalled or something. Actually, when he said that we were just a bunch of eight balls, the majority of the people - everybody just come out with a big loud boo and most everybody left. I didn't leave, I didn't get up and leave, I just wanted to sit back and see what else he had on his mind, that he'd like to play on to us. After about three fourths of the people got up and walked out, then there wasn't anybody much left to talk to. But General Chennault sat at the table and General Bissell referred to General Chennault as "Lieutenant". Why I don't know, tried to embarrass him or something. And General Chennault, he didn't change expression, one iota, the whole time that he was there. It was just typical of General Chennault - there wasn't anything hardly he could say under the circumstances, and I know he was boiling inside, but he just sat there with that blank expression on his face. You couldn't tell what he was thinking about. That resulted in a lot of the people heading back home rather than staying over there, I'm sure of that. FRANK BORING: If Chennault had stood up and asked you guys to stay, do you think people would stay? �J. J. HARRINGTON: Actually at that meeting that we had with General Bissell, I think he had already made up his mind what he was going to say before he came over there, because, for some reason, he and General Chennault never got along, even from way back in the States, and since General Bissell outranked General Chennault, I don't know whether he took that as a way to sort of get back at General Chennault for something that happened way back, years ago, or what. But everything that Chennault came up with General Bissell was against. But then [?] telling us that we hadn't accomplished anything, since they'd already shot down way over 200 airplanes with the few airplanes we'd got and we still were not getting supplies from anywhere, and everybody knew that - so I was just at a loss to know whey that approach was taken. It was the first entry into China by our commanding General, which he was, the Commander of the 10th Air Force at the time. FRANK BORING: If you could repeat again - you don't have to give any of the context or anything, but just make the statement because I've never heard this before from anybody, that he kept referring to General Chennault as a Lieutenant? J. J. HARRINGTON: His mind must have been out somewhere, maybe there were together as Lieutenants at one time, but he didn't refer to him as a General, he just referred to him as Lieutenant. He knew that Chennault was a General, no doubt about that because he had big stars on his shoulder, they got promoted at the same time, except General Bissell was put on the promotion list a little ahead - I think one day, ahead of General Chennault. FRANK BORING: What would have happened if Chennault would have asked at that meeting for you guys to stay on? J. J. HARRINGTON: I don't think - if General Chennault would have got up - I couldn't hardly see how he could under the circumstances, but �if he had got up and said, "Ignore what General Bissell said, and I would like to have you gentlemen stay on," and as General Bissell being the overall commander of the China theater at the time, I think it would have been quite a confused mess, more so than it turned out to be. FRANK BORING: But wasn't Bissell asking you guys to stay on? J. J. HARRINGTON: No sir, he didn't ask one time for us to stay on. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v11 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 11 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington describes his personal experience working between General Bissell and General Chennault, in addition to the meeting Bissell called addressing the AVG and their accomplishments in China. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/07222a9e1743785352ca94e89254d038.mp4 231160de94c6fbfce24bea21d0275774 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/184da83e9b0951ec183fd1bf5ffde7ba.pdf db712a9280e84892a29c3eb8dd4fb37d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 10] J. J. HARRINGTON: I've made the comment several times that the shortage of personnel that we had in addition to the shortage of equipment and parts and I've been asked many times why didn't we utilize the Chinese a lot more with the aircraft maintenance than we ever did and really I have worked with the Chinese, especially around Kunming they would assign these young fellows to us and I would try to work with them. The only thing, they were smart people, they were intelligent people and they were just clean-cut young Chinese, however, they had not been to mechanical school and especially a school on the mechanics of airplanes and one of the simple problems of maintenance that we had on the P-40 was valves. We had to check those valves quite often and sometimes about every time they came down from a full throttle flight, which is about every time they took off. So about once a day we'd check those valves. They were easy to check. You had to take two valve covers off of the top of the engine, they were readily to get to and then you could reset the clearance to what it was supposed to be on these valves. And I worked with these Chinese and sometimes when I didn't have anything to do and I worked with them patiently to try to get them to learn how to check valves, well they could get the clearance adjusted properly, but then to hold the retaining nut and get the thing to hold the clearance nut and then tighten the retaining nut to hold it in place. Then I'd check it after �they got through with it and sometimes it would be too tight, or it'd be too loose, very seldom got one that was exactly right. Then I explained to them how they were supposed to do this again and so they'd do the same thing and once in a while they'd get one right and once in a while they wouldn't. Well when we were out there - now we did not have airplanes that we could set aside for instructional purposes. The airplanes that we were working on, as soon as we got an air raid, we could put the airplane back in commission right then and it would be available by the time the pilot got out there. Well we couldn't tear down an airplane and have a school for these students and I tried and tried and just never could do it. It was more time trying to teach them than there was for us to go ahead and do the job in the first place. That's the reason really that I never did get any productive work to speak of out of the Chinese helpers. Now they did have a place there where they did major maintenance at Kunming, that we called Grandma's Old Graveyard, a wooded area off the strip down there. If we had some major maintenance to do on an airplane, why we would take it down there and now they had some people that worked with them down there that they was in no hurry and they didn't have to get it out at a moment's notice and start running again. They did get a little productive use out of those people. But out on the line where you had to have the airplane ready it was just impossible to get the airplane back in commission. You couldn't tear it down very much, you had to tear it down just a little so you could get it right back in commission. So that was - I would attribute to the lack of training to the Chinese youngsters and of course after they started getting some updated equipment and went to some technical schools, then they got sharp. It's a different situation completely now than it was when we were over there. FRANK BORING: Your next stop was to go to Kweilin, I wonder why were you sent there and what were your duties during that period? �J. J. HARRINGTON: Well after we had our equipment in as good a shape as we could get it in there at Kunming, it was about time for us to move out someplace. We were back healthy again as far as our own selves and airplanes - as healthy as we could get and it was decided that they would send the First Squadron to Chungking and this was more of a diversion than anything else. We went to Chungking and stayed up there a few days and then one night this Chinese pilot, he was with the Chinese National Airways, I forget his name, but he was an old, mature pilot and a darn good one, he was as good as Bill McDonald. So anyway he came up and picked the ground troops up so we headed south and kept going, and going, and going and I began thinking, well I'll look out and see water sooner or later, but he starts letting down and making a turn like he was coming in for a landing and everything was just black outside and so he let his gear down and started letting his flaps down, you could hear them, so just before he touched down, then here comes two streaks of light down this strip, so he just clump, clump and then the lights went out and he was down on the ground. These two streaks of light was lanterns and there were Chinamen and lanterns on both sides of the runway all the way down there at Kweilin and as soon as we touched down those lights went out, so he taxied back on over and parked it and we got out, they had a truck there and we went out about 3 or 4 miles a little bit farther away from the strip and found a place to sleep and got a few winks of sleep and got up the next morning and met up with the Station Master to find out where we could get some gas and where we could park the airplanes which were gonna be in the next day. So once we started getting it all straightened out then we had an air raid. So they'd put up the Jingbao balls and so here comes this observation plane that came in and circled around Kweilin and then in a little bit here comes this formation of bombers with a five escort and we were sitting in a hole on the side of the hill there and there's rock formations down there and you could find a pretty good hole �and just sit there and watch them just bomb and strafe everything around there. So after they got through they left and headed on back after quite a long while. So anyway we did what we could and found out where everything was and then late that afternoon, just before dark our P-40's, the First Squadron came in and so we had a place already picked out where we could put them and refuel them and what maintenance had to be done and so that's what we did as soon as the P-40's got in and that was the one time that I run into refueling problem that I hadn't experienced before. The fuel that we had at Kweilin came out of caves in 50 gallon drums and it had been there for God knows how long. There was so much water in the fuel that the - we had a large funnel and then on top of that we had an insert to go in this funnel and then a chamois skin, we could put chamois skin off in the insert to go in it, well you just covered that up so you could run the fuel through this funnel and chamois skin until the gas wouldn't run and so then you had to take it out and squeeze the chamois skin out and put it back in and do it all over again. So it was quite a lengthy operation to refuel airplanes. Now we started off doing that and then later they did get a fuel truck in that helped out a heck of a lot. And even the fuel truck didn't have the capability of siphoning out this water with a filter so much as still run it through a chamois skin and going through chamois skin like that, you don't get all the water out of the fuel, but you can get it in and fill up your tanks and then wait for an hour or two and then you can drain the sump plugs underneath the [?] part of the tanks on these P-40's and then you could get a good portion of the water out of the fuel. But anyway the P-40's got in so we immediately got in and scattered them around these rock formations and under trees and got all the airplanes fixed and ready to go. Then the next morning, here was this alert, the same little observation plane came tooling out up from Canton so Bob Neale and the P-40's they took off and headed up north of the field and Chennault was down there for this little operation �too. Anyway we were sitting over the side of the hill in the rock formation where we could see the strip and all the time that we were over there we tried to get someplace when they had a raid so that we could see the strip and it's happened, the P-40 had problems and the pilot had to make an emergency landing and then the other P-40's would fly top cover for him to try to protect him from any strafing. We'd run down with the jeep and try to get the pilot out and get him in a hole somewhere. So I was in a hole next to the hill and these bombers were coming in from behind us and they saw the P40's coming and they salvo'd [?] all their bombs right on top of this hill right behind everybody. I've never seen such a rock slide in my life. I just hopped up in the hole a little closer to let all these rocks rip by and they shot down about 16 airplanes and graduated them [?] and from there on out then the Japanese were in there en mass. So later Tex Hill came down with his squadron and he was up at Hengyang, which was quite a ways from - the airplanes, the Japanese were coming in from Hankow into Hengyang, well it let up on us at Kweilin and doubled up on them at Hankow - I mean in Hengyang from Hankow and so the First Squadron then went up to help out outfit up in Hengyang. Since we were the first airplanes, the Flying Tigers that had gone into Kweilin, nobody bothered them, they'd been coming over and bombing Kweilin and bombing the Chinese cities at will, just like they had up around Kunming and they didn't have any interference at all. They stopped it, but then by the same token the Japanese increased their activity to knock out the Flying Tigers too but they never did. FRANK BORING: Could you describe the caves themselves and the conditions that you were working under in Kweilin? J. J. HARRINGTON: While we were at Kweilin, the terrain was rock formations scattered all around and imbedded in these rocks were shells as if it was on the water some many, many moons ago. But �they had a lot of caves in those rocks and our actual operations center was in a cave and that had been in a cave for many, many moons really, so that's where they actually operated from and we had a communications radio and it's tied in with the system. In another cave, 3 or 4 miles from that main one, that was where we had the communications set up. But anyway in this cave is where they had the communications from the network on the movement of aircraft. In fact, they had this huge chart on the wall and it would get reports from the time an airplane would take off at Canton we'd get a report on it there and he would put a little flag on it and then kept putting them on the board to see what direction they were going. So anyway we stayed down at Kweilin from the time we went down there until the 4th of July came around and we disbanded. FRANK BORING: Let's go into the - during this period of time there's pretty [?] bombing raid could you just talk about that? J. J. HARRINGTON: While we were at Kweilin, we still ran into the parts problems that the P-40's and one thing about - that we did not have a shortage over anywhere in China was manpower. Now that was in abundance. So when the Japanese would come in on a bombing raid, even at night, if you come in at night, the holes were repaired before we could get out there in the morning. If they came in during the daytime, as soon as the bombers got out of the way, those holes were repaired immediately by coolies. I don't know where they all came from but they just sprouted out of the ground around there, as soon as the raid was over with they'd done it so much until they were really proficient in it and so the coolies would go over and cover all these holes with a mixture of gravel and dirt and have it all packed down. It didn't take them very long to do it. Now it didn't make any difference when they came over and bombed, whether it'd be night or in the daytime, now that bunch of people was there. So the lack of manpower was not a problem �at all as far as manual labor and that type stuff. It was more than adequate. FRANK BORING: Right around this time there was a party given to you by the Kweilin City Fathers. I understand that it was kind of a humorous situation which you noticed about the Chinese. J. J. HARRINGTON: Right after we got down to Kweilin, the Japanese had bombed the cities Kweilin and the cities surrounding that area without any opposition whatsoever and at the time the P-40's attacked this bomber formation and shot down 16 airplanes, that was the first time that any airplane had done anything to the Japanese formations trying to bomb that place. So after that the P-40's were there and they did not have no problem with the bombing the city or any cities around there. After the Flying Tigers shot down about 16 of their airplanes they were more concerned about knocking out the Flying Tigers than they was dropping bombs on innocent people and cities. Well the mayor and city fathers they were appreciative of what the Flying Tigers had done and Kweilin was a beautiful city. So they wanted to do something and they were gonna have a big banquet for the Flying Tigers and Bob told me we couldn't go down town for a banquet because the Japs might come back and we have to be out there. Anyway they were gonna come out there and they come out with truckloads of fancy food and must have gone into their cellars and got all the kind of booze that you can imagine and they had a big spread there in this building where we slept. It was a wonderful thing for them to do but they brought out - this was American whiskey and you'd have to remember that in a Chinese dinner that you usually have about 30 courses and about 90% of them are liquid. So anyway they were [?] by on me to this and that, well they had downed a glass of just straight whiskey. Of course Neale was sitting next to the mayor and the dignitaries, I was sitting close to them and he says "Drink up back in the United States you people drink gallons of this" Bob says �"Yes, we do, but over a long period of time and not in one sitting." It was not too long, you never seen like a drunk people in your life, because they were just not accustomed to drinking that hard liquor straight and every time somebody wanted to toast somebody then there was another glass full of whiskey. They started to have to drag them out and drag them out, but the intentions were good and they were a wonderful bunch of people. But they couldn't quite take this straight whiskey, by gosh, toasted by gosh, by a bunch of people as often as they toast people was what it amounted to. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v10 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 10 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington discusses why they weren't able to utilize the Chinese workers with aircraft maintenance around Kunming, in addition to the communications network that was established within the rocky caves in Kweilin. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ae213d775f8247548b7ae419b9e0217c.mp4 e744b9afe8efbefbc15ecb619052f44e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6dcee901bb595e60c319f1750a0bd0e3.pdf c86eba0b04c1fa70a5a6a360d582824e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 9] (Edited retakes at the start) J. J. HARRINGTON: I'd like to make one comment that Bob Neale said while we were still at Rangoon when things were getting so hot down there. He would take off in the morning… (break) FRANK BORING: Let's just start at Bob Neale would take off in the morning, don't worry about the preface part of it. J. J. HARRINGTON: Bob Neale would take off in the morning on a combat mission and then he'd come back at noon, would replace his fuel, his ammunition and take off that afternoon, if he didn't shoot up all his ammunition and come back and load up and get prepared for the next day and do the same thing all over again. Bob Neale made the remark that he said "Gee we're sort of fighting a lost cause and a losing battle. Go up shoot all our ammunition, come back, load up, go up and shoot all the ammunition again" He said "By gosh it's time we got a little help over here." (break) J. J. HARRINGTON: After we left Magwe - I guess about a week - our airplanes were shot up and beat up and we were worn out and beat up also and General Chennault sent the Third Squadron down to �relieve us and then we left and went back into Kunming with the personnel we had and also our aircraft. FRANK BORING: When you got to Kunming, at this point the crew was resting - resting or were you still trying to fix up the airplanes that were brought in? J. J. HARRINGTON: No, we didn't get no rest we…… (break) J. J. HARRINGTON: When we left Magwe and went back to Kunming, that was not for R&R that's for sure. We went back and when we arrived at Kunming and got bedded down in our barracks or where we normally stayed at the second hostel, we started working on our airplanes and we had a lot of work to do on those airplanes. Not only patch holes but some engines needed replacing and while we were at Kunming, we did have a shop there that we could tear down an engine. These engines could be torn down and we could grind the valves by hand and make sure that we could get compression. We had some airplanes that the compression was pretty low and when you get the compression low like that, why then it's either from rains or seepage between the valves, so you grind the valves and the only way you can grind them is by hand and I used to work over at the shop quite a bit tearing these things down and then putting them back together. In the meantime trying to grind the valves and you could do it - it just takes a long time, but you'd take and you'd grind and grind - in and out, in and out and sooner or later you can get it to where you don't have any - you first start off you pour gas in the cylinder and it runs right out. So when you get it to the point where it's just a stain, why that's good enough. �FRANK BORING: Around this time Chennault asked you to go to Karachi and I was just wondering what was the reason for him sending you there and what actually transpired when you arrived? J. J. HARRINGTON: Shortly after arriving at Kunming from Magwe, we were out working on the airplanes and General Chennault came out and there were quite a few people around and he was just carrying on a general discussion and I was listening to him and Chennault came over to me and said "Harrington, do you know anything about a turbo super charger?" and he shut up, he didn't say no more and I didn't know from Adam what he was talking about. So there was just a little pause and I said "Yes, sir, I know all about them things" and I shut up. I knew that was not a good enough answer for General Chennault but then by the same token I still didn't know what he was talking about. But then he asked me, he says "Well how come you know all about them things or how did you get to know all about them things?" I told him I'd been to school in airplane engine mechanic school. I had worked on airplanes at PB-2's that did have a turbo super charger on them. I'd replaced them, I'd installed them, I'd adjusted them and basically that's all you could do on a turbo super charger. You can adjust it, if that don't satisfy the problem, why you've gotta replace it. It's a real high speed turbine wheel that improves the compressions on the engine. So anyway I explained to General Chennault and he seemed to be perfectly satisfied that I had worked on the turbo super charger and then he said "Would you - the Chinese have about 35 P-40E's in the dock at Karachi and would you like to go over there and get them off the ship and get them assembled so we can fly them back into China?" I thought for a minute. I said "Yes sir I certainly would. I'd be proud to go over there." So in fact I had to rush to get my stuff together, I got my bags packed and headed out. But what they wanted to do - we had about 5 or 6 AVG pilots and then I was the only mechanic that went along. But they had about 12 or 15 Chinese pilots, so the purpose of the �Flying Tiger pilots was to - when we got the airplane assembled, they had to get checked out in the airplane itself first and then they were gonna check the Chinese pilots out and so then they were going to take about 5 or 6 Chinese pilots and one or two Flying Tiger pilots and then escort them on the way back to China. So we left and headed out and General Mao was in the group. There were a lot of Chinese and he was a brilliant man, I've always had the utmost respect for him too. Anyway we went over - we were flying in a Sunderland Flying Boat across the desert and there's one lake in between Calcutta and Karachi and we made a passenger stop there. But then we went on into Karachi and as we were flying over there I noticed a lot of tents down on the desert there's nothing but desert over there anyway - they were scattered all over that place. But I didn't see the first airplane, there was just nothing but tents and no airplane. So anyway we got off the airplane and got bedded down at the hotel and went out to the airport and I wanted to go by and see what was in those tents out there. So the first time that I could I went out to the tent city and there was a lot of tents out there, but they had a hangar lying with some hangars, there was no activity there either. I went out there and lo and behold I run into a bunch of my old buddies that I left Hamilton Field with and they joined this pursuit group and told me how stupid I was to go to China in the first place. They were sitting out there in tents and didn't have the first airplane in the entire group - a fighter group and didn't have the first airplane out there and that triggered off all kinds of light bulbs in my head when I ran into that. As soon as I could I went into see Jim Brady. They had a factory rep - a Republic Factory rep there and a Pratt and Whitney rep so I met them and got acquainted with them and then went into see Jim Brady. He was a commander there and a heck of a nice fellow so I introduced myself and told Jim Brady that I had a big problem and I'd sure like to chat with him and I'm sure that he could help me too. So I told him what the situation was with these airplanes �down on this ship down there - still in the dock. I says "I walked through that tent city out there and I run into a bunch of my old buddies that I left in the States. They asked why I ever came with the AVG in the first place and I said I know they're good mechanics because I grew up with them and I said "The bottom line of my sad story is that I need help." So General Brady said he'd like to put them all to work because he didn't have anything for them to do. Anyway they had a big old balloon hangar there at Shagrin [?] and the three squadrons in this group - they put two squadrons, one on the assembly line on one side of the hangar and one assembly line on the other side of the hangar and when they would get one completed, they'd get it out to the end of the hangar, why I'd get in it and taxied out to an old balloon tie down stake out there away from the hangar and run it up and set the manifold pressure on it and that's all you do to a turbo super charger, just set it whatever reading it's set for the airplane. Once I did that, I taxied this airplane over to one of the hangars where another squadron was, another bunch of my good friends, and I turned it over to them to put a shake-down inspection on it to make sure that all the people over in the balloon hangar had done what they were supposed to do and once they put the shake-down inspection on it, why then the Flying Tiger pilots would fly the airplane first and they'd get checked out in it and then they would start getting the Chinese pilots checked out. Once they got 7 or 8 Chinese pilots checked out, why then they would head out back to China. So that went on for quite a long time. Of course they didn't assemble those airplanes very fast under the circumstances. Even though they had a lot of manpower. But when we did get pretty close, why about that time I got a wire from Chennault and he said some of the P-40E's are back in China and having problems. If one of you can turn loose over there, how about coming on back in. So we were finished as far as I was concerned because the group had everything under control and I was acquainted with the B-17 crew there at Karachi, in fact I got real well �acquainted with the people that were flying those B-17's, and I asked the pilot could I fly to Calcutta with him from Karachi and he said "Oh sure, but we don't have a parachute for you, but we have plenty of room" I told him that it was news to me that the Air Force still isn't using parachutes, because we never used them in China but he said no you can go, so I put my tool box aboard the airplane and then I flew from Karachi and went into Calcutta with them on the B-17 and during the trip, we stayed overnight in Rau and then picked up a load of bombs on this B-17. But anyway taking to them, what they were gonna do was go down to Calcutta and then they were gonna run a bombing mission to Rangoon and that's a long, all night mission from Calcutta to Rangoon. So in a way I went out there to the airport and saw all these airplanes, P40's and P-40E's scattered around the woods and those pilots they were about to go if they could at all set an airplane down out in the desert somewhere, they were gonna have half of their cylinders firing, they'd go staggering into Calcutta, but Calcutta was a nice place to spend some extra time and that was a mess and I didn't have no help to do any of this work. The Chief of Maintenance with Continental Arch man there, he got sorry for me and says I've got a good Chinaman I'll let you have to give you some help and he came out there and he turned this Chinaman over to me and he spoke English fairly well. So I'd had a battery on a P-40E that had boiled over and just made a big mess so I'd already disconnected batteries and I wanted him to take the battery and go wash it off while I did a few little piddling things with it and then the airplane would have been ready to go across the hump. I got finished and the boy never did come back and I went around the side of the building and about half way up the side of the building was a faucet and a tub up there and this Chinaman had taken this battery and filled this tub full of water and he pushed it all the way down in the water and then he'd pick it up and turn it over and just shake it and I stood there and looked at him and he did the same thing and he'd been doing it for about 30 �minutes. I was just laying up next to the wall and I was thinking of doing bodily harm to that young man. I just didn't know what to say, but anyway I went over to Sol Dishey [?], he was the Chief of Maintenance there and I said "Sol, would you please take your help" so then I was left without anything but I continued to work until I got the airplanes ready to fly back across the hump. I run into some problems there with the [?] for the P-40E. On the fuel pump in any airplane - and it's for the P-40E, you've got an inlet side and then you've got a pressure side. You build up pressure inside this pump and it goes out one side. Well on this particular pump in this P-40E they did not have a bead on that pump so you could squeeze a hose down it tight enough to prevent it from leaking. If you build up pressure in that, in all probability that thing is gonna go, it's gonna go sooner or later, it might go just as soon as you put pressure on it. But anyway they had a note from the factory saying that it needed a bead on this pressure side of this fuel pump. Well they didn't have no beading tool down at Calcutta there and you can make a bead on a tube and what I did was get a spike - a big nail and used the head of the nail and put it in the pipe and put it on a piece of wood in the vise and sit there and keep pecking at it and just keep going round and round and if you keep pecking on that thing you will get a bead on that sooner or later. It seems that nothing's gonna happen, but you will get a bead on it. Well with all the P40E's down there I had to spend anywhere from 2 to 3 hours to put a bead on this tube so that I could put a hose on it, put a hose clamp on the other side of the little bead that I put on there and if you don't, you just have to lose the airplane. So anyway I finally got the P-40's, the P-40E's all ready to go across the hump back into China, so I went back on the CNAC back across the hump. I got back into Kunming and went and reported to General Chennault and explained why I was delayed on the [?] in Calcutta. He said "Well I'm glad you got in, all the P-40E's are grounded" so I said "What for?" He said "I don't know what they're grounded for - �they're all grounded. The prop is out of kilter and they won't work." I went over there and was checking out these Chinese officers in these P-40E's. I went over and talked them, a lot of them spoke English. So I always carried a screw driver and a pair of pliers in my pocket anyway and a pair of wire cutters. Didn't know what I would run into anywhere. I went over and talked to these Chinese. They explained what was wrong with this propeller on this P-40E. On an airplane, on the pitch of the prop you've got from high pitch to low pitch and it gives you the amount of RPM's all the way down to low pitch, high RPM, or high pitch you get low RPM and it's supposed on this P-40E if I remember right, it's supposed to go from about 1800 RPM all the way down to 1100 RPM, that's the max travel from low to high RPM. Well it liked 50 RPM going before travel. It was the travel that you would never use in flight of any type of reasons, but the Chinese when they run into something like that, this is wrong, it's got to be fixed. So they grounded all them airplanes. They could have gone out to the line and got any mechanic to go over do it, but they got to sit there and wait until I get all the way from Calcutta back up there to go out there and do it. So anyway I got my screw driver and we got the cowling off this airplane that had been running up and sure enough they were riding like 50 RPM's and they were telling me Yep, yep, it's right and I said "Yeah I know it's right, it's right" We took the cowling off the thing and you've got a governor on it and if you want to adjust a higher or lower pitch you take your screw driver and you've got a little set screw there, you turn it to set it. So I did and then run it up again and it was all right. Anyway they showed them in the book where this is wrong and I said yes it sure is. And all these Chinese officers being checked out, they was getting around me and getting back to General Mao, he always put his head in once in a while too, he was interested in what the devil these airplanes - what was wrong with these airplanes. Of course I met him when I went over to Karachi. So after it was all fixed then the Chinese got around there and �they show them in the book, well it says back there in the book, you do it. So anyway you get a part in the technical [?] that says what it's supposed to do and that's where the pilots to have this is the range. But you turn over to the dash 2 on the same tech order that tells you how to fix it. Anyway I sat there and nodded my head, yep, yep, that's right. But then I thumbed over about two or three pages and I said "This is what you're supposed to be looking at, this is where you're supposed to fix that thing." By golly, so anyway I turned and left them. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v09 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 9 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington discusses his squadron's return to Kunming from Magwe during a time when it felt as though they were fighting a losing battle. He also goes into detail about the time General Chennault sent him to Karachi to assemble 35 P-40E fighter planes. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d9cddf0c5b4b8d492f41b3763ee1178b.mp4 c659394b6bebe5c61fe617dc2be9856f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b355b78fceb9d8ca017e3bcdba649354.pdf 98c099a0a2e9efaa5e97b0ea6781006f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 8] FRANK BORING: It was real chaos which eventually you escaped from, you know, to get out of, but at any rate. Just before we get to that, though. A part of the story we think is very, very important is that in combat during this period of time, planes were damaged and you've already described the kind of things you had to do to get them back in shape and air worthy, but now what we're looking for, you've got no supplies, you've got no real support, there's only a few of you working on the airplanes, what is this attitude of getting down to basics and getting the job done? J. J. HARRINGTON: You're talking about getting down to basics, getting the job done. See the British were not providing us anything except oxygen and batteries. We were providing the equipment. (break) J. J. HARRINGTON: I'd like to follow on the last days that we were down in Rangoon and especially the city of Rangoon. The British had pulled out, therefore the law enforcement officials, they didn't have any law enforcement in the city of Rangoon. I rode down through Rangoon during this period and everything was completely torn up and everything had gone completely haywire as far as law and order. There was no law and order in Rangoon at all and it was just looting all over the city. So �that was a sad situation and then there was just complete turmoil and no control over the people at all that was down there. From that one time that I went down there, I never did go down into Rangoon anymore, we stayed out on the airdrome out there. Since the British pulled out and in a way with their capability for batteries and oxygen support that they were providing, that we had quite a few things that came up that we needed some help and primarily it was the lack of parts and as I've told many people that wanted to know how we made out without the spare parts that would normally be supported - that you'd get support for you - my approach was and it went pretty much all through the entire time we were over there - my approach then was that if you've got a can-do type attitude and if you work hard enough and long enough you'll get something done and that's the first thing that we found out was that ingenuity wasn't a lost art. Believe me, I still believe it. If you've got a can-do type attitude and if you work hard enough and long enough you're gonna accomplish something and that's basically the theory that we went on. Some of the things that we did to try to save airplanes, there might be a small item that was wrong with an airplane - in fact one example at Rangoon - the generator just completely blew up on the P-40, for what reason I don't know and it was in pieces. Well the only thing I did was take the generator off the back of that engine and get me a plate and bolt it on the back of that engine then you didn't have any electrical power it should be in the generator - the only electrical power you had was from what was coming out of the battery. So I told Bob Neale that I had this airplane but I need the [?] to fly up to Kunming and I said we got to have somebody to pay attention to what I tell him when he gets in the airplane. Anyway he gave this pilot who was ready to go anyway, he was ready to get the heck out of Rangoon for any reason. Anyway I told him you ain't got no electricity except what's in that battery, that P-40 had electrical props on it, they also had radios and if - I was sitting up on this cockpit with this �pilot and I said "You don't need it to operate the props, you've got a manual lever over here that you can operate the prop with, you didn't have to push a button to use electrical power to operate it" and I said "You don't need the radio, all you're doing is going from here straight to Kunming just as fast as you can" Yep, yep, he understood, he understood and so we got the airplane cranked and he run out and took off and there's a lot of trees at Mingaladon and so he got out of sight and I heard this terrific roar, I knew what it was and I knew who was doing it too. And it was a prop running away on that P-40 that just took off and he come around and the pitch - the lower the pitch had got the fighter the prop was turning and it was just screaming - one engine blew up completely. But then by the same token you're not getting no bite and the tail slowed this thing and about like an old rooster's tail that sometimes get over a fence - anyway I looked and I was just hoping that character could make the end of the strip, which it did. So I run out there in the jeep and if this guy would have had a gun he'd have shot me right there when I jumped up on the wing. "What are you trying to do, kill me?" I didn't say nothing and I looked over in the cockpit there and he had the radio turned on, he had the propeller switch turned on automatic. I said "If I had a ball bat, I'd beat your head in too." So I told him to get out of the airplane and I said "I'll get somebody else to fly it, but I'll be darned if I'll lose an airplane on account of something like that." I was upset really. So I didn't want to lose an airplane for just something like that happening. So anyway he talked real sweet. I went over and got another fully charged battery and he was following me around. He wanted to get out of Rangoon. So anyway I didn't say nothing to Bob Neale about what happened. I did get another fully charged battery and put it in this airplane. He got in the cockpit and I got back up on the side of the cockpit with him. I said "You think you can keep your fingers off of the switches until you can get from here to Kunming?" "Oh yeah, yeah, I understand now." But the only �thing about it that hurt me, the first time he wasn't paying attention to what I was trying to tell him. The second time he was and he took off and he went on into Kunming and we saved an airplane as a result of it too, which we darn near lost. But things like that that happened that you had to use your own good judgment and do things - that was not the safest flight not having the generator on there, providing you get a little cooperation from the guy that's flying the airplane. So anyway we saved an airplane by that and that we'd done on a number of occasions - to try to do the best we can with what we had. FRANK BORING: Could you tell us the story about the propeller that had two holes in it and you had to - you said that to get that propeller back in shape you had to shoot a hole through the third. J. J. HARRINGTON: Going back to some of the things that we did - and getting back to the ingenuity - we're still not losing safety of flight items on airplanes. We had a P-40 down at Rangoon and we had two props that had holes in them - two blades and then we had one blade that didn't have a hole in it, well we didn't have another blade, we didn't have another two blades to put in - putting the blades in the hub of a prop is supposed to be a shop type work, but I've been to aircraft maintenance school and all the rest of them had too…… (break) FRANK BORING: We [?] the airplane blade and basically you don't have to give us the background of the in…… (break) FRANK BORING: The prop - you don't need to preface it or anything - just tell us what you actually did - you had the two blades that were shot. �J. J. HARRINGTON: Another problem that we had that spare parts would have come in mighty handy on during our operation over there - in one incident it was at Rangoon where we - due to the synchronized 50 caliber machine guns we had on the P-40B, they'd occasionally if they got out of sync just a tad, why they'd shoot a hole direct through the prop. The sequence that they fired is direct dead center and by the time the bullet got there they were shooting through the space. This one particular incident at Rangoon we had one P-40 it had a bad prop, it had two blades that had holes in them, and one blade that didn't have any holes in it. Now we could change the blades inside the hub if we would have had a blade to put in it, but we didn't have a blade to put in it, so actually the next best thing to do was to get this airplane out of the way and hid it in a direction where it wouldn't do harm to anybody and then pull this good blade up dead center and then pull the trigger and shoot a hole in it. Some people would wonder why did you want to do that. If we shot a hole in it with a machine gun it would be similar to the holes that were already shot in it, they went with a 50 caliber slugs through it and then we could take a file and smooth off the rough edges so all three holes and then let that airplane take off go back to Kunming on a one-way flight so to speak, but not get in combat because we didn't trust that type of operation in combat because it didn't have to go full throttle on the trip back from Rangoon to Kunming. And by so doing, we at least saved the airplane and when we could get a prop with some blades to go on it why we'd do it. FRANK BORING: Could you just make a comment on the statements and you don't need a preface on either side, just make the statement that you had made in your interview before that you had heard that the Japanese didn't need to cross the bay they could just go across on the wreckage of all the airplanes that were [?]. �(break) FRANK BORING: Japanese wouldn't need to build a bridge across the bay they could just… J. J. HARRINGTON: While we were still at Rangoon and before we left the Japanese still came over every day, every morning, every afternoon and at night and someone made the comment that the Japanese ground forces had not reached Martaban Bay, they were still in Thailand and the comment was made that when the Japanese did reach the Martaban Bay - the shores of Martaban Bay, they would not have to build a bridge across to Rangoon in Burma, but all they'd have to do is just drive their vehicles across on the Japanese airplanes that fell in Martaban Bay from being shot down by the Flying Tigers. FRANK BORING: You'd left Rangoon, describe the trip up the Burma Road. J. J. HARRINGTON: Still at Rangoon things were getting mighty hectic because the ground troops were getting closer to the Martaban Bay and the Salween River and instead of trying to cross the Martaban Bay, why the Japanese elected to go up the Salween River about 50 miles and then go across the Salween railway heading west and they had gone across and cut off the Burma Road north of us about 50 miles and they say the ground troops was about the only thing that we were really worried about because we could not get in a hole and hide from them so we had to stay away from the ground troops and so Bob Neale decided that we would go ahead and selected that night that we would get our gas trucks and vehicles with ammunition around the ground troops and we picked out a little town just north about 50 miles north of Rangoon and so that night I went ahead and led a couple of convoys…… (break) �FRANK BORING: Just start at that night. J. J. HARRINGTON: That night I led some convoys, ones that we could cut loose at the time we did and then so I carried them on up to this little town and just parked them and said just stay put until they get back. And I made about 3 trips up there. As you're going up this little road there's one road that headed straight and another road that was sort of a Y and I explained everything it never looked crooked to those people and so I'd lead the trip up there and I happened to look back and I didn't see one of the troops and the chief, so I headed back on down this road to the right, here this little light was waiting on the road blinking, so I speeded up went on down there at just full bore as I could go because we were expecting one minute some Japanese ground troops down there if you'd have kept going for a little ways - got him back out on the road. Anyway we got everybody put at this little town and so I went back and told Bob Neale that we were all set as far as all their supplies and ammunition and the gas trucks and stuff and then all we had to do was to get out and make sure he could start the airplanes the next morning, which he did. I headed back on up the road to meet up with the troops that was already there and Bob Neale and the rest of the pilots, they flew top cover for us till we could get away from the - on up the road and make sure that the Japanese Air Force didn't come over and strafe our few little trucks we had. See we couldn't go up the Burma Road, that was our prime route to get our vehicles up, so we went up on the road west of there, which was a Prome road. That was up the side of the river and that was the last road in western Burma that we could get out with our vehicles so we went in convoy up there and they flew top cover to make sure we didn't get shot up on the road and went up to the little town of Magwe. Now the British had stopped at Magwe also with their aircraft and so that's where we set up operations again. �FRANK BORING: At this time, before the Third Squadron relieved you, you made a comment that Bob Neale came to you after one of the flights and he said that you're running out of equipment, you're running out of - you guys are really getting tired, that you needed help. Do you recall that conversation you had with him? He was saying you need relief, you need help. J. J. HARRINGTON: I don't really recall that - I recall the semblance of that conversation, but I don't know where it was at. FRANK BORING: That's all right just go ahead and give us the comment. J. J. HARRINGTON: See that was a B-17's that came in there when we were at Magwe too - brand new ones. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v08 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 8 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington discusses what it was like working to keep airplanes in the air with limited supplies and support, in addition to the last days spent in Rangoon without law and order. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9f1ec272e8c8fd80c3b95b837d773e9a.mp4 f276aae3ebb6cfc98ded86f1bf938e01 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/27e7374a68f337c62685c38db67762a2.pdf 1cf86adb853c9248c1e28032abbebb78 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 7] J. J. HARRINGTON: During the time we were at Rangoon and just prior to the time that we left for Kunming, the British had pulled out and left us a couple of days before and Bob Neale had got in touch with General Chennault as to what he should do, since the British had pulled out their troops and Chennault told Bob Neale "Well you're down there and you know the situation a lot better than I do and so you just use your own good judgment - I mean you should pull out if the ground troops get too close." And I repeat again that was one of the reasons that Chennault in my opinion was such a good leader. He selected good people and put them in responsible positions, but then by the same token he gave them the responsibility to make decisions on their own. He did not hinder them - I mean - I'll put you in a responsible position, but I'll reserve the right to make a decision. Once he put them in responsible positions, they had the authority to make decisions within the capability of the assignment they had and that was one of the things I thought that Chennault - he was a brilliant individual in doing that. So many people will not do that. During the raid that we had - and that was after the British had left - our entire squadron of about 8 planes took off and went on a raid and everybody came back except Bob Neale and we didn't see another P-40 or hear another one and I think it was Charlie Bond, one of the other pilots said the last time he saw Bob Neale he was down on the deck heading out to sea with an I- �97 on his tail and that is not the most attractive position for a P-40 to be in, because if he's down on the deck flying straight and level he just does not have enough power to pick up a lot of speed from anything. But also this I-97 that was on his tail, he did not have enough power, so if he could go outside and start shooting from the side and you had to shoot straight in from the tail, then he couldn't overtake Bob Neale either. So as a result, the I-97 broke off for some reason, he either ran out of ammunition or he'd run out gas and then Bob Neale come on him and we heard this roar of his P-40 coming in and it had to be Bob Neale because everybody was accounted for except him. So he came buzzing over the field and rolling over and then he let his gear down to come in for a landing and of course I had my jeep and was watching him and I knew that the planes were pretty well filed up by gosh because even before he touched ground I could see fabric flying on the ailerons and the horizontal stabilizer - I mean the rudder really and they had fabric made out of those and they later made them out of metal. But these were all fabric, the ailerons and the elevators and the rudder. And they had all kind of strange flapping and then when he touched down, why I noticed that by gosh both landing gear - wheels were flat - I mean the tires were flat, had been shot up. But Bob Neale was the type pilot that by gosh that you didn't see any swerving or anything, he was a smooth pilot, he set the thing down and rolled down the runway just real straight and of course I was behind him in my jeep and come to a stop. So I drove up there and stopped and got out and jumped up on the wing and usually when Bob would come back from a mission, he had a lot of nervous tension. When he was in a situation of combat or any type situation, you couldn't tell if he was nervous - his nerves didn't bother him any at all - but usually when he'd come back from a mission, I'd jump up on the wing and help him off with the chute and he'd sit there and he'd be fussin' and cussin' and everything else - a pretty foul-mouthed individual anyway, but this time when he came �in, I jumped up on the wing and when I got to the airplane I could see holes all in that P-40. So anyway I jumped up on the wing and helped him off with his parachute, of course Bob was cussin' Japs and just carrying on a narrated type fussin' campaign. Then he said "These Japs they can't hit the side of a red barn" and he punctuated that with a bunch of profanity too. I didn't even open my mouth and he kept talking about they couldn't hit anything. So I got him in the jeep and I still hadn't said one word to Bob and I never did. So I got him in the jeep and carried him over where the pilots had a little ready room so he could get some coffee or a little something to eat. So then I just dropped him off and went on back out to the airplane and I still didn't say nothing to him. So I was working on the airplane for a couple of hours. I figured he'd sort of settle down by then so I went back over to the little ready shack and told Bob I says "How about getting in the jeep and I want to take you out and show you something." "Where in the devil are you going to take me" growling at me and I said "Well just hush growling and get in the jeep and I'll show you." So he got in the jeep and I rode him out to his airplane and I told Bob - I said "Well Bob, you know these Japs might not be able to hit a red barn, but they sure know how to hit a P-40 by gosh." We counted 74 holes in that P-40. But as I say this Japanese - this I-97 being right on the tail of the P-40 and the bullets had to go straight into the tail - and the tail and the metal parts that the bullet had to go through - and they were 303 bullets - they were not 30 caliber bullets. But they didn't have any 50 caliber bullets on those airplanes and so they'd spin a little bit going through the tail section and the metal back there and then you had all the communications gear sitting back there and then in front of that you had a self-sealing fuel tank that this bullet had to go through and then a little bit further back you had the armor plate right behind Bob Neale. Well all that metal and the interference that this bullet had getting in, it wouldn't go past there to get into fuel lines, hydraulic lines, that would be �buried in the cockpit. So apparently the Japanese that were in this I-97 either just completely run out of ammunition or just run out of gas and broke off. Then when it did, why then Bob could go ahead and break off. But Bob could not break off from that Japanese and give him a side shot from that P-40. But anyway he came screaming in and the only damage that was done to that airplane - see one reason was - well it was difficult in a way - but if we could have had spare parts it would not have been difficult. Now the damage to that airplane and that was 74 holes in it, all we had to do was replace the control surfaces, the elevators, ailerons and the rudder and then we had to replace the communication equipment, it was tore up when the bullets went in there and it had about 6 or 7 dents right in behind the armor plate, but the bullet was almost spent and all it did was make a dent in the armor plate. So then we had to replace the fuel tank and other than that the airplane was ready to go. The whole thing while we were over there was the fact that the parts had us stymied from actually doing a better job than we did, it would have been a lot better. But anyway it was a good thing that Bob got out of that one. But there's reasons why he got out of it which I've just explained, with the type bullets they were using in the I-97's and the obstacles it had to go through. FRANK BORING: Why do you think you were not being provided with equipment and spare parts? J. J. HARRINGTON: One of the things that I feel in my own mind that we were not provided spare parts and support from the hierarchy, I mean back in the United States, the War Dept. specifically, is the fact that they had fought so hard to prohibit and prevent Chennault from getting any American products, both material and personnel. (break) �J. J. HARRINGTON: The Army and the War Dept. had fought so hard against giving anything to Chennault for operations in China and they went to President Roosevelt and they were dead set against giving him anything and President Roosevelt overrode the recommendations of the War Dept. and the military hierarchy and did go along with Chennault and was recorded before the spring of 1941, that President Roosevelt did issue an executive order over and above the objections of the military to permit the recruit, enlistment and discharge of people for the purpose of going over there. My feeling that the reason they never did give us any support is the fact that they'd made a prediction to not only President Roosevelt, but everybody that would listen, that they absolutely cannot fight a war, under the conditions and circumstances for which they were trying to get airplanes and people. You're taking 100 airplanes over there and putting them in combat, that they would not last a week and then they would be gone. Since we stayed more than a week in combat with all 3 squadrons, I still believe that the War Dept. and the military power, if you decide to still keep supplies from going to China for the support of the Flying Tigers, is the fact that if you cut off the supplies sooner or later they're gonna dry up anyway and then we will be right. The time phased sequence might be a little bit off but at least we will have been right in our assessment. I still believe that was primarily the cause because General Chennault did not get along with them when he was on active duty and that goes back quite a ways further because General Arnold was the chief of the Army Air Corps at the time and him and Chennault never got along when he was a Captain with his air tactics. Now General Arnold I think was a good Air Corps officer, but he was a student of Billy Mitchell and Billy Mitchell was a bomber pilot, but now Chennault was a pursuit pilot and there's a heck of a lot of difference in a pursuit pilot and a bomber pilot. Billy Mitchell showed the Navy that he could sink battle ships out in the ocean with aircraft, but by the same token Chennault was trying to show �them that they needed pursuit aviation to protect these bombers, which they never did get through their heads. FRANK BORING: Let's this Bob Neale thing first and then we'll go on to… J. J. HARRINGTON: Actually during our entire operation over there - as far as Bob Neale being the Squadron Leader, I've never had any more respect for a military officer or a pilot or even a man himself, than I have Bob Neale. He was one of the most courageous pilots I've ever known. The airplane that we had - of course we tried to give all the pilots an air worthy aircraft to fly. We didn't do a lot of window dressing and stuff like that on these airplanes because we left it go, but as far as the safety of flight items we did correct the safety of flight items before we would release an airplane to go. But all the Flying Tiger pilots were eager pilots and if you did not have an airplane ready for them when the raid came over, why then they were growling at you. Well I told them they could go ahead and growl at us if they wanted to, but we were going to try to give them the best that we could and then they could have a better chance to do what they were going to do. But then Bob Neale flew this #7 all the time, that was his airplane and I took special care of Bob Neale's #7 airplane. But then at times I had problems with that airplane that I didn't know whether I was gonna get it fixed before the next raid came or not by golly. I figured that Bob Neale was a little partial to #7 anyway and I sort of dreamed up a little plan of what I would do if I couldn't get that #7 ready for Bob Neale and had an air raid. I'd just get a bucket of paint with a paintbrush and paint out #7 and go paint #7 on another airplane and Bob came running down to the airplane and I started hollering at him "Well Bob you airplane's not parked where it usually is, it's over here" and let him have it. But the occasion, thanks to the good Lord, the occasion never did come up where I had to use that tactic, but I would have. �FRANK BORING: You walked up to the wreckage and saw the aircraft, was that correct, this was in Rangoon? J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, I'm not sure exactly what you have there. FRANK BORING: Now you actually witnessed what they could do, could you give us an evaluation how they changed your opinion? J. J. HARRINGTON: While we were still at Rangoon involved in combat, just the First Squadron against what we felt like was primarily the entire Japanese Air Force. The Second and Third Squadrons were back at Kunming recouping and getting their equipment back in shape. But before I went to China in the first place, all I'd heard about the Japanese equipment, the Japanese pilots, the military and the Japanese airplanes, that they were substandard type and inferior to anything the United States had and in fact the United States back then didn't have nothing to speak of. P-40 was it as far as the first line fighters and I was associated - and especially down at Rangoon, while we were still down there. Now the I-97, that's the airplane that we run into first and that was what they had the most of until they all got destroyed, now those airplanes were built - there was nothing wrong with the way they were built and nothing wrong with their engine, but their [?] between the wing and the fuselage where we screw ours in so that we can take them off for inspection, now they didn't have screws in theirs, they put rivets in it so they didn't plan on tearing in there to inspect nothing, they planned on an expendable airplane really. But as far as the engine and the construction of the wings and the landing gear system that the - in fact I had an occasion to inspect those personally - and they were good, they were well built as far as I was concerned, and good workmanship. The same on the Zero that they came up with. Now the Zero was actually a superior type airplane to the P-40 and of course the workmanship on a Zero was good, it was a light airplane and it had more fire power than the I-97 did. But as far as the �quality of equipment they don't - I never did see anything that I could pick a quarrel with the Japanese on. As far as the Japanese pilots, now the pilots themselves can give you a lot better input than I can because I was looking at them from the ground coming over and been involved in them taking a strafing pass at me once in a while, but actually the Japanese, they were fanatics I would say in a lot of respects because they got their airplanes shot up and they started down with it and they couldn't go - now they were gonna dive that airplane into some piece of equipment on the ground, whether it be an airplane, a truck or what have you. Now we seen that happen quite a number of times. And I don't know the reason behind that except since it come up with the Kamikaze pilots and that sort of stuff, I put them in the same category. But they were going to destroy something - if they were gonna go, they were gonna take something along with it. They did that on quite a number of occasions. But as far as the equipment, I mean that's… � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v07 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 7 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington explains the backstory as to why the AVG and General Chennault didn't receive sufficient supplies and support from the United States War Department. He also discusses his respect and admiration for Squadron Leader, Bob Neale. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bdc7e461c0a1da099ad96f7c72014b16.mp4 33ecec5eb0b6e73a7f3117905bf3d795 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b10d692d6202fb160f2d3b77b2a7591a.pdf 6cff390439c80e53f8902f988fe172e9 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 6] FRANK BORING: Kunming going back to Rangoon to relieve the 3rd Squadron that had seen some battle. J. J. HARRINGTON: 2nd and 3rd. FRANK BORING: Right. And when you arrived. You arrived in the thick of battles. There was battles going on there was fighting going on when you finally got over there. I wonder if you could from your perspective on the ground describe the bombing and the effects on you. J. J. HARRINGTON: We had left Kunming - I don't recall the actual date - to go to Rangoon to relieve the 2nd and 3rd Squadron they were pretty well worn out so was the airplanes at the time. So the 1st Squadron went down to Rangoon and then relieved the 2nd and 3rd Squadrons which they located back to Kunming. As we left to go Rangoon. We flew Chinese National Airways into Lashio and then they wouldn't fly any further down towards Rangoon than that. Then we got on this train at Lashio and then see sawed down the mountain and then 'til we got level land territory and then went on down to Rangoon and we didn't have any problem I mean with the Japanese on the way down. We made that all right and then it was a matter of some place for us to stay and get bedded down. And we could not leave the airplanes on the airdrome there at �Mingaladon because the Japanese would come over and bomb it every night. And so the P-40's came in after we got settled down and we found some place where we could have them and be convenient for the pilots during the day time and then try to find some place at night I mean so that we could get them off of the field and park them somewhere. After we got down then we saw some formations of Japanese airplanes coming over. I mean they come over in the morning and then before noon and then get all the P-40's up and they would take up after them. Most of the time late in the afternoon they come over with another formation of bombers. Sometimes they would be bombers sometimes they would be fighters and bombers. They first started off coming over bombers and then the bombers couldn't outrun the P-40's so then they starting bringing a formation of fighters and bombers They only thing that when the bombers dropped their bombs well then they would take off and they could outrun I97 escort that they had. The P-40's would leave the I-97's sitting back there and take off start shooting down the bombers again. And then they at times they have nothing but fighters and there would be circling over the field, by gosh, I don't know the numbers there were a lot of them, but just fighters. And then the P-40's would climb up and get above them and then come down thru them I mean in a dive and I mean there ain't no way you gonna catch a P40 if you put it in a dive. So all the tactics that the Japanese came up with I mean the Flying Tigers they counteracted with something else to minimize the efforts of the Japanese have gone to. And this went for day in and day out. At night when we couldn't fly at night we didn't have no landing light, well, we didn't have no landing lights. They absolutely didn't have any lights on the field I mean that were permitted. And I mean by the same token it was too dangerous because the Japanese gonna be over there and bomb you when you gone in. So what we would do the crew chiefs would get P-40's and taxi them off the field and up a road I mean and in behind some house or under a tree �somewhere and then we would go off the base where we had a place to sleep out in the jungles I mean and that's where we set up a little housekeeping out there and the mess officer that we had I mean he fixed it up and we had meals out there I mean the evening. So then we would get up before daylight the next morning and get back down and then the crew chiefs would go out and get the airplane and taxi it back of the field. One of the reasons we taxied those airplanes off of the field in the evening and back on to the field in the morning is to save the pilots the effort to going out there and getting the gad blame airplanes. There was no use of them to go to the trouble of going out there and getting the airplane and taxing it off. I mean and I was always under the impression that if a guy going to be a mechanic on a darn airplane I mean he can sure taxi it back and forth on the ground. He ain't no pilot gad blame but he can taxi it around I mean for maintenance purpose. So anyway we did that and then later the Japanese got to bombing so much around there until they found a dispersal area that the pilots could fly the P40's out to a dispersal area quite a little ways from the airport and then have transportation pick them up out there. But during this period of time they had some British airplanes down there the Hurricanes. In the evening when they would get ready to take to get their airplanes off the field they had to I felt for those British ground personnel they had to push the gad blame airplane off of the field and they had to push it up a hill pretty steep hill to get off of the field. I'd be taxing an airplane off and they be pushing a Hurricane up and there would be maybe 10 or 12 of them trying to push this gad blame airplane up and I couldn't wait on them so I just go ahead and give it throttle and I guess just dust them off good and I'd go apologize to the British ground personnel, but I said believe me there should be a better way for you all to do that, but unfortunately we don't time to stand behind you. Well, they understood what we were talking about but that was one thing that differed from the way the British did and we did We �tried to work together with the pilots and the pilots I don't know why they required them to do that I'll never know. But why we were down there we had everybody had a jeep. We lived quite a ways off base at night and the British had actually pulled most of the stuff out and only an insane asylum I mean and just let the people out. I know one morning I was heading down to the strip and I saw this white sheet sort of we had these black out lights on the jeep so you couldn't see very well. I got up pretty close and we found out it was one of people out of the insane asylum down there that they had just turned loose. I mean I thought that was pretty brutal type things. The guards on the gates, they had gates there, with a guard on it as you were going into the airport at Minagladon and we'd go in wide open with the jeep by gosh and holler AVG and just keep going. Well, once in a while they would get a new guard on the gate and nobody told him this was a signal and password that we was supposed to use. I had been going in the gate and hollering AVG and all I'd hear was Halt and I just kept going and don't make no difference how much noise that jeep is making when that bolt slammed that cartridge in the chamber the guard has got you can hear that by gosh and then you start putting on brakes. Then I get across to him who I was and wanted to get in there and go to work. Meantime I'd look up that head of the guard out there and said by gosh let's get this password bit straighten out before somebody gets shot. By anyway they did and natives over there were just as nice by gosh and they could possibly be. Now the British had a little problem with the natives off and on at times, but so far as I know we never had any problems with them. FRANK BORING: Let's go back just a little bit to the bombing itself. The bombing and the strafing which the Japanese did on you. Give us from your personal perspective what happened when they came over. What you needed to do to protect the airplanes, slit trenches, whatever it is. We do it from your �point of view. What it was like on the ground to get strafed and bombed. J. J. HARRINGTON: After we arrived at Rangoon and then actually started into combat had the [?] and the Japanese were going to come over in the morning. They was going to come over wave in the afternoon and then they were going to come over again at night. Well, there's no going to be anybody on that airdrome I mean at night if we could help it the airplanes or anything else. But during the day time they would come over in a formation of bombers and if they had a fighter escort I mean the fighters would be there a long with them. What we would do and we didn't have very many people, we had about 8 or 9 mechanics at most that we had down anyway. Well, we had already picked out a place where we could find a place by gosh. You had to get a hole deep enough that you could get your head down below the surface. Because they started off dropping demolition bombs and you can have a demolition bomb drop as far from here to that wall and it won't bother you a bit it you just lay down on the ground. I mean because it goes up at an angle. But then they started dropping these frag bomb now they would just go parallel to the ground and that's the reason you had to get your head down under the something deep enough so you could get your head down below the surface of the ground. It was difficult and you knows that it was going to happen I mean then by the same token I mean I don't know of anybody that there was panic I mean that type bomb. And they'd do the same thing with strafing. I mean with the fighters. And so you got down where you could hid your head I mean down below the surface of the ground and then you are relatively safe I mean that. Just like when they started dropping those frag bombs, well, you knew that you had to get your head down below the surface, by gosh, because they were going out horizontal to the ground anyway. We didn't have anybody get killed there with any of the bombs or the strafing either one that was going on but the �British did lose some people. It turned out to be more of a big game type situation except that it was for real, by gosh, but we had to be there when the airplanes came back in I mean, because we couldn't be lost somewhere get in a jeep and just hide somewhere. You can't do that. You have to be there where you could see the airport. So we just tolerated that and in our squadron we didn't have anybody get killed by strafing or by bombs dropping. They come real close I mean but that was it. It was not desirable that was for sure I mean but then by the same token I mean you got to do a little something on your own I mean try to prevent this sort of stuff from happening. FRANK BORING: Give us an idea of the bombers or the fighters came over. The Tigers are already up in the sky ready for them to battle-- the battle happens. The Tigers either run out of ammunition or gasoline or whatever, they land. The battle still going on what is it that you had to do at that point. J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, now when airplanes at Rangoon were in the air in combat and we were setting down on the ground around the strip down there if a P40 run out of gas or had some problem there's no way that he could land on the airport there at Rangoon. He had to land at an auxiliary place away from all the bombing and strafing that’s going on. Lot of time we had to go out to the one of these dispersal areas and either take them some gas out there or go out and fixed whatever maintenance problem that this pilot had, but it would have been suicide to try to land there with the bombers and the fighters going on at the same time. FRANK BORING: You had mentioned about the British there. I wonder if you could give us an idea of the way that you did business in the AVG did you work, your standard routine type of maintenance work and the way the British did. I mean in your interview you guys didn't take time out for tea. �J. J. HARRINGTON: Actually while I was at Rangoon we worked fairly close with the British. I mean in a lot of respects they had their own airplanes, and primarily the Hurricanes, they did have Buffalos to start off with then they tried to dogfight with the Japanese and they lost all of those. But basically maintenance of airplanes is basically the same - the way we doing it, the way the British are doing it. Except the concept is a little bit different and the procedures just like I mentioned except for letting the British taxi their Hurricanes off the base, by gosh, well then they had to push them off. But one big difference that the British had which was an advantage over us they were getting spare parts I mean thru their system which we were not. And that was a big, big plus for them. We got along beautiful with the British, I mean they charged our batteries for us they filled our oxygen bottles. They were just real accommodating. We had one Canadian crew that operated gas trucks for us and then after we went back into China they followed us all the way back to China. We got along well with British ground troops as far as I knew they got along well with the pilots British Air Force. I don't have any quarrel at all with them. With the exception of one thing the latter part of the time when we were down at Rangoon we were not worried about the air force I mean cause as I said before we could get in a hole under a sewer pipe anything I mean as long as we could get out of the way, but the ground troops just kept moving slowly from Thailand toward Rangoon and [?] Bay. Now Bob Neale and the pilots were flying [?] reports for the British ground troops with the P40B with two 50's and 4 30's doing what they could and they were working close together with the British and everything that they did. But anyway, one morning I had to go I needed an oxygen bottle, battery or something, I forget what. So I went over, got I the jeep went charging over to [?] and everything was sort of scattered around sort of helter skelter, and I couldn't find a soul not a darn soul, normally there was somebody over there �working. But anyway, I found a battery that was charged and I picked it up and put it my jeep and went over and put it in the airplane. Then I went down and looked up Bob Neale. I said Bob do those British tell you that they were going to move out last night? Nope, he hadn't heard nothing about it. I said they did and there ain't nobody down there but us by gosh. Anyway, he got on the radio and called Chennault which Chennault was in Kunming of course and Bob told him the situation and said that they had all move out of Rangoon and we were down there with about 9 airplanes, 9 P-40's at the time. And one thing speaking of Chennault I can inject this some of it here, that selected these squadron leaders I mean based on their capability and he had some good ones. Chennault had confidence in them. And Chennault was the type leader that he would not dictate what these squadron leaders did and the decisions that they made and him up and Kunming and like Bob Neale down at Rangoon. So Chennault told Bob well, if I don't know the situation up here you down there and you do know the situation. Just use your own good judgment I mean as to when you leave Rangoon and evacuate. Well, that put a load on Bob's shoulders, but it also relieve him too, by gosh, that's the way Chennault operated. I mean he left it up to the people, he didn't try to make decisions I mean unless he knew the facts. So he left it up to them and we probably stayed down in Rangoon a little longer than we would have if Chennault would have been involved in it. But nobody was involved and when we left out of there except Bob Neale. And we stayed on down there until Japanese ground troops. When they come to the Martaban [?] Bay well of course that’s the offshoot of the Salween River so they just turned and went up ground troops went up the Salween River and then about 50 miles and then cut across the Salween River and were still heading west. And after they got about half way across Burma well then decided that that is about time for us. Because we couldn't come up the Burma Road that was primary route to get vehicles what �we had and gas trucks and what ammunition we had up that road. So anyway decided to go ahead and evacuate, Bob did, and I started taking some [?] convoys, two or three trucks at a time that night and going around the Japanese ground troops. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v06 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 6 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington discusses his journey back to Rangoon during a time of battle with Japan and the bombing and strafing that was taking place there. He also describes his experience working with the British during those times and how their maintenance work compared with their own. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/063e953259f0031d163a04699e269ad3.mp4 ba79f0173d6c39d37f343711facc017c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7fdd92a92073c6e910883a355234c660.pdf 933b24c014b8540f29a90db8ae2adf7e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 5] FRANK BORING: When did you first hear about Pearl Harbor and what was your reaction and the reaction to the men around you? J. J. HARRINGTON: When I first heard about Pearl Harbor we were in our barracks and it was after dark and we all immediately got up and got dressed and took our weapons what we had and headed for the flight line where the airplanes were. In fact standard equipment over there was a 45 and I also carried a shotgun over there that was our weapons that we had at the time. So we all gathered at the flight line and Chennault was at the flight line and the rest of the personnel. That was when he made, we heard these airplanes and in fact I heard them too I mean before they ever Tex Hill I forget the pilot they ever took off. But they never did come near our strip, but the way I heard about Pearl Harbor being attack. First I knew about it was the sirens going off that they had on the airport there. So they went up to the field everybody did and they so that's when we found out really happen. FRANK BORING: What was your reaction and what was the reaction of the people around you? J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, I didn't personally have any. It was not a big surprise to me because I think that everybody knew that something was coming. I mean from the Japanese, but we didn't know what �and didn't know where. I wouldn't have believed really that they would have attack Pearl Harbor and I've said before that even I as a peon knew that we were going to be at war with Japan and Germany. I still can't believe that they could have put all there ships in the harbor there. And my brother was at Pearl Harbor in an oil tanker sitting out there at the mouth of the bay. They were shutting in oil he got out of the Asiatic Pacific fleet they was hauling oil and aviation gas had a belly fully of oil and aviation gas drums on top shuttling them back and forth South Pacific. Of course he knew what Japanese airplanes were and then talking to him when I got back was one of the boys said that gee, look at all the airplanes I guess they have a maneuver. Stuck his head out the radio shack which is always on top of the ship anyway and said his heart just went down in his shoes. He knew what kind of airplanes they were because he'd seen them for about 10 years. But basically I didn't hear anybody voice a lot of surprise because I think everybody knew that something was coming or we wouldn't have been over there in the first place. I mean with our group I mean as far that goes. FRANK BORING: Right after that then your group was sent up Kunming. I wonder if you could describe your trip to Kunming. J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, as soon as this happened well then soon as the raid on Pearl Harbor happened we were all at Toungoo that night. Well, then we were surprised that Japanese they'd made some sorties over the area where we training, I mean, prior to Pearl Harbor strike And why they didn't make a hit on Toungoo I don't think anybody knows why they didn't , but they could have wiped us out. I mean for we ever got off the launching pad. But they didn't. But then we got ready transfer some units to China to Kunming. So they decided that they would send the 1st Squadron and 3rd Squadron to 2nd Squadron to Kunming so Bill McDonald he was the head of the Chinese National Air Ways over there. So Bill come down in a C47 a �DC3 picked up the ground crew about midnight that one night and we went on into Kunming. Next day or the day after that then the airplanes came and followed us on up there. FRANK BORING: Was that standard procedure for the ground crew to go in first and then the pilots come in afterwards. J. J. HARRINGTON: Yes, on the procedure that we used every time we moved from one location to another the ground crew went in first and normally at night. Because we had to find some place to put the P-40's I mean when they came in to be in some semblance of a safe location. Plus we had to get the refueling vehicles, I mean some way to refuel the airplanes. And that had to be done just as soon as the airplanes got on the ground in case there was an alert or something so they could get on off. FRANK BORING: What was your… when you got to Kunming the next day did you have a chance to witness either the bombing of Kunming or the aftermath? J. J. HARRINGTON: Yes, after we got into Kunming at night we were assigned to place a bit down in what they call the second hostel not too far from the airport. And the next morning we got out and was looking around getting the refueling capability fixed up find out where we could park our airplanes and then had this airway siren go off. So we were at the airport and looked up and saw these 10 bombers they were coming in just leisurely flight it looked like and they were not headed to the airport they were not headed to any military target they didn't have any military targets other than the airport. All they were headed for was the city of Kunming and so they lazily went down and dropped the bombs and made a gentle turn and headed on out. And that was the day after we had arrived in Kunming. Then it was we did get the full impact of what the Japanese had been doing to the cities of China and the �Chinese people. I mean for quite a number of years. It was horrible. FRANK BORING: Did you get a chance to go into the city at all? J. J. HARRINGTON: Yes, I did. Getting back to this bombing raid the day after we was there we were out at the airport so we stayed out at the airport until they dropped their bombs and then we decided to walk down a railroad track down to the towards the city I mean just to see how much damage they did. We didn't get right to where the bombs hit because of the magnitude of the people I mean in the crowd that they had down there. But all they did was just drop it in the thickly settled area I mean and just killed a lot of people. And that is when it was brought home to me for real, what they had been talking about. The atrocities, I mean of the Japanese, I mean not only Chinese. FRANK BORING: On December the 20th the Japanese brought over these 10 bombers just like they had always. And the AVG this time got up into the air. Can you describe for us that day? J. J. HARRINGTON: The day I was discussing the bombing raid on the 19th of December the day after we arrived in Kunming. That afternoon on the evening of the 19th the P-40's came up from Toungoo. First and 2nd Squadron's. The next morning why we had this air raid alert that went off. The chain ball alert that they have. They put up one ball it’s an alert and they put up another ball by gosh and I mean you expect by gosh you might get some action. It might be headed your way and they probably are and when they put up the third ball why bombing is imminent. I mean so you best better hunt a hole. But anyway, they put up this alert and of course all the pilots got in airplanes and all of them took off. Most squadrons by gosh, and it was the only time we were in China that the Flying Tigers had air superiority over the Japanese. And that time we did. They found this, according to the pilots, they �found this formation of airplanes between two cloud layers so they went in an attack them. Out of the 10 why they shot down 9 of them. I understand that one of them did manage to struggle back into Hanoi, [?] wherever they came from. But that was the last of that bombing raid and that was the same airplanes that had bombed the city of Kunming the day before. FRANK BORING: What was your perspective from your point of view? Don't worry about what happened in the sky so much, but you were on the field what happened when they took off and what happened when they came back? J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, at the time we had air alert and the aircraft P-40's both squadrons. We found a place where we could get in a hole and not get away from the airport but get some place where we would be safe from a bombing raid or safe as possible try to. And wait and see what happened to the P-40's. Well, it was not too long, really, before the P-40's start coming back in. They were a few bullet holes in the P-40's and I recall that Sandell our squadron leader, had one hole that was large hole in his horizontal stabilizer. Right in the tip of it. But it was not enough to ground the airplane. Chennault came out there, the Chinese filled the airport I mean that they were hollering Hooray and what not. But you had to get the Chinese out of the way for Christ sake because we had to operate our airplanes around there. Well, then Chennault came out and everybody was real eager I mean they did met the Japanese by gosh in the first encounter, I mean was good and well so anyway Chennault he talked to Sandell and the other pilots a little bit and he said well, let's get the dang blame airplanes refueled by gosh and get ready to go again and get you people off the airport here I mean it might be some other airplanes that decide to head in here. Of course he was delighted, I mean by what they did. But then by the same token he was also cautious by gosh. Well, don't get over �extended here by gosh with the celebrating I mean because there is more to come, by gosh. Whether it be today or another day. But there was a lot of excitement throughout town and all over as a result of it sure was and also the Flying Tigers. FRANK BORING: Give us an idea of the excitement of the crew chiefs and the pilots together. J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, they actually as far as accomplishment of the pilots I mean in the raids that had and actually their efforts and their success against the Japanese. As far the ground personnel I mean we felt as part of that I mean we didn't feel like well, we've done our part now let the pilot go ahead and do his. I mean all felt my gosh that we were a part of the every combat raid that they had I mean that because we at least done work I mean we sometime worked all night long to get this airplane ready to take off I think and I know that the majority of the pilots felt the same way. I mean one thing I used to talk to the pilots and kid them about a lot. They rag up quite a bit they was a good natured type individual's and so it might come back with a crack we know you are a bunch of outstanding pilots by gosh, and dedicated bunch of pilots and all that sort of stuff, but you got to get in the air before you are very much use I mean to us. But anyway they were good bunch of people and they were dedicated. I've never seen a more dedicated bunch of pilots, by gosh and ground personnel in my life. I never have. FRANK BORING: Tell us, if you will at this time, what was your evaluation of and what was your opinion if you will of Chennault? J. J. HARRINGTON: Actually from a layman's Speaking of Chennault I mean when we first got over there I mean we called him Colonel I mean we had respect for him. We knew the history of Chennault. I mean we knew of his efforts, by gosh, when he �was an instructor out here at Maxwell. I mean in Air Tactical School and I had seen him Williamson McDonald perform with the Flying Trapeze act. I mean they were doing precision flying with those P-12's way back when. The same thing as the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels are doing with the high speed jets now, but they were precision flying. It was at its best at the [?]. But anyway, that I knew him from a sort of a distance and I knew what he did. But after we got over his matter of approach and his business-like manner of doing things he knew what he wanted out of this group when they first started. He knew what he wanted out of this group when they first started to organize the outfit. But Chennault is a brilliant individual. He knew what tactics he wanted to use and they had classroom instruction I mean Chennault did with the pilots by gosh. While we was out working on the airplane he was having classroom instruction I mean with the pilots and he develop and the pilots can tell you this a darn sight better than I can but I know what happen too. I mean use a two plane formation which the military had always used a three plane formation. Had ever since I had been a part of it and everybody else too I guess. He figured a three plane well he didn't really need the two would suffice. Anyway, he drilled that in to them thru classroom instruction and practice and practice. So at least after the war was over with and one thing about using Chennault using this two plane formation. Chennault never did get credit for developing this two plane concept of flying. Why I'll never know I mean at some later date some Navy captain and some Air Force colonel got some recognition for coming up with this new concept of flying that all they did was copy what Chennault had already planned and was in operation. FRANK BORING: In Kunming you assume the duties of line chief from Charlie Musgrove. Could you explain the difference in your duties and responsibilities and in your interview you talked you were all Indian's and no chiefs. So somehow get that in there. �J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, when I went over there I was and we started the organization even at Toungoo when we organized our personnel and Willard Musgrove was the line chief when we first organized the first squadron and I was just a crew chief along with the rest of them. We went on up to at the time we went to Kunming and I really I did not get appointed line chief until we were down at Rangoon at the and I was just a crew chief and we was all working together. I thought the world and all of Willard Musgrove and I mean and still do. I mean he didn't go down to Rangoon with us so I don't know why that happened either, but we certainly needed people. Anyway, our first commander Sandell got killed and Bob Neale had taken over as the squadron leader and then I was made line chief and just out of the blue I mean I didn't do any lobbying for it. Bob Neale just told me now you the line chief right out of the blue it just actually I did more work on his airplane. But say we never did enjoy the having one man per airplane we always had to work together to get the airplanes ready to go. So I just kept working I just put emphasis on Bob Neale's airplane. And plus my pay jumped up $50 a month. So I started drawing $400 a month instead of $350 and basically that was the difference there was no difference in my work. We all had to work together to get the job done. I mean we didn't have room for supervisors. Supervisors don't turn out productive work when you start turning nuts and bolts. And we didn't have enough people to warrant a supervisor in the first place so we all just worked together to get the job done. By the help of the good lord we did a fairly good job. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v05 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 5 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington describes his experience when receiving the news of Pearl Harbor and their trip to Kunming at the time of the bombing there. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bb0ece5198aad4b540b72a59b52330e9.mp4 43ca87ef96d76678dfa7edc6fee574d7 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/92071c448ed2df1c390d52e73134b0a8.pdf b6a88fb02a75d82c5c20b2a2bf930451 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 4] J. J. HARRINGTON: After we came from the train station back to our barracks area, we were assigned to our barracks and went in to pick out a bed, really because there was plenty of room for everybody. But the beds consist of a bunk, a fairly large bunk with a mosquito net and you had to have a mosquito net to keep it over your bunk at all times, I mean the bugs that they had down there. We did have electricity at each of the buildings that were scattered out in the jungles there but the, we did not have running water and we didn't have an outdoor privy I mean, so it really wasn't too bad, I mean at night when you went out there we had to be careful of a, to take a flashlight to see if you weren't going to step on any of the, and there were quite a number of people that, in fact I recall one guy, Jesse Crookshanks, he went out to the outside privy, and there was a snake crawl up around him and so he just decided he could just head for the woods, but in the monsoon season there when the water got over, now all the centipedes, snakes, everything else, were looking for high ground, and high ground was their thatch hut that we were staying in, and it'd been about a foot thick thatch, it just made a good den for snakes and rats, and some of the boys would take a 45 and shoot at these rats, I mean running across the rafters I mean up there, of course, it didn't have any ceiling, loft in it, there was just old ceiling and it'd run in to the thatch. But I actually, I didn't personally did not find too much wrong with �our accommodations, I mean because I'd been on maneuvers, I'd been in tents, I'd been in bad weather I mean while I was still on active duty and I'd run in to a lot worse accommodations than I had while I was there at Toungoo so even though there was a lot of people really complaining about it, I would have preferred more, but that was all they had, and it was just a matter of making good with it. And I've stayed in worse places as far as I was concerned. So anyway we got exposed to dining facilities the next morning after and to meet some of the rest of the people and of course, the dining facilities was a bit open dining room area I mean, it had Burmese cooks that were fixing up our meals and it was not well prepared food, really, because we didn't really know what we were going to have for breakfast, I mean when we got up there at noon, or at night either. And they used water buffalo a lot over there, but since the water buffalo is a work animal while they didn't kill young buffalo they'd wait until they got too old for any productive labor I mean and so then they'd kill and use them but, we survived on that. Sometimes we'd have water buffalo for breakfast or any other time. as far as that goes, and as far as our working conditions at Toungoo, it was quite a ways from where we lived back to where the strip was and we had one Tiger that we could put an airplane in there, I mean and stay out of the other ones, and other than that we did most of our work on the outside and the climate there was hot and humid. And it just well, everybody pretty much wore the standard uniform, I mean it was a pair of shorts and a P-F helmet and some shoes I mean that the, and after we did just started to work there, it was just working outside. Well, we'd work outside on P-40's, before but it was a matter of doing most of your work outside and maintaining these P-40's, can I go back to where they got the P-40's off the boat? Anyway, the P-40's came in to Rangoon prior to us this group getting there. They had 2 ships that was scheduled to go into Rangoon, Burma, and one of them with 100 P-40's on it P-40B's which was the most obsolete P-40 in the �inventory that was, but that was the only P-40 that Gen. Chennault could get and they were scheduled really - British and North Africa, I mean that they were diverted to give to us. They had 2 ships - one with a hundred P-40's on it and one ship was spare parts. And the ship with spare parts on it got sunk before it got to Rangoon. And we wound up with 100 P40's on board the ship and on off-loading these P-40's off the ship at Rangoon, one of them got dropped in the drank and so we managed to get 99 P-40's and get them assembled in Rangoon and we started off with at Toungoo They covered some of the maintenance problems that we had with the intake that we experienced in the States so the P-40, well we did take those intakes out and took the restriction out of the intake system . And the biggest problem really that we had of maintaining those P-40's was spare parts. Now if we would have had spare parts, we would have made out a heck of a lot better. The tires were a big problem and these pilots just learning how to fly the P-40 that never had seen one until they got to Toungoo and as hot as it was, while these tires didn't hold up very good at all. The spark plugs that we had they were, they didn't hold up too well cause they either [?] them and they'd get fouled up with carbon at the and they were the type spark plugs that you could disassemble and that was a good thing for us because we could when they got clogged up we could disassemble the spark plug and clean it and re-gap the points and then use them. So what we did was we'd get hold of a couple of successful spark plugs per airplane and then when the spark plug got fouled up why we could just replace the whole thing and then at our leisure redo this other bunch that we had taken out. We also had problems with the electrical system, not the electrical system for the spark plug so that's handled by Uninedus [?]. I'm talking about the electrical system that's handled by your generator for the rest of the system in the airplane. And we had the distributor for that and of course it had points on that. Well, we'd have to take that apart and redo the points occasionally �and it just, well just like the brushes on the generators, we had to redo those brushes on the generators, it was a little difficult I guess, actually we tried to get this brush fitted and so that you could go ahead and get it seeded on the armature of the generator. and then of course, with the distributor valve that we had problems with, but anyway, the all in all, it was not no real difficult problem to work on P-40's because I'd work on it for a year or longer at the, but the main thing is if you can't get spare parts I guess you're stymied. Well, one thing that did happen with these new pilots getting checked out on P40's, they cracked up a heck of a lot of P-40's. And we salvaged a lot of parts from these P-40's. And that was our livelihood as far as our parts were concerned. and I remember one instance was while I was working on the, I'd taken a generator or something off the engine and the pilots spent a lot of time down on the line with us, which I was grateful for because it was taking an interest in what we were doing. And I was sitting down on the ground, working this generator, I believe it was, and this pilot come down, so he was sitting up on the tire underneath the wing of the airplane in the shade, and I forget what pilot it was but anyway, we were talking and I was telling him about what I was doing, and he was real interested in doing it, so when he said something about the tires, he said these tires are just no good for nothing and so I was fussing at him a little bit about the tires would be good if you people would just lay off the brakes when you're coming in to land by gosh, and not tear then up by I guess coming in, and we just sat there jawing back and forth a little bit and I kept working and I heard the darndest explosion by gosh, and this pilot was sitting on that darn tire and it exploded with him sitting on it and of course, it just exploded to the side and he just jumped up and hit his head on the wing underneath it, but needless to say, I mean he was not convince of my evaluation of nothing any more, but we did get some tires at one time from Singapore that came in over there and that kept us out of a heck of a lot but in that high temperature and �humidity and then on the type strip that we had I mean to operate off of, well it just tore up those tires I mean real, real fast. It sure did. FRANK BORING: The conversation you had with Col. Chennault talking about the P-40's, his opinion of the P-40, do you recall that? It was in your interview you said that Chennault had talked about it being what kind of airplane it was, if he thought it would, do you recall any of the conversation? J. J. HARRINGTON: No I don't recall Chennault talking about the P-40. Other than just maintenance. FRANK BORING: OK. Towards the end of the training period, I wonder if you could relate about a particular landing that Tex Hill made? J. J. HARRINGTON: During our training at Toungoo and at approximately the end of the training and it was just about the time that the in fact, there was a time that the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor, we only had one small strip, that short strip at Toungoo and it was at night and Chennault wanted to get a couple of airplanes airborne to try to keep any Japanese in and what else away from that strip, if they decided to make a strike on it. So Tex Hill and someone else decided they were going to go ahead and take off but they took some cars off so that that they could have some light shining on the strip as they went down and plus they had a, I think they had a couple of cars parked with red lights, the back of them up so that they could have some sense of when they were getting in to the danger zone. Well they took off and flew around and we heard these airplanes before they ever took off and we listened to them. So we didn't know what in the devil, any friendly airplane would be flying around at night , I mean of course, it was right close to the mountains over there, between Burma and Thailand and so anyway they took off and flew around for a while and they decided that we didn't hear any more noise, I �mean, and they started to come in to land and I can't think of this pilot that came in and landed ahead of Tex, but anyway he landed and made it a good landing and went down to the end of the strip and he turned around, if he'd have stayed down there things would have been fine, but he turned around and had his landing lights on and Tex come in for a landing, well he got blinded from the light from the landing lights from this other P-40 and he went down a little bit too far down this strip, before he sat down and then he got down to a danger zone as far as running head on to some small trees and brush so he just kicked the ground and ground looped the airplane and then just skidded right off the end of the run way and right through some small brush, there was no large trees, they were just small brush and he cleared quite a swath through those trees and I was down at the time, probably earlier than anyone else I guess, and went running on out to the airplane in case he might have been hurt, trying to help him out of the airplane, it didn't catch on fire, so anyway Tex come dragging on out of the airplane, he said JJ I'd been trying to get these bushes cleared out at the end of the runway and he said, darn I just had to it by myself, I guess, he wasn't getting no help or cooperation out of nobody, but we were just all grateful that he didn't get hurt. I mean, and it was small trees, bushes, they were not trees, I mean if it had been trees, it had been a different situation but fortunately he got out without a scratch. FRANK BORING: Tell us if you will the difference between the military as you had been use to and the way the AVG did things. J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, when I was in the military and of course, you had the military doctrine and a chain of command and the difference and they listed an officer of personnel, usually quite a ride of breech there and the Flying Tigers - we didn't have any rank per se, we had squadron leaders that would be normally the squadron commander. And since Sandell was out squadron �leader in the first squadron after he got killed would involve me over there, we called him squadron leaders, and the pilots while they had flight leaders and they had wing men. So they were identified as such. The only rank they had was either flight leader or as a wing man. But as far as the separation from enlisted an officer of personnel, you didn't really have anything like that, and of course, the way I conduct myself, and the way the majority of people conduct myself, they use, they had the utmost respect in the world for the pilots, I never seen a more dedicated bunch of pilots in my life and I never seen any more respect that was shown to them, I mean I don't care what kind of outfit it would have been in. And even though we didn't have any rank, and just like in the first squadron, Bob Neale he was our squadron leader and as line chief, I had a big responsibility of about [?] airplane, but then by the same token we all had to work together because we did not have the luxury of having one man per airplane, I mean the entire time that we were over there. And back in the States, we had [?] specialists, hydraulic specialists, instrument specialists, and all kinds of specialists out there and when you'd run into problems why you'd, electrical problem, you'd call an electrical specialist to come out and do it. Over there we didn't have a specialist. So if anything came up why then we did it. And so, we did have propeller specialists. But most of us stayed at Kunming after we moved up there, but we never had propeller specialists out in the field with us. But that was not too difficult, we had enough electrical training and hydraulic training and that sort of stuff that we could it by ourselves. And the only thing about it is that we were penalized of not having additional people to do the job. FRANK BORING: Also, the saluting, the uniforms, and then get into the, once again the respect, I know you've covered that already, if you could the fact that you didn't have the uniform you didn't have the saluting, you didn't have the marching and all that kind of stuff that you did in the military? �J. J. HARRINGTON: One thing that I hadn't covered as far as the relationship, I mean of the people and the assignment of the positions, and that, from the officer, we knew back in the military to the flight leaders and squadron leaders that we had in the Flying Tigers and also the enlisted personnel we just broken down and I was the line chief in the First Squadron, we had crew chiefs, that was out designation, and I was not a supervisor as a line chief, we couldn't afford supervisors, we all had a tool box and we all worked, the only thing that if something went wrong, JJ says where are you at, I mean they want to offload on me, say they were all good people and we all worked together to do it. And as far as the officers, they might have been a few that would have preferred to say Mr. in that area, but we didn't see any need for it. And the only thing about it, we never met the officers, we didn't solute, and of course, when we met Gen. Chennault, this was before he made Gen. but we always called him Col., but we never saluted him, we treated him with courtesy I mean just like we did the rest of the ex-officers we had in our squadron. but we did not have any military requirements, as far as the conduct, I mean a former enlisted personnel, a former officer, we had the officers, ex-officers assign to specific duty, the squadron leaders, flying leaders and wing man, and as far as the personnel concerned, either line chief or crew chief and we only had four line chiefs for the whole outfit, there, so three at the east squadron and one at the American headquarters. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v04 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 4 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington describes his arrival at his barracks in Toungoo, his impression of the accommodations, and working with the P-40 fighter planes. He also goes into detail on the differences between working with the AVG and his previous experience in the military. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/12fafb0c2536e0db3bccad43c38e1fa0.mp4 1be17003ce2b007ae0262776f482f706 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d926520e222a9678a81deaf6c6c08774.pdf 480b800b1fab2660747d12a0bcb05a69 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 3] J. J. HARRINGTON: I'd like to make a comment regarding my reasoning for going to China in the first place and I'd also like to make a statement regarding the comparative pay scale, I mean what I was making and what I was planning on receiving if I did go there, I was a Staff Sergeant at Hamilton and I was making $72 a month as a Staff Sergeant. With the longevity I had I was making approximately $100 a month as a Staff Sergeant. I was also on flying for even fighting units had, gave selected people flying favors. With the flying pay, I was making as a staff Sergeant in the Army Air Corp approximately $150. The offer they had for crew chief to go on to China was $350. So really there was about a $200 increase in pay except that I had to pay $30 a month for subsistence when I went to China with the American Volunteer Group. So really the pay differential was not that much to really be that attractive. I mean that some people wouldn't lead you to believe, I mean because there was about $200 difference in pay in what I was making and what I was drawing when I went to China. FRANK BORING: You had mentioned you knew very little about China, before you went. Give us an idea of what you knew about Japan at this time. J. J. HARRINGTON: As far as Japan is concerned, I knew very, very little about Japan. And they, and what I might pick up in reading in the �paper or listening on the news, I didn't have any feel for Japan. At the, and the information that I had and the feeling that I had about the qualities of the Japanese military, that they were pretty strict shod type of operation, by golly, I mean that, and they didn't really have anything for us to be worrying about. And basically that was the understanding that I had that they had quite a number of personnel on their arms, I mean, but the quality of the material and the quality of the soldiers was just way low and it was not really something to be worried about that we should be worrying about Germany and Italy and that sort of stuff. But Japan, nobody ever indicated that all up until just before we went to China that Japan was anything to worry about at all. FRANK BORING: Once you made the decision and you were already discharged, before you actually went to San Francisco, what did you tell friends and family about what you were going to be doing? J. J. HARRINGTON: I basically, as far as my friends and my family that the, see I was out on the west coast, my home was in Dothan, I did not have time to come back to Dothan on leave, I mean to see my family. I had a brother that was in the Navy. He was down in San Diego, so I just went on down there for about a week and spent about a week with him. But my approach to my family and my friends were that I was going to be discharged, just about like Captain Aldworth explained to us. We would be discharged from the service for a convenience to the government, we would be going to China, we would be maintaining P-40 aircraft up and down that Burma Road, someplace but I did not know where and I say other than that, I really don't a heck of a lot. But I did go down and spent a week with my brother and he'd been in the Navy for quite some time and he was also in the Asiatic Pacific Fleet for quite a number of years and he was also in the Asiatic Pacific Fleet when the [?] was sank in the Yangtze River and they �would all been shells over the flag ship over the Pacific Fleet and the Bell Ship Augustus, that was the Flag Ship for the Pacific Fleet at the time. And he spent a lot of time in China and that Far East. And of course his briefing to me was that the only thing he'd run into in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and those places and they were real colorful. And of course, after I came back from China, me and my bud had quite a setback - there's a difference in living in the coastal areas of China and Burma, than the streets so much, other than living off the land in the interior China. FRANK BORING: If you could, describe your arrival in San Francisco. Who did you meet and what was your impression of the other men you were gathering together with? J. J. HARRINGTON: When I had got discharged and they gave us a date to report, when I got discharged from Hamilton Air Force Base, and then gave a date to report to San Francisco, and I forget the name of the hotel that we were supposed to report to, but Bill Paull, his brother Gene, was taking care of the administrative matters, I mean there's hope there when we reported in. So we stayed there and of course, the, we didn't have a large group coming over on this large ship. When we left we had about 25 people. And most of the people down there, I mean were native people. But they were basically the same opinion of everybody else. I mean basically they were going to China for just about the same reason as far as I was concerned, but they were just a delightful bunch of people, weather it was Navy, Army Air Corps, or Marines at the, we stayed down at, finished our process at San Francisco, and when they got ready to leave while they boarded on to this bus and carried us down to the dock and then we lowered the boat the Bloemfontein, this Dutch passenger-combination ship and set sail for China. �FRANK BORING: Did Pawley or any of the people from CAMCO give you the impression that this was to be, you were to maintain secrecy, and also you were issued passports at time, can you comment on the occupation that you were listed as? J. J. HARRINGTON: At the time we were processed to go to China with the, they asked us to in fact they told us, really, to list on our passport any occupation other than something related to the United States military or government or other Chinese military or government. And don't mention anything like that. So I went over to China on my passport as a student. And went over students and boil makers, anything else. And I recall at, the reporters knew that something was up but they didn't know what, and we weren't going to tell them, I mean we didn't say nothing about why we were going, and we just kept that to ourselves, which they told us to do. And I know that when we got to Singapore, we had to stay there for a while, in order to get a different ship in order to go up the river to Rangoon. And about half of us stayed at the Raffles Hotel downtown and the rest of stayed out at the Seaview on the coast and reporters were as thick as flies around there, they wanted to know what we were going over there for. And they asked me, I told them I was going over there to study, and as a student, and of course, I was fairly young then, they didn't question my student status too much, but the and McGarry, he went over there as an artist. And we were at the Raffles Hotel, and there were a bunch of reporters around there, they kept needling and asking us questions, and why we wouldn't tell them nothing, and so McGarry told them he was an artist and that was the same time I told them that I was a student and then didn't talk to them no more. And they made some comment about McGarry being an artist and, Mac was an artist and he always carried his pencil and paper along with him to make sketches and so the reporters, there was a whole group of them, they were talking to other people around and when the loud mouth in the bunch of the [?] , he was being a �little critical of our answers and so, when we broke up and got out of the way, while then Mike had to sketch the likeness of him and then handed it to him on the way out and the guy took a double look at it, I mean, that the, by then why they, the press knew that there was something up, but they didn't know what. And… FRANK BORING: If you could describe what the boat trip was like and any kind of incidence that may have happened, any relationships you developed with any other AVG's, or the other passengers. J. J. HARRINGTON: When we left San Francisco on the Bloemfontein, it left late one afternoon and it was a passenger combination and the… and they fed like kings but you had to dress for dinner on that ship and of course, re didn't really understand why you got to dress up but you followed the customs like everybody else. So we left out of San Francisco and went to Honolulu and stayed there for 4 or 5 days. And they got word of some German submarines off right between Hawaii and the Philippines and so we headed out of Hawaii and headed south to Australia, we went in and stopped over at [?] Australia... FRANK BORING: If you could describe any events or anything you can recall about the stops that you made in Honolulu, Australia, Batavia, or Java, any of those. J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, the trip to San Francisco to, on the way to China, we stopped in Honolulu and of course, for all of us just about except for the Navy, we'd never been outside of the United States period. And so it was just real interesting, I mean the stop to Honolulu and then when we left Honolulu and headed down to Australia, we didn't really hit Australia to start with, but the first mate on this Bloemfontein, he was quite a character anyway, and apparently he wanted to go to Australia anyway, and he said if you all leave the shower faucets running, I mean run the water down a little low, we'd �probably detour by Australia I mean on the way over there. And of course we did, we went up the channel to Brisbane and all of it was real interesting and the food on board this ship was just out of this world. I mean they just, well I can't describe all of it, but it was just first class. And then after that, we left Australia, well we stayed around there, a couple of 2 or 3 days, I forget exactly, but it was all just real interesting and then we left and went to I guess the Dutch East Indies the next stop. And that was the home port for the Dutch then because the Germans had taken over their land I guess, their country. And they had to give us a big party after we got to Batavia. And we were able to get a car and ride around and see all that plush, beautiful scenery that have there and the Governor's mansion and stuff like that. And then we went in to the Philippines and stayed for 2 or 3 days and then from there to Singapore but then on the way to Singapore, while the American Council at Singapore met the ship and we were going to have to get off the Bloemfontein, and he had made arrangements for the military, the British Military to pick us up in trucks and take us out to one of their camps which I did. We didn't go to a hotel directly from the ship, we went out to this Army base, and their accommodations wasn't too good. We slept on a rope cot and they had these Indians, people that waited on you, they were around and wake you up at about daylight, I mean with a glass of orange juice or something, that the, but the next day while they had arrangements for us to go down to the two hotels, Raffles that was downtown, and I stayed out at Seaview which was out on the coast and that was real enjoyable. They had a lot of interesting things to look at but then they had to get transportation for us to get up to Rangoon and they finally booked passage on one of those little coastal Steamers and it was one of those little coastal Steamers that was all pigs and poke that were stacked like card wood. I mean on the ship, and the Captain on this little coastal Steamer, he didn't know what American's eat, other than steak and eggs. I mean so we had plenty of steak and �eggs, but we had a lot of rats on that ship too. I mean, so it was quite a crummy little ship except for the food. The food was first class. Then we headed on in to Rangoon and of course, there was a lot of people there to meet us, Gen. Chennault and a lot of other people. So we all floated from this little coastal steamer and got on a train there. FRANK BORING: Let's go into a little more detail about your arrival there. There was a brass band, I understand? J. J. HARRINGTON: When we got to Rangoon. FRANK BORING: Could you describe your arrival at Toungoo Train Station? J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, we covered the trip from Singapore in this coastal steamer into Rangoon, we off loaded from this coastal steamer on the dock then we were transported to the train station where we boarded the train there in Rangoon, which was getting late in the afternoon then and then so then we, there was 25 of us that was on board the ship from San Francisco when we headed on the train in up to the destination of Toungoo. And it was after dark shortly after we left Rangoon. And then, it was just a little old small narrow gage train that made a lot of noise, so you got to feel of riding in a train. I mean it was something different. See we were 2 months getting from San Francisco to Rangoon. I mean that was quite a little cruise I guess we took across the Pacific. But as we went on up on this train towards Toungoo, before we arrived at the station at Toungoo, the train had slowed down, in fact it had stopped, we were thrown in the back of the train and we'd heard all of this noise up front and it was a noise too. But when you got up a little closer we found out that it was some of our friends that had gone over on the Jaegersfontein ahead of us. And they had gone down to a theater where they normally had little bands and talked to some people coming over to the train station with the bands �and then our friends that they had followed, I mean, why they took over the instruments and of course, they couldn't play nothing I mean, but they could make a lot of noise, and that was the ones that were playing all this music, I mean supposedly music, I mean for our welcome into Toungoo. And of course, we appreciated them going through the effort I mean, come out to see us come in. Then from the rail station from there we were transported down to our barracks there which was , they had built these barracks in the jungle area, cleared out a little area and then they built us barracks and it had thatch roof, it was about I guess a foot thick, this thatch that they had on it. And they had a trail that go down to the quarters where we lived, and was just a nut and bolt type thing, with bunks lined up along each wall and then you had to have mosquito nets to go ahead and make sure to keep out all of the bugs and mosquitos and everything else. I mean because it was real humid climate there in Burma anyway. So that's how we finally got in to Toungoo and Burma. And you go from there to our work. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 3 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington discusses his knowledge of Japan before joining the AVG and his experience gathering in San Francisco with the other recruits before boarding the Bloemfontein heading to Rangoon. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/90814ac4ea0aad87cae1b647c2ed1056.mp4 02a82b77c834ec1e72c8f5a7a29a5022 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/63c53824f401350d981e37e31494fc47.pdf c6b1d62d392c77f438c50a9998a3cb33 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 2] FRANK BORING: In the summer of 1941, you received a call from Lieutenant Tackon regarding a Captain Aldworth coming. Could you tell us about that call and the subsequent meeting that you had? J. J. HARRINGTON: We are still stationed on Hamilton Field, just north of San Francisco with the 20th Pursuit Group, and one night, I don't recall the exact date, it was about 11 o'clock at night and I got a personal call from a squadron commander, Lieutenant Tackon, and he wanted me to meet him over at squadron headquarters, and so I jumped up and shucked on some clothes, not knowing nothing about what I was going to see Lieutenant Tackon because I couldn't remember him - didn't think I needed bawling out - but if he was going to meet me there personally, I figured it must be something, so anyway, I got off patrol, went over to talk to Lieutenant Tackon and he showed me a letter that he had in his hand - there would be a Captain Aldworth at this Hamilton Air Force Base, and he would be interviewing people for the purpose of going to China and getting discharged from the service and going to China, and that was about all he said, other than there would be working on P-40's and he didn't know very much more, but they would have a meeting in the theater the next day, and Captain Aldworth would be there, and everybody was invited, pilots, ground crew and not only mechanics, regular personnel and everybody else. Lieutenant Tackon asked me �did I know of anybody in the squadron who might be interested in listening to what Captain Aldworth had to say, in fact Captain Aldworth was a World War I pilot and had been an air-minded individual all his life. I responded to Lieutenant Tackon that I probably knew a few in the squadron who would be interested in seeing what he had to say. He wanted to know who and I said myself, Preston Paull and Jack Cornelius for three. He looked at me and said "What do you know about the others? …… [?] What do you think you're going to do, take the heart of my maintenance activity and we would always volunteer for everything in the squadron anyway, and got along good with everybody, so basically that was about the extent of our conversation. He said, "You can get hold of them and go over to the theater tomorrow and see what he has to say." So that was about the extent of the conversation we had that night. The next day, we did go over to the theater that housed them and Captain Aldworth was there, and theater was almost full of people. Captain Aldworth got up and explained that they were going to form this American Volunteer Group, that anybody selected would be discharged from the government, from the army air corps for convenience of the government, and would be going to China and they would have a P-40's, it would be an air operation primarily to protect traffic on the Burma Road, and they would be using P40 airplanes and basically that's about all he knew and -do you have questions as to basically under what conditions would be operating. He didn't know other than we would be stationed mostly in field type duty and would be stationed in different spots along the Burma Road from Kunming, China to Rangoon, Burma and to protect supplies coming up that road into China. Anyway, after the meeting they went ahead and signed up myself and Preston Paull and Jack Cornelius. I didn't sign me myself indicating the desire to be selected for this assignment to China. - Army air corps to go to China to work for the Chinese under contract with the Chinese government and later after this �briefing and we signed this slip, we were sent down to Muroc Dry Lake in Mojave Desert - Montgomery, that's where we did our gunnery down there. We were down there about ten days and when we came back to Hamilton, nobody said nothing to us about anything other than just the work that we were doing in Montgomery. When we did come back to Hamilton Field, there were other people out at the 20th Pursuit Group, the 77th and 79th squadron who had also signed up. They were already discharged and were civilians there on the base. We asked them, of course, what happened, she said, "We're fixing to catch a ship the next day to head for China," and we didn't know nothing about nothing, nobody said nothing to us. These three staff sergeants, Harrington, Cornelius and Paull, we got our heads together - a committee meeting to see what we could do. We figured the best thing to do was to just to send a - our first action would be go down and see Captain Aldworth. We found he was still at [?] Hotel in San Francisco, so we went down and had a talk with him and he didn't give us very much encouragement because he'd already filled up the numbers of the people that were going to China and we told him - explained the situation, we were on the original list and everything else, but Aldsworth's position was, he didn't help us out a heck of a lot, but he did say, "If you get discharged from the army air corps then I will go ahead and put you on even though I'm already filled up to the numbers." And he didn't do anything to try and help us get discharge so that still left us in a dilemma. How in the devil were three staff sergeants were going to have somebody to discharge us. So we got together and decided the best thing to do was send a wire to the Chief of the Air Force. So we did, we made out a telegram, sent it direct to the Chief of the Air Corps and explained the little problem that we had and we didn't make any obnoxious remarks, we were as courteous as we could be, that's the only thing you can do. We asked in our wire what - we just asked for consideration, giving us a discharge, since we were on the original list and so we'd �appreciate it and said a few kind words about him. So then we signed it, saying - Staff Sergeants Harrington, Paull, Cornelius. We sent that off, and the next morning, real early, I got a call from the Adjutant at base headquarters and he wanted to see Harrington, Paull and Cornelius, so we went down to base headquarters and back then, when you had a priority message and they had a red border all the way around it, so he a priority message in his hand. He let us read it and it was from the office of the Chief of the Air Force and the Air Corps and said that, "Staff Sergeants Harrington, Paull and Cornelius will be discharged and processed from the army air corps immediately and it will be done that morning in order to get on board the Dutch ship leaving for China that afternoon at 3 o'clock." The Adjutant had done some checking prior to us going down there and he was a pretty sensible individual too. He said there was no way that we could process, get your passports and all that in that length of time, he said he had checked and there would be another one in about ten days going, and I said we'd shoot for that one. So we started for base headquarters and went down to group for our processing and when I got to group headquarters, the group adjutant wanted to know if Lieutenant Tackon, our squadron commander knew about us getting discharged. I said, "Not that I know of, we hadn't called him." He said, "Maybe I should call and let him know that you're going to be discharged from the squadron." Anyway, we went on down to see Lieutenant Tackon, our squadron commander, to file process and we talked to him and we asked him why we were not notified at the time to send a message out to him requesting we be shipped back to Hamilton for discharge. His response was, "I found that you fellows didn't really know what you were getting into." We told him, "We won't argue about that either. We don't really know ourselves, but we talked it over and gave it a lot of serious thought and we did want to get discharged and go to China." We left on good terms which is the way it should be. �FRANK BORING: Why did you want to go to China? J. J. HARRINGTON: Basically, I don't really have anything specific that I can tell you. I was acquainted with China and I'd heard talks by the missionaries as far as China - but basically that's all I've ever known about China is what I've heard from the missionaries. But by the same token, world situation was building up at about that time and even a peon like me knew we were going to be at war with Japan and Germany in the late fall or '41 or not later than early Spring of '42, and everything was being prepared toward that end, and actually I can never understand why the situation happened at Pearl Harbor like it did. If a peon like me knew about the - and was convinced there was going to be a war - I never could understand why the ship was caught in a bottle neck - I never will understand it. Actually to go over there as a civilian and be at the start of something that really had never happened before was interesting and challenging too. As far as maintaining P-40's, we figured we could maintain P-40's. We had them on maneuvers out in the field and that sort of stuff. We didn't figure that was a big problem, and of course, we didn't know nothing about - the briefing was not that good that we knew in detail what we were going to be doing when we did go to China. FRANK BORING: What was the answer about getting discharge about Lieutenant Tackon? I think what we need is a clarity, a clarification if you will, that he didn't want to lose you. He said he didn't want to lose you, basically. Do you know what I'm saying? All we're looking for is just a clarification of what you've - you had good terms leaving, but let's concentrate just on that meeting. J. J. HARRINGTON: The one where we finally got discharged at that time? Going back to that meeting the three of us had with - Harrington, Paull and Cornelius - that we had with Lieutenant Tackon, �our squadron commander of the 65th squadron, 20th Pursuit Group, his reasoning for not notifying us at the time that they sent F. Mason down to Muroc Lake from Hamilton, that we had been selected to go to China with the American Volunteer Group and his reasoning was that he had just previously split the 20th Pursuit Group and formed another group and in doing so, we had to take a lot of the skill out of each squadron, the 50th, 77th and 79th and formed this other group in its entirety. So the skill level was reduced and the 20th Pursuit Group and each of the six squadrons down to bare bones type of thing and Lieutenant Tackon did not care about losing any more skilled people than he could help. You can understand his logic, because his approach was going to combat he'd like to have some skilled people to maintain the airplanes. He said, "I don't really have any quarrel with the logic except for the fact as I stated that we've made a decision and we'd like people to respect our decision also." FRANK BORING: During the period of time when Captain Aldworth was telling you about China, did he also discuss with you the remuneration, the pay scale? J. J. HARRINGTON: Yes, he did. He covered some of that, in fact, quite a bit of it. During the briefing with Captain Aldworth at the theater at Hamilton, Captain. Aldworth went into a lot of detail on a lot of things that we were going to be confronted with when we went to China when we got out of service. He covered the pay scale of the squadron commanders, the pilots - the pay scale of the maintenance people, in fact, he said that the line chief would be drawing $400/month and a crew chief would be drawing $350/month and he goes on down to clerks and radio operators and so forth, regular maintenance people. He also stated emphatically, it was clear to everybody that during this time that we were over there it had we had the good wishes of everybody because President Roosevelt had sent out unpublicized presidential order and displaying of '41 that �triggered this whole thing off and that people were - certain credentials he was sending out to the army, army air corps and marines that anyone possessing specific identification would be permitted on the military bases of the army air corps and marines for the purpose of interviewing personnel - for the purpose I mean of getting a discharge and going to China and to form the American Volunteer Group. At this briefing at Hamilton, he went into detail on most of the administrative things that that would be taken care of and we wouldn't have to worry about it, that it would be taken care of through the State Department and I guess who handled it and Bill Pawley of CAMCO Manufacturing, they were handling the finances there and we would be paid through the CAMCO Organization which was actually owned and operated by Bill Pawley. The pilots - I'm not sure exactly the detail on the pilots but the pilots were - the squadron commander - I think there would draw $700- but I know the line chief back in my area, the line chief drew $400, the crew chief would draw $350 and the time that we spent in China - we were not at war and we could not send active duty personnel over there. The government decided it could go this route and send support over to keep the Burma Road open to keep supplying China and everybody knew that if you got war with Japan which was inevitable, it looked like, the first thing that Japan would do, would come around and take the entire coast line and on the only way that China could get any supplies at all would be up the Burma Road and they decided to go ahead and take over round there, the only way they could get any supplies into China would be across the hump from India. I don't think anybody had any quarrel about that. He also stated during the briefing, not he but Captain Aldworth, also stated during this briefing that due to the urgency of the situation, that the people that volunteered to get out of the service and go over and sign a contract for a year at that time would be counted, we would not lose that time, it would be counted as far as military time for pay and if any promotions our �contemporaries - as far as we who were over there, that we would get back in the service with the same rank that they would have had if we would have stayed in the service all along. There was no question about that statement that Captain Aldworth made, about the benefits that we would receive after we finished this year's contract with the Chinese government. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v02 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 2 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington describes his experience joining the AVG in the summer of 1941 when Captain Aldworth visited Hamilton Field for recruitment purposes. He explains his motivations for going to China, the complications in being discharged, and the benefits they would receive after finishing a one-year contract with the Chinese government. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dc7e3c2f178f3796b19347d862f88722.mp4 ec85fdb8a50e03aec542ada4c28076c4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fb41033ae635e2f6a0bf6d6bb0efd7ee.pdf 0be4f88553473e87134afe41cdc89f6b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Jasper “J. J.” Harrington Date of Interview: 06-10-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 1] FRANK BORING: J.J., I'd like to begin with your time at Moffett Field, you were converting P-36's to P-40's at that time. Could you describe what your duties were at that time? J. J. HARRINGTON: When I was assigned at Moffett Field in the 20th Pursuit Group in the 55th Squadron, we came to Moffett Field from Barksdale Field, Louisiana at Shreveport, we were a first priority fighter group in the interior of the United States and did not have a first priority fighter group on the West Coast and we had recently converted from P-26's to P-36's and then the entire group moved intact to Moffett Field in South San Francisco. It was a Navy base and was on temporary loan to us for this fighter group. About a year after we were assigned to Moffett, we converted from the P-36's to the P-40 and that was the first P-40's off the assembly line. The air frame on the P-40 was identical to the air frame on the P-36. It was built by Kirby and the main thing it did was convert from a radial engine to an in-line engine. So they put an Allison in-line engine in the P-40. So actually when we received the P-40, the airframe was the same as we'd been working on for the last 3 years and so the main problem we had was primarily to get acquainted with the Allison engine on the P-40. FRANK BORING: At the time within the military frame of thinking, the B-10 bomber had come out and was considered a superior bomber, �it was faster than some of the fighters. Can you comment on the idea that the fighter was perhaps not as important as the bomber, at least in the military way of thinking? J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, Martin built the B-10, it was a twin engine medium bomber. Now that came out when we were still stationed at Barksdale at Shreveport, Louisiana at the time we were in P26's and when the Martin bomber came out, this P-26 with this open cockpit, fixed landing gear, the B-10 bomber could out fly, it could outrun, it could out climb this P-26. Numerous times that we'd been out on the line and this formation of B-10 bombers was coming over and we were sitting out there with the P-26's to try to get a little oxygen in the tank behind the pilot and the oxygen was in a big old milk can, like they used to carry milk in, and we'd try to pour a little oxygen in this tank, and of course oxygen would freeze up in a hurry and you had to go mighty slow with it to get anything in there. Meantime the B-10 bombers were coming on in and most of the pilots took off in these P-26's and put a tube in their mouth that come from the tank in hopes to get a little oxygen, and they'd take off after the B-10 bombers and the B-10 bombers would just come over and just outrun all the P-26's and when they got ready to, they could out climb them also. So actually pursuit aviation as we knew it, became obsolete. Because if you can get a bomber that can outrun the fighter, the fighter is not very much good. So that went along for a while and some of the pilots decided that they needed pursuit aviation in addition to bombers. So that's when Curtis came up and decided that they could build an airplane and Curtis built the P-36 and at the same time, it may have slipped my mind right now, but they built the P-35 and they were both similar airplanes and they were both tested together and the Air Force finally came out and accepted the P-36 and everybody thought they did a good choice, including myself, as far as maintenance because I'd worked on both those airplanes, the -P-35 and the P-36. Anyway they came out with �the P-36 and then they decided that well they did need a pursuit airplane so they just followed on with the P-40. FRANK BORING: Let's now talk about the difficulty from your observation point, the pilots at that time, not AVG, but pilots at that time had, the difficulty they had in the P-40's. J. J. HARRINGTON: Well, the difficulty that I experienced and observed with the pilots in the P-40's, primarily on landing. They could take off with the P-40, we were stationed in Hamilton Air Force base just north of San Francisco, and that was low country and it had a dike all the way around the base, all the way up and down the air field, and it was a pretty high dike and these pilots would fly and get ready to come in for a landing, well the dike was pretty high and you've gotta clear that darn thing, but then when the pilots pulled the airplane back, pulled to come in for a landing, this big nose on the P-40 was in their way as far as seeing. They'd have to look around to the side a little bit and then they would get a little confused and it would stall out and the airplane would crash right there on the runway. That was from the new pilots coming in from pilot training, getting checked out on the P-40. I don't know what the problem was and I've indicated and made statements about - thought that the fine training program lacked a lot, because they were not really prepared to go from a P-6 trainer to a P-40 in one jump and especially with an obstacle like a dike around the field. Colonel R.E. Aker was our Commander there at Hamilton and he was a brilliant individual but he decided to get these new pilots away from the dike so we took all the airplanes, about 15 of them and went down to Southern California, I think it's - anyway it's a big old pasture and it did have a strip down there but it was dirt. There was no obstructions at all, there was just a big pasture. So we went down with a - had a crew chief per airplane and then had some good instructor pilots and then all these new pilots. So we went down there to practice and the first week we were �down there, five of these new pilots got killed. Two of them with a head on collision and three of them even with the wide open spaces, they just got confused and cracked up the airplane right there on the airport. So anyway we stayed down there for a couple of weeks and that's the only pilots we lost, the others finally started doing all right, but it just was a big jump from a P-6 airplane to a P-40 especially with that long nose out there that's gonna stick up in front of you when you come in for a landing and that made things more difficult. FRANK BORING: What were the difficulties as you experienced them in terms of repairing these airplanes? J. J. HARRINGTON: The maintenance problems on the P-40 after we seen those at Moffett were not near so great as they were on the P-36. When we received the P-36's at Barksdale at Shreveport, we didn't have tremendous problem with the Pratt and Whitney radial engine in that P-36, but the airplane was the first airframe of its type that was ever constructed and we had major problems with this airframe, with its landing gear and a little bit of everything. But anyway we got the bugs out of the airframe and Pratt & Whitney has always had a good reliable engine, we didn't have any problem at all with it. So anyway we corrected all the bugs in the airframe and as I said before, when they built the P-40, they used the same identical airframe as they had for the P36 and all we had to do was put the Allison engine in there and then adjust the center of gravity to what they would like to have it. So when we did receive the P-40's at Hamilton, the airframe was no problem at all, because we'd already worked on that thing for 3 or 4 years, but the Allison engine, now that was another problem, because that's the first time they'd ever used the Allison engine in an airplane also. One of the main problems that we had to start with the Allison engine that you couldn't go into a power dive with an Allison engine without blowing the whole intake system, which is right in front of the pilot's cockpit and �we worried with that for quite some time. On the Allison engine you've got two rows of engines with the intake system placed in between that and of course your cowling over it to smooth it out. On that intake system somebody dreamed up a screen to put in there to equalize and smooth out the air flow going into the carburetor from your cylinder. We suspected that the pressure was being built up in that intake system that caused this thing to blow at full throttle and power. They had the P-40's restricted from a power dive, you just could not do it. In fact we had a Lieutenant there in the 55th Squadron that even though the airplanes were restricted he took off, went in a power dive and blew the whole system out and come on in and then this Lieutenant Tackon, and I'll probably refer to later, he formed ground and Lieutenant Mangleburg's approach was - I thought I was doing the Air Force a great favor by test hopping this thing to see if I could find out what the devil was going on with it and Lieutenant Tackon informed him that he was not a test pilot. But they never did find out from the main thing that caused that at the time and they still maintained and determined that they were gonna keep those darn filters in the intake system and they still had those intakes restricted, the airplane was restricted, they had the intake filters in the intake system when I left to go to China. Needless to say, when I got to China well they still had a lot of this stuff in them and that was the first thing that we took out and threw away, was the filters in the intake system and we never had a P-40 in China to blow up like the ones that we had at Hamilton. That was the basic problem that we did have with the Allison engine and when you build up pressure, something is gonna give and what would give would be the intake system that was located between the two banks of cylinders in the airplane. FRANK BORING: At this time just basic maintenance problems that you had whether it was spark plugs or whatever, I assume you had a lot of equipment, a lot of spare parts. I guess what I'm looking �for is the ease or the difficulty - but I would assume the ease of being able to maintain the engine just for regular types of maintenance which later on in China became a difficulty because you couldn't get those spare parts. If you had all the spare parts you wanted with your Allison engine, how easy was just the maintenance of it, so that later when we ask you about the difficulties you had without the spare parts… that you had mentioned Merritt and Mangleburg, you mentioned were mavericks. Do you have any comments about your relationship with them at that time? J. J. HARRINGTON: We had a Lieutenant Mangleburg and a Lieutenant Merritt in the 55th Squadron while we were there at Hamilton and they were both, as far as we were concerned, outstanding pilots. They could do most anything with the P40 that anybody else could except they could do a better job of it. However, they had the restrictions that were imposed on the airplane and everybody was supposed to conform. Well Lieutenant Merritt and Lieutenant Mangleburg were not the best conformists even though they were outstanding pilots. We knew them quite well because they did take an interest in the P-40 airplane and the workings of the P-40 airplane and what difficulty the maintenance people had with it and as far as the ground personnel, now they thought they were just tops - well it was not a buddy-buddy type relationship between us at all, it was a matter of genuine interest in the airplane and what we were doing to correct problems on it. FRANK BORING: What we're looking for, what you said about Merritt and Mangleburg is very important, because later on in AVG the pilots and crew chiefs had that kind of relationship. If you could go through that again and tie it up saying that's what they eventually did, was they eventually became members of the AVG. �J. J. HARRINGTON: While we were stationed at Hamilton and I was in the 55th Squadron of 20th Pursuit Group of P-40's, in fact we were still the only first priority fighter group out on the West Coast. In the 55th Squadron we had two pilots that sort of stood out and above other people: that was Lieutenant Merritt and Lieutenant Mangleburg. Personally I thought that they were two of the most outstanding pilots that we had in the organization, but mixing the problem that Lieutenant Mangleburg had of taking up a P-40 when it was restricted from a power dive and went into a power dive and blew the intake system out. Lieutenant Tackon, the Squadron Commander grounded him and reprimanded him for it. But Lieutenant Mangleburg and Lieutenant Merritt both, they had friends with the ground personnel out there because they were all coming out and not necessarily getting in our way when we were working, but they had the genuine interest in what we were doing on the airplane to correct the discrepancies or something that they had written up on a previous flight. Lieutenant Mangleburg told us that he thought he was doing the Air Force a great favor by test hopping this P-40 to see if he could find out what in the devil was wrong with it, because it had been grounded for quite a long period of time due to the intake system. He said Lieutenant Tackon informed him that he was no test pilot and he was not going to be flying a P-40 for a while. But later, when they were interviewing people to go to China and join the American Volunteer Group, well of course Lieutenant Merritt and Lieutenant Mangleburg they were the first ones to volunteer as far as pilots were concerned. But they were two outstanding pilots and nobody could tell me any different and we respected them, we certainly did. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Harrington_JJ_1991-06-10_v01 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harrington, Jasper J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-10 Title A name given to the resource J. J. Harrington interview (video and transcript, 1 of 14), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington describes his time working at Moffett Field in California where he converted P-36 fighter planes to P-40's. He also goes into detail on the difficulties pilots experienced at the time and the difficulties he experienced repairing the airplanes in addition to how Lieutenant Merritt and Lieutenant Mangleburg became the first pilots to join the American Volunteer Group. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/67fb2e8a68ba25066ead59372af15eea.mp4 2c7b66567c5a74082f65370b2297a894 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/72fdc833e04442bc3316ef0682a0f3ff.pdf 07faffd0e6e68222ea982c63bc2558df PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Edwin “Ed” Fobes Date of Interview: 05-29-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 5] FRANK BORING: If you could give us, from your perspective a view. You knew that the contract was ending, you knew that these guys were coming in, what was your impression of these guys coming in? What was their attitude like? What was the attitude toward the AVG? What was AVG’s attitude toward them? What was your personal recollection? ED FOBES: A few US army air corps personnel started coming in in June of 42. Flying over the bumps, mainly in gooney birds, C-47’s. They all seemed to be gung ho when they came out. They were more or less interested in what we had done. I’m using “we” in the sense of the Tigers, the group, not my individual efforts at all. They welcomed the assignment. They were hopeful of learning from our people if they got a little chance to work with. I was not directly working with any of them, but I talked to a few of them. I didn’t meet any of the pilots. There was just the ground crew that I met and talked to and they were just like any other service man. They were out there - there was a war on and a job to do and they were going to do the best they could. FRANK BORING: Did you have any contact or did you have any opinion about Stillwell? ED FOBES: A recollection. I didn’t have much concern or exposure to Stillwell or what he was trying to accomplish or if there was any conflict �there. I knew rumored at least that he and Gen. Chennault did not see eye to eye on many things. Subsequently I learned quite a bit more about Vinegar Joe when I was back out in the Far East again and I had a lot of respect for him. But you had a very strong personality in Chennault. Sincerely dedicated to his ideas, his tactics and that, and anyone that didn’t go along with him that didn’t believe in him or have the full confidence in him, he resented I believe. And Stilwell was a pretty strong character on his own and neither one of them was going to give in much to the others concepts or principles. Both were competent, both were outstanding in their own way, but different theories. FRANK BORING: Did you have any contact with or can you give us your impressions of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang Kai-shek ED FOBES: I had the honor of attending a banquet. Exact time I don’t recall. Put on by the Generalissimo and Madame there at hostel number 1, the university. They were wonderful people as far as we could see. Course the Gimo did not speak English so he wasn’t able to do much except smile and greet us noddingly. Madame, of course, was one of the most fabulous women who had ever lived. Spoke beautiful, fluent English. Extremely gracious, couldn’t have wanted a nicer, greater lady. They presented to each of us a silk scarf, which silk scarf was a Chop. The signature Chop of the Generalissimo - it was a gift, a memento from China. She was wonderful and they were dedicated. They were great people. She was a great advocate of the new life movement, I believe they called it in those days, education and all for the Chinese. She did everything she could for us. I think Gen. Chennault and our group were her babies in many ways and she was extremely proud of the group. FRANK BORING: She, during that banquet, made a little speech to all of you, in which she referred to as her little angels or fallen angels. Do you recall that at all? �ED FOBES: I remember the speech. I do not recall if she called us her fallen angels or her guardian angels or if she called us angels, but it was meant, I believe in all sincerity indicative of her appreciation of what the gang had accomplished and was continuing to accomplish. And yet I think there was a little tongue in cheek too when she used the term angels, because let’s face it, the gang were not all angels. Far from it. Many of us were semi outlaws you might say. We wanted to get away from what we were doing in the past and this was a challenge a way to get away from dull routines or problems that we didn’t want to have and when there was liquor around it was slopped up and there was quite a bit of hell raising around if and when the opportunity arose. FRANK BORING: What feelings do you have about the last days? There was an offer Chennault made of staying on for two weeks. There was a promise of being able to get back to the US. Could you give us your observation of what happened to you personally in terms of your leaving the AVG? ED FOBES: When the group was getting ready to disband and the 1423rd fighter group to take over, I believe, I was not interested in remaining and I had so stated. As a result, I was just getting ready to come home and get married as I said. So my whole planning was how do I get home? I had purchased a ticket for the morning of July 4th to fly from Kunming over to Dinjan in India us in the [?] Valley. And from there on it was, hitch hike, ferry command, CNAC anything at all to get back to the states. I did get out of Dinjan and got into Karachi. I think it was at Karachi when we stopped at New Delhi overnight and then on into Karachi. We were there two or three nights and I luckily got on one of the flights going back to the states. We stopped at Masarai [?] Island in Arabia. From there our next stop was Khartoum and Anglo Egyptian Sudan. From there we went into a craw on the Gold Coast. From there up into Fisherman’s lake, Liberia where we spent the night at the old Firestone Rubber Plantation. We then flew across on the old China clipper Philippine Clipper ships to �Natal, Brazil and then up to Belem, Brazil, from there up to Georgetown, British Guyana. And then [?] way, Cuba. Finally into Miami. It was an experience. It was ferry command most of the way. Again, gooney birds most of the time. Our food was questionable, there wasn’t much available. But, we made out. No complaints. And we were fortunate that Pan Am Ferry commander, they want to call them, had us all going back to the states for job interviews. This was we travelled on the house. It was certainly appreciated, because a lot of us didn’t have any money to pay for what it would have cost us. We might have still been on the boat a slow boat to China - going back. FRANK BORING: What was your personal reaction to - because when you first signed up they said that you would have - you would be given passage back to the US at the end of your contract. Could you comment on your personal reaction realization that they weren’t going to give you that? ED FOBES: The contract did stipulate such, but you have to remember that the contract we had was written during peace time and our return to the states was war time and the situation was greatly altered. I mean I imagine I resented the fact. I don’t specifically recall now. Sort of shrug your shoulders, well this is what happens, what can you do about it. You accept it. FRANK BORING: Where do you think this group that’s called the AVG - the Flying Tigers, looking back on it now, where do you think they fit in terms of the Chinese and the Americans? In terms of their history? ED FOBES: As the AVG was the brainchild of the Generalissimo and Madame in conjunction with Chennault and the important role Generalissimo and Madame played in Chinese history, I think it’s a significant factor. I hope it always remains as such, even though there is a different regime in now and it is no longer the Kuomintang or anything else in China, I think the memory lingers on. And I do feel sure or confident that the average Chinese of our �era, respects, remember and honors the work the group did, deservedly so and as important a role as anyone in the group played, or as insignificant a role as I played in the group, we were all honored to be with it and to still be remembered. And it’s one of my most proud possessions and memories. That I was a Tiger and I resent the word gold - all these ex air force people - oh I was a Flying Tiger, I see it all the time, I read it in the obituaries, I hear it here and there and doggone it, if you don’t have to hang your palm on somebody else’s. FRANK BORING: When you got back to the states, and actually even in China, you heard a little bit about being called Flying Tigers, you were always known as AVG. What impression did it have to you personally to be called in the newspapers and everything a Flying Tiger? ED FOBES: I thought it was highly descriptive. I thought it was a good term because it was significant. And our group had taken over and adapted or adopted the Tiger insignia that the British had used in North Africa. Disney had designed a Flying Tiger decal and we had it on the planes. I had stolen one of the decals and put it on a suitcase that I had a couple of the guys camouflage, painted. And we had the pin, the flying tiger pin, I still have mine. I proudly wear it. It was sort of a special recognition and I think we’re all proud of the name and we’re very proud of the boys in Germany and in the states now in the helicopter squadrons, battalions, I guess now, that have adopted our name with our permission and they certainly carried on in the recent hostilities in the mid-East and perpetuated the traditions. They did a wonderful job. ED FOBES: During the operation of the AVG in China, I think the group played a very important morale role, not only for the US to have someone doing something and winning and not getting beat. It showed China that the Japs could be beat. I think it was a morale factor for them also, not only that, but the actions of the group, the shooting down of the Japanese aircraft eliminated some of the hardships, eliminated some of the bombing and the pressure that �the people of Kunming...You have to remember that Kunming was way in the interior. It was one of the most backward provinces in China. Yet they had taken a beating in the past and anything that would enhance their morale or to help them or protect them was certainly a worthwhile contribution. FRANK BORING: Looking back now, from the perspective of your life, you’ve done a number of things in your life, you married the woman you set out to marry. You had a full life. What I’d like you to do is look back at that one year, and if you could tell me, what was it about your accomplishment. What do you feel proud about? What was it about that one year that perhaps affected the rest of your life? ED FOBES: What did the year show me, what did that year teach me in China. It’s hard to evaluate really. I was there, I was a member of the group. I did what I could, I did what I was called upon to do. I do not begrudge a day of it. I think I matured a little bit more during that time. Anyone would have. As to after effects and such as that, I enjoyed the reputation of being a Flying Tiger. Having been a Flying Tiger, I’m still a Tiger. I believe that we did a lot of good. I don’t believe I ever received any great benefits in the long run from that time, because my military career resumed soon after that and I went up the enlisted ranks. Went to the Infantry School at Ft. Benning and was commissioned. The war ended, I put my stripes back on and finally retired in 1966. But it was an experience, one that I’m proud of and that’s about all I can say. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Fobes_Ed_1991-05-29_v05 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fobes, Edwin L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-05-29 Title A name given to the resource Ed Fobes interview (video and transcript, 5 of 5), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ed "Sarge" Fobes by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Fobes served as AVG Headquarters Clerk. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Loiwing and Kunming, China. In this tape, Fobes discusses his views at the time when the initial AVG contract was ending and the new US Army Air Corps personnel arrived. He also describes his feelings about the last days of the AVG, his return to the United States, and his sense of accomplishment for being a part of history as a Flying Tiger. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c5c27b3e1d69090194c715311cb570ba.mp4 06770c41dfbff692440c3b1d560f4460 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8ba867d4bc3fbd6e6f12e34d68f3a809.pdf a54de71cabfde1b4e43c82e47f3195c8 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Edwin “Ed” Fobes Date of Interview: 05-29-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 4] FRANK BORING: If you could give us your impressions of any incidents or particular things that stick out about the Chaplain, Paul Frillman? ED FOBES: Padre was a typical GI - you know preachers are all Padres or Holy Joes - was a fine man. He fit in with the group, he did everything and anything he could for any of the members. Counseling or personal or religion or whatever occurred. I was fairly close to him for a while, because he started teaching Chinese and I was interested in learning Chinese. This was at Toungoo. Unfortunately, other duties had to take precedence there and we had lessons for a week or two and whether then duties or just lack of interest came in I don’t know, but I did learn a few words of Chinese. I learned how to count from one to ten, which was an accomplishment. But Paul was very, very active. In fact, he was out of Chicago and being a Chicagoan myself, I had asked Paul if he would marry my wife and I and he said he’d be happy to if he was still in the area. But unfortunately, for me and for Paul on that, no criticism, my wife is Roman Catholic and of course, a wedding by Paul Frillman would not have satisfied the dictates of the Church, so it never was realized. I had not seen Paul or did not see him from the time we left China. FRANK BORING: What kind of relationship did you have with him during that period of time? What kind of interactions did you have? �ED FOBES: Just as anyone would have with the Chaplain. He was there for counseling if needed, he didn’t butt in or protrude in your own personal affairs unless you went to him. He was there to help. FRANK BORING: Can you comment at all on any of the supply problems? Problems in getting medical supplies. Were you involved in anything like that or did you observe any of this? ED FOBES: Medical supplies, we seem to have adequate. Doc Rich and Doc Gentry and our nurses did a wonderful job for us. Joe Stewart and Red Petach. We had two or three medical technicians took good care of us. That was up at Kunming of course. Aircraft supplies was a somewhat different situation because they were difficult to get and you had to get them up there. Although some were flown over the hump eventually. Most of the stuff, a lot of cannibalization went on. Course if an aircraft was wrecked or crashed in training or anything else, they cannibalized anything and everything to keep the other aircraft going. Attrition caught up with us eventually and the number of planes was greatly reduced through that and combat action both. I don’t think it crippled us but hurt the effort. FRANK BORING: Comment on the communication between the Chinese and the AVG. ED FOBES: Well, about the only thing I can think of as far as the Chinese Air Force was concerned and from my observation there was none. We were the Chinese Air Force. They had a couple of planes but they weren’t very active. Of course we were our own group, so that’s all I really knew. FRANK BORING: Did you know PR Chew [?] ED FOBES: I had met him, I didn’t know him intimately at all, Mr. Chew [?]. He was there with the group and worked with the group but my contact with him was negligible. �FRANK BORING: Did you have any contact at all with the Chinese? ED FOBES: The only real Chinese contact I had sorry to say was my room man. In hostel #1, there were English speaking, well-educated Chinese college students that were doing menial tasks helping us in the hostel, keeping up our rooms, doing various and sundry chores things like that and I got to know the boy that had our room. In fact, I’m very proud of a beautiful book he presented to me when I left China and he dedicated it, he said to his bosom friend, Ed Fobes. It was a history of rice and I have it right here with me. ED FOBES: I found the average Chinese, gracious, forbearing, extremely patient and down to earth good people. Like any group of people, large group of people you’ve got the good and the bad. But overall, I enjoyed them, I liked them and most that I had contact with, limited contact with, naturally, because I don’t speak Chinese and most of those that I encountered or saw didn’t speak English. They were very genial, very friendly. The only, couldn’t be considered a criticism, was during an air raid. They, like everybody else, trying to get the devil out of town. During evacuations, they would go right by our hostel heading out into the mountains and those trucks should have twenty people on had fifty or sixty of them and they slowed down for nothing. If someone fell off the back of the truck - and I seen it - the next truck just kept right on going. That was panic. FRANK BORING: Give us more of a description of these warning alerts and the actual witnessing of the bombing. ED FOBES: The last time Kunming was bombed, I believe I was still on the Burma Road, before any actual bombing took place. Subsequently, we had three or four active air raids, but our gang intercepted them before they got in or false alarms. Sometimes Johnny would be way up there at a high, high, high altitude observing and such as that - they had what they called the one ball and the two ball - �jingbao air raid. One ball it was reported and two they had been sighted and coming in and mass migration ensued. They used to fly the high, high, high got to be a nuisance, so they decided to do something about it. I believe it was a P 43 - of the old Chinese Air Force. Eric Shilling one of our pilots working with the armours, stripped it down just as much as it could and they knew about the average time of day this guy would show up and Eric was planning on getting up there at the same altitude to get him. I don’t know if it was successful or not, but I know they tried to get him. FRANK BORING: You didn’t witness the bombing in Kunming but could you give us an idea of what occurred when the jingbao's went up? What was your observation? ED FOBES: Well, I guess the only word I could really use is panic. Everyone tried to get out of the town. Get out of the outskirts, over the Mount Seashan [?], anywhere out in the fields away from the town which would naturally be target area. From what I’d seen from the ruins and such from around the town, the Japanese bombing was highly indiscriminate. They just dropped their bombs and if they hit this or that they hit the air field or government buildings or anything else and everyone was out to protect their skins and get out of there. FRANK BORING: Did you have any contact at all, perhaps in Rangoon, with the British? ED FOBES: I had no personal contact with them at all in Rangoon or at Toungoo. Later on at Kunming, some of the Anzac troops that were evacuated from Rangoon and came up through spent some time there. A couple of weeks or maybe as much as a month up there and I got to know a couple of them just you know, GI to GI nothing of a specific nature or value. FRANK BORING: Right around the period of time at Kunming, one squadron would leave, one squadron would come back. What kind of interaction �would you have with them? Were you aware of what was going on in the other parts of the AVG theatre if you will? ED FOBES: We were kept well informed, as to the operations of our various squadrons. The changing - down to Mingaladon or Rangoon the evacuation down there. I personally knew Mangleburg and Merritt, two of our pilots that were killed down there on the ground. They also came out of Hamilton and were in the BOQ when I was working there. Then they shifted the squadrons around working through Magwe and then moved a squadron into Loiwing. Here again, we were kept well updated as to what was going on and then subsequently they worked out of Hanyang and Kweilin and we at headquarters were fairly well cognizant of what was going on. Successes or problems is all. FRANK BORING: You knew that you were in a war and part of that is the danger of loss of life or limb or whatever. Were there any particular individuals that struck you personally when they got injured or killed? Your mentioned two of your friends. What was the effect in terms of your own reaction? ED FOBES: I guess the only thing I can say, on that reaction of our casualties. They were friends, they were acquaintances but as you say there was a war on and these things are to be expected. The one that hit me the most I guess, was when Johnny Blackburn was killed, because I was so close to him coming up the Burma Road, he was one of the two pilots in charge of our convoy and I like John he was a fine, fine, fine young man and his loss hit me more, and Scarsdale Jack who had been my squadron commander initially. I had a respect for all our pilots, don’t get me wrong, but I was closer to these, I knew them better and I felt it. Not that I went into great tears or anything, but just sympathy and the knowledge of the loss of a friend. FRANK BORING: There was, as time went on a certain change in the initial morale because there was not enough equipment, there was so many �Japanese to fight. There was a real shift in the morale. Did you notice that as each squadron came in and out, what was the kind of reaction from the troops as you put it? ED FOBES: Really the only thing I noted of any morale factor, might be a tiredness. The pilots were on alert practically all the time. They’d get back from one mission or one interception and get on the ground have a chance to maybe get a cup of coffee or a drink and another alarm would come up and I think that they got pretty well burned out. As far as the crew chiefs such as that, well they were on the ground. They were subject to strafing or bombing or anything else. We lost one crewman Johnny Fauth, down at Magwe, Burma - was the only enlisted casualty we had. Otherwise just the wear and tear, the tension, the stress and that started to tell on the pilots, justifiably. FRANK BORING: Did you ever experience an air raid yourself? ED FOBES: Not under any bombing or anything else. FRANK BORING: When did you first hear that the rumor started that AVG was getting phased out and was going to be incorporated into the military? Do you recall when you first heard that and what was your first reaction to the rumors? ED FOBES: Well, we were under as I recall, a one year contract. And this one year contract was to terminate on the fourth of July of 1942. So whether the group would be continued or not was questionable and there had been a second AVG planned. In fact some of the recruiting had started for it that was cancelled out. We heard then that the army air corps was going to take over. The, I guess general acceptance that the inevitable was going to happen. The group could not continue as such with our, shall we say, more relaxed attitude and without a lot of the spit and polish. We’d been briefed that some of us would be offered to stay. They would talk to all of us and make offers to stay. There was a great deal of resentment, I �think with General Bissell came on out representing the army air corps and he was sort of an unmitigated snob. If you weren’t going to do what he wanted and the army air corps wanted, we want no part of you. We’ll have the draft board meet you when you get off the plane or ship when you get back to the states and they’ll take pilots or anything else and you’ll all be drafted in as privates. And this went over like a lead balloon. These guys had fought, they’d worked, they had a lot of pride in what they had accomplished and to be treated like that was a dirty slap in the face. It was greatly resented both by the pilots and a lot of the NCO’s the enlisted men. FRANK BORING: What was your own personal plan at this time? Did you plan to stay on or did you plan on going back to the states? What was your personal reaction to Bissell? ED FOBES: My personal reaction, I didn’t want any part of him or the army air corps in China. My number one priority was to get home and get married. I was looking forward to getting back to the states, getting married and then getting back into the service. Which I did. FRANK BORING: Were you at the meeting where Bissell addressed the AVG? ED FOBES: I was at one meeting where he did address the troops and I don’t think he gave the gang any credit for what they’d accomplished. Thinking back and reading the clippings that my mother in law kept and everything, the only success the US was having and they took great pride in it, the AVG. It was a morale factor I think, for the civilian [?] in the states. At least here is someone, some American doing something right and winning. The attitude Bissell had completely negated that to the detriment of everything. Also, we had understood that when we returned to the armed forces, we’d get credit for our China time. We never received it. Whether that was part of his doings or not, I have no idea, but again, a lot of us lost a year or more that we thought we should have got credit for. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Fobes_Ed_1991-05-29_v04 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fobes, Edwin L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-05-29 Title A name given to the resource Ed Fobes interview (video and transcript, 4 of 5), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ed "Sarge" Fobes by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Fobes served as AVG Headquarters Clerk. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Loiwing and Kunming, China. In this tape, Fobes discusses his impression of Chaplain Paul Frillman and the Chinese people while serving with the AVG. He also goes into detail about the state of panic during the bombing of Kunming, the loss of friends and acquaintances, and his plans after their one-year contract expired. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/29702bcdce709033bacb6a0dcf7a42cd.mp4 845d79d5ae5e4d33abba1783a8cc53c3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1f3cdd916a7afca563f7f3c41d097428.pdf c291b783ca1d1e82c495a529b162d4db PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Edwin “Ed” Fobes Date of Interview: 05-29-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 3] FRANK BORING: Do you know what CAMCO was doing in Loiwing? What was the operation like and what was… ED FOBES: Loiwing was the headquarters for CAMCO. I believe they had been up in Hankow or somewhere else in China and had to move out of there when the Japanese had started their actions against the Chinese government so the group or Mr. Pawley, Mr. Pawley and his cohorts build this factory down there at Loiwing which was near the Burma border figuring at least that far away the factory would be safe. There wasn’t a great deal going on, I think it was practically getting phased out while I was there although there was some manufacturing of not great consequence. About all I can remember of there. FRANK BORING: Did you ever get a chance to meet with Pawley - get a chance to talk with him? ED FOBES: Mr. Pawley and I had quite a feud going on - I loved to play cribbage and so does he and we’d even bet. Of course he’s a multimillionaire and I’m just a little GI peon. So a penny a square or something like this playing cribbage but we had many, many evenings there of sitting around in the clubhouse there at Loiwing and playing crib. I found him a brilliant man naturally and it was great to know him, associate with him. As were all those people at Loiwing - they were pros. �FRANK BORING: In terms of the - uh there was a certain amount of disagreement between Pawley and Chennault in terms of Chennault's thinking that Pawley was not really living up to the contract with helping the AVG with their equipment and everything. Did you have any inkling of that? Did Pawley ever discuss any of that with you? Or did you have any idea of this friction that was going on? ED FOBES: At the time I knew nothing of it. Mr. Pawley made no mention of it at all that I can recall. He seemed dedicated to the group and what we were doing or trying to do - our target accomplishments and I rated him number one. I mean he was with us period. FRANK BORING: During that period of time, there were a few not only AVG people but people around Burma and in China who were profiteering off of some of the equipment and what not. Did you have any knowledge or contact or any observations about any of the black marketeering that was going on? ED FOBES: Not in the Loiwing area or the Toungoo area either one, not at all. I was never exposed to any of it. In fact there was no one up there in the Loiwing area you could do anything with. We were isolated. This was just a factory that had been built out in the boondocks and all that was there was the factory itself maybe clubhouse and quarters and the quarters and housing for the Chinese employees and their families. There was nothing else there. ED FOBES: There was minor black marketing going on subsequently up in Kunming area Guns were always a premium. Any kind of gun, anything that would shoot would draw a heck of a good price in value and although I was not actually involved in any of this loot shall we say after the fall of Rangoon, I knew stuff came up there. Trucks, a couple of tommy guns that I personally know of that were brought on up there and shall we say peddled on the open market but just one of those things. �FRANK BORING: What about people - we’ve heard of… ED FOBES: I have no knowledge or even a rumor of anything that he might have been involved in. Course I wasn’t that close to him and again the GI or enlisted side up to one of the wheels of the organization, I wouldn’t have been exposed. FRANK BORING: Keeton talks about Hasty you were in involved with. ED FOBES: There was a rumor that one time that Ray Hasty whom I had known from Hamilton field had sold an airplane. But here again, rumors fly. I had no firsthand information. I often wondered if he did. I often wondered where he got the money to open up a nightclub in Karachi, India later on. Whether the two activities correlated or not. FRANK BORING: It was right after this that you were transferred to Kunming. Could you give us an idea of why you were transferred there and what was your first impression? ED FOBES: Well, my transfer up to Kunming from Loiwing was predicated on getting those supplies. The convoy pulled in, we loaded up and FRANK BORING: Let’s wait on that question and finish up - with from your observation, what changed within the AVG with the knowledge that the US was at war? ED FOBES: Knowledge that the US was now involved in the war came to me at Loiwing and the only AVG member besides myself was Ralph Sasser. So the immediate reaction from the two of us was our friends that might have been on duty at Pearl - his were Navy, mine were Army and Air Corps and it would just, well what could we do? We’re here, we’re going to do the job the best we can. Had I been down at Toungoo or at the main base I would of got a reaction, I’m sure. You know the guys all felt the same way. We’re here, now that we’re in it let’s get the thing going. �FRANK BORING: Let’s now go to Kunming, and if you could give us an idea of what you found when you got there and what were your immediate duties? ED FOBES: Well, the troop [?] convoy on the international trucks with Blackie Blackburn and Ed Conant in charge was the Burma Road. It was extremely interesting. The countryside was rough, rugged. The road had just been hewed out of the mountains. There were constant repairs going on. Very few wide spots. If a truck broke down and couldn’t be started, it got shoved over the side off the mountain cliff. Course the locals then would salvage what they could out of it. That road had to stay open. Luckily our drivers were quite competent. We put up at various, local small towns or anything that when night fell or we had to take a rest. I remember specifically one small place we stayed, just like a great big old bamboo hut with a thatched roof. They served us a little food thee and the only lighting we had was spirit lamps. We had wine, served with the meal which eventually we called Jingbao juice - air raid alarm juice. And when we turned down the wine and said it wasn’t very much to our taste, they said “no problem” and they poured it in the spirit lamp. It was enough alcohol to keep the spirit lamp burning. It was an experience, but it was interesting. Of course, we crossed that same Salween River gorge and at that time, it was one was traffic and only one vehicle at a time on the bridge. It would sag as you went across and drove on up. That was quite an experience. We pulled into Paoshan where there was a training base there. Five or six of our, eventually AVG pilots, were on duty there and training Chinese Air Force personnel. Pulled into Kunming with the convoy. Our supply personnel met the convoy and directed us to the supply dump where wanted it. I was assigned into the headquarters just again as a clerk to do whatever they wanted done. It was my first association with Harvey Greenlaw and with Olga who were there most of the time in the headquarters building Southwest Yunnan University. �FRANK BORING: Could we go back just briefly to the Paoshan training base? Do you remember who some of the pilots were that were training the Chinese? ED FOBES: I know every one of the names, would recognize them - the names, but I can’t off hand remember who they were. I was one of the few that went through there because I was on the road - it was right on the Burma Road. We overnighted there. FRANK BORING: What was the difference between the base at Toungoo and the base in Kunming? ED FOBES: Well, Kunming was a much larger base than the base we had at Toungoo. It had been utilized by the Chinese Air Force and by the Chinese Civil Aviation. As a result it was larger, better equipped, although not compared to one of our states bases and all. It was - it had bomb embankments which we had never seen before protecting the operations building and some of the other items. And we had dummy aircraft spotted around the field to shall we say, detract the enemy to make them think we had more aircraft than we had. We had a hostel I think it was called, at number 3 out at the airport. Otherwise it was just another flying field. FRANK BORING: What were the accommodations like at Kunming compared to Toungoo? ED FOBES: At Kunming, we had two types. We had some quite similar to Toungoo, a little more permanent structures - a little better, a little nicer out there at Hostel 3 near the Airport where one squadron was housed. The others or most of us were at Hostel 1 at Southwest University, Yunnan University. But we were fat cats because this was old university buildings and quite nice. I remember one night there at Kunming when one of our troopers, quite inebriated was driving a jeep up and down the halls of the dorm. So it had to be pretty nice to be able to drive a jeep up and down the halls. We had excellent food there - excellent mess hall. I �remember one specific incident so thank god I don’t eat tomatoes. But this evening they came with beautiful trays of beautiful rich, ripe red tomatoes and to say the troops dug into them would be the understatement of the year. About two hours later, there weren’t enough bathrooms in the whole administration there. I think washbasins, toilets, windows everything else was being utilized. There must have been forty or fifty of the people came down with very, very violent diarrhea. It was a mess believe me. FRANK BORING: After you arrived in Kunming, what would you say from your observation point, what was the relationship between the pilots, the ground crew and the staff? ED FOBES: In most instances, the relationship between the various echelons of our organization I felt was excellent. We had some incidents. Once in a while, Chennault was one of them. He directed one of our people - they had appointed him as a police officer more or less, and he told them to go out and shake down the rooms. Well, this was badly resented, deeply resented and justifiably. I believe it was Chennault directed it now, it might have been Greenlaw, I can’t state for sure who did it. But it caused a violent eruption. Half a dozen of the troops loaded up and came up there to headquarters and started beating the devil out of Mel Cedar was the fellow who had been appointed as a police officer. That caused a great confrontation and resulted in six dishonorable discharges because naturally Chennault would not put up with it. The only other violent incident that I can recall during that period - our famed black sheep squadron commander from the Marine Corps and a couple of his cohorts got quite inebriated one night and broke into our bar, the club room there at Hostel #1 and liquidated quite a quantity of alcoholic beverages. That again resulted in a couple of dishonorable discharges. Otherwise, any organization you’re going to have some minor friction, but overall I don’t think it was a except these two specific incidents I recall, any major problem. You have resentments, you have people being slighted anytime. �FRANK BORING: Why did Chennault ask them to shake down the quarters? ED FOBES: A shake down that was performed, I don’t know the rationale behind it. Whether it was contraband or someone wanted to show their authority or what, but I do know it was grossly, deeply resented and caused this bad friction and we lost some good people. Some excellent crew chiefs were involved in that and the loss hurt. FRANK BORING: Could you give us your impressions of some of the people you got to know during this time? For example this was the first time you got to know Olga. If you could comment on them and anybody else you might have met during this time. Also the phrase you use “Olga from the Volga.” ED FOBES: The people I had to work with - the staff there at Hostel # [?], Harvey Greenlaw, Colonel Greenlaw as he was called. He seemed alright. He was apparently an old China hand. Chennault had a lot of confidence in him. Whether he discriminated or such, I wasn’t affected. They tried to find something for his wife to do and get her on the payroll. Of course, this was Greenlaw and grease a little bit. So they decided she was going to try to run a newspaper or bulletin or something like that and put her on the payroll. Her nickname, as far as I can recall, was Olga from the Volga. She was allegedly a white Russian refugee that he met up in Shanghai or somewhere in the Far East. She was sort of opportunistic. She had several boyfriends. I didn’t personally witness much of it, but I did see a bit of it and there were two ways to get ahead. You could get on the good side of Olga which two or three of them did. They got promoted out of the enlisted status and pushed up a little bit. Or if you didn’t get along with Olga, you might end up getting booted out. One of our people, a fellow I worked with quite closely, Bill Wyke I believe was in that category. He and Olga didn’t get along and Bill got the word. Otherwise, not a heck of a lot I could say about them. Williams had been out there for years, a communications man, he’s and old China hand. He seemed very �confident. We had a little British, Australian - I can’t remember his name now - another old China hand worked with the group. Seemed to be very confident - got along with the troops, that was the main thing. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Fobes_Ed_1991-05-29_v03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fobes, Edwin L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-05-29 Title A name given to the resource Ed Fobes interview (video and transcript, 3 of 5), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ed "Sarge" Fobes by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Fobes served as AVG Headquarters Clerk. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Loiwing and Kunming, China. In this tape, Fobes describes his experience being transferred from Toungoo to Kunming and the differences between the bases and accomodations at those locations. He also discusses his observations of the relationship among the pilots, ground crew, and staff at Kunming. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/964752c094beddb6a157d043632a3e26.mp4 2c8d9a3c5713ee73984cde4d22aa301b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/935d2e4c062458b66b81a657ecae6e6c.pdf 08a23db6b6da56b48cb3460df661e068 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Edwin “Ed” Fobes Date of Interview: 05-29-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 2] FRANK BORING: If you could give us your first impression and then any description of the camp that was there in Toungoo. ED FOBES: Well, again, we arrived at Toungoo at the old airport there - the old airfield I should say. Some of the fellows were quite surprised, I wasn’t because I’d been out in the Far East and I fairly used to the thatched top buildings and such they had out there. They were commodious, of course, like anything tropical air you are going to have mosquitos - you’re going to have bugs. Some of the fellows had never seen a mosquito net - that was quite a surprise. Also, there were a few scorpions around that no one really welcomed. We’d been pretty well warned about them, to watch out, to shake your shoes out and things like this before you slid them on in the morning. It is just a matter of acclimation, to get used to it there. The main thing I remember about Toungoo in the first few days there, I remember very vividly. The people had hired a bunch of local cooks and have you ever had breakfast, dinner and supper curried - hot, curried food. That lasted four or five days, the whole outfit was in an uproar. They were ready to revolt or do anything. So they fired that catering group, shall we call it and brought some other people in there to cook. I think it was the Savoy Restaurant chain from Burma. And they came in and started giving us the kind of food that a bunch of hungry yanks wanted - not all the curries, but otherwise they just settled down to get the training started. The aircraft started coming up. The crew chiefs were assigned to their �planes - the clerks did whatever anyone asked them to do. I was at the time assigned to the second squadron under Scarsdale Jack Newkirk who was a fine, fine man and I did his bidding is about all I can say. FRANK BORING: Give us an idea of your duties if you will and I realize it was like you say do this, do that kind of thing. But give us an idea of what it was like in terms of what you actually had to do. ED FOBES: Well, my recollection is a little vague again. The duties we - well the group was formed actually - they figured this can operate just like a US squadron and you had to have personnel records. You had reports that had to be rendered routinely. We were asked to bring out copies of the various and sundry forms that we used in our work, in our squadrons, in our units. But there was none of that. We didn’t have official personnel records, we didn't have reports being rendered on routine and such as that. So really there wasn’t a heck of a lot for us to do as clerks. Not that there were many of us only two or three. Of course, the operations clerks they worked down in operations, kept the time sheets, the aircraft logs and that, and those administrative clerks - only two or three of us. We were each assigned to one of the squadrons they hadn’t even set up a headquarters as yet, because there was really no need for it until they actually got operating. So, my contributions there were negligible. Just being available if someone wanted something - go do it. Might call me a go for. FRANK BORING: Who were the administrative staff that you had most contact with? Like Harvey Greenlaw or any of these. Chennault also, when did you first meet Chennault? ED FOBES: Oh, I met the old man for the first time, hard to remember. He was there and on the exact occasion that I met him for the first time, I do not recall. I mean I’d seen him several times around and again being just a clerk, I wasn’t one of the cogs of the organization, so he had no reason to look me up and I had no reason to look up a �bird colonel or former colonel. It was just that way. I got on his, shall we call it his S list one time. Sir Robert [?] ......a VIP, VIP, VIP - veddy, veddy British type came out to visit us and he talked to us a few minutes out there and as he was departing, I asked for his autograph. And I got it. I got chewed too. That was not proper protocol of any manner, shape or form. I think that’s the first time General Chennault, the old man really knew me, because he chewed me. FRANK BORING: Who were some of the other staff members that you had contact with and what was your impressions of them? ED FOBES: Well, actually the only staff members that I can remember closely at Toungoo days, at least was Adair and he seemed extremely efficient. Very cognizant of the situation out there and really all out to help us in any manner shape or form he could. I didn’t meet Greenlaw or his wife Olga that we called Olga from the Volga - I believe she was a White Russian refugee - until I got up to Kunming later on. FRANK BORING: Was there any incident that you can recall from your observation point that stick out during this training period in Toungoo, in terms of concern for the pilots, reaction to the abilities of the pilots in training, the crew chiefs, anything that sticks out from that particular period of time? ED FOBES: No, I think recollection, the guys pitched in. It was very pleasing, it wasn’t what we might call into service rivalry. Everyone seemed to mesh in, Navy, Marine, Air Force - the guys all got together. They were professionals, they knew their job and they got the job done. The conditions sometimes were a little hazardous, a little shortage of this, that or the other. They had to cannibalize at times to keep the planes in the air - keep the equipment going. They did provide us some recreational activities occasionally. I remember one specific instance where they took a bus load or two of us up to a teak farm and we got to watch the elephants roam the teak logs and �the training of some of the younger elephants. Unfortunately at that time, most of us were wearing shorts and we had to walk thru a bunch of tall grass and we got covered with leeches and those blood sucking leeches are really blood sucking leeches, but they quickly told us “Don’t pull them off, hit them with a lighted cigarette” and we did and they fell on off. But that was quite an experience. FRANK BORING: There was, at this time, as you say, some of the men really pitched in but some of the people who had arrived there gave up and went back. Do you remember any of that? Do you recall any of that? ED FOBES: One or two of the pilots left. I don’t remember any of the enlisted personnel leaving. Possibly there was, I’m not cognizant of it. FRANK BORING: Immediately after - Could you give us an idea of what would be called a routine during the period of time in Toungoo? What was that like? ED FOBES: Toungoo routine was typical to any training mission any training base. The planes as quickly as they arrived up after being assembled down in Rangoon, they were tested and the pilots got up and flew them. There was tactics training as Chennault was a great tactician and his theories were beautifully proven out by the group subsequently. Otherwise again it was routine day in and day out. The crew chiefs crew [?] the armourers floated the guns, the ordinance men did this, the clerks did this, the cooks did this, whatever. FRANK BORING: Give us an idea of the difference between the military in the Philippines and the AVT? ED FOBES: Pre world war two military spit and polish, the extreme delineating line between the peon enlisted men which we were considered in those days very strongly and the officer hierarchy. There was absolutely night and day. When we got together there at Toungoo �and forming the group, this disappeared really. There was a squadron leader naturally you had to have a commander of each organization and the pilots had a officer or they were a wing man something in that category. But otherwise, I saw no discrimination. We had a line chief, of course, who was in charge of the crew chiefs because they had to have somebody with knowledge and ability to refer problems to and we had a head armour officer [?]. I guess they called him for the ordinance and the gun, but otherwise there was nothing in that line. We were informal, there was no spit and polish or sir this or sir that. It was strictly let’s get the job done, camaraderie and good will. FRANK BORING: That was excellent. ED FOBES: There was really, just as I said before, just be available if somebody wants something or needs something and try to do it or get it. We had no formal administration as such and really no need for any. So trying to describe what I did, I think the term I used before, gofer pretty well covers it. FRANK BORING: Who approached you and what did they tell you were going to be doing to go to Loiwing? ED FOBES: That came as sort of a surprise to me when I was notified I was going up to Loiwing. Another one of the members, a communications type, a navy, Ralph Sasser and I were both shipped up there. We might have been Shanghaied, I’m truly not sure. They sure didn’t have much for me to do and maybe I was getting on someone’s nerves because I was sitting around all the time. I’m not sure, but they said, no you’re going up to Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company’s Plant at Loiwing and they’ll find some clerical, administrative work for you to do up there. Whether that was a long range plan or a spare of the moment decision somebody at Toungoo made, I don’t know, but we got taken up by van or vehicle in town to Toungoo and put on a train and the next thing after a long and arduous trip we headed up in [?] �Burma. Right at the head of the Burma Road, where the Burma Road started. We spent a couple of days there waiting for someone to come down from Loiwing to pick us up to take us back up to China. I believe Bill Law [?] was the guy’s name, they called him a merit of Lashio. He looked out for us as requested. I had one interesting experience there. Leland Stowe who was a well-known reporter from the Chicago newspaper, Midwest newspapers I guess, he was out there at the time. I even had a few drinks with him and he was strictly a character. I remember a little poem he put in my autograph book. “There was a young maid from Lashio. Who was full of the well-known pashio. She would perform by the moon or at daybreak or noon, but never for less than cold cashio.” That’s stuck in my memory all these years. That poem by the way, and my autograph book I had donated to the museum in San Diego and then several years ago when they had that fire down there, it was one of the items destroyed. In fact, most of what I had from those days, I had donated down there and lost it. FRANK BORING: When was this trip to Loiwing? ED FOBES: I would say late October - I felt it was fine from my own viewpoint. Morale was good most of the time after the improvement in the food and with more and more equipment coming in. More and more of the planes coming on line and supplies coming in, from my viewpoint everything was pretty good. FRANK BORING: Tell us about your arrival in Lashio and what were you told you were going to be doing and then what actually did you end up doing? ED FOBES: In Loiwing - I got up to Loiwing, I forget who came up and got us, but someone came down in a station wagon from Loiwing and we were brought up there into the beautiful, huge club house that was owned by the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company which was Bill Pawley's headquarters there. Put in nice, comfortable rooms - �welcomed. As far as duties were concerned, I’m sorry I don’t remember the gentlemen's name that I was placed under. He was the head accountant, bookkeeper, American. They found a spot for me in his office and I was given some routine accounting, bookkeeping chores to do and I kept working at something along that line most of the time. Then we received word that the convoy would be coming up bringing a whole bunch of food and supplies to be stored up there. So I was told when that stuff got there whenever it was shipped up to set up sort of a Bodega, warehouse and take charge of the stuff and control it. It was for future shipment into China. So there were hundreds and hundreds of hundreds of cases of foodstuffs of various and sundry type. A few cases of spirits, naturally for the ex-service personnel. So between helping out in this bookkeeping, accounting stuff and keeping track of the supplies, I kept fairly busy. We then received word while I was up there - we heard then that Gorson [?] - I forget what radio program it was - that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which caused quite a stir as anyone would know, we all had friends at Pearl. Service Personnel, that were lost we found out eventually and a couple of days later, we were advised to prepare for a convoy coming up from Burma. I think there were 15 or 18 ton and a half internationals. Two of our pilots in charge - the rest were all Burmese or Indian drivers, and to load up all the food stuffs and take them up to Kunming. Well, this necessitated the trip back from Loiwing down to Lashio, Burma where we then picked up the Burma Road and then on up into Kunming which was the headquarters. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88_Fobes_Ed_1991-05-29_v02 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fobes, Edwin L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-05-29 Title A name given to the resource Ed Fobes interview (video and transcript, 2 of 5), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ed "Sarge" Fobes by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Fobes served as AVG Headquarters Clerk. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Loiwing and Kunming, China. In this tape, Fobes describes his first impression of the camp at Toungoo, his duties as a member of a squadron, and his first interaction with General Chennault. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng