378 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/32d79c059e422820dcf64db68521ec6f.mp4 c108c61816534db39c965266061e2b87 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d88a2d85851d629ec8392c7d4515c834.pdf 10699b0124215d6e2675f03ebd94fff1 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 1] FRANK BORING: Begin with any kind of detail you want to give us as to what were you doing before you even joined the military? ED FOBES: Well, I was born and raised in Chicago. My dad passed away in 1935 – just a kid. My step mother and I never got along so I decided to join the army to get away. So I dropped out of high school, joined the 14th Cavalry – horse cavalry – at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. I served there for oh about sixteen months and young, adventurous, seeking it. I took a short discharge and reenlisted for the Philippine Islands. So in January of… (break) FRANK BORING: I’d like to find out what you were doing before you joined up with military? ED FOBES: Well, I was born and raised in Chicago. Went through the public school system there. My Dad died when I was not quite 18. I dropped out of high school and my stepmother and I never really got along so it was best I find something else, so I went down and I joined the U.S. Army and I was assigned to Troop B of the 14th Cavalry. Fort Sheridan, Illinois. This is the old horse cavalry days. B Troop was a show troop. I enjoyed the experience, being a big private all the way through. While I was there about 15 months later, 16 months later, I was seeking something different so I volunteered for infantry in the Philippine Islands. I was accepted 1 �for it. 1938, January, I sailed from Fort Slocum, New York, Brooklyn Army Base actually down thru the Panama Canal on the old USAT. Republic Army transport into Fort McDowell, California - Fort Mason. We transshipped there to the USAT Grant and out then to Hawaii, Guam and up into the Philippines. While in the Islands for a full two year tour I was mainly in the [?] capacity mostly as a company clerk or headquarters clerk in some category or for a while I ran the base library and was a Chaplain’s boy. My conduct wasn’t chaplain boy, but my job was. I left = there in - I did make PFC one time for a short period - came back in March, late February, early March of 1940 re-enlisted for permanent party there at Fort McDowell, Angel Island, subsequently transferred up to Army Air Corps at Hamilton Air Force Base - just down the road here, in fact it’s the first of five tours of duty I had at Hamilton over the years. I went in again to administration, company clerk, but the main reason I wanted to get some kind of training, so I put in for the first Tech School that came up and it was Teletype maintenance and insulation. So fine, they ship me back to Chanute Field, Illinois and I completed the tech course there - three or four months. Did pretty good, came back to Hamilton, my organization had no spot for a Teletype type - I was a buck sergeant by then, so they made me a supply sergeant. It fit right in with my military training at the Teletype. I’ve never touched one since the day I left tech school. It was a wasted training, but things worked that way in those days. I was hoping to make staff, I was a senior buck sergeant in the outfit, promotions came out and no soap, so I went in to talk to the old man and he said, well you’re not occupying your position where there’s a vacancy for a staff sergeant. I said well, that’s not my fault. He said well, I’m sorry. He says, I’ve got a job for you and I’m very with what you are doing, I think I’ll take you down to the BOQ and put you in charge of administration down at the Bachelors Officers Quarters. My squadron commander was also the Bachelor Officer Quarters officer. Well that didn’t sit very well with me cause I wanted to get married - make staff and get married and get my present wife out there, but it was frustrating. I wasn’t getting 2 �anywhere, sitting down at the BOQ every day, sure I ate like a king and I lived high - staying right at the BOQ but I couldn’t see any future. So scuttlebutt went around, rumors and they were recruiting people to go to China. Well, my ears perked up - it was one way to get out of there. I’d had two opportunities to go out as an acting first sergeant to two newly formed fighter squadrons and this lieutenant fought and turned it down, I couldn’t get away. So when this came up I went in, was interviewed, I think Aldsworth or Aldsworth was the interviewers name at the time and got accepted. President Roosevelt had authorized special discharges for any of us that signed up to go to China. So my orders came thru and I took them in and put them on the lieutenant’s desk and said well, this is it and I left. So I hung around San Rafael stayed with a couple of friends there until we reported down to the Belleview Hotel in San Francisco where they gathered the troops together, most of us were directed there and stayed there until the Jaegersfontein finally sailed. FRANK BORING: Could you tell us about what it was that the recruiter told you about what it was you were doing and what you could expect? And could you give us your reaction to that? What interested you to join at that point? ED FOBES: Well the interviewer talked to me, he didn’t go into much specific detail. I think he was, I don’t know whether it was security wise, or just what the motivation was, he just merely said they were going to form a couple of air corps type units in China to work with the Chinese and they needed help. They needed experienced people. I had, oh, almost, a little over six years’ service - five to six years’ service at the time - and I thought I was a pretty good administrator so I thought I could fill the job. FRANK BORING: Now, what did you know about China at this particular period, before you went over? What did you know about the situation in China? 3 �ED FOBES: Well, having served for two years in the Philippine Islands, I knew there were problems in the Far East. I knew China was having their problems with the Japanese and Manchuria and all these other areas - of course our basic infantry there - we were there to work with the Philippine Army to prevent any invasion or anything else and we all knew eventually or thought eventually it was going to happen. Our area actually was the Laguna De [?] and then the Laitai [?] Gulf and through there so I was fairly cognizant of what the situation was in the Far East. Whether that had any real bearing on my desire to go out there or not I don’t know. I was an adventurous young punk with loose ends and thought it would be something different, something to experience. FRANK BORING: What did you tell your future wife about what you were going to be doing? ED FOBES: Well, when I signed up I was a little frustrated, because as I said, I couldn’t get the promotion I wanted and also I, my present wife, girlfriend in those days wasn’t the best correspondent so I was a little bit honked off at that situation also, so I merely told her okay, you’re not coming out here, your folks won’t let you come out here and get married - I’m going to China. Period. I didn’t build it up or anything I went this is the situation - this is going to be my solution to it. So that’s another one of the reasons why I did sign up to go out to Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company , good old CAMCO Fort China. FRANK BORING: What was the process in getting out of the military? Was there any difficulty or was it easy to get out? ED FOBES: There was absolutely no problems in getting a discharge once you were accepted by CAMCO’s representatives because, Chennault, I mean Roosevelt had authorized a special discharge for any of us enlisted personnel at least in the army air corps that wanted to go out there and were acceptable to the organization. It was just a 4 �matter of routine paperwork and gave me a piece of paper that said hello - goodbye. FRANK BORING: If you could, describe to us your first encounter in SAN FRANCISCO with this group of guys that you were eventually going to go to China with. ED FOBES: Well, contracting there at the Belleview Hotel in San Francisco, there were oh, at least ten, twelve, maybe fifteen of us from Hamilton Field. All up there at about the same time reporting in within a day or two of each other. I did know one of the pilots quite well - Ray Hastey and Sergeant Louie Wyatt, a communications man was also from the same squadron I was a member of at Hamilton, so we just got around and started noticing each other and we didn’t really say are you or are you not? We sort of inferred we were going somewhere and the guys said oh, yeah we are too and that way we sort of acknowledged each other and got to know each other. FRANK BORING: Was there any sense of secrecy about this? Were you told to keep this quiet? ED FOBES: We were supposed to use a little subterfuge I would say. Uh, we weren’t supposed to come right out and tell anybody hey we’re going to China and work with the Chinese Air Force such as that. Uh, we were cautioned is about the only thing I could say - we just weren’t supposed to broadcast who we were or what we were going to be doing. FRANK BORING: When you applied for a passport to go to China, uh what, you didn’t go as a clerk administrator or people didn’t go as a pilot trainer. Do you recall what was the career or the job you were listed as? ED FOBES: You know, it’s strange, I never thought of that and I don’t recall what I was carried as, frankly, I don’t recall. Sorry. 5 �FRANK BORING: There was quite a few humorous ... do you recall any of the ones of the other guys? ED FOBES: Sorry, again I just can’t recall any of the - I know there were some - some of the guys joked about them, but you know it’s been a few years. A little hard to remember. FRANK BORING: One of them was a missionary and he actually got asked to do one of these church things. Uh, when you left from San Francisco can you give us an idea of what the boat trip was like? What was the boat and what was the actual travel like? ED FOBES: Well, when we sailed from San Francisco, we were aboard I think a Java East Indies Line, Jaegersfontein. It was a combination passenger freighter - I think about 100 - 125 of us aboard - our accommodations were excellent. The crew and everything that could be done for us - they were most helpful. We had good food good everything. It got awful monotonous, the roundabout way we had to sail and such as that and we got out to Honolulu and had a oh about a four or five hour shore leave then back aboard ship and out we went and sailing right down across the Pacific. I think the next time I saw land someone pointed out some land they said it was the Torres Straights. Just north of Australia. We did see once or twice ships on the horizon. I think they tried to avoid any of the normal passenger lanes not knowing what was going on or whether Japanese Intelligence had any information or knowledge of what we were doing or what we were going to be doing. At one time, we spotted - it was rumored to be a Dutch cruiser who was allegedly providing little escort at a distance, but we never had any confirmation of that. But life aboard ship was sort of humdrum, like any long sea trip. We played cards, we talked, there were books aboard to read. But there wasn’t a great deal to do. They did form a bridge tournament and I teamed up with one of the pilots, Charlie Mott who was subsequently shot down and prisoner of war and braggingly Charlie and I beat the troops. So immediately after 6 �that the ship’s captain and purser challenged Charlie and I to a bridge match. We had it up in the Captain’s cabin - we were happy to be up there and he was very liberal in his pouring of schnapps and anything else and we beat the pants off them too, so it was an interesting experience. FRANK BORING: Were there any particular incidents on board that stick out in your mind whether it was involving people or the other passengers that were on board? Were there interactions between them - the two groups? ED FOBES: We were the only ones aboard. There were to the best of my knowledge, only our people were aboard and of course, we were all military, military background, military service people so we sort of ... the ex-enlisted people sort of hibernated together and the officers stayed pretty well in their group. It wasn’t a delineating line that we had or anything but just a custom of the service. FRANK BORING: What did you - you arrived in Rangoon, eventually. Can you describe to us your first impressions of arriving in Rangoon and what happened after that? ED FOBES: Well, when the Jaegersfontein pulled into Rangoon, uh we didn’t know what to expect or what was going to happen of course. We’d heard of the beauty of the Orient and the beautiful [?] and things there. I think everyone of us really remembered uh, [?] Speaks and Rudyard Kipling - On the Road to Mandalay - and we figured eventually we were going to see Mandalay if we were going up to China. They had a reception committee, you might say, a few people there to welcome us and hustle us immediately on to buses or trucks to get us out of Rangoon and any publicity. So up to Toungoo we went. Now, we didn’t know Toungoo from the man in the moon but it had been a former British Air Force, air core training base and it had been adapted for our personnel. 7 � 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_v01 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, 1 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 upbringing in Chicago, Illinois before joing the military and how he was recruited to join the AVG in China. He also illustrates his experience traveling aboard the Jaegersfontein and his first impressions upon arrival in 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/a376850e3c717a295deb5475b5401662.mp4 a17165360420fc9368bbe72f4c0e3c7e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/67cc6d9ebec6b367654853825edd4be1.pdf 0e03ac9b5da2150519b1ca61552df627 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 12] FB: …shot down, if you could explain about that? CB: The second time we were shot down was in Kweilin where we again were to speak in from Chunking and with a lot of P-40's – we had not been to Kweilin before – to catch again some of the training missions from Hanoi against Kweilin and catch them with all of our P-40's by surprise and just blast them out of the air, and sure enough, they came up the second day and they had a surprise for us too. They knew we were there. We had twelve airplanes and I lowest one at about 16,000 and four more at eight and I think Bob Neale was twelfth at 18,000. Joe Rosbert was on my wing in that flight and we had ground communications and we they kept telling us to come in, come in, and I didn't at first see the first wave of bombers. Joe saw it and Joe came up to – and he fired his guns, and I looked over and then I saw them. As we started off toward that formation, I saw another one, another formation of bombers up ahead. To the best of my memory, I think I turned to go against them because I was in the better flying position against them. Of course, the other guys stayed with me for our attack position. This time, Bob Neale – I forget who the other leader – but they knew we were in combat and starting in after this formation of four bombers – I had a P40E with a 450 sten, and I was fully confident. I was over my first shooting down – I was over that – I was just gonna start on number one, two, three and four and just blast 'em out of the sky with the other guys on my wing. The next thing I knew, I had return fire, obviously. My press tone light turned on yellow and my peg went clear over. Then I knew that I to get – and I turned off and looked up. There was an I-97 fighter escort appeared on the scene and a flight of brand new twin 1 �engined fighters – that was the first time a Japanese flew into the war against us. But I didn't get involved with them though the other guys did. I looked back the field, that's how close we were. The Japanese fighters were straight over the field so I knew I couldn't go in there. But I had to get away from these fighters that were coming down on my tail. We could go into a 450–480 miles per hour power dive but I kept pulling back on the throttle to keep my prop from freezing – I knew it was gonna burn up soon. I just had to stay away from them, and I stayed out of the range. Steam was coming from my airplane and suddenly my prop just froze – blades were sticking up in front of me. About that time, the fighters pulled off. They saw this too, they knew they had me, so they pulled off and left me. I began to look for a place to belly land. Suddenly it dawned on me, "Hell, I'm too low to bail out again." So I picked a place in a rice paddy to land. I belly landed, threw my head against the gun site, scratched my head a little, but got out and walked away from it. Some coolies in the rice field got me to another phone, got me in town, had to walk about 5 miles. A Chinese missionary bandaged my head, gave me a fire-crackers hero's parade, got me on a train. When I got back to Kweilin, General Chennault was there but at the time, when I got back, his comment was, "Charlie, you're having hard luck aren't you?" FB: Could you describe in Paoshan the death and the damage that you saw at Paoshan. You talked about it earlier. We want more detail about what you experienced there. CB: When Doc Richards got to me in this little shack there close to the airfield, I was in shock. He looked at me and the first thing he did was, he gave me a shot. He [???] that glass thing and he gave me shot of Morphine. I was in shock. He looked down, and I had an air force ring on my hand that had already started swelling. I was walking back and forth in pain. I remember saying, "I wanna die, I wanna die." The Chinese were just standing there watching me. He said, "Charlie, that ring's got to come off." When he pulled the ring off, all the skin came off of it. The only thing we had then for burns was gentian violet, a purple salve. Which you have to wear off eventually – it just has to wear 2 �off. He took my coveralls off and smeared me all over with gentian violet. My eyebrows and eyelashes were gone. There deep burn back there and in my hands third degree burns here, and my back, my coveralls were smoldering. I had three big – about the size of pancakes on my shoulder blade. He doctored all that, and by then the dope began to take effect. By then Bob Neale showed up in a jeep. I forgot to mention, Bob Little got in the air in a P-40, that they didn't strafe, and I remember when I was crouching behind that ???, I saw him on the tail of a Zero going past the field but that didn't particularly thrill me, I was too much in pain. FB: That's fine. In Paoshan itself – hold on for a second ……………… CB: After Bob Neale got there, Doc Richards said, "Charlie, we'll take you over to the hostel." About that time, a phone rang and he got a call. He had to be back to Swartz who had been – no it wasn't Swartz – I'll think of his name later on. They wanted him over there because he was – a Chinese doctor was gonna amputate his leg, he wanted to see Doc Richards so I told Doc Richards to go. So Bob Little and Neale got in a jeep and we started heading – to drive through the city of Paoshan to get to the hostel, and I'll never forget it as long as I live, the bombing of the city, just utter destruction. The people just milling about. The bombing was over but fires every place. We constantly had to shoot our pistols to get the Chinese out of the way to make progress down the road. At times we'd have to stop and move debris from the road. And I remember one scene of a Chinese woman on her knees next to her dead husband with a baby in her arms, mourning the death of her husband and I remember another occasion where, I though Bob Neale and Bob Little were gonna upchuck several times. But I was full of dope and I just was just looking at it numbly. But I remember so distinctly, we had to stop one time – Bob Little got out to move a piece of burning timber and as he moved it, the head of a Chinese woman rolled out across in front of us and that's when I thought Bob was gonna lose his cookies. But we drove through all of that and were just complete desolation. I saw war at its worst and I'll never forget it and the smell of burning flesh you'll never 3 �forget. I saw Chinese bodies that were burned so badly, their lips pulled back from their teeth showing, and arms and legs missing, and I'm glad I had the dope in me. Finally we got to the hostel. FB: Would you describe for us the last good-bye with General Chennault? CB: Bob Neale and I as I told you, were taking Red home, and after having a session with Skip Adair, Bob Neale and I and Fox, I forget Fox's first name, one of the greatest crew chiefs we had in the entire AVG, we three went up to Chennault's quarters to tell him good-bye, and Fox folded up – he just cried like a baby. Bob Neale shook hands with the old man and he was really emotionally affected. I looked at the old man and I shook hands with him, and I don't remember the exact words but I know I was full of emotion. I told him good-bye, and I remember him saying – he looked at Bob and I and Fox and said, "You guys get back and tell 'em what we did over here." He asked for us to please to get supplies to him. Then, Skip and I and Bob went to his room and I think we got loaded and I never saw General Chennault after that, except one time, and that's when I met him at Cairo at the Cairo Conference, right after the Turin Conference, where I was Ambassador Harriman's pilot in Russia and his Aide, and the Cairo Conference was held to make plans for Russia to enter the war against Japan, and he was there with Generalissimo, and it was a much better meeting. FB: Looking back on that period of time, what do you consider your own personal – your personal accomplishment with the AVG? CB: That's simple to answer. The first immediately is I accomplished my three objectives, not immediately, but I had gotten in fighters, and had been in combat. I had the experience, and that subsequently I proved to General Hap Arnold in his office. I had made enough money. All my money, like I told you – at the end I was making $750 a month and I only drew $100 to live, and all that was being deposited in the National Bank of Fort [???] in Houston, and I felt confident, in spite of what Colonel Bissell told me, that I couldn't get a regular commission, taken an act of congress. I just knew that I had to get that done, 4 �and subsequently I did in 1947 Defense Department Act, where the air force ended up awarding a lot people. I was promoted to a full Colonel, permanent regular commission. So I achieved all of those. The other – there's a lot of things. I learned so much about what makes a successful military unit. The first thing that comes to mind is no doubt. It's spirit. It's spirit. Nothing can match the spirit of a man. Second of course, it's the winning. Our first combat was just a miraculous success, we were on the right road, we were fully confident. We were already unbeatable, but we were still green – I got shot down twice. The confidence of winning at first, and then, at one time in January and February at Rangoon, I remember, we shot down 23 Japs and never lost one, in one day. That type of experience – you just become completely confident. You realize that you can't be beat, and then the other two elements was the intelligence that General Chennault had at his hand from the Chinese, of knowing exactly what our enemy was, what his weaknesses were, and then he designed the tactics and told us to use – which was definitely a secret to our success. And the other ones now – how would you like to be given the privilege of going across the United States and picking who you wanted out of the existing forces, navy and army and marines, and taking them over into a unit, and without the regulations and all where you had freedom – airmen had freedom to tear a corporator to pieces and did it, and if he didn't, he'd learn on the spot of doing it. It's all of that. The terrific support that we had out of those airmen, backed up by the Chinese to do the dirty business. It was spirit, our success at the start, and continually the success, but eventually we were worn out, worn out. FB: I've got one last question for you. Did you get that house for your parents? CB: Yes. Thank you for reminding me of that. You bet I bought it for them. As a matter of fact, I can tell you specifically. I had 15,000 bucks in the bank and this was in 1942. I got home in mid-August, and after going to Pentagon, and personally talking to General Hap Arnold in his office for a regular commission and him saying the same things, "We can't do it Charlie, it'd take an Act of Congress, but tell me how you guys did in a P-40." He 5 �was under pressure from the press about why is Zero greater than a P-40, I'm sure that's the only reason I got his audience. I spent 30 minutes telling him about that, and then I went home, and within – I alerted my mother and father – "Look you start looking for a place." And within one month after I got there, I bought a little 2 bedroomed house for them right out near Hemsley Air Force Base in West Dallas and I think I only paid $4,500 for that house. FB: It's a pleasure talking to you sir, it was a pleasure talking to you. 6 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 12 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond describes his last goodbye with General Chennault and his personal accomplishments during his time 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/d848417cd17597604a4404f87de8436a.mp4 e9b8c2f516221d1f10c495910f624a2b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8aba6e9b2d9d079b37031265eb3a3ab4.pdf c40edd976b90437df783692256f05bfd PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 11] CB: Then I made up my mind I said, "I've gotta get out of this, so I rolled back my canopy to get it all the way back, then I leaned forward and unbuckled my seat belt to get away from the fire because it began to come up around my back, it was already around here, then I closed my eyes and went through the procedure of half roll. I figured when I got to the half roll. By the way, I was pulled up because I was on my approach from about 200 ft. Later on, the guys told me I got up about 500 ft. When I thought I was on my back I just turned lose the stick to get out. Actually I'd only turned over about 90 degrees, but when I leaned out, the wind blast pulled me out and I had forgotten to disconnect my radio linkage and that pulled into my neck that flesh was already burned and tore. That was the biggest injury I had of that. But it tore lose, but I couldn't feel any of that. I was just interested in getting out of the airplane. I missed the tail surface and the next thing I knew I was tumbling because I saw the sky and then the ground so then I reached over and pulled the ripcord and instantly it opened up and by the time I was about 50 ft. off the ground. I slowed down enough and hit in a rice paddy area that had just been ploughed up and [???] for a foot and a half in diameter and I hit and rolled over on my back. I got out of my parachute, then I started running to get behind something – I was afraid they'd strafe me. I ran through a wet rice paddy area and one of my boots came off, sucked in mud. I realized I was in a cemetery. The Chinese bury their people in a dome, several feet high, and I was running – was gonna run over to get behind one of them and look at these Zeros. These three Zeros began to circle and I was afraid they'd strafe me, at least I could stay behind the dome. Then I felt something burning on my back, and I realized that my 1 �coveralls were burning and it was a little strange, so I laid down in that and then got up and I looked at my hands and of course they'd begun to swell up and burn, then I felt my head – something on my head – I reached up and one of the bullets had just managed to pass by the armor plate, just enough to tear open my cloth helmet and graze my head where it started bleeding, a little cut. When I brought my hand down, it was blood on it and I thought, I've had it. The next thing I thought was, they're gonna strafe me so I got hunkered down behind one of these domes. Then I saw a Chinaman coming towards me, he had one hand behind his back. They were out in the field too, for the bombing raid, they'd gone to the cemetery. Just a Chinese coolie. I started going through the motion of a telephone. When the Chinese talk on the telephone, they always say, "Wa! Wa! Wa! Wa! Wa! Wa! And their inflection means something different. So I went through that routine. He stopped and then I guess it finally dawned on him that I wasn't a Jap, so he dropped his hand down and it had a huge rock in it. Then he came on over towards me and he realized that – he looked at me and finally motioned for me to follow him. I was right off the edge of the airfield, so he took me up to the edge of the airfield where there was a bunch of huts and that's where I got to a phone. Then they called somebody and I eventually got a hold of Doc Richards, and he was on the other side of the city in a hostel, and of course he came over in a jeep and by the time he got to me, I was in shock and everything else, and making comments that I thought I was gonna die. I'd like to go back to – and to me, nowadays when I think back at this, the very key thing that happened when I bailed out, I was so afraid that my parachute wouldn't open, I was so afraid that they were gonna strafe me, that I openly aloud, prayed to God, "Save me, God save me." Of course, I remember 'em strafing either Izzy? Morton or somebody in a parachute down at Rangoon and I guess the Lord did save me. FB: Can we pause for a second? CB: For me, it's worth relating from a standpoint of aerial combat was when I was shot down a second time, where I made a few mis – not really mistakes, over confidence. Then on a 2 �– really a funny episode that might be worthwhile describing what happened in China as a result of the war – of all the airmen talking to us at great length about, "You've got to go down and see the red light district." So one night, Bob Neale and I said, "Okay, let's go." That was something. And I assure you, we just walked through it. FB: This all came at around this time, right? Bissell arrived, General Bissell arrived and he made a speech to your group. Can you describe that? CB: I'm not sure exactly what time Bissell came onto the scene, but it was during this – as the buildup began to build up in our minds as rumors and speculations and all, what's gonna happen to us, he showed up in Chunking, and of course he was the Supreme Air Force type commander, over Chennault and he and Stillwell were sort of opposites, army and air corps. They were interested, hindsight now, that I'm talking about. General Hap Arnold was interested in getting our outfit [??] over there. The old man, he wanted to keep us, he wanted replenishments and just sort of continue on and continue on as a fighting unit because of the experience we had, rather than just be completely replaced. But he, General Chennault, he knew our morale situation and he knew we were tired and I give him full credit, he gave complete compassionate consideration to our situation and didn't – "You do what you want to do." I'll never forget him for that and he told each one of us that. As a matter of fact he told us, "I don't blame you". But he was gonna stay, he was already a Brigadier General. I think it was the first time we had one of the air force representatives talk to us. General Bissell decided to come down and talk to us from Chunking, and we had a big meeting, sort of a dinner type banquet and then General Bissell made a talk to us with the idea of trying to influence us to stay and be inducted on the spot without a lot of explanation of really how it would be done, what will happen to each one of you all, and of course, there were a lot of questions in mind, whether we'd get promoted or what. At that time I was making $750 a month and $500 for every airplane I shot down and being inducted back as Second Lieutenant, reserve. I couldn't see it. And this was the way a lot of the other guys – a lot of them knew I wanted a regular 3 �commission. They'd heard me say outright, "If I get a regular commission, I ought to stay in." A lot of them I know told me. I remember "Buster" Keeton definitely saying this to me one time. And Bob Neale talked the same way. But the way General Bissell talked to us – I remember I didn't become outraged but I thought it just wasn't fair. So he didn't impress us very much. FB: What did he say? CB: He talked in terms of, patriotism, duty. In a way it was a fair speech, but the insinuation or the inference that we got – tired, demoralized guys, naturally seeking a negative reaction if you will, I admit probably that was an element. It was too much of a demanding thing for us, and looking back, I know at the time I was saying, "I'd stay right now if you'd give me a regular commission". But the other guys, "I ain't about to go back, I'm tired and I wanna go home." Some said they wanna go home first but they'd come back. But the short, brief, to a certain extent, inconsiderate, not near the approach General Chennault had talked to us about, it just left a lot of us cold. I remember distinctly discussions with some of the other guys later on we decided amongst us, "I'm mad." It didn't go over. FB: What did you do the last days? July 4th was approaching. What was that like? CB: After that the old man –the Japanese tried to cross the river and he used primarily Tex Hill's outfit, a combination of a lot of the first, second and third squadrons with actual bomber – we had some makeshift type bombers – put 'em on the bottom of the P-40, particularly the P-40E. Looking back now I think that's the reason the old man had me bring those P-40E's into Loiwing, with that in mind. I wrote in my book I remember – this wasn't necessarily my own idea or thought but I've read since there's been a lot others thought – the only thing that kept the Japanese from successfully invading southern China, across one bridge, across that deep, mild deep gorge, the Salween river, was that one little bridge – was the logistics problem of getting tanks and everything across that one bridge, that bottle-neck choke point, and a handful of P-40's that began to bomb his 4 �columns on the hairpin turns of the roads going down, and coming up on the other side, plus the bridge itself, just completely destroyed their effort. And I think, looking back now, the world situation was taking on a different strategic aspect. The Japanese were taking a pounding by that point by the United States Navy in the Pacific and they began to change their tune a little. And I think that was one of the reasons. The change in the world situation and the Pacific. The logistic problems of that bridge and supplying and the roads for the supplies, and a handful of P-40's. I'll never forget that's where we lost Bob Little, either a bomb didn't get off his rack and exploded or ground fire tore a wing off, but one of the wings tore off and he didn't have time to get out. Then after that, the old man had to pull the airplanes back, we were through there. Then we had to re-orient ourselves in accordance with the Japanese re-orientation to come in from Hankow and the Pacific and then take China again from the east. So we deployed some of us up to Chunking then to Kweilin. At Kweilin I was shot down again, but it wasn't near as bad as the first time. I belly-landed and got out with a score on my head. Then after that it was a matter of meeting the Induction Board at operations, saying, "No, I'm not going to stay". I'll never forget that last deal with the old man came to Kweilin and this was just before July 4th which was supposed to be the last day of the AVG, then [???] goes home, except for the ones that agreed to stay. The old man asked through Bob Neale – Bob Neale came in to us and I sensed something was going on and he says, "The old man has asked for volunteers to stay over another, I think it was two weeks" – to give the 23rd Fighter Group at the time I think it was, which included guys from the regular army air corps from India, to replace us with new P-40E's and all coming in, but they were slow in getting over there and the Japanese were well aware of all this and that's when they moved navy pilots into Han Kal area to completely wipe us out, and the old man knew the pressure on him and a lot of us, including me was just heart-broken. But I couldn't say now and a lot of the others couldn't say no. I think it was 20 of us volunteered to stay over another two weeks, and a lot of airmen. And that was nip and tuck too, I didn't have 5 �any close shaves after that. In late July, determined to go home, I got on a Gooneyird at Kweilin and started my trek back to the United States. FB: Did you have a difficult time getting back? Some of the guys had some problems getting back. CB: The standpoint of getting back, I didn't even worry about it. I'd heard stories about guys previously – as a matter of fact, one of the colonels in the – old Tex Sanders, I knew him back in the States, he was on the induction board back in Kweilin. "Charlie", he said, "I knew you were going to stay over here aren't you?" He said, "You know, going back home on a boat, a submarine would probably sink it." I remember making a comment, I said, "Look Tex, what I've been through, that's the least thing that worries me." I had heard, a lot of them were gonna ask to go back on a boat. A lot of them had been talking to the, I think it was Pan Am that had been flying airplanes were beginning to supply China and some of buddies were flying those airplanes – I knew some of them and they had already made contact with them in order to get back in, maybe an airline, and maybe Pan Am would sign on with them or maybe CNAC. They'd be getting air transportation home. But I didn't even really think about that until I got up into Kweilin – no it was Chunking, where Skip Adair was and we were gonna say the old man good-bye there and Skip Adair asked Bob Neale and I – I told Bob Neale, I said, "Why don't we go together?" We'd been together as Commander and Vice Commander, and inseparable. When we got go Chunking, talking to Skip Adair, he asked us off the side, whether we'd be willing to help Red Petach get back. Her husband had been killed and she was pregnant. Of course we said yes. With that, we took off and told the old man good-bye, and you can imagine how that was. Never forget it. We finally got to Calcutta and there you know, we said, "Well, what do we do?" So we all holed up the British hotel and fortunately, I had some old friends, colonel types, including Colonel Naiden who was a full Colonel at Langley Field when I was a brand new Second Lieutenant. He was Commander of the 10th Air Force at New Delhi, and Colonel Charlie Caldwell who I was 6 �very close to at Langley Field, they were full colonels and generals and I was brazen enough to talk to Bob, and I said, "Let's go up to New Delhi, see what we can do there. We got on a little train, we all went up to New Delhi and I went straight to headquarters, ran into Charlie Caldwell and of course, we just latched on to each other, and told him, and I'll remember for the rest of my life, he got in, got me an audience with General Naiden and General Naiden remembered me at Langley Field and I pleaded my case and I told him, I said, "By the way, we've got Mrs. Petach with us and her husband was killed, they got married several months ago and she's pregnant, and we're taking her back." He said, "I'll see what I can do." So ended up, he didn't even send a wire to General Arnold, he called personally on the telephone. We got a wire back from General Arnold, it says, "Bond, Neale and Petach full privileges all the way home." So, that's the way we got home. FB: Could you tell us about … 7 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v11 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 11 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond describes his survival after the combat in Paoshan, the meeting between the Flying Tigers and General Bissell, and the last days of 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/3f321f246c5e5cd5a2c099a635fff2d4.mp4 e8b3325febdce08dc23f49462f152493 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ab05ed2270700e8f8600444743391a47.pdf c0d7d6eda8825c5bbe7a73182eb38dd5 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 10] FB: Tell us about buzzing the… CB: On the ferry trip when we took off from Karachi, I think our first leg through horrible haze and through dead reckoning navigation, our first place was Jodphur?, India, about the central part of India. Then from there we'd fly on straight down to Calcutta. The city of Agra, where the Taj Mahal was, was sort of en route, and I got thinking about it – the haze was so bad that we gradually had to get lower so I could do some piloting, know where I was, and I was leading the flight, and as we got closer, you could see the beautiful Taj Mahal from a distance. I talked myself into coming down real low, the other guys of course were right with me flinging out, and we turned – we couldn't have been over 50ft. because I remember looking over straight opposite and seeing the Taj Mahal and we circled it just as tight a circle as we could go and then took on off and went on down to Calcutta and as we entered Calcutta where the British were fearful of Japs even coming on over into India, so they had the more prestigious air and for any airplanes coming to Dum Dum Airport I think it was called. We had to fly down what you call corridors and one of the corridors was right down the middle of Hougli? River that flows past Calcutta into the bay. You're supposed to be below 2,000 ft. to identify yourself and then make a right turn at certain time. I got down to about 200 ft. We were right flat just practically in between the taller buildings, flying down that river and the end of the river goes right by the airport, so of course we couldn't get lost. Here we were screaming past me in a P-43, a great deal over there at that time, a little like a zero and with the other P40's following me. If I remember correctly I think there were a total of six of us and we 1 �circled the airport and came in and landed – the usual combat type landings. I remember the operations officer making a comment later on to us – by the way this was sort of a headquarters for CNAC – Chinese National Airways Corporation which was a Chinese airline – making a comment, "You guys are the wildest pilots I've ever seen in my life", but to my knowledge nothing ever got back to the old man that we were in trouble. Everybody enjoyed it! FB: You also at this time currently met some AVG ground crew people who had actually quit. Can you tell us about that? CB: I believe this was in – on the way back we got into Calcutta, we wanted to be sure that the aircraft was in good enough commission and I remember we had to pick up a couple of Chinese pilots flying P-43's since I was going back, and we stayed there a few days and I recall – I don't recall the name of the airman, but a there were a few of them that we ran into in the Great Eastern Hotel in Calcutta. They were on their way back home and we found out they were just fed up and again this was that bad morale when you sit and you don't do anything, and boredom sets in and disgust and confusion, and drinking and so forth and so on and they just decided to quit and go home. FB: And what about once you got back and Chennault told you there were some problems with the pilots too. Apparently there was ……… CB: After we took off from Calcutta we went up to Dinjan and then that was a flight over the hump, flying in a P-43 leading these other guys in the P-40's, single engine airplanes and just dead reckoning navigation, and that's the first time I'd flown my own airplane across the hump. But just opposite Loiwing, as we were going to Kunming, the old man happened to be at Loiwing, he and third squadron was in deep combat and then also I think Tex Hill was second – sort of a conglomeration of first, second and third pilots and airplanes. Of course we were getting low on everything and they were getting hit continually by the Japanese still trying to wipe 'em out, pre the time of actually the ground troops trying to enter southern China. So the old man – I checked in with the 2 �Loiwing ground station instead of a P-43 was [???] communication boys to talk to someone and lo and behold the old man came on and told me to bring the airplanes into Loiwing and I remember distinctly contesting the old man. I think I said something like, "Are you Chennault?" and trying to identify and I made up my mind to sound like him. So we turned and we recovered all the airplanes at Loiwing and turned some of those new P-43's over to them, then the pilots picked up some of the weary ones and I stayed in my P-43 then we were going on to Kunming. We didn't stay at Loiwing too long, didn't get a chance to talk to the pilots except – we were so busy that talking about the intensity of the fighting and it seemed like they were getting over-powered and getting tired, of course, and out of supplies and then we got up to Kunming, after laying there and talking to the grounded pilots, I felt the same type of atmosphere as – getting tired, no action at Kunming and a few of the pilots were leaving and the ground crew too. FB: How did that affect you? CB: It was about this time, actually earlier, that we began to – after December 7th, 8th, we began amongst all of us to talk about possible induction, what's gonna happen to us. Here we are, an American volunteer group, what's gonna happen? We even questioned the old man at times, are we gonna be inducted. We began to hear rumors that he was gonna be inducted and become a brigadier general, and it was about that time that it happened, and this was another thing that sort of caused confusion – what's gonna happen to us. Some of the guys I think began to worry about that. I didn't wanna be inducted, personally. I wanted a regular commission. And is so turned out that I personally went to Chunking in the office of General Bissell personally and told him, "I'll stay here". I told the old man, if I get a regular commission – of course, he rarely dismissed me and said it'd take an Act of Congress. But this is the – I remember talking to a lot of the other pilots – a lot of us felt the same way. I think that had the representatives of the army air corps that came up, and I'm talking about colonel types and even General Bissell – I think if they had approached us in a different manner rather than than dominating, you're gonna do this and do that. 3 �Remember, a lot of these guys, they went to the AVG to get out of service. I remember personally myself that it a little bit demanding. We were tired, combat weary, no doubt, and he was talking to some war weary guys and we were low men on totem pole on supplies and I guess the old man had his problems too, in fact, I know he did. I saw weariness in his face. We were tired and morale was getting bad. Finally, later on [???] did talk to us and officially we were – I got off my subject. FB: We'll get into Bissell in a minute, I'll return to that. There's one other major incident that we'd like you to talk about. Apparently there's a period in May when 25 bombers caught the AVG by surprise at Paoshan and you managed to get a plane in the air but you got shot and you shot one bomber and you ran out of ammo, and then you were attacked by three Zeros and had to bail out on a Chinese cemetery? I that all accurate? If you could talk about that incident. CB: If I were asked what the most gratifying and satisfying event in my AVG life was and what the worst and most horrible catastrophic and traumatic incident in my AVG experience, I would mention the day at Rangoon that I shot three airplanes down and possibly a fourth one on one 30 or 40 minute combat mission. I was jubilant, but at Paoshan when I was shot down the first time in flames, I assure that was not only humiliating but pretty demoralizing, and I must confess it was my own fault. I made a lot of mistakes that a fighter pilot shouldn't make and I think it stemmed from utter confidence, supreme confidence, over confidence. I'll make a short story of this. As I say, at Kunming, we weren't getting in combat, but the third squadron and combination of third section and first squadron at Loiwing were just catching poundings from all directions and continuous and the old man had to do something. The ground troops, the Japanese army was approaching the southern border of China through Burma, and the old man decided that he needed a little bit more support in that quarter of the southern,. extreme southwestern tip of China. There was a little field called Paoshan just across the border from – Bob Neale came in one day and said, "We're gonna have some action". We 4 �took I think it was eight airplanes to Paoshan with a mission of – several missions really – to try to support the retreating Chinese, at least make an appearance over them. We didn't particularly care for that. Also air defense in a an air defense posture, strictly innocent posture. Also with a forthcoming efforts of some, last straw efforts, to stop the Japanese from penetrating the southern tip of China and entering the back door if you will. It would have been annihilating to China, so with those missions in mind, that's the reason he deployed us down there and eventually the outfit at Loiwing had to evacuate to another airfield closer up towards us at Paoshan, I forget where that was. But we lost eventually [???]. But in the meantime, we'd been there only a day or two at Paoshan and no warning at all. Bob Neale and I, I remember this very vividly, Bob Neale and I were cleaning our pistols in the alert shack and Bob Neale ran in and says, "The bombers are coming, or the Japs are coming, get in your airplane." We rushed out of course, and my airplane happened to be the closest one to the alert shack. As crew chief, I'd be all ready to start an airplane. We looked up and we could see the first wave of about 25 Japanese bombers in great big Vee. I'm told, later on I found out that a C54 type aircraft, a four engine airplane that we'd given the Japs earlier, was actually leading that bomber flight and the rest of them were Japanese bombers. But I didn't realize this at the time, didn't pay any attention to it. Bob Neale saw this all so he started shooting his pistol in the air and said, "Too late, get in your ditches, get in your ditches!" But I had already jumped in the airplane, engine was running. Sitting there and looking up and I thought, I can make it, I can make it. Then I was the only one in the airplanes. I disregarded Bob, number one mistake. I shoved the throttle forward, just sitting in the airplane, I hadn't had my seat belt on and my parachute not strapped in, my helmet not on, canopy open. As I stared down the grass field, I knew I wasn't gaining speed, my flaps were still down. I upped those, nearly nosed up as a result of that, but I finally got in the air and I just barely cleared the rocks at the end of the field, and then I realized that I wasn't strapped in. I got strapped in, seat belt, communications, helmet and oxygen mask. Then I was climbing up off to the 5 �left and at the same time looking around, keeping the bombers in sight, and I realized I wasn't gaining any altitude and my engine was heating up too. Suddenly it dawned on me, I hadn't even raised my landing gear. I upped my landing gear and I thought, "It's pretty warm [???]" I looked back and I saw a second wave of 25 bombers coming over. They were some 18,000 ft. at least. I remember I went 20,000 ft. to get above 'em eventually. I was too late to get to them so I figured I'd catch the second ones. The first 25 waves had already dropped all their bombs on the city rather than Paoshan. The city was flooded with refugees coming out of Burma, and the desolation there, I'll never forget it as long as I live after I drove through it later on. It was beautiful bombing, and it just decimated them. I finally got to altitude, about 2,000 ft. above the second wing, caught up with them, and I'm headed down toward the bomber. They dropped their bombs the same way. I remember getting in position and making the first runs on the extreme right hand guys. Formation – beautiful formation – 25 airplanes. I remember my tracers going in an airplane and I saw bits of the – one of the cowls flying off and I came back out to – making those passes – he began to drop off and smoke was coming out of him and I saw him go down towards the overcast – dense smoke – I figured he's done for, so I let him go, I figured I'd shot him down. Then I started after a second one. The second one began to pull off and he started some smoke coming out which was a bluish color and I had been warned about this tactic, that what he was doing was making like he was damaged. You always go after a lame duck so he kept me from going after the others. I started after him, but I was never sure I shot him down. Last time I saw him, he was going towards the overcast, but he was still [???] flying. I figured I'd gotten one for sure and one probable. I remember about that time getting ready to go up and make another pass. I started in on a pass, nothing happened. I'm convinced I had run out of ammunition. In my excitement, thinking I had 25 bombers coming and I'm just gonna eat 'em up, and here I'd run out of ammunition. I think also I was probably holding my purse too long. Again I got tumbling ammunition and inaccuracy. At any rate, it was time to go 6 �back, I'm not sure I know where I am low on gas. I turned around and come back and I forgot completely in my excitement and jubilation about knocking a bomber down and all and coming back and successful and all, I finally found out where I was. I even felt greater then. I came down across the field. Never thinking about fighters possibly involved, and it made sense, here's such an attack, they didn't need fighters. I tried to call a ground radio station but that character was in a ditch so I couldn't get any response. I thought before I land I'll just make my victory roll and I came down and buzzed the field in a victory roll and then I turned around to make my traffic pattern, normal traffic pattern. I thought I'll widen my traffic pattern to fly over the city to see the damage which was disastrous. I became completely entrapped in that while I was making my – and then towards my approach to the field, throttling back, put my flaps down, my wheels down, and as I started putting my wheels down, I heard a loud explosion. I thought, gee, that's my hydraulic system. I'd been having trouble with my hydraulic system or landing gear. Then I reached down to recycle it and then I pulled my hand back. I looked down – it was fire coming out from the rear. Then I knew something, I turned and looked back and it was three Zeros right on my tail. I hunched – I remember hunching to get my [???] up behind my armor plate because the shells, the ammo had gone through my fuselage tank which was right in the back that had emptied fuel but had [???] fumes but was a perfect thing for explosion. That's what exploded and then the flames began to become to curl around my legs up in the cockpit. Just for a split second, I gave up. Just for a split second I gave up. Then I thought, you can't do that. Then I thought, I'm out of ammunition – this is all much faster than I can tell it. I remember pulling back the – rolling back the windshield. Then I said, "The flames kept getting closer so I unbuckled my seat belt. 7 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v10 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 10 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond discusses the period when the pilots were concerned over the future of the American Volunteer Group and their possible induction, in addition to the most memorable event in his life in the AVG that took place at Paoshan. 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/032fd84272405fc2363a1ff746a62aa0.mp4 9fedf46bc4560dc56bdaaf3946ed94cb https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2adfbb53d4d013f71b120f96537864a6.pdf b8199e3312930b3a168f2a5526455d90 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 9] CB: …… from my book, I guess, than me. FB: It's not just that book, you mentioned a lot of books – most of the ones we've read about. CB: This is off the record now but old Dick Rossi and I, we're very proud, we always say to each other – and Bob Neale of course – our squadron did most of the fighting, but I dare say, so'd the first and second. FB: I understand you met Stillwell, could you tell us about that? CB: In one of the occasions while we were at Kunming, I hadn't yet gone down to Rangoon – we'd do anything to kill time and I remember if an air force – army air corps airplane would come, most of us would go down where our operations was to see if anybody's on it we knew and a lot times some of our old buddies would come in, particularly in a C-87 or B-24. FB: So occasionally you could see some of your old buddies …… CH Yeah, and it happened on one of those particular occasions that I saw some men sitting under the wing of a C-47 Gooney Bird that had air force markings on it, army air corps marks on it, and I strolled over to see what it was, and lo and behold one of them turned out to be old General Stillwell with his old war beaten Stetson on. I got into conversation with him and we knew that he and Chennault were locking horns about strategy, support and so forth in China. I got to talking to him – he, of course, was more interested in hearing our stories and I guess I talked to him about 20–30 minutes and I remember making a warrant that we felt was pretty good – I and two or three other guys – I forget 1 �who – but I remember him making a warrant, he says, "You guys have done a terrific job", or something like that; he really complimented us. FB: On 23rd March, there was a raid on Chiang Mai, and you and Rector had to escort McGarry's burning ship across the Salween. Do you recall that, he was later captured and imprisoned? Do you recall that particular incident? CB: Can you cut off for a second? After we, the first squadron rotated out of Magwe to go up to Kunming and then all the Olsen third squadron came down and replaced us. Here again, we were sitting there with nothing to do. No [???] bombers coming up from French Indo China whatsoever to bomb Kunming, and things got pretty boring. Really at Kunming, we were too far from the Japanese front where the air bases were to hit 'em by let's say offensive strikes without deploying, I mean stopping at some base en route. As a result of Magwe getting just clobbered, this was I think in early March, just getting clobbered. As a matter of fact we lost 2 or 3 boys bombing on the ground – being bombed on the ground from Japanese bombs. So the old man – he set out and between him and Bob Neale and Jack Newkirk, he figured out a way we could hit the headquarters and the headquarters base of the southeastern Japanese air force at Chiang Mai, Thailand, but we'd have to stop at one or two bases which actually the plan turned out to be. Bob Neale came in one day and says, "We gonna go hit 'em. The old man is tired of this, we gonna take revenge against the Japs on Magwe. So it ended up 10 aircraft between Newkirk's four and our first squadron, Bob Neale's six, we took off for Loiwing, which is just north of the Burmese border, to refuel there and go to a little air base called Namsang, just across the border from Thailand and a northeastern portion of Burma. It was another sort of RAF outlying base but did fly out of it, and they had a fueling service and all. I'm sure the old man laid on plans with the RAF to do this and the whole idea was to catch the Japanese air force on the ground at Chiang Mai Air Base and a supporting air base, I think it was called Lampang, just south of Chiang Mai about 20 miles, an outlying supporting base if you 2 �will. And the plan was that we would sneak in to Namsang, just before dark out of Lashio and early the following morning before daylight, the ten of us would take off, the plan of six of us, Neale's, an outfit of six, we'd strike Chiang Mai and Newkirk's four, him leading them, would fly past Chiang Mai off to the east a little, and go on down and hit Lampang, I believe that's the name of it, to the south. We were supposed to take off and rendezvous at 10,000 ft. This was before dawn and I remember, I hadn't flown a P-40 at night – I'd flow a lot of airplanes at night but never had I flown a P-40 at night – and some of the boys just – I think it was Bill Bartling if I remember correctly – he hadn't had much time in a P-40 and not much time at night. He'd never flown a P-40 at night and here we were blacked out and all on a grassy field, no lights and we parked a truck up at the end of the field with the headlights on, aimed our aircraft at that as the only reference. When you revved up the old P-40 with those exhausts on each side, blue flames coming out of that things, 52" of manifold pressure would stream past you way back past where you were sitting in the cockpit and it was sort of blinding. I was worried about some of the guys taking off, as a matter of fact, I worried about myself, but I eventually got Harris, the second guy to go with Bob Neale. Our six got in the air, then Newkirk's four and we assembled at 10,000 ft. and it was just breaking dawn when we could get together. For some reason or another, I don't know to this day, Newkirk's four never did rendezvous with us, and Bob decided to go on. Let me back up just a second. Bob and I discussed this in detail that night before we went to bed. We had to maintain radio silence because it's – complete surprise, and I had been over Chiang Mai, Thailand when we were at Toungoo reconnaissance mission, and it's right at the foot of a huge mountain which is a summer palace of the king and queen of Thailand. That mountain just sticks up like an ice cream upside down. I had seen the base, I knew the position of it. Bob Neale had never seen it and I remember Bob and I – he said, "Tell you what, I think if I'm not mistaken it was gonna take an hour and two minutes on a specific heading, I forget what that heading it was, just purely dead reckoning because (a) it was so much, we couldn't 3 �even see the becalmed river, couldn't even see the ground, just the top of the mountains coming through, so purely just dead reckoning, and Bob says, "Now, if you see me – " I was flying on his wing, there's four and then two, I think Ed Rector and McGarry were in the top cover, they were gonna be top cover for us. And Bob Neale and I, and Bill Bartling and Pappy Boyington were the attack four. Bob said, "Tell you what, Charlie, if you think I'm past this place, and I don't know where it is, you come up next to me and wiggle your wings and pat yourself on the head, and I'll know that you know where we are, and you do this, see." I said, "Okay." When we assembled by the way at 10,000 ft. when I saw Bob Neale's airplane when I came with Tex Hill, Bill Bartling had joined him. Bill looked back and saw me, he knew he wasn't supposed to be there, so he dropped out and I got on his wing. I watched the clock ahead on my dash [??] and of course looking down, and finally I saw this peak coming up – in about an hour and two minutes coming up – sure enough, just opposite, I knew where I was exactly. Just opposite it where it began to disappear between a line through Bob Neale's wings, I thought, Bob, this is it, and just for a few seconds, I let it go – fly further on, then I said, "gotta do it". So I pulled up, wiggled my wings, touched my head. Bob nodded and he talked back, pulled back, finally got out of my way, and I immediately went into a shallow diving turn, pushed the throttle open and as I got lower, of course, you could see through the haze, and right in front of my airplane, the nose, I saw that square of the field. And I was just jubilant. Another thousand feet or so, I checked my guns and fired the guns so they could trace us. They knew this was it. As I came across my first pass, they were caught completely flat-footed, and three more P-40's right behind me, and with six guns and those aircraft were lined up, wing tip to wing tip, and this downed one that made it 273 [??], downed another one, and I ended up making four passes before I saw return fire – passes going past me – I only saw one airplane, it was Bill Bartling's airplane, doing that pass. The rest of the guys made several passes too, but I distinctly remember making four passes, and thinking back now, I'd never do that again. At any 4 �rate, we did it. Then we started climbing off, and as we climbed away coming around the mountain and looked back, the entire field was up in smoke, the entire airfield was covered by it. Newkirk, coming back from the lower – attack on the lower field – they confirmed the fact that they could see the smoke before they got back even with – Chiang Mai airfield. As we were going back, we assembled, I think it was Ed Rector, McGarry and Bill Bartling with me. Bob Neale had Boyington with him. We were gonna to recover at Namsang, refuel and take off immediately. We were still worried about maybe some of the Japs'd get off but there was no way. McGarry's airplane began to show smoke and he started falling back and I knew something was wrong so we circled him for a while and he got lower and lower. Finally, his airplane turns upside down and he did, he rolled it, rolled his canopy back and baled out. Then I circled and dropped him a map, just in case, but I don't know whether he ever got it or not. But he ended up as a P.O.W., then when we got back to Namsang, I told Bob Neale about McGarry, and of course that was a black spot on the whole mission. But we felt absolutely jubilant about the success of it. When we got back up to Loiwing, we found out – we found that out at Namsang, Buss Keeton came in before with Newkirk and he told us about Newkirk who went straight in a target, we don't know whether it was a tank or what, but he went straight in from strafing. What they did was, on the way back, there was no airplanes on that field, so they strafed the railroad and the highways coming back up, and he saw, from what Buss Keeton said, he saw what looked like a tank or a personnel carrier, military weapon – military vehicle – and I'm sure Newkirk was good enough at hitting not to have target fixation. I think he was shot down and he went straight in. He was killed instantly. FB: There was a time that you and some other pilots were asked to bring in some new P-40E's from Karachi? I understand that there's an interesting story about that – an interesting story involving Claire Booth Luce and somebody called you the "seven wild men?" CB: There were a lot of wild of wild things about that! Our airplanes were running out. They were not only tired but they were wearing out. We lost a few and we did replacements, 5 �and of course, this was April – United States was at war against Japan, so they had to consider supplying Generalissimo with his little air force with a handful of P-40's. Generalissimo arranged for us to pick up some replacement P-40's in Karachi. They turned out to be a P40E version of [??] His later P-40 had six 50 calibers in it, three in each wing tip, devastating fire power. Little bit heavy airplane, about the same type fire power, and about the same type of performance. The old man would send those that seemed to have had most in combat or looked to be the most fatigued and I guess I was one of them; eventually he got to take a flight with me down across India to Karachi to pick up these airplanes and we of course flew by CNAC and in a Dutch patrol – a Dutch amphibian type aircraft. At the river at Calcutta, took off for the last flight, flying about 70 miles an hour, flew all the way across India to Karachi. Landed once in a lake at – I forget, some place in India. In between, when we got down – first we landed at Lashio?, then Dinjhan, northern India – that's just across the hump, and refueled there and then went down to Calcutta. At Calcutta we had to wait for this British, BOAC aircraft, so we decided to have some fun and go on out into the countryside and we went to a theater where they had a show and a lot of – it was a live show, a lot of girls, prettiest girls, American girls, and several of us ended up supposedly having dates with them and then we went on the rest of the night. It's a good thing we didn't [???[ the following morning or we'd never have made it, but we had a good time there, and then we finally took off and went up to Calcutta and there we had to get checked out in a P40E – a bit different, briefed on it because we were gonna fly it back. Unfortunately they had only five ready, but they had some P-43's they were putting together at Karachi to give to the Chinese, P43's or 4, one or the other, P-47 [??] Being the leader of the flight, I said, "You guys can fly the P40E's, I'll get checked out on the P43 and fly it back. They got checked out in it and a lot of the other guys also got checked out in it, and of course, getting checked out and being used to the way we flew it, particularly Toungoo and Kunming and other places we located at, we had our procedure to come in and land tactical, come across the 6 �field, low altitude, zoom up, practically acrobatics and then come in, practice [???] landing. They didn't have very good air traffic control and as a result, the United States Army Air Corps Colonel, he got very upset at us and I remember when they finally got checked out and were ready to take off and leave, I think the operations officer said, "We're glad to get rid of you guys." But we flew them on back to Kunming. 7 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v09 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 9 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond describes his meeting with General Stilwell in Kunming and the time when a group of AVG pilots known as the "seven wild men" picked up replacement P-40 airplanes in Karachi. 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/a8cfa594c9fe2ce9c8e2f439c2bcdaf8.mp4 a1544bb708e0946b4ef3ed328a43f2f0 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a0a2852e102fe042b7d431dc7afa7fb5.pdf bee4cc47bf444c3becc9b8de9576814a PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 8] CB: In this engagement, on my first, second pass, well really on the first pass I didn't get him into position to fire on him. I definitely remember a yellow stripe around the rear part of his fuselage, just ahead of the empennage rudder, and the next thing I knew, I was looking back trying to get into position. I saw Bob Neale in number 7. And so both of us were trying to corner this little character, we'd make a run on him and then when we'd pass him he'd turn east and we'd try to catch him again, try and make another one on him. And finally, after at least six or seven minutes I know, maybe even longer, I had come up on the rear of him, and Bob was behind me, and of course he saw me coming. And he turned at the proper time to keep me from, I was too far away to fire on him, and then I might have caught him in a full deflection, my gunnery wasn't that good. I fired at him of course, it went on past him. And then Bob – then they started to straighten out, you know – and then Bob came up behind him and just let him have it. So it was between us two that we finally got him down. And I never will forget, I remember making comments in my diary and thinking about it later on, that that character had to be an experienced Japanese fighter pilot, and probably even a squadron commander, because he knew what he was doing. FB: There's an incident, apparently at the hotel where you and the RAF had a little bit of a battle. [CB laughs] Can you tell us about that? CB: Course in between all this fighting, you know, when we had a day off because of fatigue and all, and all the pilots would go on rest and recuperation, if you will. And one of our favorite haunts and hangouts was the Silver Grill Restaurant and Hotel, the main one in 1 �downtown Rangoon. And it was the favorite one for all of us to get together, and start out with drinks and have something to eat. And it was the closest thing to American food we could get. And of course, you know, no matter who you are, a fighter pilot in the RAF, a fighter pilot in the Flying Tigers, or even one of the poor old bomber boys, we'd get together and have bull sessions. And at times, you know, sometimes they'd get heated up. They'd brag about their Hurricanes, the RAF that came up from Singapore would brag about those poor old Brewsters aircraft, and then the Blenheim boys would stick their two cents in. But usually it ended up in an argument between the RAF and us about which was the best airplane, so forth. Burgard and I, and I think it was Bob Little and probably one or two others. But we'd had drinks, and I distinctly remember I was getting clobbered. I remember George Burgard telling me later, he said, "You sat there with a dirty, sneering look on your face, and you made a comment. Something that just further irritated them." And you know, we almost came to blows. And it ended up, we didn't come to fisticuffs, but as we were leaving I had to go back to the men's room and as I came out these other guys were gone. And as I walked out the front door, here was Bob Little and Burgard leaving me in a jeep. And I remember screaming to the high heaven and hollering at them and finally they heard me and turned around and picked me up. And that was a wild ride to get us back to our quarters, because here was Bob Little, George Burgard and me, skunk drunk, and trying to find where George Burgard and I lived. We'd go in one driveway after another, and [laughs], and running over the, you know where the streets come together, they'd have a circle. We wouldn't go around the circle, we'd just go up the curb and down through the next curb. And finally we found where George and I lived and we told Bob Little goodbye and apparently he got back home. [laughs] (break) FB: … he didn't show up for duty, didn't even show up for duty. Neale, Bob Neale balled him out. Were you privy to that? 2 �CB: Oh yeah. It's in my book. FB: Could you tell us about that? CB: Uh, well carrying on from some of these escapades to [?]. I remember one occasion – this turned out to be a party at one of the other pilot's homes. I mean the home of some British or Dutch RN Company guy. Where they stayed, they had several bedrooms. They decided to have a party, so all of us that particularly had the next day off, or whether we had the next day off or not because we had the same schedule. We all went to the same party. It turned out to be a wild one, and particularly with the RAF boy – those RAF boys know how to have a party. So it really got wild. Matter of fact, a few of them fisticuffs, I remember I had to hold old Jim Cross off little old Kuykendall one time. FB: Pulled him off of? You had to break up a fight? CB: And you know, it got to fisticuffs, I remember one instance where old Jim Cross was going to take on poor little old Matt Kuykendall and I had to pull him off, and finally settle that down. And I didn't know that I was even capable, but I did so. And that went on through the wee hours of the morning, and the next morning I, being the scheduling officer, had to go out there anyhow and I didn't know how I made it. But some of the guys showed up late, and you know, poor old Pappy Boyington, sure enough, you know, boy he had his share of it. And two or three others showed up just like him, but particularly Pappy, he was just too drunk to fly an airplane. And Bob Neale, of course being the boss, oh he just became furious. And that's the first time I really remember Bob Neale really, really getting on old Pappy. And here Pappy was his vice commander. And I was just standing off to the side listening to this, and boy, he just let him have it. And I think that was really the start downwards of Pappy, and later on when we eventually got back up to Kunming, you know, that's when he'd had it and the old man fired him and he left the theater. FB: What were the last days of Rangoon like, the fall of Rangoon? 3 �CB: This in between time at the Silver Grill and the furious fighting during the days, it seemed to get worse, and worse, and worse. We even got to talking, at times, you know in the alert shack, "Gee, what if these Japanese would make a parachute drop with airborne troops on this place, what would we do?" And you know, these types of thoughts began to crop up in our minds and we were getting tired. You know it was really time for us to rotate, but there was no sign of it. We were getting low on oxygen and all, and the warning time, I remember many times towards the last few days of February. I think we evacuated on the 27th of February, last time we flew out. But just a few days before that, I wouldn't even check my mags. I wouldn't even check my mags on takeoff, because I'd rather get in the air than stay on the ground and abort a takeoff with a bad engine, and got by with it. But the… well I remember one evening, got to talking with Bob about this, we were sitting around between air raid alarms. And, you know, I said, "Bob, maybe we ought to have an evacuation plan." He says, "Yeah, let's write up one. How 'bout you write up one." So I drew on my experience back in 1939, when I went from Langley Field to McDale Field. I had to write a plan there to take troops down. And I prepared an evacuation plan to move north to Magwe, several hundred miles up the river. And we had that plan prepared and, sure enough, I’m glad we did because it was towards the end, Bob Neil came by our quarters where George Burgard and I were asleep and woke us up and said, “The British have pulled out their radar.” He said, “We’ve gotta get out of here.” And I remember we had one load of oxygen – the load in the aircraft, that was the last oxygen we had and I think we were out of tires. So we were all up the rest of the night getting the polish together and getting the airplanes ready to take off at dawn. And the first elements of the crew chiefs with their individual jeeps [?] – jeeps and trucks – and some other trucks loaded with a lot of stuff we’d gotten from the docks incidentally. And get them up the road to Magwe. And the next morning we took off, but Bob Neil, bless his heart, he and one other guy – Snuffy Smith – they decided to stay and make one flight that morning to make a search to see if they could find Ed Lieboat [?] who, one of our 4 �polished in first squadron, had taken off the day before in combat and never returned. And to this day, we don't know what happened to him. But we evacuated in the last few days of February up to Magwe. FB: Did you go into Rangoon? I mean, did you go into the town as the evacuation was happening? Did you actually have a chance to go in and see the docks? [Inaudible] CB: It was during this intensive combat, some of the airmen had times off too because their particular airplane wasn’t on schedule. And the rumor got around towards the end everyone was evacuating – the people, the civilians – and they were even turning the lepers and the insane people out of the asylums. We could see them wandering up and down the streets and all of our host and hostesses were gone. Matter of fact, we gave one of our crew chiefs a job of being the master sergeant. He would go around and get eggs or something from the countryside and we’d eat off the back end of the pickups. The [?] was still coming in, ships were unloading, the equipment I have no way to estimate all of it but I do know there was just millions and millions of dollars and hundreds and hundreds of trucks – big six by’s – and jeeps… that’s where we got the jeep. So some of the airmen, it was a favorite pastime of theirs during these breaks, they’d take their jeep – usually a truck – and go down to the docks and here the Burmese [?] unloading these ships. And they didn’t know from nothing, all of their bosses are practically gone, too, but the guys who had the ships, they wanted to get out of there so bad. So these airmen would act like some tycoon or some boss in charge and say something in English. Of course, they couldn’t understand them and they’d tell ‘em, “Put that over in my jeep, put that in the truck.” And they’d come back with those trucks just loaded down. Bob Hasting was a great one with this and no telling how many trucks he got up the road. Well one time at the field a liquor store salesman, Dutchman, came by where we had our aircraft parked for takeoff, you know, for alert, and honked for us. And a couple of the guys went down there and he threw the keys over the fence to these airmen and said that’s his liquor store “so you can go down and get anything you want.” So there were 5 �truckloads of liquor that went up. As a matter of fact, I remember getting two cases of Dry Sack Cherry, which was good stuff, but it was awful sweet! And no telling, well Bob… George Burgard brought a jeep back full of toothpaste, cookies… one of my crew chiefs, I think it was, brought me a radio back and I used that radio for the rest of my tour in the Far East for getting news on the war. FB: There was a day, apparently, six AVG’s escorted RAF bombers on a mission to Bilin and you attacked [?] trucks and you flew so low that the propeller got… could you tell us about that please? CB: As I said before, we were primarily in an intercept mode, but towards the end the British became desperate, we had to do something to help the retreating Gurkhas and British troops because Japanese were pressing them. Pretty soon began to get so close to Rangoon that they wanted us to give them some close air support and of course we had the six guns and the aircraft – we could do it. So they began to schedule strafing missions and I remember one occasion it was sort of a hunt and seek or seek and hunt and kill type of a reconnaissance. Bob sent me and I believe it was Snuffy Smith. We took off and we were to… it was initially patrol east of Rangoon in case of poor warning. We’d at least have an airborne patrol and if nothing happened towards the end, go down and look at the approaching highways or roads - main roads - to Rangoon from Thailand in case of any Japanese convoys and strafe them. So low and behold, that’s exactly what happened. We caught a Japanese column on the road and Snuffy was firing on wings so he followed me and we strafed that column from one end to the other and this thing had to be at least four or five miles long… FB: Alright, so you were strafing… CB: This column had to be at least five or six miles long and we strafed ‘em. I remember I jink to fire and pull up to keep from running into them. And a lot of the artillery pieces were pulled by horses and I remember seeing the men scatter and go to the ditches at times and I remember killing, you know, seeing horses fall. And I remember once seeing 6 �a hole in the top of my wing where the metal curled out, where a bullet hole had gone through it. Fortunately didn’t get in through the fuel tank – that made me think a little. But anyway, that was towards the end of the strafing and we made a run on him and no telling how much damage we did to those, but at least we did it. And then on the way back, Bob had told me that there was a [?] that had been shot down over in the area and be sure, if you see it, they belly-land strafe it and be sure it destroys it or maybe set it on fire. I made several passes at that thing and as I pulled off my last pass, my aircraft went into a very high vibration, the whole airplane, and I thought, “Oh, what’s happened?” I thought I’d gotten ground fire. And I throttled back and finally I found a position in the RPM where the vibration was released and I finally – very tense – finally got back to [?] and landed. And when I pulled up on top of the engine, the prop blade turned up and it was a bullet hole, fifty caliber, right through the middle of that prop that, of course, made it unbalanced. FB: How did that happen? How did it happen – how did the hole become? CB: I think what happened in that case… see the two fifty calibers are in the top of the fuselage and the butts come out right over your knees. As a matter of fact, our trousers were full of oil all the time from the oil dropping off the gun and we charge them, you see. And they shoot through the propeller – they’re timed to shoot between the blades and you could imagine. If you hold the fire too long and I think that’s what I was doing, you know, holding down the trigger too much and my bursts were too long. The barrels get awful hot and your ammo, your bullets, do what we call “tumble.” You know, the [?] expands and the bullet isn’t guided and it tumbles. And therefore, the time from the muzzle to the propeller gets out of timing and eventually one of ‘em catches the prop. And of course, fifty caliber knocks a hole in it about an inch and a half and that makes the balance of the propeller balance wrong. FB: I understand at this time there was a real sense of war-weariness… all of you guys were getting tired. The conditions in Magwe were really poor and I understand that you 7 �actually had to talk to some of the men about like a pep talk or something. Could you please tell us about that? CB: Well as I told you, you know we evacuated from Rangoon up to Magwe and Magwe was quite a lively base with a lot of evacuating RAF outfits from the lower part of… some from Singapore even went up there without coming to Rangoon but the remaining RAF outfit in Rangoon also went to Magwe. And there were some bases… there were some [?] already based in Magwe, so it was a pretty heavily populated base. And then when we got our P-40’s in there it was really heavily populated. You can imagine after this type of combat – we were daily fighting, the airmen just working around the clock to keep the airplanes in commission. And we began to worry about supplies and all and then we began to worry about air envelopment of the Japanese troops. And the morale of the outfit began to droop a little and I remember feeling battle fatigue. By that time I think I had around eight to my credit and I had bullet holes in my airplane. But even then… I detected the morale of the men and after we got up to Magwe we thought, “Well the Japs are still coming up, surely they’ll hit this base.” So the airmen were tired, too, and I can understand because we were just working them to a bone. And they got…as a matter of fact they began to talk about, “I’m going to quit” or “I’ve had enough of this,” you know. And so I remember one night sitting down, Bob Neil and Snuffy Smith later on came up after we had landed and they got lost on the way so we didn’t really recover them until the next day. The haze was almost impossible – anybody would get lost. But I was there by myself so I decided to get the men together and give them a talk and I did the best I could and they took it. And after a lot of commiseration involved… we worked it out. And the next few days the British didn’t – I mean the Japs – didn’t come up and hit us there. But we retired and the old man, so he sent the third squadron down at Magwe to replace us so we… and then later on, boy the third squadron got what we really feared. They got all-out attacks and practically wiped out almost. 8 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v08 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 8 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond discusses the fall of Rangoon and the war-weariness the AVG experienced after they evacuated from Rangoon up to Magwe. 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/a5192bef14b2c22b047ca907142ca1d9.mp4 838553d94f03e4b3736620728424f315 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f5343b57208d08020465d24532d4c9e5.pdf 3106963ff8a4b30857d8f1942495a196 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 7] FB: There's two people that have cropped in the various books that we've read, I wonder if you could comment on Harvey Greenlaw and his wife Olga. What can you tell us about them? CB: I considered Harvey Greenlaw, if you will, as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Vice Commander, whereas, Skip Adair was the Chief of Staff, that's putting him in the military vernacular, that's the way that I passed. But Harvey Greenlaw had a lot of experience over in the Orient before, similar to Chennault and he knew the ropes of the Far East and he was, of course, much older than me or most of the pilots and airmen, and Olga was his wife. I don't even know how long they were married, but she was oriented to the Far East too, and she turned out to be a sort of historian really of the Flying Tigers, and I remember in Burma when I was thinking about writing the regulations, if you will, of [???] and all, I wouldn't go to the old man, I'd go to either Skip Adair or Harvey Greenlaw who'd talk to me. We got along great, as a matter of fact he always said, "That's great and so forth, see what the old man has to say about it". Of course, the General in these days, before he went to [??], they didn't participate in the actual flying, none of them got in a P-40, certainly Harvey Greenlaw didn't. I don't even remember meeting Olga in the Burma area, but up in Kunming of course, I remember meeting her and I think that's where she and Greenlaw were living all the time, and Harvey Greenlaw, a lot of pictures you see him with the old man and he was really part of the staff, the command structure of the unit with the three technical squadrons under him. I didn't grow to know him too close, he'd been a okay guy to me and Olga was a very striking woman in my opinion and she was close to the guys as were the two nurses, Red & Jo, but I don't know 1 �much about her. I remember speaking to her. I remember one time in Rangoon, she wanted my diary, or what I'd written so far, but I considered it personal so I wouldn't give it to her. FB: What led up to the arrival in Rangoon? Did you transfer there by airplane, did you get there by train? How did you get there? CB: The fighting was fierce at Rangoon in the December and January time, and the old man had to replace the pilots and the airplanes and in particular get rid of the boredom up in Kunming. I think the first rotation element was the second squadron out of Newkirk's outfit. They stayed there awhile. The squadrons overlapped and there was always a mixture of the Third and Second and the Second and the First and ultimately, the First which was our was ultimately evacuated. But the rotation of the men and equipment which the old man decided to use as a system, it caused us to arrive in increments. The first increment of pilots and aircraft that went down from our First Squadron, it was one out of a sort of a random selection of… CB: It was done out of a sort of random selection – in other words we'd draw numbers out of a hat. I didn't get to go and I was very frustrated, I remember that time. But soon thereafter, maybe a couple of weeks, a second chance came up and I made that one and there was about eight of us I think in that crew and we flew our P-40's down. Naturally I want to tell you a non-tired if you will P-40 down with us. On the way down we landed at Lashio of course and then into Kunming, and of course when we arrived there, we arrived ready to fight, and unfortunately I remember landing my aircraft on the runway at Mingladon, I ran over a bomb fragment with my right landing gear and blew a tire and I've never flown an airplane so much in my life to keep it from nosing up, but I did. I didn't lose the airplane fortunately, and they had it repaired in nothing flat. You're talking about maintenance now. Those boys down there were just fabulous at maintaining those aircraft. So we arrived ready to fight. FB: When you did arrive, what were your living conditions like? Where did you stay? 2 �CB: When our contingent arrived at Rangoon, we were ready to fight, ready to go. We didn't think in terms of anything else but, gee, when will I get the first Jap, when will I get involved in this thing first, and all of a sudden, we didn't think, gee where's the alert shack? Where we gonna eat? Where we gonna live? And finally all of that began to reveal itself, that evidently the RAF had a contract with the local civilians – there was no barracks – as a matter of fact the RAF contingent, what few barracks they had, the Blenheim bomber boys and the Hurricane boys of the RAF, Royal Air Force, they had taken up all the facilities they had on the base, so we had to be quartered on the city, and it turned out to be that anybody – any family that was living in the city that had space and by the contract, and I presume the RAF paid 'em, they would take us into their home and it ended up that evening that George Burguard and I were assigned to live with a employee of the Dutch Oil Company, terrific guy, and he had a servant for us, and we had our own room, and our own bath facilities. We had this boy that waited on us. As a matter of fact in the evening when we came in, he'd come in with a drink for us – handed it to us – and then the cooking was absolutely outstanding. And then we had jeeps, and that's another story, how we got the jeeps. Everybody had a jeep, everybody had a jeep. And that's the first time, by the way, I saw a jeep. I was amazed at this little thing. And we'd spend more time training ourselves on how to operate that jeep than we would on an airplane. I remember Bob Neale trying to drive up a revetment one time, so we had plenty of transportation and we'd just drive up to one of the – I think we used aircraft gas out of the aircraft refueling tanks to fill up our jeeps. That way we had plenty of fuel and always a ready jeep. Each one of us had a jeep, the whole outfit, and of course towards the end when the whole thing got pretty rough, we was fighting so much and it was obvious the Japs were gonna take the place, and of course, the people began to evacuate and leave, the wealthier people began to leave Rangoon and then eventually the poor people had to leave too. Mr. Jenkins was our proprietor, if you will, terrific man – never forget him as long as I live – just as nice to us – he gave us a key to his house and everything. He'd 3 �already evacuated his wife and his boy stayed with us for a couple of nights but that wasn't gonna work. Eventually we moved into another facility that had extra space where I think Bob Little – Bob Prescott moved in with us. So we had – laundry was a problem. Eventually when everybody was evacuated from Rangoon, mess eating was a problem. We began to go to the officer's club, the British – I remember a lot of times we had warm beer and toast for breakfast. The airmen were doing a little better. We called it the ranks, it was an outlying – I think it was a military installation from the field proper, a few miles from it where the British RAF airmen lived, and that's where they put our airmen. Of course, each one of them had a jeep so they had transportation. And then every once in a while we'd go out there and have food with them, and boy, it was like going to a restaurant. It was really good. FB: When did you finally get a chance to see battle again? CB: It was some time in January. If I remember correctly we arrived – the contingency I was in arrived in early January and to tell you when the next time … [Interruption] … When we arrived at Rangoon the contingent I was in – we were primed and ready to fight and then we got quarters and the next morning we were out there before daylight, because we'd been briefed, and a few hours talking with the guys that had already been there – and they were just jubilant about the record we were having – there's no comparison of the number of airplanes we would lose, practically nothing. Many times nothing, and we'd shoot down maybe 15 or 20 of their airplanes. But also, here we were 15 to 20 airplanes, and the most I ever saw at any one time when I was there was 14 P-40's in the air at one time against maybe 120 Japanese airplanes. The new arrivals thought this is gonna be grim, so there was good and bad aspects of it. We didn't have long to wait because the Japs were determined to wipe us out at Rangoon, and make it easy for the ground troops to come up and take the place and they were advancing all the time, the ground troops were up in Singapore. When we arrived, my contingent arrived with Sandell leading it, Japs were already up to as close to Mu Ming, right across the border in 4 �Thailand from Rangoon. They were very close. We immediately started fighting. The British had a little radar, early warning radar deployed out towards the east and south east to give us a warning. It would give us a few minutes. At first it would give us maybe ten or fifteen minutes and towards the end, as a matter of fact, we'd sweat the takeoff, hoping to get off because it was such a short warning, but I remember one day, I was taking off, beating Japanese, shooting, getting shot at, coming back and landing as many as four times in one day. That's how intense it got at times. And of course, in between those times, various guys, including myself, were shooting down airplanes and getting shot and getting hit. We lost a few and we lost a couple of pilots. It was continuous FB: When you got an alert, you had to go scramble … CB: As I say, it just seemed like it was continuous every day. Of course, we had enough pilots that we'd have days off, and I remember this specifically because I hated to be on a day off and I'd come out to the field next day and find the guys had combat, met the Japs, had a chance to get into it. As I say, we lost a few. I remember losing one or two pilots and I forget specifically which one this was. I think it was old Hoffman, one of the oldest pilots we had, a navy boy. I was a pall bearer at his burial and Padre Frillman, our chaplain, was the – he was administering the last rites, and I remember distinctly, when we carried his casket with the flag on it to the grave, we could smell him, and that odor you never forget. I remember it was either right during that funeral and, by the way, this was right near the airport where we buried him. It was either during the funeral or right after, we had a air raid alarm and some of the guys took off – I don't think it was that one but the second or third one, I was back on alert, and I took off, and this is when we were meeting a ten or fifteen to one type odds. We'd scramble and take off and this was one of the most intense combats I remember me having, and I remember the first airplane that I knew positively that I had shot down personally, and I could claim it personally as opposed to the Chunking raid, where so many of us came in and shot – and the bomber didn't go down but later on they went down. In other words, they divided the $500 per airplane 5 �amongst all the guys who were on that flight. That's when you see somebody get – for instance I had nine and a fourth or nine and a half to my credit. FB: As I understand it, the fields, the airfields themselves had unique names, you named them different names? CB: During the part of the fighting which I was personally involved in at Rangoon during the months of January and February, it go so intense – it was intense even before it got down there – but it continued intense. The Japs even came over at night and started trying to bomb us at the fields, and they made a couple of bombing runs actually against the fields, the bombers got through without us keeping them away. A few Brewster's and Hurricanes were lost and maybe one of our aircraft got strafed, I don't remember. At any rate, we had to do something. We couldn't get caught on the ground, the old man had taught us this and I'm sure he briefed old Sandell and Bob Neale who eventually took over from Sandell, that you can't get caught on the ground. So, with the cooperation of the British, and I think what they did just bulldozed out some of the flat countryside not in the rice field area but old hard clay area, a few miles from Mingladon proper. We used those as dispersal fields at night. Just before darkness we'd fly the airplanes out there. An airman would be out there to meet us and bring us back in jeeps and for the lack of a name or something, we'd use liquor names. One was called "Whiskey Field" I believe, and another one was called "John Haig Field", wait a minute, "John Haig" for one, and I think the other one was "Whiskey" – no, "John Walker Field", that's right, "John Walker" and "John Haig", and to my knowledge, it was only those two. This got pretty touchy at times because early morning fog – trying to take the airplanes off on a grass field with no maintenance capability at all, and with the fuel still in the airplane we'd put in the night before, then taking off, and maybe even climbing through low clouds and then getting on top, with no navigation capability, yet it was only a few miles to go. But it got kinda touchy, and towards the end, just before we had to evacuate, we actually went about 6 �dispersing some of the airplanes on the extreme outer edges of the field proper. But even up towards the last, we were still using some outer fields. FB: There was an incident, I guess, where you and Neale fought one enemy pilot for over ten minutes. What was the story behind that? CB: I might tell you one story where I think it's the first airplane I definitely identified as I personally shooting it down. I knew the bullets were my gun's ammo, and actually knocked that airplane down. He came up from above and he mis-judged and coming up out of the loop and then turned on top like – top of the loop, and right in front of me, all I had to do was squeeze the trigger, and he was just engulfed in fire. As a matter of fact, it closed in so close, that suddenly it dawned on me I had to pull up one wing to get over his wing. Just that quick, in the flick of a second. As I flew past him, I recognized his cockpit. He was sitting in flames in his cockpit, and evidently he was dead, and of course, he went on in. Then I remembered – I reached out and patted the 50 caliber guns, that come out inside, [???] the wing to recharge them, and I think I remember, "Oh, got one! There you are old boy Hoffman!" And I felt good about it. Later on you have philosophical thoughts, gee, shooting down a man. There were other incidents – about Neale – after Sandell was killed in an accident, checking his – he'd had a damaged rudder and they'd repaired it so he was checking it, and I saw the actual accident the instant it happened. He was evidently practicing the rudder and all, particularly the key element in doing a slow roll, and he was pretty low but he had enough speed, and evidently he just – something maybe didn't work on the rudder, maybe something wasn't right and he went in upside down. Then of course, Bob Neale replaced him as squadron commander and Pappy Boyington became vice squadron commander and was, for all practical purposes, operations officer. One of the missions that we were on – we were in strictly an air defense interceptor mode. Some of the missions only lasted about 30 minutes. Later on, we got into strafing modes, a touch of air warfare perse?, if you will. One of the missions, we'd stay with them until the Japanese starting retreating and eventually get low on fuel 7 �and have to come back because you were always operating at maximum amount of fuel [???] practically and high RPM. I remember seeing a single I-97 type Japanese airplane and I started after it and of course I had higher speed than he had and I eventually caught up with him and Bob Neale was – he wasn't with me on my wing around his wing, but after we started making a turn, somehow or another Bob Neale came in the picture and I knew it was his airplane, he had number 7 on it, and I came in close enough to this little character, this Japanese pilot where he had a yellow stripe around the tail of the airplane, just forward of the empennage rudder and that little character evaded us – they could maneuver, they could turn on a dime and we had – we'd go on past, we had to go on and come back. 8 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v07 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 7 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond discusses his impressions of Harvey and Olga Greenlaw, in addition to his squadron's arrival in Rangoon and the combats that took place 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/ffae3ca3224b5f86f78700e217c6b061.mp4 fc391ba61190de86a3149a572f1b34ca https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/723c8ff60193eeffb5bfc5042759ab67.pdf 166bf692995af83e946c7d63e4004452 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 6] CB: … First time and they'd take me to a hostel to the bombed out city of … but we can get to that … FB: Let's talk about the airport at Kunming and then the people and witnessing the bombing – let's talk about Kunming. CB: As we arrived at Kunming we arrived as a unit – all the airplanes and came in and landed at this huge air base right out Kunming adjacent to a huge lake. It was a grass field. We had no trouble, as a matter of fact, it was easy to land on grass as paved runway, but adjacent to – the first thing I noticed there was a huge runway layout that you could visualize already they had the surface outlined on it, and just hundreds, hundreds of coolies carrying mud and rocks and mixtures and as many as forty or fifty pulling a huge roller by ropes. That's the way they were constructing that runway, which eventually would take B-17 airplane bombers. That was the first thing I noticed, that really grabbed me. In other words, boy, we're coming to a place that's really arranged for us. And then when we saw the alert shack with revetments around it, they knew what they were doing. People had been bombed before and the long-range plans of the Chinese and General Chennault's idea and all to have some defensive capability to withstand the bombing of these Chinese, just absolutely merciless. What defense did they have other than a warning? The old man had set up a ground observer corp – GOC system years before, he'd been over it a long time. It was for this purpose. He'd visualized it all and this was they way it was turning out. Sure enough, now here we were at war with the Japanese and the AVG was gonna be the Chinese air force if you will. Then when we got out of our airplanes and we had just untold number of Chinese air force mechanics and service 1 �people for refuelling airplanes and all, hovering around airplanes. There's no doubt we had plenty of support, that's the next thing that struck me. And then as we drove past the alert shack as I tell you, we saw that, and then we drove over into our hostel. There were two areas, the hostel which turned out to be ours right near the air base, and then another down in the middle of the city which I think used to be a French school, turned out to be the hostel for the other squadron, the third squadron of course being down in Rangoon. And then the showers, hot showers, and the food, and there was a little barber and our number one boys that brought charcoal braziers in to our room, very solidly before we even awakened, in order to warm up the room. It was much cooler and we were about, remember between 5,000 and 6,000 ft.at Kunming whereas down in Burma in a sweating jungle is considerably different. It was cold, but much more invigorating and it so happened a day after that – being interested in the city and given the support people time to get things arranged for us, we didn't do any active flying the next day. But some of us wanted to go into town and there we saw the evidence of the bombing in the past. Now here is a city if I remember correctly that was about 400,000 to 500,000 people but it was the size of a much, much smaller town, if you will, geographic wise it was the United States. The streets were just covered with people. Very few vehicles, just people with rickshaws and dragging carts and so forth and you could see the evidence of bombed out buildings. Really the word that came to my mind more than anything was filth and they had to live in this, and when they had a air raid warning they had a big pole in the middle of the city, they'd run a bowl half way up which is warning and when the bowl went all the way to the top, that was it boy, take refuge. And the bombers had been over I don't know how many times, but just freely bombing the city and the first thing it meant – boy, we're in the war now, we're in the war. And I might bring up a point that it's often been discussed amongst us and most people I've talked to. Were you all a mercenary outfit? And I've even gone so far as to – I remember when I was writing my book, I even looked up the classical definition in a huge dictionary I've got, what was the definition of a 2 �mercenary, and looking back now, I never considered – I didn't consider myself a mercenary whatsoever, because I had three objectives to go over there. I was gonna fight, get combat experience, and come home and prove myself worthy of a regular commission in fliers, and I'd have enough money, and I eventually accomplished all that. And the rest of the guys – the whole idea of leaving the military to get away from regimentation and all, you could just feel this fading away and we all knew now that we were in a war. And another point, the $500. This thought would boil up every once in a while, particularly in the evening in bull sessions and at the bar about the $500, and I remember I said at Kunming while the third squadron was really scrapping around Christmas Day, latter part of December, and the thought, gee, I wanted to be down there, and every once in a while the idea of $500 an airplane would come up and I'm sure this came up in the minds of the other guys, and then I think about the tape. Maybe this is an ideal way to generate some real aggressive spirit, but of course, that's imaginary thinking. We rapidly picked up the spirit of "We're in a war now" and just like it dawned on me, we were now now only representing China but we were representing the United States and we were patriotic, we rapidly became more angry, and particularly after that first combat, on the 20th of December, when the first word we got from the Chinese that the ten bombers that came over to bomb Kunming, only one got back, so the first combat you have was a terrific success and I'm sure that's one of the main things that's helped us get off on the right foot, if you will, to be just an invincible, self-confident outfit, a real tiger outfit. FB: What was your first experience in the air? CB: … in the combat. After we got to Kunming, we had a few air alerts, but the bombers didn't come over. This got us oiled all right you know, expecting combat, and we had a regular alert procedure. As a matter of fact I was initially setting up schedules – who'd be on alert the next day and so forth, and who'd be on the ground. But primarily, the old man's genius – what if they're going to have a real air raid, you get all these airplanes off 3 �this base. But sure enough, it happened – the real one, and I think again it was on the 20th. We had two squadrons that got off, both of us, Sandy – Sandell was our squadron leader and I think we had twelve airplanes in our unit and the other squadron I forget how many they had, but we eventually caught sight of the ten Japanese bombers in formation, just one 'V" formation, a beautiful formation, and they must have seen us about the same time because they turned and started back, way short of Kunming, their target. And I remember we had to practically fly at full throttle even getting high temperatures and everything to catch 'em. Finally we caught 'em, then they slowed down and I think slowed down to be more defensively and oriented and in tight formation. And then we began to make attacks on them. I remember I was so excited that I must have turned my gun switch on and off, I don't know how many times. It so happened when I came in from a high approach above the bomber on the right echelon, to come down and then underneath and come up in a blind spot underneath him, when I pressed the trigger – no guns, and I used a lot of four letter words, but I pulled off immediately. I was so excited that I had turned it on so many times that I had left it off. Then I immediately turned it back of course and got back in combat. We just hit 'em from all directions and just the excitement and glory of it all, when we landed, nobody would stop talking and the old man was just delirious, all of us were so happy about it. And no bombing of Kunming after that for a long, long time. FB: What was the reaction of the Chinese people? CB: Of course, this word got out rapidly about this AVG bunch came up from Burma and here, no air raid and all, immediately we became heroes, particularly in the city of Kunming. I think eventually it got to other parts of China, there's no doubt about it, but we were called heroes and later on at a banquet, I remember, some madam came in and called us her white angels or flying knights or something, just deliriously happy for us. And of course, you can imagine what the – Chinese are people too – looking back at the poor guys, they hadn't much and I've wondered in the countryside whether they even 4 �realized a war was going on, but I'm sure they did., and you can imagine how they felt, they were happy. FB: Almost immediately after that there was more fighting. Can you describe the next encounter you had with the Japanese? CB: After this attack on Kunming – there were two squadrons there – that I think was on the 20th, and shortly after that – remember the third squadron – and Ole Olson was down at Rangoon – shortly after that, just before Christmas, they had a real encounter with fighters and bombers, and they also had a terrific success and then again they were hit on Christmas Day and they really were in the fight there. It was obvious the Japanese were gonna concentrate on that outfit and then eventually take Burma and come on up back through the back door in China, and I'm sure that's one reason that the British and the Chinese decided we'll put one square in there and help defend Rangoon. But it could mean there were no naughty mini air raid sirens or anything, that the Japanese had learned their lesson, and so we at Kunming thought, here we'd two squadrons, one squadron down at Rangoon, gee we wanna go down there, and sure enough the old man had planned for rotation and he began to rotate us back and forth down there – there airplanes need replacement – a few of them were shot down, one or two were killed – as a matter of fact, two or three. And then of course, airplanes shot down. They lost airplanes but save the man. But after Kunming we were doing nothing. We continued training up at Kunming though and we even had an outer base where we'd just deploy airplanes because the old man still – the Japanese weren't gonna give up and they were bombing Chunking to you know. We wanted to get down into Burma, the two squadrons up at Kunming. FB: At this time though, there was one incident that happened that was a disagreement. Apparently there was some uproar over the leadership of Sandell. Can you tell us anything about that? 5 �CB: As I've said, the fighting after the raid on Kunming was really down at Rangoon area – in Burma area, and here we were two squadrons, already having seen one combat – a taste of it, and supposedly at that time, realizing and thinking we've been told – you destroyed nine out of ten airplanes. We were really gungho just wanting to get down to Rangoon. I think this fermented a lot of boredom and frustration on parts of not only pilots but the airmen too. The airmen – they were proud of their pilots you know, they wanted to get into combat too. And I think as a result, there began to be frustration – some of the guys beginning to drink too much, and I remember, I was personally frustrated. I wanted to go down there. And then when the first rotation I did came up, somebody draw numbers out of a hat to decide who'd go down to replace some of the pilots down there and so forth and I think this caused a lot of turmoil. Some of the pilots would come in – some of the airmen would come in and talk to me with griping and so forth about, "We're not doing anything", and that led from one thing to another. Eventually the feeling grew that the squadron commander wasn't good enough to control this outfit, and then I and some of the other pilots – I remember Pappy Boyington was a great one in this area, for talking about it. I must admit, I got too. I heard so much from airmen and some of the pilots that I became involved and, as a matter of fact, Sandell and I personally talked. I remember one time, I went with him to talk with the airmen, and as a result, there was some animosity that grew towards Sandy as a squadron operator. Sandell was a – he was a – I think he came from Borkdale? Air Force Base where they had P-26's. He was a trained fighter pilot and a good one. He was a little short guy and he had a tiger spirit about him. I think that's one of the things, thinking back now, he had a little bit more than a tiger spirit. Dominating, impatient atmosphere about him and I think this led into a lot of it and eventually this dissipated when finally the entire first squadron eventually moved to Rangoon – that dissipated and unfortunately that's where old Sandell was killed in an accident testing his airplane. 6 �FB: What kind of things were you doing at Kunming? Since you weren't fighting and you were frustrated, bored and everything, what was the social life … CB: At Kunming, we definitely always had a scheduled day on alert, but we didn't have everybody on alert, we always had about eight or ten pilots – what we called a ground alert, to get out there before daylight and have our airplanes ready. But the other guys that and there were twice that many off duty – more than that – and we'd continually train in such things as recognition of airplanes and all. We talked combat. We reviewed in each other just automatically what we would do in a certain case, and of course we always used that terrific, successful initial combat we had as an example. We were just full of confidence and all, but at the same time, it was a full day what you'd do. We had the usual mess hall and combined bar. We did get some reading material, finally, some books, very few though, and I think – we didn't have an English newspaper to my knowledge, but we did have some books to read. And then of course, some more bull sessions at night and some of this I think was a reflection of the same thing I'm talking about – Sandell, some of the guys were drinking too much. In fact, the old man had to step in and take disciplinary action against some of the airmen one time who beat up one of the pilots, and, as a matter of fact, there were some guys sent home, and little bit later on that Pappy Boyington got into too much trouble and I think it was a little later after that he was given a dishonorable discharge. Several of them were given dishonorable discharges. FB: So there was apparently an institute involving Hasty? Can you tell us about that? CB: For some reason or other, particularly when the first squadron was on alert and the second squadron was off at Kunming, then we would have the responsibility of making up the alert schedule for the next day and it so turned out that, I was with Frank Schiel in those operations also to make up the alert schedule, and we had a little bulletin board in the alert room. We had cots where you'd come in and snooze or nap in between, expecting an air raid alert. And I walked in there one morning before daylight, before the 7 �rest of the guys got there to set up the alert schedule – who was gonna be on for the next day. But that morning, as I came in, I turned on the light and there was one of our buddies, old Hasty, who was asleep on the cot, and right next to him was his girl friend whom I think he brought up from Rangoon, I'm not sure, but a beautiful girl, and she was asleep right next to him on the other cot. They didn't wake up when I came in and I thought, well, gee! I think Hasty was supposed to go on alert, so I just thought I'm gonna have some fun with this, so I took the schedule down and revised it to put Hasty on alert and then his girlfriend on alert also, and I tell you, Hasty never did live that down. 8 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v06 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 6 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond discusses the bombing of Kunming, the AVG's first combat with the Japanese pilots, and the Chinese people's reaction to their success. 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/23c92fdee9b1634424a949ec7d40de35.mp4 b223dac60f6d4938da50c982b9fab530 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/86b70eb40376210b5c4541b912869739.pdf 096dd5d091ad5dfab8651794c3f7b183 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 5] CB: As I told you, we arrived at Toungoo air training base in the middle of Burma on the 12th of November and after getting settled down and all, on a Saturday night which was two days later and a Sunday which would have been a holiday for us, having known a lot of the guys, some of the things they did on a weekend, I and about nine or ten others were invited to go into town on an invitation from missionaries, Mr. & Mrs. Klein, two great people, to give us some good old American Boston baked beans, ham, coffee and so forth. It was so coincidental that about this time that it was obvious we began to think – I was assigned to a squadron already and to me and my military background every unit I'd been in had a squadron insignia of some kind, so a thought began to develop about the squadron insignia would be and so forth, and it was just coincidental at this night that after having dinner, after dinner, talk in this Christian home, several of us were sitting around the coffee table having coffee, and I looked down and saw a British type magazine on this rattan coffee table and on the front of it was a colored picture of a P-40 just like ours, but it was in the Royal Australian Air Force in the African campaign. I think this was an India illustrated type of newspaper. And I picked it up and looked at it and it was exactly like our P-40, except for one thing. It had a gaping mouth of a tiger shark that was painted around the oil scoop on the lower part of the front fuselage that just so fitted perfectly, and I just absolutely was – I immediately – as a matter of fact, I remember saying out loud to myself, "I'm gonna paint my airplane like that", and here Eric and Gil Bright and Jim and George, all of use standing around, they looked at it and they thought, "Boy it's the same thing", so it really hit us so – I said, "I've just got to take this home", so I went to Mrs. Klein and asked her if I could have that. Of course, 1 �graciously she said yes, so I took that back with me to the air base, and at the same time we had been thinking about fighter squadron insignia. Now as I say, Eric Schilling was there too and I think old Eric – I know all of us agreed, this is great. It was just a matter who did what first. So when I went back to the base, the very next day I pedaled into town on my bicycle to buy some red, white, black and green paint to paint the tiger shark's teeth on my airplane with the eye up near the top scoop. And I think old Eric had the same idea and I think that character drove into town or bought that newspaper some place and knowing actually having that picture on the front of the magazine is bound to have a supporting article inside, I didn't take the trouble to look at that. Apparently Eric did, and he found a picture of the history of where this tiger shark's teeth started. It was on German aircraft – I think it was on ME-110 and Eric, I think he started with the same idea, but now Eric was much closer to the old man and he was, if you will, on the staff. I just said, "I'm gonna paint my airplane like that" and I started the very next day, and Eric I think had the same idea and he may have started the same day but his squadron was around the hangar, couldn't see anything, couldn't see me and we weren't interested to look at each other. I was interested in painting the airplane. At about the same time, I'm pretty sure now that it was old Dick Rossi with his dry wit in a bull session we were talking about squadron insignia and we were the first Pursuit squadron, so in a bull session, it was Dick Rossi, I agree now that was the first. The first Pursuit had to be Adam and Eve, Eve chasing Adam and there again I had the same reaction I did about the – gee! I agree! Then when I started painting the tiger shark's teeth on the front of the airplane I was thinking all the time, what sort of a design would this be. Nobody had started this. I developed the idea of a red apple with a black serpents round and round it with the – I call them toothpick figures – Eve chasing Adam on the apple. So I dreamed up that idea and in the next few days, I finished – I think actually was around the first week of December – I finally finished everything on my airplane, but in the meantime, I have since learned, Eric had the same idea about the teeth on the airplane but he wasn't in 2 �the first squadron so he wasn't worried about that. But he, as I understand it, went straight to the old man and said that this is what we are. He recommended that we put this as an insignia of one of the fighter squadrons. General Chennault told him at the time, according to Eric and I think he's telling his story, and I think it's true – the old man said, "No, if we do that I want it for the whole outfit." So that docked Eric for a while, but I remember distinctly one day the old man drove up, this was towards the latter part of November when I'd just about finished the thing. I had both the insignia on my airplane, number 5, of the red apple version of Eve chasing Adam – it was about almost 3ft. in diameter on the fuselage, and the tiger shark's teeth just about finished except for touching up. And I remember him getting out and going around looking at all of this and he didn't make any comment or, "Hey, what're you doing and so forth and so on," and drove off. I learned later on that he told Schilling to go ahead with this. In other words he had approved the idea of the tiger shark's teeth on that airplane. On the 5th of December, I remember I referred to you before I was writing some regulation about guidelines, and I was raising some business to the old man and I had my first real personal discussion, one on one, with the old man in his office, and we talked at length about our backgrounds and so forth and he was very complimentary. He'd heard about me and there's two or three stories that are not in my book that I can relate to. Looking back now, I'm convinced that one of the reasons that Skip Adair took me so readily into the Flying Tigers, was that I had already a number of hours in the B-17, a bomber, and I have since learned, years later, even after I wrote the book, that there was plans for a second, and maybe even a third American Volunteer Group, which would be bombers, and looking back now, I am reasonably convinced the idea was, "Here we've got a B-17 guy, we can catch him out in a P-40, eventually we get this and we have a ready made for the B – sort of like Eric, he'd flown a P-40 before and he fitted into the fighter business, and at the end of the conversation as I was getting ready to walk out, the old man said, "By the way, Charlie, that red apple on your airplane not gonna do", and I said, "Why?" He said, "Well, it 3 �looks too much like the Japanese setting sun", and I though, gee, he's right. I said, "What am I gonna do"? And I walked out very disheartened, 'cos there went one of my plans. Well, I got to thinking and before the next day, I said there's green apples. So I readily, without referring to him at all, I just changed the – started painting all my airplanes again on that insignia, changing the red to green and this got around very rapidly. I have since read the diary, supposedly written by Bob Prescott, and Bob Prescott was referring to this instant of – who designed and thought of the first Pursuit idea, and he and his – and he was always a great one to get a laugh out of people, he was great. He claimed that somebody came up with the idea of Eve chasing Adam as the first Pursuit, but he put a uniform on Adam and they wouldn't accept it, so I don't, to this day, I don't know what Bob Prescott did, now long gone, but to this day, I don't know if he knew the story of the old man telling me that I must change it, and that's the story of two paintings. FB: Before we get into December 8th, Peal Harbor, when you found out – before we get into that, one of the things I find very interesting – I wonder if you know anything about – is, how the airfield itself was built, how the airfield that you were operating on was built. CB: Kyedaw, I guess it's a Burmese name, it's in the central part of Burma, about seven miles from the little town of Toungoo, really on the road to Mandalay, which is just north of there. It was a British built – you know, Burma was a commonwealth of the British Empire. It was British constructed, British operated air base. Ultimately, for what I don't know, except that maybe their strategy and politics for the British Empire throughout the world, I don't know, all I know it was a training base. There was one runway, Macadamized and a hangar on it and all, and I presume that initially on the idea of the Burma Road, built to send supplies up the road to China, and Chennault planning that that would be our training base and that presumably the British agreed with the Chinese and so forth, and Rangoon would be the port of entry for all the lend lease supplies to go up the so-called Burma Road to China, so it was a matter of – and of course, at that time, initially we were being hired to go over there as a volunteer group to defend the Burma 4 �Road. This would help the British as well as the Chinese, but looking back now I remember there was a catch there. The British didn't want to get – the Chinese and the Japanese had been fighting for years before this, ever since about '37 and the British wanted to stay – they didn't want to get tangled up in this and having us trained in Burma, one of their so-called commonwealth, just wouldn't fit. But at the same time, this was the additional commercial activity of lend-lease supplies going up to Burma and of course, by then, we had started supplying the British with just vast – in fact we were their depot if you will from then on for the war in Europe. So it was quid pro quo. And as a result, we were permitted to train the AVG at this air base in Burma with the ultimate deployment of pulling out of Burma and going into China. FB: Is there anything further that you want to cover before we get a personal recollection of that? And then there's a notice we found that – we got the impression that after Pearl Harbor you guys would be out there fighting already, but of course it was much later like the 20th or so or 23rd, and it says here you were so bored you shaved off your mustache. CB: That was before I think. I'm not sure when that was. I think it was just a side effect FB: What was your first reaction when you heard about Pearl Harbor? CB: We had made a lot of progress in the training curriculum, both ground and air, and early December, as you know, that infamous day of the 7th December back here, the 8th of December in our side of the world, I remember in my personal recollection of this – always everybody says where were you at so-and-so and what was your reaction? I remember very distinctly, several of us pilots with maybe a couple of airmen were sitting around on the ground near our aircraft on the ramp and we were just having a bull session and all, and then somebody came up all of a sudden and cried out, "The Japs just hit Pearl Harbor and that stopped everything we were talking – we turned to him and a lot questions – "What are you talking about" and so forth. To me, it was unbelievable, but, then he said, "Yeah, we just heard on the radio", and then without further ado, I think all of us arose and just rushed to the operations room where maybe we had a radio and all, 5 �and it was, as a matter of fact, as soon as we got in the operations room, sure enough, they'd heard it on the radio. I don't remember seeing the old man right then, but later on he came in, but we were stunned, we just couldn't believe it, but then all of a sudden, I thought – and a lot of the other guys thought the same way, "Well, gee, we've already been doing gunnery", and as a matter of fact, we didn't have to think as well, we'll just go on alert right now. The orders came out of the other end of the operations shack from the old man's office, "Everybody goes on alert", so we immediately went into a ground alert, air defense posture, and towards the evening and the morning from December the 8th on, we had aircraft even in the air in the evening. As a matter of fact, we had some airplanes in the air before dawn one morning, and none of us had flown at night before. But to be sure, in case the Japanese came in and made a strike on us. The old man I know was fearful of this and all of us thought, gee, they could come in and hit us but looking back now, in my opinion, Japanese made one of the greatest mistakes they ever made in the entire war, is they didn't come over and wipe us out. But they considered us to be just a polyglot bunch of people that were representative of previous volunteer groups that attempted to assist China. But we immediately went on alert and a few days after that, as a matter of fact, I personally, with Bob Little and a couple of other pilots, made a flight across from mountains in the Chiang Mai Thailand area to look at that base in case there might have been Japanese already employed there with the idea of hitting us. From then on we were in a war posture and I remember one time a civilian airplane, a little puddle jumper type came across the air base about 5,000 ft. high. We scrambled and we made that guy come in and land at our base, he was just a business man in Burma. But I distinctly remember in the evening or early in the morning looking across the horizon, as the sun began to rise or set, you could see tufts of clouds, then your imagination got into the act and I visualized Japanese raids against us, but never did it occur. But I remember one time and all of us agreed that there was a high flying reconnaissance Jap ship, it must 6 �have been a Jap ship that flew over our air base. A couple of guys took off but it was impossible FB: When did you first see action? CB: The plans for the entire group to finish the training would have carried us I'm sure into even January. As a matter of fact, after the 8th of December were there, I think I had only about ten hours in the P-40 but of course they struck Pearl Harbor there was a war, and here we were an American Volunteer Group of Americans in Burma, flying in P-40's, ready for combat, having been set up initially to fight the Japanese over the Burma Road, and the high diplomatic, strategic thinking began to be interlocked amongst the British, Chinese and the United States, and here we were, for all practical purposes going to be the Chinese air force. Where would we deploy? We had three squadrons. Eventually, they decided we've got to cut the training short, just do what we can, but we've got to these airplanes up to Kunming, and of course, [???] a training place in Burma – an action – terminals of big China with the capability of flying down south [???] Burma Road. But it so ended up where one squadron deployed to the Rangoon – for the defense of Rangoon where several of the RAF, a Royal Air Force contingency, was already stationed and the other two squadrons, first and second, would fly on up to Kunming. We actually flew up, I think it was on 17th or 18th, and Kunming is another story of course, we can get to later on. But Kunming had been continually bombed for years before we got there in the war. Actually it was the target for training Japanese pilots out of French Indo China. They used it as a training target and it's no defense whatsoever, and we were prepared. As a matter of fact, I was shocked, amazed at the preparation made for us in Kunming, a beautiful airfield, hostels, everything, complete support and we were ready to go. And we got a few air raid alarms, but nothing came over until I think the 20th or 21st of December, it turned out to be the real thing. And on the 10th – I mean on the 20th, I believe it was the 20th of December, I flew I guess my first aerial target in a fighter airplane, it turned out to be one of ten Japanese bombers. 7 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v05 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 5 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond discusses the origin of how he came up with the iconic tiger shark painting that the group adopted for the Flying Tigers' airplanes. He also describes his reaction to the news of Pearl Harbor and the days that followed for 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/8effe69ef1245cc6888f6d7273200cf6.mp4 905f134719ce09a479840e80d2aa8c1f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e4fbe3002dfe60fbe1c4a9a741e034e7.pdf 65d7c1511fc6ad34b06399a89a973e96 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 4] CB: There's a terrific story, later on … don't let me forget – "Hasty", just say "Hasty" FB: Okay. As you were being trained and you were working on the airplane, a lot of this was the type of military training that you'd had in the past, but what was different about this unit and what was different about this place? Was it straight military type or was it something else? CB: Remind me to tell you the three reasons why I went over to the China AVG. At Toungoo during our training phase from the time we got there, November up until December, mid December when we went up into Chunking in order to be deployed. We got to know each other much, much better and more closer and I found that to the greatest degree, most of the pilots and the airmen that volunteered to go to China wanted to get out of the military. A lot of them I talked to definitely, some of them – didn't want to have anything to do with the military. This was the greatest chance to get out of the military. As I told you, I wanted – I'd already made up my mind then, I wanted the military, but I can understand this. A lot of the other guys just came over for adventure, but there was an underlying feeling, I felt, for instance – to give you a perfect example – the pilots oppose? the officers. We were housed and ate at a different mess from the airmen, the so-called enlisted men if you will. All of us came from military units, army, navy, marines, and we had a – to me it was a sort of a ingrained, albeit maybe a year or two for some of the guys just out of the flying school – there was an ingrained self-discipline that the old man didn't have to impress on us that, "You're an officer and you're an airman and you don't mix." None of that. We felt that and we lived with it and it was fine. I personally, at times, got a little bit worried about it because I remember writing in my diary that 1 �sometimes the moral got down, people got bored. As a matter of fact, right at the outset, I'd only been there about a couple of weeks and two of the pilots decided they didn't want it, and they resigned, went back home. Not too many instances of this, but some of them did so. And I – particularly Frank Shields, Frank Shields sort of had the same idea that maybe we ought to have some more definitive guidelines, if you will, not regulation but guidelines to live by and maintain a respect for each other and a semblance of military – I knew the old man – one of the first thoughts in my mind about – he was a military man and to a great extent his experience – my experience was somewhat like his, parallel. He left the air force and I have read some books where some people describe General Chennault – he was hurt and I can understand that. He was the minority – pushing fighter. The air force had oriented bombers in – they'd wanted to build up a bomber force so – and he had hard of hearing, he had some ill health and – so that's the reason he got out. I could still feel a military – I had a respect for him as a commander – in my mind he was a commander and a real commander. Some of the guys, but by far a minority didn't have that same feeling towards him I had, but as a result of – I wanted to write – talking to Frank Shield and Frank said, "Yeah, let's do that", so I sat down and began to make a project of it, writing certain definitive guidelines which they did appear, if you will, to be regulations and it got around amongst the group that I was doing it and eventually I was gonna give it to the old man, and eventually I did. But he didn't reflect very much on 'em, but at the same time, I think he admired me. See, he came from the military and, of course, I did. I felt a feeling that he respected me for it, but there was no doubt he was the boss, the commander, and I let it go at that. FB: Would it be accurate to say that you wore uniforms? CB: When you say uniforms I think of the time that in a scramble, one of the guys was in his shorts with a tee shirt on and his little hat on, flying the airplane in an actual scramble mission, when he expected to be in combat. Uniforms – this led a little bit to the military appearance because we came over with navy jackets, army air corps jackets. I brought my 2 �air force flying clothes with me. I brought a pair of boots. We eventually were issued with some gloves which were navy gloves. We were issued helmets, cloth helmets, goggles, but as far as off-duty it was, for all practical purposes, civilian clothes, mufti is what the RAF called it. We eventually though, later on, as we began to develop a camaraderie as a unit, first, second and Pursuit squadron, then the headquarters guys, we began to, as typical, and this reflects again the military training, we began to have a healthy respect for our outfit, and this of course, led in eventually to squadron insignia and later on the Tiger shark's teeth on the airplane. But the uniforms as such off duty – we wore pistols. Of all things, I had a little 25 mm pistol on my hip which I could have put it in my pocket. I remember going off and practicing targetry on a range with it. A lot of the guys had old 45's that they'd brought from the United States, some good 38 calibers, a few guns, rifles and shotguns. Later on we carried the pistols with us in the cockpit in combat in our uniform. Eventually some of us began to wear bush jackets like the old man and the khakis which really were a sort of the RAF in the Far East where it was hot, and the old sun hat pith helmet, that became a favorite of mine and then ultimately later on, old Jim and George and I, all three had been together, we had made Chinese – Burmese copy the old, what we called "pinks" in the army air corps. The grey type slacks with that beautiful blouse of drab olive o.d. and eventually we did develop some epaulets or stripes, if you will, rather than metal insignia of one, two and three bars for a wing man which I originally went over for. Most of the pilots went over as wing men originally, then a flight leader, then a vice squadron leader, and then a squadron leader. FB: After your duty during any given day was over, what did the guys do for entertainment? What kind of incidents happened that we might be interested in? CB: The old man knew value of keeping our moral up and not working us to death, and keeping us in good physical shape because he foresaw more than we did, really what we'd get involved in, and we had quite a schedule laid out for athletics like primarily 3 �softball, and he'd play with us a lot of the time, by the way. We'd have that usually in the afternoon. On a Saturday afternoon and a Sunday, normally it was just like typical military back home, days off. Except in some cases where emergency – go on an aircraft – get back in shape. We'd have the athletics after that, then we had time enough to shower and some of the guys didn't play in the actual teams, and they took a nap in the afternoon. We didn't have much reading material, it got to the point where we would read anything that was in English just to have something to read, but we didn't have a library as such. We had some books and interchanged them amongst all of us. Then in the evening before the mess, we would have – at the bar, open bar and some of those evening got pretty wild and sometimes by typical individuals. There were a few of them that tended to drink more than others and for various reasons. Some got bored; there was boredom at times. I remember old Skip Adair warned us at times, "There'll be such a thing as ennui" I had to look that up in the dictionary to understand what it was. And sure enough he was right. At times it got boring, so we'd lay in our bunks maybe and between snoozes and naps in the barracks and you'd think about, what I am doing over here, and so forth and so on. But those 'downs' didn't last very long. You always managed to get up and then in the evening we'd have dinner, and then after dinner, maybe we'd stay up and have bull sessions. Then we finally got some movies and those turned out to be one of the greatest things that we looked forward to, other than mail and nothing, nothing would approach mail back and forth, and wires and as a matter of fact, it was surprising how often we got the mail and how reliable it was. FB: It was mentioned in one of the books "Men at War", where it credits you with trying to stop one of the guys that apparently had been drinking too much so you were shooting a gun in the air, something like that? CB: One of the duties we had, this was typical military, that's why I say we still had a little military in the outfit. We had what you'd call 'officer of the day' in the army air corps and I forgot what the navy called it. We actually had M.P. type duties you know, but 4 �primarily the officer of the day, which time was a 24 hour duty, he was responsible and most of the time his action was at night. His duties was to go into town with one of the few pieces of transportation we had, maybe with a buddy and check the various haunts in town, railroad station which had one of the nicest restaurants in Toungoo and then come back to the base, sort of supervise the – not supervise if you will, but observe and make up your mind whether you were gonna do anything about it, the drinking bouts at times. I say drinking bouts, I don't want to over emphasize that, arguments if you will, and fisticuffs, and disgusted losers at poker games, this type of thing, and I remember – I took on that duty one night and I remember I dressed up in my black tie and my o.d. shirt and my bush jacket and I even polished my boots and I was gonna be o.d of the day and that night after the show, the movie, I'd say around nine o'clock in the evening I was en route from Toungoo back to the base and as I was entering the gate I heard some pistol shots and I found out where they were and I found out Snuffy Smith and somebody else, I forget who the guy's name had been shooting their pistols in the air and they were really clobbered and I was trying to quiet 'em down or take the guns away from them and all and finally one of them – he'd fallen down in a ditch and by the time they found him I think he'd begun to sober up, and he agreed that he would take charge of Snuffy. So I drove off and I was so angry about that, when I drove back after my [???[] that I run over, I think it was Mickelson's bicycle, and just destroyed that thing, but I was glad when o.d. duty was over. FB: Were there any other incidents – we heard that since the Tigers were a very tight knit group that anybody that was not with the Tigers if you were in town or whatever, there was some disagreements or fights with other groups and one of them was that Allison Company, some guy from the Allison Company – do you recall that at all? CB: I don't really recall any – I remember an instant, two instances I can quote – We rapidly became a close knot outfit, knowing people like in the United States you go into town you know your friends and so forth. We didn't know anybody in town, but we'd go in 5 �maybe some time, maybe have dinner at a restaurant, particularly in Rangoon, the Silver Grill. It eventually got to be the hangout of us later on in combat and, of course, we ran into the RAF a lot. As a matter of fact they were fighting with us and once in a while they'd be quite a ruckus in the – for instance, I remember one case, George Burguard and I were out watching a night raid on Mingladon Airport at Rangoon by a Japanese bomber and we no had no night fighter capability and we were watching them fight, and lo and behold, all of a sudden a fighter turned up and we saw a trace of fire and the bomber was shot down and an RAF officer was at this particular group where we were living, as a sort of a lone arrow at a lawn party, and he began to brag about the Hurricane versus a P-40 and this got quite a discussion between which is best. I for one, and I think a lot of the guys felt the same way I did, the Hurricane was not the airplane a P-40 was, but aerodynamically and performance it was just about like the P-40 but in my opinion not near the airplane, but George Burguard almost got in a fight with him, finally decided to go to bed. The RAF was mostly the support people at the air base that was giving us support mixed with Burmese but when Singapore fell, some of the RAF pilots evacuated out of there and came up and flew with us in Brewster's, and then we had some RAF, Royal Air Force Blenheim bombers. They were bomber boys, and actually I think they argued much between themselves more than they argued with us. I remember instances where rumors got down that the higher ups, so I'm talking about the strategic level of planning after the war was going on between United States officers, British officers and the Chinese, Generalissimo and down to Chennault and Stillwell. There was a lot of bickering going at the higher levels about who was gonna stay in Burma and who was gonna go up to China and that really became a factor later on, on the way we deployed two squadrons into [???] men, one down to Rangoon. FB: Let's talk now about the origin of the Pursuit squadron, the Adam and Eve – the origin of that. 6 �CB: I had arrived as I told you – arrived in Rangoon on the 12th of November 1941 and only two or three days later on a Saturday evening, November 15th, a lot of us were invited – that's the first time I was invited – previous to that a lot of them had been invited from time to time on weekends, to a missionary's home, a Mr. and Mrs. Klein, terrific people, in the city of Toungoo, so that on the night of the 15th I and George Burguard and Jim Frost and Eric Schilling and Gil Bright and several others – ten of us if I remember. 7 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v04 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 4 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond discusses how the AVG compared to his experience in the military and their means of entertainment when off-duty including softball games and movies. 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/82d89d0bd3257ae0a99b3b9adb874357.mp4 f9fdafd1d58f297d57dc3613b79f465b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8d1bec4123d524b4654c5502c93f019a.pdf d80dcafda09d392008f894fbce08d075 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 3] CB: After getting settled in the so-called barracks and going over to the flight line to get indoctrination and learning where you'll have a parachute and where our aircraft would be parked and ultimately the first, second and third Pursuit squadrons where they'd have their area on the ramp and the one runway for some 4,000 ft. runway and where the old man, Colonel Chennault – of course at that time the old man, Colonel Chennault, the boss, that's what we called him and ultimately I met him, but before he gave us really a reception, an orientation speech, sort of a: "This is what we are, this is what we're going to do and ultimately we're gonna do this", I naturally began … FB: Stop there. If you could just tell us about some of the first – after you got settled in, before you met Chennault, your impressions of some of the guys you met, whether there were some that you recognized and what was the camaraderie like. CB: It turned out that when they assigned us to squadrons, Jim and George, George Burguard and Jim Cross and I ended up in the first Pursuit squadron. The Operations Officer was Frank Schiel, whom I had heard of back in the States but it was the first time I had really met him, a fighter pilot from the United States Army Air Corp and I remember the first briefing I got on the P-40 was old Eric Schilling and I had known Eric at Virginia Langley Air Force Base. He was in the Eighth Pursuit Group, I was in the Second. Eric I think remembered me but not as well as I remembered him, because he had a nickname. He was called Mortimer Snerd at Langley Air Force Base and it's only been just a few days ago that I really learned why, but I leave that up to Eric to explain that to you. He really knew the P-40, he'd experienced it before and he gave us a briefing on its flying characteristic. Goyette, a navy man, briefed us on the aircraft itself, the operation of it 1 �and cockpit orientation and so forth, and I remember meeting Bob Little who was a combat pilot out of the old eight suit? group and I remember I had to talk to him. We had a mutual friend, old Johnny Allison who ultimately came over to China in the Air Corps and I had a great respect for Bob Little because he was a fighter pilot. As a matter of fact, I learned a lot from him in actual combat, I mean in actual training in the aircraft. We had a control tower, a little makeshift control tower if you will, right by the runway, and we took turns being the control officer for air traffic control to the extent that our communications worked. I met Doc Richards, Doc Prevo, the dentist, Doc Bruce. Lo and behold I met the two nurses, Red Petach? at that time, Mary Jane Red Foster, and Joe and we – of course, I eventually met the parachute packer?, the weather man, our communications man, my crew chief, Walt Dolan – we rapidly became very close to one another. Of course, he was responsible for maintaining my aircraft and did a terrific job – kept that airplane flying. FB: What was your – you've walked us through a number of different things – what was this feeling that you had as you were meeting this person and that person, what kind of impression did you get about this group that you were joining? CB: I remember when I met Frank Schiel, I had a great respect for Frank and for some reason or another we hit it off very quickly, I guess primarily because I was going to be his assistant in operations. I was impressed by Eric's knowledge of the P-40 and Goyette's knowledge of the aircraft, the engine, props, armament and so forth. I met a lot of the armament boys. I remember meeting Rode the first time, terrific little guy. I remember meeting Pappy Boyington for the first time and I remember him from stories I heard from some of the other guys, he had been there about 48 hours you know. I thought, "who is this guy?" I was particularly proud of myself, I had been in golden gloves and I figured I could take care of myself with anybody but never with intentions in mind or anything but he was a very controversial character, but we had a respect for each other. Hennessy, I 2 �remember meeting old Hennessy who eventually turned out to be the General's pilot in a little beachcraft airplane. Kuykendahl. FB: What I'm looking for is – was there a sense of confidence on meeting these guys and how did you feel like –you were gonna to be going to war, you knew that, eventually and if the people you were gonna work with didn't give you any sense that they could do it, I would imagine you'd be quite worried. What did you actually feel when you got a chance to meet all these guys? CB: When I would meet one of the pilots or one of the airmen, naturally I'd think about his background. Eventually I'd learn to know the background of the people and I had gradually begun to have a respect for the guys. Some I knew were better than the others, just based on their experience and the way they talked about the airplane. Of course, there had been one contingent there before who had already flown the P-40. Here, I had flown B-18's and B-17's when they took me on as a volunteer and now I was going to get into a fighter but I was very confident of handling the airplane because I had graduated in fighter Pursuit aircraft at Kelly Field? and an old BT8 which was a forerunner of the P-47 ??? which turned out to be a fantastic airplane in the air force. That airplane was as much of a groundlooper as a P-40 turned out to be. I didn't like the idea that they told me I was going to have to fly an old BT14 or BT9 before they'd let me get in the P-40. This – I didn't like this idea, I figured I was better than that. But at any rate, firstly the airplane wasn't in commission so they had to put me in straight in a P-40 and after I took off in a P-40, very confident, as a matter of fact, on my first flight I was doing slow rolls, loops and all because I had been trained in it and I learned, fact is, to go into a terrific power dive and because of the propeller, the centrifugal force you get in a skid. I learned that. It was sensitive, but it was a great sensation, being in the airplane, and then came the landing, my first landing, and I admit I was tense. I'd been cautioned, "Don't dare try to put this thing down on three points with your landing gear in a tail wheel, land it wheel first and then stay with it – the rudder, later on if you ??? fight the rudder to keep it on a 3 �runway and I came in fast. Some of the guys later on told me we was holding the aircraft as – here was a bomber guy flying. But I came in fast then set the airplane down. I was tense but after I stopped and taxied back I was completely confident from then on of handling another airplane. FB: What was your first impression – your first meeting with Claire Chennault? CB: I think it was the second or third day – it was the second day we were there, the old man came in dressed in a – one of these desert sun hats, with a bush jacket on and I'd seen pictures of him and the minute he walked in to introduce himself and indoctrinate and orientate and really give a talk to all of us new arrivals, I thought, gee, he looks just like the pictures I saw and it immediately came into mind the term I remembered calling him "leather-face", and I could understand. He had a pretty deeply pocked face, that stern jowl. There was no doubt that his appearance immediately struck me as a real guy, a real leader, and definitely I'd read about him and history in the air force, and definitely a fighter pilot. And I rapidly learned that he was very hard of hearing but he covered it up greatly. And when he spoke he spoke in a slow voice. He never laughed out loud, he kind of chuckled. He reminded me of the way General Mays used to laugh. General Mays couldn't really laugh, just chuckle. He spoke very confidently. I was immediately impressed with his knowledge, and I just became enrapt in his talk about the Zero versus the P-40, it just all made so much sense. He told us the comparative weaknesses of [??] Zero versus the P-40 and this encouraged all of us. In my opinion, I just couldn't wait to meet one of these guys. And I felt that the rest of the guys felt the same way about him. He really impressed me and I think I remember saying, "This guy's a military man." Subsequently I, of course, got to know him much better later on and I would use the word "genius" in certain aspects of tactical air war for the redeployment and movement from base to base and his strategy, tactics and all. He was a genius at tactical air war, there was no doubt about it, and he proved to be. 4 �FB: In the United States you have been given an image of what the Japanese pilot was going to be like, but what did Chennault have to say about the enemy you were going to be going up against? CB: In the briefing about the enemy that we would be meeting, and of course, at that time you know, none of us had any knowledge of December the 7th – December the 8th over there to us when the Japs hit Pearl Harbor, but we felt, and I described them as the enemy, Japanese, we were going to protect the Burma Road and I expected and the rest of the guys too, we expected to meet Japanese in combat over the Burma Road to defend the supplies going up the Burma Road, so we talked of them in terms of enemy. The old man having been over there since as early as '37, '36, something like that, he knew 'em, and in my opinion one of his greatest strengths that lent to the performance of the Flying Tigers was the intelligence that he had of the Japanese aircraft, their pilots and so forth. The pilots of the Japanese army which the first ones we really met in most of our combat, up until the time of Hankow later on, they were disciplined all right, but they were regimented in their thinking. They were briefed for certain things; the flexibility wasn't like the old American boy, and this sort of gave me confidence as being a little bit, if you will, more capable of taking them rather than them taking us, and I think that's the way it really turned out in combat, until I remember up at Hankow later on when they brought the Japanese navy in, the Japanese navy pilots, definitely we could tell the difference in the capability of those pilots. And I remember one incident in combat, later on in Rangoon, Bob Deal and I cornered a little guy that obviously had to be a flight leader or a flight commander or a squadron commander, and I can remember distinctly right now, he had a yellow stripe around the fuselage of his airplane which indicated he was boss or something anyhow. We fought that guy for about five or ten minutes. I never could get a beat on him, here he was fighting two P-40's against him and finally Bob got a beat on him and shot him dead. My respect for 'em at that time wasn't the greatest in the world. 5 �I'd heard stories about, "Well, they've got bad eyes, they can't see." That's not true, they could see well. FB: During the day, what was your routine like? Your routine, what was the routine like around the base? Were you going to training sessions? You'd already met Chennault now? What was your routine? CB: We'd get up about 6.30 or 7.00, have a quick breakfast and then go down a line, and each one of us, at first centrally controlled until we were assigned to squadrons and operate with squadrons, if you will, decentralize. But we actually had a formal course that we were briefed on by the old man and I think it was some 60 hours of ground training and some 60 hours of flight training, then supposedly we would be qualified. We'd study the manuals, flight manuals of the airplane, we'd get briefed, we'd have special briefing's about, "Now if two of you are going out and practice combat, here's what you're gonna do", and they'd assign us to a certain area, and not specifically altitude really, we had wide open space, and if it was a test flight in engineering to take data on the airplanes and so forth, if it was a navigation flight, instrument flight, very little instruments really were used. We'd got to because the war came so quick. And gunnery, we got instant ground gunnery, and that was exciting. When we'd get on – come back, we'd fill out form 5, typically, pilots, fill out your form 5 telling something didn't work, and the crew chief really didn't, and a lot of the time we'd stick with the crew chief to remedy whatever comes in the airplane. The crew chief's, they turned out to be fantastic. We did things on those airplanes that we'd have been court-marshalled, the crew chiefs did, the maintenance people, we'd have been court-marshalled back in the United States. You just did not do this. They'd tear a carburetor completely to pieces and put it back together. And then, of course, we had have athletics in the afternoon. The old man wanted to keep us in shape. Some of us arrived there with the idea of, "I'm gung-ho", and "Lead me to 'em", "I wanna take 'em over". The old man saw this and we didn't have much transportation and I think one of the reasons we didn't have much transportation – he 6 �wanted us to walk. We all bought bicycles – we got into bicycling instead of walking, and then we had softball games. The old man played softball with us and boy, those softball games got wild – sometimes as wild as the bar got. No tennis, of course, no golf, a lot of court playing, except when old Red Probst? would get bad by losing a game, and he'd tear up a deck of cards and that made everybody furious because nobody else had a deck of cards. FB: We're going to get into also – there's a reference to – sometimes. 7 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 3 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond describes his initial impressions in the early days of the AVG and the camaraderie that formed among them, in addition to his first meeting with Claire 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 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b2e1fa64f68658c723e79042d1c45cd6.mp4 05f8d1bc9d233460d9c5a5609a8e4f94 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fd07889c47fe6f4f4043a67810150497.pdf a5ee40cfc2ac2009690f16319a8fe2fb PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 2] CB: …it was wild. There were two or three times – as a matter of fact after some hours at the bar before going to bed on two or three occasions there were brawls. I remember seeing one of the marine guys, Smith, next morning I saw him at breakfast, he had a split lip. Obviously he'd been in a fight and I found out later on – I think it was George Burguard hit him but they were both drunk and neither one of them remembered it. There was a lot of planning for the crossing of the equator which – we call it Neptune day and I learned later on from the other guys they did the same thing, so we planned a party for the group and this really turned out wild. Of course, there was a lot of drinking with it, the crew had put a swimming pool in one of the hatches of the ship with a tarpaulin around of course, and we had planned the celebration at the swimming pool and I ended up somehow or another writing the script for it and I turned out to be the queen of Neptune and I believe Gunvordahl or – I forget, maybe, no, it wasn't Dick Ross, one of the them was king, and we had a barber. Now the barber used a normal kitchen mop for washing dishes as the shaving brush and the shaving lotion was a concoction that you could smell ten feet from the guy that was carrying it. It was in a huge pail and we'd usually grab anyone at random, usually the guy that was most crocked and we would put him in the so-called barber's chair – and of course you had to hold him – first we'd smear him with this horrible concoction of dead fish, flour, you name it, and obviously always he'd holler and the first thing the mop would go in his mouth and I think a lot of the guys threw up and it was horrible smelling and of course, a lot of that got in the swimming pool, then ultimately all of us would get in the swimming pool, and finally, one of the guys, I guess it was revenge, got a hold of me and threw me in and somehow or another I got entangled 1 �in the net that we had used as a volleyball net by the way crossing for polo in the swimming pool. I got tangled up in that net and I felt sure I was gonna drown, but fortunately I untangled myself and got up above the water. But it turned out to be one of the wildest events we had and I assure you that next morning there was nobody for breakfast. FB: There was also quieter things that happened, I understand there was church service on board too. CB: Yes, you know, sitting on a lounge chair on the deck of a boat, I'd never experienced before, but I remember that I did it a lot just to have a good old sun bath, bask in the sun and sleep a little, take a nap and all, and in between one of the Javanese boys would bring up maybe a cup of tea, and snack; you had a lot of time to think and – where we were going, what we've done and all, and listening to other guys and exchanging stories – "Gee, Joe, what are you going over for? Charlie, what are you going over for? And "Do you think we're doing the right thing?" And we'd talk philosophically about it, then we'd exchange stories about the girlfriends we were leaving – "Are you going to get married when you get back?" "Oh, no", "Oh, yeah". And then finally, "Gee, we've got to do something about our bellies. We were gaining weight, every one of us was gaining weight, we didn't have enough exercise, so we developed a – we called it a "ring game". It's like tennis or volleyball except you threw a ring back and forth and that really got a lot of us in shape, besides walking around the deck, and on Sunday, we had [???] we had some American missionaries, God-fearing gentlemen going back to China and also some Chinese returning to China. Some of us actually – and I remember doing this for about a week – I'd studied lessons in Chinese with the idea of learning the Chinese language, but I rapidly lost interest – this thing's impossible – a few of the other guys did the same thing. On Sunday morning service – there were a lot of us in church – it was difficult to pay attention to the minister talking, thinking about the things we'd just done the previous 2 �day, there was no relation whatsoever. But it, amazingly, most of us on board ship did attend those services. FB: What kind of things were going through your mind while you were in the service? CB: Say again. FB: What kind of things were going through your mind while you were in the church? There's a reference to "Rock of Ages" and you were thinking about your mom CB: When I'd go to church, most of my thoughts would go back – carry me back to my mother, bless her heart, her stamina in taking care of six kids and then – we lived during the time of the depression – here I was about 27 years old and recalling the days of the depression and her greatest strength was her religion and she took us kids to church and so forth and I'd go back and think of her a lot and here I was attending services and, I must admit – looking back now – I think that it really helped and right now I could say I'm glad I did it because looking back now, knowing what I do now, it did tend to lift me and give us some moral. I think it probably helped a little too in our life aboard the ship. It was different, it was – looking back now, I knew that I was a little bit closer to God. FB: Before you left to go to China, what did you actually tell your parents you were gonna do? CB: When I had made up my mind to go to China and be with Chennault and AVG, naturally I told my parents about it and my brothers and sisters and Doris, who ultimately I married, I told them the very three reasons that I wanted to go to China, and I told them that I would be back after one year and to worry about me. At that time I had now idea of the intensity of the combat we would ultimately be involved in, probably fortunately. I would still have gone but I did my best to relieve them of any anxiety because my mom and dad had never been out of the United States, as a matter of fact, hadn't been very far out of state of Texas and my sisters and brothers – older brothers, younger brothers – and I let 'em all know I'd miss 'em. I remember shedding a few tears when I told my mother and dad goodbye, but I felt good about it and I told 'em I'd write 'em and thank goodness I 3 �did, and they wrote me. As a matter of fact we ultimately sent wires back and forth, and they'd read – when we got in combat over there – they'd read stories about it, and of course, they were very proud. FB: The trip over had a few stops, like the ship would dock at certain places, can you tell us a [??] about that? CB: The trip from San Francisco to Rangoon took a long time; first stop was Honolulu. We were allowed to go to shore about eight hours there and the most interesting thing there I remember is in one of the hotels, I was with a group of my buddies and one of them was old Pappy Boyington and we got sloshed but we just barely got back to the boat in time and it took us about a day or two to get over that, and then we had a long, long leg of the journey after that, that sail down past Christmas Island then around Australia with our first stop at Sarabaya, Java, the navy base for the Dutch there. We stayed there about three or four days, actually we stayed there about a week, and George and Jim and I in a bar one night met a local guy that said he would take us to the island of Bali. The island of Bali was a very fantastic – it was a fairyland really and the stories we'd heard of the – the women there supposedly didn't wear anything above the waist so we talked to this guy and he says, yeah, he'd take us over there. This turned out to be a wild side trip in an automobile that was driven – I think his name was Benny – at any rate, the wild ride through the roads of Java, then a boat trip across a straight where we loaded his little car on the boat and at night sailed across about a three mile straight and landed at the other side in the valley, and then up to a camp – it was a country club supposedly, and of all people who was running it, a blond headed Californian, so we felt perfectly at home, and we had a wonderful time on the beach and stayed there about two days, then the trip back which was equally wild. I guess we must have killed ten or fifteen chickens, one or two goats and probably just barely missed a lot of ladies, but we got back to Sarabaya, and lo and behold the boat had already sailed to go further up to the coast of Batavia, so the only we could do was get on a little narrow gauge railroad and catch the boat up at Batavia. 4 �Smitty, Smith was Curtis Smith, the ranking guy, military wise, so he was sort of boss – he jumped on us a lot for not showing up, but it was a terrific side trip. Then from there we were going along finally to Singapore. Singapore two or three days where we took a side trip to the little principality of Singapore where I remember sitting – or going through a room where this guy could serve a dinner for guests of a 125 people in settings of pure gold. And we passed by rubber factories and all – very interesting side trip. Then from there we went on up and finally arrived at Rangoon. FB: Now at this point you've had a lot of time to think about what you were going to be getting into, what you were going to see when you arrived in this exotic land. What did you actually find? CB: On the way over, I wondered and wondered what I'd be getting into, what Burma would look like, where we would train, and what China would look like, the people and so forth. Arriving at the port of Rangoon and getting my first glimpse of the city, port side, and then in the background, the golden domes of French – there's a ???domed pagoda right there at Rangoon, one of the largest in Burma. It was so strange and it made – everything was exciting. The smells and odors I had never sensed before in this foreign harbor which was typical of the middle east. The people, generally smaller than the Americans, much darker of course, and some just almost black. The streets and the homes, architecture and all was considerably different. I remember making a lot of entries in the diary about the difference of the country and then the little railroad that we used, the little narrow gauge railroad and the cars that we got on to go up some 160 miles to Toungoo in the center of Burma where we trained, it was like a local streetcar in a town. It must have stopped every fifteen or twenty miles. Very boring but very interesting. It was just different from anything I could imagine. FB: Once you arrived at the base, describe what you saw and what your reaction was, your feelings about finally getting there. 5 �CB: At Rangoon when we first landed, Skip Adair, Eric Schilling and one or two others of the previous group who had arrived had come down to greet us, and I remember Pawley – Mr. Pawley who was one of the top men of CAMCO, Central American Manufacturing Company, he even met us, and by the way, the first time we got paid, and sure enough he paid us what they said we'd get. As a side comment you might say that we knew we wouldn't need much money over there and most of us, practically all of us had made arrangements to just draw so much money and then have CAMCO, through their offices, deposit our remaining salaries in banks back in the United States. For instance, I had my money deposited in the Bank of [???] Houston in San Antonio, where I'd begun to use a banking service for a measly $125 a month – actually $75 a month as a flying cadet actually. But to get back to the point, going to Toungoo, Burma, when we get out the station there at Toungoo, we had another Studebaker station wagon meet us and I think Eric travelled on up with us on the train, and I remember the first thing coming to Kyedaw Airport where we were gonna train there, it was an RAF base, was the barbed wire around it. It wasn't the cyclone type of fence, it was just barbed wire, like around an old cattle ranch in the state of Texas. And a guard, a British guard – actually a Burmese in the British army, standing guard at the gate with a rifle. But no problem, we drove on in and then I saw a hangar. I got a glimpse of a paved runway, and then a glimpse of the rattan walled, Burma thatched – palm thatched roof of the little dormitories we were gonna be in. No windows, just open. Then they dropped us off there, we took our baggage and found bunks, cots with mosquito bars on 'em that we'd be using. Like a typical army barracks if you will but wide open to the rain and the wind and the heat and the mosquitoes. And then after we got settled there they took us to the flight line where we had typical operations shacks. One – only one hangar and the P-40's I first saw, a P40, and I remember thinking, Oh, I'm back in fighters. Then meeting the other group of people and then seeing an airplane, a P-40 come in and land and all, and I began to get excited then, and I was glad. 6 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v02 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 2 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond discusses the experiences aboard the Boschfontein including their stops in Honolulu and Singapore, in addition to their eventual arrival in 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/c85e139e93faf0887b78fa26d70830bf.mp4 4098b68548853e90db9ca28b7a4ffef7 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f56f2cacd1fe630e50eb672cf6b8f7fa.pdf 351a45308f01801af883c581d60ef61d PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Charles Bond Date of Interview: February 23, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 1] FB: If you could tell us, what were you doing prior to even hearing about the AVG. CB: Prior to hearing about the AVG, being in bombers and the United States staying out of the war but wanting to help had set up an arrangement to ferry Lockheed Hudson bombers from Burbank to Montreal to turn over the RCAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and then they would ferry them on to the British. They selected a lot of we bomber pilots to go on TDY to Long Beach, California, pick up the bombers, ferry them to Montreal, come back with a parachute and go again, which became very boring. Of course, I was still in the bomber business and then, I got a phone call and that was my old buddy, it was "Jebbo" Brogger who knew I knew I wanted to get in fighters which I was trained in at Kelly field in 1939, and let me know that I had a chance to get in fighters if I was interested, and he gave me the name of – I think it was – wait a minute – FB: Let's just start with you got the phone call from your buddy. CB: Yeah, I got this phone call from my buddy at McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, he said, "Charlie, you still want to get in fighters?", and I said, "You bet", so he gave me the name of Skip Adair whom he knew. He said, "You call him" and he gave me his phone number "and talk to him, and he'll tell you what your chance is to fly with the AVG in Burma to protect the Burma Road for the Chinese and under a guy by the name of Claire Chennault who used to be in the Air Force". I thanked him and I immediately called Adair and then he gave me the phone number of a Colonel Green whom I don't know this day who was in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. "You just call him and tell him that you want to get in the AVG and he'll ask you a few questions". So I did that but I didn't do that until the following day, I got to talking to some of my buddies, Jim Cross 1 �and George Burguard who had come with me from McDill to do the same ferrying job and when I told them about the story and they were interested, so they said, "Look Charlie, we want to go too", and I said, Well, I'll mention your names", so the next day I called this number and Colonel Green answered and he asked me a few questions, I told him who I was, my qualifications and all and I said "I want to get in fighters" and I mentioned Jim Cross and George Burguard's name and he says, "Okay", and he says, "Probably within the next day you'll get a wire telling you what to do". Lo and behold, the next day my Commander got a wire at Long Beach. This was the forerunner of the old air transport command, it was called the Western Division of the United States Army Air Force Ferrying Division, just set up. He called me in, boy, and he was mad! "What the hell's going on?" Well, I explained it all to him and finally he settled down and sure enough, he had to publish orders that very day releasing Charlie Bond, Jim Cross and George Burguard from the United States Army Air Corps and I had to resign my reserve commission, all connections with the armed forces of the United States and I was told to report to my home in Dallas, Texas and I'd be notified later. So that's what happened. I went home and stood by, and eventually – I'd say within about a week, I got a letter from a CAMCO Organization, Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company. which later on turns out to be a background for the AVG and they gave me instructions to report to San Francisco, and I think it was early September, about the 10th of September of 1941 and paid my way, airline ticket and all, and that's how I ended up going to San Francisco and finding a lot of other characters just about like me, ready to go to China. FB: Now what was – when you met with the people in San Francisco at CAMCO – when you got to San Francisco and you got a chance to actually talk to the people at CAMCO, what did they tell you to expect – what did they expect of you and what did they tell you to expect when you arrived in China? CB: Well, when I got to San Francisco, the first – and I checked in with registration of course – and some guy came up to me and I can't remember who it was – I think it was one of 2 �the other guys who had already reported, and he says, "Just don't say anything to anybody what you're doing here, just register." And I registered and it ends up we had about 25 of the other characters there, and then we began to talk, and I recall now that I was told by Skip Adair the general concept of it was I would go over as a wing man, I would be paid $600 a month and this would all be in writing, and it would be for a year's contract and we were relief being organized to defend the Burma Road for the movement of lend-lease supplies up into China from Rangoon. He did say that also, you will get $500 for every airplane you shoot down, and this of course, made me perk up my ears. And we discussed this among all of the guys and they had been told the same thing, and we ultimately signed a contract which essentially said everything, but the $500 was not in the contract, however, it turned out,they faithfully did pay us $500 for every aircraft we shot down. FB: Why would you want to go to China – what was your motivation there? CB: I really jumped at the idea when I first heard about this from my buddy in McDill. I was trained in – at that date in those times, we called it Pursuit at Kelly Air Force Base, I was an Air Force guy, and lo and behold – and I've remembered this since '38 and '39 and the war was in Europe and we were trying to stay out of it in the United States – sort of, the hand-writing was on the wall – and the bomber concept was being pushed hard by the United States Army Air Corps and they began to expand the bombardment forces, so they took our class graduating in February '49 to pour into the expansion of bomber outfits and it took the top risk deal alphabetically. Well, Bond being it's top – but I was trained in Pursuits – lo and behold when they published – or the orders came out – I was assigned to second bomb group of V18's and D17's at Langley Air Force Base. I wanted to get back in fighters and also – now the three reasons why I went to the American Volunteer Group – I wanted to get back in fighters, and I wanted a regular commission. I figured if I went to the Far East – Burma and China, I was convinced, I was really convinced that we were gonna be in a war ultimately with the Japanese, and after a year I'd have combat experience and then I'd come back home and be on – I figured they couldn't help but give 3 �me a commission because I'd have combat experience. And the third reason, I wanted to buy my mother and father a home which was better than than the one they were living in, and that's the reasons I went to China. FB: What did you know about China? CB: China, in my opinion, was the other side of the earth and of course, being young, this is adventure and all and "Gee! – this will be interesting". I didn't know much more about China than what I studied in History class in High School and by the way, I never went to college before that.d FB: What about the Japanese, what did you know about the Japanese? CB: I knew where Japan was on a world map, I knew the Japanese were oriental, I could tell a Jap when I looked at one. FB: I was just thinking in terms of during that period of time there was a lot of – you'd go to a movie and there was always these films in front of – and newsreels and whatnot about the things that were happening in Europe and things that were happening in Japan, I was just wondering if that had any effect on you. CB: Oh definitely, that's – I was convinced based on what I was reading in newspapers, and being in the military – in the Air Force, and flying bombers and all, and you know, the war in Europe was already taking place and shaping up and President Roosevelt, listening to him talk, like I do now – president's talk – there was no doubt in my mind that the United States was going to be in a war, and everything seemed to fit for me, so the overriding reason is, I wanted to get back in fighters, so if there was a war I'd be fighting with fighters, not in bombers, and this gave me a year to get some money, and at $600 a month compared to $125 a month as Second Lieutenant, this was great, plus the adventure being in the Far East, and I just figured I would achieve my objectives and, fortunately, I did. FB: Once you were in San Francisco and they had you signed up and ready to go, you boarded a ship, can you tell us anything about the trip itself. 4 �CB: Well, after we were at San Francisco – staying by the way in the St. Francis Hotel for a fabulous week or two, we boarded ship, the Boschfontein, a Dutch motor ship in the harbor at San Francisco on 25th September, 1941, and I think we were the second contingent, or perhaps third contingent, certainly the second contingent– some thirty or forty of us with some Chinese missionaries and some American missionaries going back, and we sailed from the harbor on the 25th September, 1941, and for some reason or other – I don't know this date – I decided to write a letter to my Mom and Dad when we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge because somehow or another I felt this was an historic time in my life and that was the starting of the first entry in my diary which produced that book. FB: Of the trip itself on the boat, one of the things I found interesting is that, you knew why you were going there, but your passports were rather creative in terms of what you guys were going as. CB: By the way, when I went over – we act separately completely from all relations with the armed forces, and my passport I picked up at the hotel from some of the administering people from CAMCO, Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company, my contracts and all, and my passport that identified me as a clerk, and this surprised me, but that was explained to me, that well, you know this is – not a lot of people know about this, and certainly we don't want the Japanese to know about this, and so forth and so on, and I began to check with my buddies, and Jeez, various names and occupations – it was crazy. FB: What were some of these occupations that you ran into? CB: One was a teacher, one was a musician – I think that was one of the characters, I forget who he was – of all things, he wasn't a musician. But it was all comical – didn't make sense. FB: You knew some of the guys that were on the trip, and you got to know some of the guys as the time went on, what were some of your impressions of some of the people you were going to China with? 5 �CB: We boarded the ship, "Boschfontein", Jim Cross and George Burguard and I, we'd all met at the hotel, and we had become associated with the other 20 or 30 of them, and we rapidly became very close with one another, all of use of a sort of military background, in other words, we came from the military, either army, navy, or marine corps – army air corps which is air force later on, and the marine corps and the navy, and our group which was representative of the overall outfit of about 52% navy pilots, some six or seven marines and the remaining air force, that was just about the cut of 35 or 40 of us aboard ship. Pappy Boyington was in our group, R.T. Smith, no Snuffy Smith, an air force guy, Dick Rossi was aboard, Bob Prescott who later became boss of the Flying Tiger Airline, so we rapidly became very close to one another, and before you knew it, we were acting as a typical bunch of fighter guys that had been together for years. FB: How did the trip………started out as a letter to your parents and that eventually motivated you to write – don't mention the book, I just want to talk about the diary itself. Start off with the fact that you started as a letter to your parents under the San Francisco Bridge. CB: As we sailed out of San Francisco Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge, it was late in the evening, the sun had begun to set, and I remember going out on deck deep in thought and I actually remember wondering, gee, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing, and did a little soul searching and then went to dinner and went back in my bunk and I decided to let my folks, naturally I was thinking about my folks, also Doris, a girlfriend I'd left, and I thought I'd write them a letter and I sat down and I – for some reason or other I had purchased two or three of these little composition books and I started making my first entry: San Francisco, 25th of September, 1941, and I began to describe my thoughts: Am I doing the right thing, gee, China? Half way round the world? Young. I knew what I wanted to do and this made me think that I'm doing the right thing and I was content, but I ended up writing about three or four pages that night and then went to sleep. And the next day, come the evening, for some reason or other, I decided I'll write some more, 6 �and as a result I ended up writing a diary for my entire, almost exactly a year, every night just as faithfully and religiously as I could, I'd enter my writing for that day, my thoughts, my events, be they good or bad, my anger, my fears, my complete happiness, elations, my fights I had with some of the guys, the haircuts I had, I always included all of the events I possibly could, and I ended up with about four booklets full of events including – it was really my life for that one year, and ended up with August 17th, 1942 when I came back home and landed in Miami. FB: The diary you speak of talks about the trip over and you had mentioned also that a group of young pilots and how they acted and all that, what was the trip like? CB: Well, it took us almost two months to go from San Francisco to Rangoon, Burma with stops in between, and of course, the first few days – I think it took us six days, or seven days to go from San Francisco to Honolulu where we first ………we began to get in sort of a – not a rut, but a routine of how we would get up in the morning, go to breakfast – the ship couldn't have been over 200 ft. long – a small one. We didn't have much recreation. Eventually they put in a swimming pool for us, they had good food, little Javanese waiters, they had a bar and we made use of the bar – many times too much. We could walk around the ship, sailing most of the entire trip all the way over to Rangoon from San Francisco was really relatively very calm seas. I was worried at first about getting seasick but that didn't bother me. It took me about three days to get used to the drumming of the motors; this was a motor ship with diesel oil and running propellers and the sound – the droning of the sound – it took a little time to get used to that, at first I got headaches from it, but never any seasickness. We ended up in – if you will – hangar flying, even in those days, but none of us had been in combat but telling about stories, you know, where bombers, fighters – some of the guys had just graduated from flying schools, others like – I was actually a First Lieutenant at the time I entered. We'd talk about our earliest experiences. I didn't realize it at the time but two or three of the guys 7 �were married, the rest of us were bachelors, though some of the guys may have been divorced I don't recall, but we were young FB: (That's a good place to stop) 8 � 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_Bond_Charles_1991-02-23_v01 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bond, Charles R., Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Charlie Bond interview (video and transcript, 1 of 12), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond describes his background before joining the American Volunteer Group and his journey overseas from San Francisco 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/25e444c4b39481346f8233a54723e56a.mp4 dabb852c08b9a39cc17559cc94732042 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f289dfe8a25892d7fec8424b719bd413.pdf 36b6b5040fdd178eff409a1c63d25dfd PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 11] FB: Finally, we'd gotten through to this point, these are all reminiscence kind of things, no specific questions per se, no incidents per se, more of your reflections on. The last few questions on war, your opinion, if you will, your reflection, just your own view of what has happened, so it's not so much the specific airplanes, or anything like that, it's more philosophic, your evaluation. To start off with, were there any deaths that occurred during the AVG period of time that had a particular impact on you? CB: I think the worst one was Johnny Fauth. Because Johnny and I were good friends, I knew he lived in the red line Ta. Johnny was an Atheist. He was a, because he got in some terrific arguments, he said if I get killed, throw me in a hole and cover me up, that's it. And so of course, that shook a lot of people up, but Johnny was a good mechanic and he and I were real good friends and I think Johnny Fauth was probably, really affected me as much as anything. And then of course, Pete Atkinson was another one and Neil Martin, all those guys were killed but Fauth was the one that I knew him, I bought his pistol for him, he slept in the, next to me in the barracks and that I think was maybe one of the things. We were all in the same boat and we all had an equal chance of buying the farm, so to speak, but Johnny Fauth was, and if you ever talked to this Ole Olson, he named his P-47 Johnny Fauth. I've got a picture of it in the back room that he named his P-47 after Johnny Fauth because him and Johnny were both mechanics together. FB: How do you look at the Military's attitude towards the AVG? CB: Well, the Military attitude toward the AVG, I can't blame the military some ways, they were pulling on a lot of, at the time they had the big Air Force, Air Corps expansion. They were pulling out qualified people. Now no squadron commander wants to lose people. Chennault had made a lot of enemies, Gen. Chennault had made a lot of enemies with the high ranks and that of course, he was one of the reason he was out of the Service. He was a, he just got out of the Service because they didn't want him around.. I had my own opinions of Gen. Chennault, I think Gen. Chennault was a brilliant tactician, I don't agree with him as far as winning the war with air power, there's no way he could have done that, but he was that way with it. Gen. Stillwell was on the ground power, you've got to have everybody. I really don't believe that the Japanese had attacked at us like they could have. I mean they'd wipe us out. There was no way we could have stood up to them. I don't think that they had thought they were going to run in to what they'd run in to, but I think, I also think that a Military outfit is a much better way to run a war, than with a voluntary unit. I put 20 years in the military in the sack and you see what they did at W-Sealed, these guys are well trained, they're well motivated, and that's the way 1 �you win wars. I really believed that if we'd have gone over there, they'd have really clobbered us. That would have been the end of the Tigers. FB: What about the military attitude about the AVG sort of at the end, they had a lot of treatment towards different, well they were trying to keep us there, there was a lot of jealousy - there were a lot of these fellows that wanted to make a name for themselves. I didn't have run in to any personal things myself, I didn't have any bone to pick with any of them. I just know what some of the fellows had said, I do know that the powers of B did everything in their powers to keep us there, and I think some of it was pretty petty, I think we could have done away, if Bissel had not done what he'd done, I think that they had probably would have made at least 50 percent of the AVG. FB: The last two questions and be careful, the last three questions, if you need some time to think about it, please feel free, and its brief history.. CB: I think the AVG accomplished in the history it was in, the biggest thing was that we were the only one's that were doing anything in America. We'd had Pearl Harbor, we had got wiped out of Pearl Harbor, we lost Corregidor, we'd lost the Philippines, the Navy was sunk, we didn't have equipment over there, and we were the only ones that were doing anything. And I think as a morale booster, it really helped the country. People were grasping for straws, they wanted something that they could hang on to. And say, hey, I'm an American and we're doing something good. As the war progressed, why then when we got in to it, everybody got in to it, then it had turned into a different story. But I think that's the biggest thing - it was a big book, it was like Jimmy Doolittle, Gen. Doolittle accomplished nothing as far as tying Japan on a hawk. But it was a big morale booster - it showed Japan it could be done and it showed at least we're trying to do something. but as far as military, it didn't do anything. FB: What do you think the effect was for the Chinese people? CB: From what I see of the Chinese, it was a big, they couldn't do enough for us - they had been bombed and bombed and bombed and well we were there to stop that and on the whole it stopped. And of course, when the 14th Air Force took over, the Japs never hit Kunming again - not to my knowledge. FB: What do you think you personally accomplished during that period of time? CB: Oh, gee, there was a period of my life, I don't think that I got over yet, at this stage of the game, but I learned a lot. I learned a lot about the traveling around, as far as my own skills as an armor, I had a lot of skills at that and it's something like, I just keep remembering it, it still comes back to me and then I loose names and some will pop up and I'll say, gee I was there, I was never dissatisfied that I joined the unit. I think that later on, there was some rumor that Chennault, Gen. Chennault was doing something, wanted to start something else up with the Chinese Communists, I didn't think I wanted any part of it. I never heard the whole story on it, but I had heard rumors that he was 2 �trying to get another thing going to fight the Communists, I don't, whether it was true or not. FB: How did the period of time during the AVG, how did that affect the rest of your life? CB: Well, I was through, I probably would have never Will. When I went back into the service, I got tied up with Ole Olson - we went into pilot training, and I met her on the west coast, so it probably changed my whole life, really, what I would have been doing otherwise, I probably would have ended up in Greenland with the unit that was stationed there at Mitchell Field, say I went to Greenland for a while and of course, I ran into some people later on, Phil Cochrane, he was, he and Jimmy Allison headed up the Commando unit and that was one hell of an outfit. It was the same thing as the Tigers. They got people in there, there was no T and R, table of organization, we had [Mario? Enrack?] floating around, shaking a stick at and we flew to, I flew up to 3 missions in one day and all I had time was to smoke a cigarette and we were over the bomb line, you might say it that way and Cochrane was a G.I. soldier from way back - as long as you did your job, we had some people come in there and they got a little ticked off because the guys weren't shaving and he put a thing in the bulletin board, Support Powers of B that don't look like our parents, now we're doing a job he said, but it would be nice if you did scrape off some of the rough stuff, the next time they come around, stuff like that. FB: Final questions, what is your own personal opinion, not that has to do with newspapers, or reporters, or anything like that, what does it feel like from you to be called a Flying Tiger? CB: Well, in a way, I'm proud of the name, I wasn't a pilot, and so I really wasn't a Flying Tiger, I'm a Flying Tiger in a sense, I did the job but I wasn't one of the guys that did the thing. Of course, I'm very proud of what I did, I wanted to fly an airplane real bad, and I never, I just didn't have the ability to do it. And I might say that I just, there was no outfit like it, there probably never will be another one. I know I felt left out for this, I felt like I was left out of it. Now I know I'm too old for it, the mind was willing but the body wasn't able. But I wouldn't mind being over there. That's an idiotic statement, but I still wouldn't mind being over there. But my wife would have something to say about that. 3 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v11 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 11 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden reflects on the overall accomplishments of the AVG and the effect that period of time had on the rest of his life. 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/3f8d135dff58fc1e634beb4bccd4fa92.mp4 483588b4f077c578197d3bd5e9412b4d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7e86b6539490755ec2508f3f621f5777.pdf a1bdbcd742bdfa8353965c12ed61a9f4 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [BREAK – TAPE 10] FB: Let's begin with, the only time you saw Chennault get really upset. CB: The only time I remember about Chennault really being upset is that he lost his cool. There was a period of time when the army B-25 landed at Kunming. And Gen. Chennault came down, the regular operator was dead, the plane was full of holes, and we found out the story was that those planes were supposed to take off from India, fly to Kunming and then we'd take them from there. Well, the Army and all the glorious wisdom decided that they would make little bombing raid on Lashio. They knew nothing about Lashio. Not really. So they decided to bomb Lashio and they'd immediately run low on fuel and they got jumped by Jap fighters. Who were, I think were already in Latio. The radio operator was killed, they lost I think 3 planes, and they lost two of them. At least that's from my best recollection. This was landed and Chennault heard the story and he took his hat off and he threw it on the ground and kicked it. And I don't know what he said, cause he walked away with his back to me but he was mad. And the only thing I heard was this was unnecessary. Because he had places, they could have gone in to several other bases for gas if he'd known it, they could have bet on the whether, there's a bunch of things they could have done, but they didn't tell him. He didn't know about it. And this was really unfortunate and I guess they probably have that problem all of the time. FB: Around this time towards the end, there was some rumors that were strung around about the AVG is coming to an end, there's Army Air Corp coming in, I wonder if you could comment on that period of time. CB: Well, these rumors started flying there probably May. And of course we thought we were going to be abducted right into the service. But then we found out that beyond foreign soil, you cannot enlist, they can't draft you, it has to be voluntary induction which I had never heard of before and they set up some king of a board and interviewed everybody and asked what it would take to stay in. Well, I had made my mind up that I was going to go back to the States. Or I was going to ask for something I really didn't believe they'd give me but I was going to try and if I'd got it, I'd stayed. Well when I got, our squad commander was the one that interviewed us. And they said what do you say to stay? And I said if you give me the permanent board to the Master Sergeant, and you'd give me temporary First Lt., I'll stay. I never heard any more about it. That was something I didn't get and I didn't think I'd get, but I was going to try for it. That was the closest I'd ever got to getting the commission. Anyway, that was the whole story on that Of course, we'd had the big talk by this General, this General came in there, Burton or Britain, he came in. 1 �FB: Let's start again, the General came in by the name of Bissell. CB: There was a general that came in by the name of Bissell. And we weren't impressed, I know he wasn't impressed, we weren't impressed with what we saw, I think he thought that everybody was going to pop to and do whatever he wanted us to do and he laid it on the line, he didn't tell us, there was no kindness into it, he said if you don't go into the service, the Draft Board will meet you when you get off the boat or the plane, you'll get no help for transportation, in other words everything was negative. Then it just turned everybody off. He probably did more damage that anybody who were there, not if. And another thing Chennault did not, to me, did not ask any of us to stay. If Chennault would have said, Charlie, we need your help, I'd probably would have stayed, but he never did, and I heard later that he refused to do that. He was not going to push people into staying. I think he did call some of them like Tex Hill and some of them aside, and said I really need you, he did call some of those people in. But the most of the crowd he didn't, He didn't push us or say anything, so when the time come, we just left and we just walked away and left. We had a lot of Army people come in there. They were trying to teach us armors, aircraft armors, they had orders for people who knew nothing about aircraft armament, and they had one fellow who was standing out the flight line, he was scratching his back on the wing guns and as the guy in the cockpit turns on the switches and hits the relay and that put a burst to the middle of his back, blew him 15 feet away from the left. Of course, they didn't know if there was a padlock inside the aircraft, they had relays. If he hit one of those relays, that would fire the gun, you didn't have to pull the trigger, they'd fire the guns, and whoever was in there, they didn't know. And another fellow came by he was some officer, I didn't know who he was, he didn't like the way we had some stuff stacked there, he said this stuff should be stacked neat. and I guess we told him to get lost. But whatever it was, we didn't do it. And then we got, and when we do go in, these guys are really going to lay it in to us. I don't think they did because they needed all the experience at the time because these fellows didn't know, they were in Kunming, that was about it. Because it don't take long when you get under active combat conditions you know what to do and you learn it or you got big problems. FB: I wonder if you could comment on a particular aspect of what you talked about, when you went out to China, actually to Burma first and then China, one of the things that you made very clear, was that you guys already knew what you were doing, you'd already had the training and everything else, it was getting use to the conditions and everything but basically you knew your job. From that perspective and now you've had almost a year of experience what was your evaluation of the new people coming in? CB: My evaluation of the people coming in was that they were friendly, most of them, particularly the fellows we associated with, they wanted to learn but they didn't know anything. They were completely in the dark of what was going on. They were trying to train people that didn't have any experience in the aircraft [?] No doubt they would learn, they just didn't know, not no doubt they wouldn't learn, but no I think one of my biggest problems were that stuff we had was getting worn out. And of course, most of the fellows cam out alright. I didn't work with any of them hardly at all before I left because I left a little bit early. 2 �FB: Describe, CB: We did start to get aircraft invasion from the old H-81, P-40, we started to get the Emodels in and that was a lot better airplane it had 650 caliber machine guns underway and they had drop tanks and it had the place to put bombs in the wings and it was a much better aircraft. But we didn't have any, we were using Russian bombs, we were using Chinese bombs, most of them had to be adaptive to the aircraft, they wouldn't fit, we had some problems with ammunition and our gun sites on the old models were just about had it, the things were just getting worn out and P-models why, they were going to do alright. That was about it. Things were just, we'd had the stuff so long that actually the replacements, and they had to bring them from a long way, they had to go all the way to Accra, the Gold Coast to get them. FB: Let me ask you this, in a quote, unquote, normal army air Corp. operation, would this equipment that you had, been kept in service that long or what would normal military procedure be in that regard? CB: They'd had probably thrown it away and got new ones. FB: I want to hear that. In terms of the P-40s and the amount of wear and tear on them, and then say they would have thrown them apart. CB: Well, let's put it in perspective. If you don't have the equipment, you've got to use what you have. If you've got lost of equipment, you use the new equipment. And that's just the way it was. Now I know later on when I was over there again, we went through three bombers. None of them were any class 6. I mean they were totaled out, but when something would break, we'd get a new one. I know in China, we couldn't do it, we didn't have the stuff, we had to use what we had. And I don't think the Air Corp. was capable of handling it, they couldn't handle it, they didn't have the people that could do this, they didn't have the machine shops and all this sort of stuff, so my system, my idea of what it was, if it was broke, they'd have to get a new one. I don't think they could have coped with them. And what they did, they got new equipment, and I don't know what happened to the old P-40's because I left and they were still there. I wouldn't mind having one today, but.... FB: Let's look at, there was an incident you had mentioned about, of a plane exploding on the runway? CB: Oh, the Chinese plane? Well, the Chinese were flying a Russian-made biplane and it had a, I don't know what kind of engine it had, but I know it had four synchronized RussianScotch machine guns and that's an army's nightmare right there, to have four of those things. And the Chinese was fooling around with bombs and they had rigged a bomb rack for this aircraft. They'd hung the bomb beneath it, a bomb has got what you call an army vein on it. An army vein goes through an army wire which is hooked to the bomb [chakle?]. And when the bomb is dropped armed, this pin or wire stays with the aircraft, 3 �let's the propeller spin, well the propeller has got to spin so many times in order to arm the bomb. They didn't have one of these, so they had a mechanic hold the propeller over the bomb, the army vein, until he started taxying. When he started taxying, naturally the army vein spins off which arms the bomb, well now the bomb isn't going to off until something it knows strikes something. Well, it evidentially hit a rock and Kunming hit a lot of gravel and evidentially, he's taxying by and the plane just blows up - just completely disintegrates, we didn't find nothing of the pilot. And the engine, when it took off, it went, it must have gone into the air, 75 feet in the air, it was roaring, the engine all by itself, the tail went that way and the wings went and later on they had one of the Chinese pilots, he was going to give us a demonstration. He was going to give us a low fly-over. He comes bopping over and his airplane made a rather peculiar sound when he came over, but he came bopping over and all of a sudden the tail starts to go like this, and evidentially, the pilot didn't have a safety belt on, because all of a sudden when it went up, he just went sailing right out of the cockpit. He hit his leg on the horizontal stabilizer and got his shoot off, but he wasn't that high but he did get his shoot open and he came down with a broken leg. And we had heard that the Chinese had to shoot him because he did this. I don't whatever did happen to him, but I think his career as a pilot went down the drain. He didn't impress anybody. I know we all were standing there looking at him, it was funny in a way, because it actually did look rather hilarious, this guy getting thrown out of this airplane. And D. Poshefko was there with me, I think P.J. Prairie and there was about four or five of us armorers standing watching this whole procedure. FB: If you could explain how that came about and what actually transpired. CB: Well, our contract called for a year's engagement but with a 30 day leave with good counting, you got a 30-day leave. Now see they were organizing this outfit for the, it was really called First American Volunteer Group, there was another unit that followed us, and they were scarfed up when the war broke up and wound up in Australia. They were supposed to have a couple of fighter units and a bomber unit and all that stuff. So when the time came up, I had this 30-day leave and so we just got turned loose. early and we got a, we did get an Army transfer out of Kunming. The pilot told us, he drives me down there, he said I'll take you up because these guys were all for, it was William's trying to keep us from going anyplace. so they weren't supposed to fly us anyplace, but he said you be down there at the end of the runway, I'm leaving at such and such a time in the morning, he says, so I'll, we flew in to Karachi. We got into Karachi and we went to the American Council, and he said take a train, go to Bombay and sit, you'll be notified. Which is what we did, we were in Bombay 30 days and we found an apartment, there were 3 or 4 of us in the apartment with some British troops, soldiers, that was a nice place, except I got liver, kidneys, and every Wednesday they had kidney pie and those kidneys were raunchy because you could smell them cooking them in the morning. That was horrible. I found out you could buy Coca-Cola extract for $18/gallon and we'd get the Coca-Cola extract and a the bearer, the servant we had, would bring us in the seltzer water and we would get Indian Rum and we drank a lot of Rum-Coke while were there, now a gallon of Coke-extract goes a long ways. And we had, we put on a big party and we had a good time in Bombay, I forget who was with me, I think, I forget who was with me and all of a sudden they notified us, they said be at the boat dock and such a such a 4 �time and the Mariposa came in there and that's what we came back on, then they charged us a, I think it was supposed to be about $3/day for transportation, it was a troop ship. Well, I rangled my way on the gun crew so I didn't know anything about a, you see the Navy had the radio, Army Coast Guard artillery, out artillery had the gun system, the weapons, they had one five-incher and two-three inchers in the fan tail, they had one big one in the front, they had a lot of machine guns. The Mariposa was fast, a submarine couldn't catch it. Unless it was ahead of it. Then we went unescorted. When we left, there was a bunch of, a whole bunch of us, they gave all the pilots to man the machine guns, we were never attacked there, but they, and I got on one of the candidates as a gun pointer, I had a young Corporal Sgt. there check me out, of course I told him I knew all about it, I didn't know a damn thing about it but they didn't either, so it didn't make any difference. So we came back on the Mariposa. And we came down and we stopped at Cape Town and as we left Bombay the riots broke out, that was in August, the riots broke out in Bombay, because I remember the British troops coming in there, they put a machine gun up in our room, up in the belfry, a little dorm they had up there, and I remember they had hobnail boots, and we could hear these guys running up and down the steps, a lot of racket, we didn't know what was going on, and as we got out of Bombay, we had a torpedo fired at us, and a ship, they said, I didn't see it, but they said it was a torpedo that had been fired at us, and then we went to Cape Town and we were degauzed at Cape Town. Now degauzing is when they rap a lot of cables around your ship and they demagnetize it for magnetic lines. And then we headed for the States and we came up around thru Panama, we'd seen all that stuff floating in the water and the German submarines were just blowing the heck out of everything in there. We didn't know at the time what it was, we'd got to [Wehauka?] and I got in trouble with the Customs and I had a first-aid kit that I'd got it out of a British fighter - it had a sea of ampoule of morphine in it and the Customs found it, and oh, they let it land on me with a ton of bricks. I said look, I'd been carrying this thing around for 5 months, it was sealed, I said it's a first-aid kit, it had injection violet which they use for burns and there was compresses and but they, I had an Indian suitcase and they went through that, they even tried to take it apart. They thought I was a, they had a live one. Anyway, they finally let me go. I said take it, throw it away, or you can have it, whatever you want. I said I didn't have any idea I was going to get in trouble cause I got this thing. They were, they went through my pictures, and the guy was taking out, he didn't take my negatives, but he was taking pictures he wanted to keep himself. He had it approved down here, he said he'd have to sensor these. And he took about 25 off me and, but he left the negatives, but he wanted them for himself is what he wanted. And that was the whole story. Then I went to my girlfriend's house, found out she'd gotten married while I was gone 5 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v10 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 10 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden discusses the final days of the AVG and the arrival of the Army Air Corps, in addition to their meeting with General Bissell to discuss the weeks ahead. 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/552bfee01d340bc3fed055708f303c83.mp4 2e8f73b09259d9b52467dc3e025bd4a1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a4f00f67ced0b9b38ab1c351f29c944a.pdf 7973e170a1f9875e68b444422fa2e21e PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 9] FB: Ok from Loiwing this was when you were traveling on the Burma Road. Left Loiwing, Loiwing, trip up the Burma Road this is when you got your leg burned. CB: We had to leave Loiwing because it was a fair weather base. In other words the rainy season was about to start and we had to pull out of Loiwing. I don't believe it was because the Japs probably did get in there, but we had to pull out of there because it was a fair weather base. Our warning net wasn't all that great. So anyway, we decided so he was going to a place about a half day's drive maybe a half day's drive called Mengshi. We was going to operate out of there. We went in there and found out we couldn't operate, planes came in and landed. I remember Bob Brook came in and asked me to count his ammo and I looked in his 30 caliber ammo cans and just the top belts had been moved out, maybe 20 30 rounds just move off. Well, he said I'll tell you what I was flying along and I found myself flying in a formation of Japs. I was sitting back. He said I flew up in back of them I checked my armor switch on and I came them a squirt and dove away. He said I got him. He said I wondered how many rounds he fired? That's what he wanted to know, I counted them and I don't remember what it was. Came time I found one of our 30 caliber bullets lodged in an ammo can. One of our guys had evidently been shooting and poked a hole in his plane because it was one of our own cartridges. It wasn't Japanese, one of our own bullets. And I showed it to him and I said hey, you got shot didn't you and he said I don't know who shooting at me I was shooting at them. FB: Well, what happened? CB: Well, anyway we spent the night there and then they came in the Chinese nationals brought in gooney bird or a C47, or DC3 and I had my choice of flying back to Kunming. I said no, I'd gone this far and I wanted to finish the trip up in the truck. Clarence Riffer was driving at the time. I was just riding shotgun. And so we took off from there for Kunming. And on the way up why we spent the night in the truck. We had a bunch of machine gun parts in this truck. It wasn't the same truck I started off from Magwe in. We had just a bunch of machine gun equipment, tripods, this and I don't know what all was in there. So we tried to make a fire and during the course of making the fire why old Clarence, or Rif Riffer the gasoline can caught on fire using he chucked on my leg and it burnt my leg pretty good. From there we went to Paoshan. We spent the night at the hostel at Paoshan and then we went deer hunting. Now the [?] of deer hunting was with tommy guns interesting. We didn't see any deers, but we got up and yonder trying to find them. And incidentally that area is a good hunting area. 1 �Around Kunming duck hunting, there is deer so they say I never did see one. I seen the biggest tiger I'd ever seen in my life. We driving at night and the tiger jumped in the road ahead of us in the lights and then bounded off. god, he looked like he was 15 foot long. He was moving out of our way and we went another way and stopped..Chinese, they don't like to be passed. They loose face if you pass them. We found to pass them, pass them on the inside don't try to go round them they'll try to push you off the cliff. You start passing them and they start edging the car off and you got a 1500 foot gorge there. So we passed on this side and we found the best way just fire burst from your tommy gun as you go by them just fire burst over their hood they give you plenty of room. FB: Lose face. CB: Well, the Chinese like a lot of the orientals there's a different face problem. They don't like to lose face and driving on the road when you passed if you went on the outside of the road they would try to push you off the road. Invariably on the Burma Road there was one place that was a cliff on one side and there was a big drop on the other. So we would try to pass on the right and they'd get ahead of you They just try to keep they didn't want you to pass them. So what we'd do we start going around them they'd let you on the right hand side cause they'd say well, I'll push this guy over, but as we'd go by I'd take my tommy gun and I'd shot a short 10 round burst over the hood of their car. I had no intention of shooting them, unless they shot back. They put the brakes on and boy they stop in a cloud of dust and give you the right of way. Might makes right is that what you'd call it? That's what we'd do. That's what I did anyway. I don't know what the rest of the boys did. FB: You had mentioned once before about Keith Christensen. CB: Keith Christensen was armorer was a Navy man. I think he got over there around November. He came over on one of the later boats. Keith was assigned to our squadron. Of course he had a saying that Chennault had called him in and said were having trouble with this 3rd squadron they don't know their job could you sort of straighten them out being you're an old Navy man. Do you know anything about synchronization? He'd been in the Navy since about 1936, 37. He'd been in the Navy a hitch. He and I got to be real good friends we still have this synchronization thing going on even to this day He and I we stayed together we roomed together in Kunming. Stayed together pretty much together, we sort of buddied up. He's older than I am. Just a heck of a nice guy course he. I can't say any more about him he's a real nice fella. FB: What was the synchronization thing though? CB: Well, that thing was said that we couldn't synchronize and he was going to show us how course this thing happened here not too many years ago when they came up to visit here. I put a sign out on the mail box Synchronization Class will be held at 1300 hours. He and Joe Poshefko and their wives showed up and I said you ready for synchronization. Well, at least I know how to spell it. I had misspelled synchronization. I said I spelled it like it 2 �sounds. He said it don't even sound like it is spelled. And that's the story on that. And he hasn't let me forget it. FB: How once, during this whole period of time there was a certain amount of innovations that you had to make to keep the airplanes going and what not. There is a story of how you had somehow done a makeshift bomb. CB: Oh, yeah. Ken Jernstedt and gosh I wish I could remember his name. He was killed over there. They were going to plan a mission run down Moulmain. They had the planes ready to go and I just fooled around with, we had some British incendiary bombs, long silver, about that long, octagon shaped. They got a little pin the side of them and when the pin pops up they are armed and when they hit the ground they burn. Well, I bound them up with masking tape and you could put three of them in each flare rack and talked Ken you want to take them with you? I think he was a little dubious, but anyway he put them in and then we had some Canadian hand grenades and these were plastic. Only plastic hand grenades percussion grenades is what they are rather than fragmentation they make a big bang. You screw the cap on them and they had long piece of cloth and a lead weight on to them and when you threw it this stuff would spin off and when it hit the ground it would go off. We put them in flare rack tubes and put a big old cloth in the tail of it so theortically when it dropped the cloth would slow the tube down and the things would fall out. Well, we only used them once I was really scared of them. And I think they were too. But the other ones Ken told me when he came back he said you know I aimed that incendiary at the hanger but it bounced and went underneath a Betty Bomber and I got the bomber. And I still talk to him and said you never shared your bonus with me on that. He said no I never did and I ain't a goin' to. FB: You had made mention that there was an incident you recall regarding the Army Air Corps group coming in and assigned to do some sort of a morale mission. CB: We had a basic trainer land at Loiwing. Army pilot and a sergeant observer. They landed at Loiwing and came up and told us that they had been assigned to fly morale missions over the Chinese lines to make their presence known. This was an order that came up supposedly from General Stillwell. It was my understanding that Chennault told them to take that airplane and get lost because if they went down there and did that they were going to get shot down. Well, they took off and I don't know whether they flew their missions or not. I don't know what happened to them I never seen them again. But that was the story and this I remember when they landed that trainer. They wouldn't have a chance if they went down there. Trainer flying 90-130 miles an hour, well, it would have got shot down there's no doubt about it. There would be a Jap fighter there within 10 minutes. FB: There was a flare up amongst the pilots of the 3rd squadron during the latter part regarding these morale missions that were being ordered by somebody. Did you have any observation of that? 3 �CB: None at all. I didn't know I knew there was some grousing going on, but I knew nothing about it until after the war. I was reading some of the Sadell?, I didn't know a thing about it. FB: What I'd like to get into now this is sort of an over all picture. Where you part of any thing of those days when things were going 2 or 3 times they would have to go back up? CB: I don't ever recall anything like that. FB: Ok CB: We may have done it. We would rearm them when they came back and check them. Whether or not they took off again or not. But I don't remember. I just don't remember doing that. FB: OK, all right. CB: See when the 1st and 2nd went down to Rangoon, they no doubt did that cause they got real busy down there. Busier than we were. I think because after we left things got a little rougher than we had it.. FB: OK FB: I have a notation here April 42 CB: April 42 was when we was at Loiwing. [?] Berry ?got married there. I don't remember who he married. I didn't go to the wedding. They were married over at the pilot's quarters and I think that they had an alert. We had gone over there and on the way back we were stopped at a road block. I just remember we stopped at a road block and the Chinese one of the Chinese guards he had one of those Chinese grenades and he had this finger hooked on the ring and he'd hold it inside the car. And you don't drive away when some one is holding a live grenade in it doesn't prove to make your life very long. They were looking for a Japanese observer who had bailed out. Now whether we was coming back from his wedding it might have been I just don't remember. I just remember [?] got married. I don't remember who he married or if it was a local girl or American. I just don't remember. FB: This incident with the Chinese stuck a live grenade in there was that a common thing. Was that something that CB: Evidently it is one of their ways of stopping in a road block will keep you from going off because if you took off all he would have to do is hold drop the grenade and hold his finger in the ring and it would arm those grenades had a friction primer on them. You unscrewed the cap and there was a little ring and you put your finger in the ring and when you threw it the ring stayed on your hand and pulled the string and with the friction 4 �primer you ignited the fuse string. They used a regualr potato masher like the Germans used. FB: Where there any other incidents that you can recall where you had not just a confrontation but just that kind of an incident with the Chinese military? CB: No, one time I went down to Chinese anti-aircraft sentries have a 30 caliber machine gun modeled on an aircraft mount. And he had the belt in backwards. Not the bullets in backwards, but the belt. You had to put it in with the double link first if you put the single link in it scratched the truneon?. I showed him what was wrong with it. Well, he had to call his officer. His officer came over there the officer he didn't like it, but he did what I suggested do. I said it is not going to work this other way. But there was no problem he just didn't like me telling him how to run this machine gun. We did notice they were not all that eager to fire. We checked out a bunch of pilots on P-40's. They busted up some of our airplanes. Then we got that Republic Lancer P-43. We got a bunch of those in. The Chinese were busting them up all over the place. The clobbered a bunch of those things. Let's see what else did they do? They had those Russian fighters and when we would have an alert they would taxi them to the boondocks. They wouldn't take off with them. Of course they'd have got shot down it they had. They did go on a couple of bombing mission with their Russian made bombers. I don't know what ever happened on that. I think there was something called in the glory of it We just notice that they were loading them and taking off with them. FB: Why do you think the Chinese were reluctant to fight? CB: I don't think the air force was equipped to fight. Now they say they had some real good fighters later on in the 14th Air Force. I understood that when they went to pick up planes in Africa where they ferried them on in some of these guys would take off and go looking for trouble. They'd get over to Burma and they'd go looking for Japanese. So I think that they were under orders not to use those bi-planes. And of course it looked like they were bugging out, but I don't really believe that they were doing that. I think that they were just getting them out of the way because they couldn't because they were outclassed. FB: You made mention that some of the Chinese got checked out in the P-40. CB: Well, this was just before the outfit busted up. They brought a bunch of pilots in. Now all these pilots had a lot of flying time in other planes. They checked them out in the P-40. I don't know how many checked out 10, 12 whatever it was checked them out. I think they busted up 2 of our planes. I know they busted one up, but I think they busted two up. Calm down a little bit. Then they checked a few more out, but then they started getting these P-43, Republic Lancers that were coming in or they were flying those things. Those things had a, for instance, go into a high speed stall on take off if you reaped one around it would go right into its nose. I had talked to fellows who had taught Chinese pilots and seemed that over there at the time that when they were learning to fly that once they soloed that was it. They didn't need to know any more there were ready to do whatever they were supposed to do. Of course a lot of them were from rich, influential people they 5 �may have not had the qualifications they should had, but they had the pull to get in. Course that is just my own version of it. 6 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v09 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 9 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden describes his memories of traveling on the Burma Road and incidents with the Chinese military using grenades. 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/c7a94655c4060b91ee4698da5b09131b.mp4 24e8390a771f42b62da8e5bc66e043e0 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/54a6246cb0763f30e29434b60181244e.pdf 36663a8bc23ca3dac44682546b34a014 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 8] FB: What was the difficulty, if any, of getting ammunition and actually parts for the guns and all that kind of stuff? CB: If they had problems I never heard about it because what we wanted we got. We had some bad ammunitions. We got some Remington export ammunition that was bad and this was real bad news because that stuff's gotta be good for your synchronized guns. You have a hangfire, it'd be in your prop and that's when we lost a lot of props. That was the problem. On a cartridge case you've got a case and then you've got a place for the primer and that's the part that ignites the propellant charge and we found some of them that didn't have a primer hold - in other words - the hole was too small, so you had what they call a hangfire - in other words - the weapon would go off and it would strike it but it would might be like a flintlock - bang-boom - a sequence like that - and with those up you're gonna shoot a prop and we stopped using them. We did have some - Remington export ammunition was the only problem. In fact we stopped using those. We had armor piercing which was a black covered bullet. The bullet was painted black, we had tracer bullet, the tip was painted red and we had incendiary which was painted blue. And incendiaries have a little magnesium charge into 'em. Actually what they'd do, they'd burst and they'd burn, they wouldn't explode. Most of the load was one ball, two balls, two tracers and one --- two balls, two armor piercing and one tracer that was usually what the sequence was in firing. We had no incendiaries for the 30 calibers. That was all just for the 50's. We didn't use very much of them. FB: From Magwe now, where did you go next, how did you go there? CB: Well we got orders to pull out from Magwe and I did not drive, so what road they took, I have no idea. I rode on top of the truck, I rode guard on top of the truck and I just know that we left Magwe and it was - from Magwe we went to Lashio and we spent the night in Lashio and then from there we went into Loiwing. FB: What was the trip like? CB: It was uneventful. It was just driving up a road. We weren't strafed, there wasn't too many - we didn't run into evacuees or anything like that. In fact I think anybody that could leave had already left and it was a very uneventful trip. I don't recall any problems whatsoever. FB: What about Lashio? 1 �CB: Lashio was pretty busy and we got into Lashio and we got in the barracks there - it wasn't exactly barracks, they were like little motels as best I can remember and I don't even remember what we ate or where we ate, but we spent the night there and left the next day. Now the group that you went with was this - CB: No convoy. We went by ourselves, we didn't have a convoy. FB: So this was just you as the armorers? CB: I don't remember who was driving when we went up there. Whether it was Rif Riffer or Christensen - I think it might have been Keith Christensen - I don't remember who was driving. That part of my life is sort of down the tubes because I just don't remember. I just remember going - see when they declared Rangoon an open city, the fellows would go down there on the dock and they'd give them a truck and they'd get a 55 gallon drum of gas and anything you wanted you'd load it on a truck. So one guy loaded his truck up with photographic equipment, another loaded his truck up with wine, another guy winded up ??? store, just cleaned the place up, because the people had left and that's where a lot of the black marketeering - a lot of the guys got booted out over this black marketeering that started going on. They were selling aspirin tablets for $1.00 a piece up there and the Chinese had a version if they could get - was it penicillin - I don't know if it was penicillin or not - one shot of penicillin would cure venereal disease, all they needed was one shot or one pill and that was it, so this stuff was selling. They were selling ammunition for $1.00 a round, you'd get $500 for a submachine gun, $1000 for … prices for everything and you could sell everything you had. That's when some of the guys got caught up in this. FB: Who had that kind of money to buy a $500 machine gun? CB: The Chinese Communists and the Chinese dope smugglers, harem smugglers (break) FB: Our impression is that China especially at that time or Rangoon, the people were very poor, who was actually buying these things? CB: All of this mostly transpired in Kunming when they got to Kunming is where this stuff and they would be met on the road. See you have your Chinese - what you call bandits or warlords or whatever you want to call them, they were raising - some of them were selling raw opium and they were being hijacked. Well they wanted weapons to protect themselves from being hijacked and they had the money. Where they got it from I don't know, but they had the money and they were paying for it. Also the Chinese Communists were buying weapons, anyplace they could get them they were buying them and this is why the Nationalists were so hot on this black marketeering and why Chennault was so hot on it. Those guys got involved into it and unfortunately we had quite a few guys got involved in it and we had some of the fellows that got involved into it that turned out to 2 �be pretty high big shots. Now I sold the stuff I had, but I sold mine - I sold all the stuff I had to a little Chinese guy that came to the barracks. About a pound and a half of pipe tobacco and my clothes. My pistol I sold to Bob Prescott. I paid $20 bucks for it in the States, he gave me $250 for it in China and I was scared to shoot the danged thing. FB: What was your observation of the black marketeering itself? To me there's a big difference between your selling your clothes, it's not black marketeering, so give us an idea? CB: Well the fellows who were bringing this stuff up in the trucks that they got out of Burma and they were selling it to the Chinese, now this was just out and out black marketeering. Now we had some Bickers machine guns, well the British years ago when they shipped stuff, their rifles and machine guns, they took - the complete unit was not shipped in one shipment - the bolts out of the rifles and the toggle bolts out of the machine guns were shipped in another shipment. In other words - if they were stolen, they had to get both shipments. But I know I had to watch the Bickers machine guns because they - who wanted them I don't know - but I knew somebody wanted them and I've been asked about, well if you don't look, why they'll disappear and I wouldn't buy any part of that. Like I say, some of the fellows got involved in selling this stuff and they should have known better. I'd say 50% of them never got caught. But those that did, got kicked out. FB: Now what was Chennault's reaction to this? I mean how did he find out and what actually happened. CB: Chennault probably had people that were reporting to him because no way could he have found out himself. He probably had Chinese who were reporting to him, he probably had people in our own unit that was reporting to him. I don't know how he found out, he had, but all of a sudden, he had never found out on of these guys got kicked out you never had a reason. He just said goodbye and sent him a discharge and the guy was gone. We had some good guys good crew chiefs that got caught with that. And then we had fellows that got kicked out for other reasons. FB: Now we have verified that there was at least a couple who made not only just a few bucks here and there, but almost made a living out of it. I won't say left the AVG they really got into the whole black marketeering thing. Can you comment on that at all. CB: I know two fellows who were big in the, you see you had a money exchange. We could get 3 rupees for an American dollar. That' before the Burma Road closed. Three rupees for an American dollar or you could take your American dollar [?] rupees and take the Chinese nationals money. A rupee was worth cause it was on the Burma Road, rupee was worth more than an American dollar was. per se, because you could get 16 or 18 American dollars, or Chinese dollars for one American dollar. But you could take 3 rupees and do the same thing. In other words, you could almost double and this is what these guys were doing. They were playing the black market and also we had pilots were smuggling gold in. They were going thru [?] they were smuggling gold in, they were smuggling gold back in the aircraft. Some gold in China. I never did know any of them 3 �that were messing around with dope or anything like that but I do know that some of them were doing this. They could put it in the flare racks they put it in the baggage compartment. Who knew the difference? They'd pick it up on Africa the gold coast. FB: What was your observation of that. CB: Well, most of my observation was what I heard people say. I never seen a bit of it myself. I just know I heard talking they'd fly out and pick up an airplane and they'd bring the stuff back loaded down with gold. We had two guys, ground crew guys, made a lot of money on the black market and they were changing currency around. I say black market. It wasn't like selling lend lease stuff, but they were making money one way or another. One of them is dead and the other one is probably going to be at the reunion so I'm not going to be able to names. FB: We know there is two people we have heard come up in on a number of occasions. There is a man who is called Hasty. CB: Hasty was an armor. FB: Now was he the one that then there is also Booker Carney. CB: Booker Carney was bad news. I did know him, but he was bad news. I [?] he shot a guy after the war. Hasty was an armor. Did he get booted out? FB: I think as far as we know he was the one that was married to a I don't know if he was married or not, but to some woman who is named Rose. Carney had Rose and they were very much CB: Well, this Hasty was a pilot or ground crew or armor? FB: I thought he was a pilot. CB: Well, he might have been he had a Hasty that was armor and I was surprised that he was mixed up and I didn't know how he had the opportunity to be mixed up. FB: Ok, but you don't know anything personally about Carney or his CB: No, I don't know a thing about him he's about like Ba, ba black sheep. Boyington. I just knew Boyington, you couldn't depend on him. That's the only thing I knew about him. He wasn't in my squadron. I just hear what his exploits and I had no personal contact with him. FB: We'll just give you some names of various people and if you could just give your comments, if you know them at all, if you know any stories about them or anything else. On Chennault staff there was a person who a lot of us a lot of the guys have said they didn't what the hell he was doing over there. Harvey Greenlaw. 4 �CB: He was useless. FB: Name the guy and then try to give CB: I first Harvey, Harvey Greenlaw down in Taungoo. We never knew exactly what he was suppose to do, but he came out there in uniform all pumped up actually he was he seemed like a I don't know. I never knew what he was suppose to do and nobody and he come out there and say something and nobody pay any attention to him. Old Harvey was (laughter) he shouldn't have even been there. I mean. I felt sorry for the guy. I didn't have no part of him I thought he was useless, but I felt sorry for the guy. He was a lot older, he was old enough to be my dad I think. Of course he was married to Olga [?] who is another story. You probably heard her story. I think she was white Russian. From what I understand, of course she was upper crust what do you want to call her? Live in or live out she didn't' have nothing to do with us ground pounders. FB: What did you hear about Olga. We have heard a lot of stories about her. But I was just wondering from your perspective. Yeah, the sofa any kind of scratching and stuff CB: I just seen her around, you know. Everything I heard was what other people were saying because she didn't travel in my circle. I think probably a lot of it was true, but it was strictly, you know if I was in court and had to swear to it, she'd get off because I didn't know. I just do know that she had an awful lot of admirers and R. T. Smith is the one that can tell you about Olga Greenlaw? He knew her. The pilots knew her. I didn't. Let's put it that way. FB: What about Skip Adair? CB: Of course I knew Skip when he asked to come in the outfit. I didn't see much of him over there. But he was around. I 'd seen him around, but whatever he did I don't know what he did. Actually I had more to do with Chennault that I ever did with Skip Adair. Cause I talked to Chennault several times. He was always real decent to me. I don't think I ever did talk to Skip once we got over there. FB: You mentioned about your first impression the first time you met Chennault and this feeling that you, that you were always saying yes, sir and that kind of attitude. What were the later interactions you had with Chennault? Give us some of the examples of what you were talking about with him. CB: I knew Chennault from when we got there and Taungoo he called me in to go up to get a load of ammunition. Told me what he expected. And then I met him at Loiwing. He came down there and Eric [?] buzzed us with a BT9 or BT6 whatever it was. Looked to us like a zero and we had already been shot at morning and I remember him jumping out the window with the rest of us. FB: All right hold on a second that sounds like an interesting story right there. 5 �Chennault jumping out of a window? CB: Well, we go back to Loiwing. We got jumped on morning. We was in the barracks and they came over [?] were down running up the planes. Actually they caught us, running up the planes or just getting down. They knocked a couple of planes out, but they didn't do nearly the damage they thought they was gonna do. We went all back to flight line and how did that go? I had picked up old Lewis machine gun, old drum magazine, World War II design. I had been playing with the darn thing. We was a little bit jittery, well, they came over that afternoon and our guys were up there waiting for them. And they just, I don't think any of them got back, any of the Japanese got back. They just they were sitting up about 20,000 feet, the Japanese came in at 15,000. They just came down and knocked them down. We was all on the field and Eric had been out in a B in a trainer. I don't know what he was doing but he was coming back. Well, he buzzed the field. I had the Lewis gun and I set the thing up we had a little control tower it was bout 20 foot tall, 15 tall made out of wood. I set it up in the brace to start aim at him. And I said this is not a good way to grow old. I felt it there and went thru the barracks and I jumped out thru the back window and these were fac windows they just swung open and Chennault came out the other window there was a whole bunch of us including Chennault. Chennault came out he made a M1 turn and came back landed and Chennault chewed him out from one end to the other. I told Eric a couple of times, you know I should have shot you down. (Laughter). He said you probably would have. But that was the story on Chennault. Chennault he went with the rest of us now not if, ands, or but about it. FB: That was excellent 6 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v08 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 8 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden discusses the difficulties the AVG experienced in getting parts and ammunition, the trip to Loiwing and Lashio, and his impressions of fellow members including Skip Adair and 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 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0b08be209101e8b24beedb83168f91d6.mp4 316f1c613b730101821d3e4cef8d2853 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0e29f1a44a53f5b342ca436bddfddb70.pdf 1bf63d13f254bf68557868d01e96a8c6 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 7] FB: Your observations of the way the soldiers were or any of this kind of stuff CB: When we were in Kunming we didn't - there wasn't a great deal to do. We did a little traveling around in town, we'd walk around and we'd go to Thieves Market and look around there and we'd go to the cemetery - when they'd have [?] everybody would usually head out in that area anyway. I don't remember doing much of anything really. Did our job and we'd sit around in the - what we did in our off time is really hazy because I don't remember doing much of anything really. FB: Give us an idea of what the Chinese gravesites were like. CB: Well the gravesites were all raised above the ground. I don't know why, but this was the way they would do it. There would be mounds and there were just thousands of them and some of them would have little stones in them - like maybe - they probably would have a coffin made out of stone and then they would put dirt over the mound and there were just hundreds of them all outside of Kunming and I didn't know what they were for a long time, but then people told me that's where they were buried and then we did find one that was part opened and you could see the bones inside one of them that convinced me that's what they were. But it was a very good place to go on alert because you didn't have to dig a hole you could just get down between there mounds all over the place and we had a lot of alerts - but nothing happened. We'd have an alert and they'd yell "Jingbow" and they had black balls. At intersections they had a black ball and if one ball went up it meant the Japanese had taken off. Then they would take another black ball and two of them was imminent, three of them you'd better find yourself a place to hide because they were just about - and they called it a jingbow. And when they had them, people just evacuated the town, they were just scared to death of Japanese bombers. FB: Why don't you give us your observation of one of these jingbows happening, from the first ball did everybody just run or was everybody still doing what they were doing? Then the second ball what happened? Then the third ball and then give us an idea of this - did you ever have to go to the gravesite yourself? All right let's go from the very beginning. You're in town, the first jingbow goes up, what do you observe, what happens, then the second and then the third? CB: Well if I remember this right, when we had the jingbow - now the Chinese had an excellent warning net. They had observation - when the Japanese took off from a base, they knew when they took off and then they started plotting them with their radio net and 1 �telephone lines and stuff like that and whether we had sirens I don't remember, but we had what we called those black ball alerts and that was a ball about that big – [?] flagpole would be at street intersections. I think they did have sirens too. But they'd hang one which meant that there was Japanese in the area, not necessarily …people would start moving - they'd been there awhile, they wanted to get out of the towns. When two went up, people would really start evacuating. There were streams of people going just like bees or flies just leaving the town, all different directions - just get out of the town and on three of them you took shelter because that meant they're just about overhead. Well that was my version of it, if I'm wrong - but that's the way I understood it. We had many of them. I'd usually go find a Chinese anti-aircraft gun someplace and try to talk them into let me use it and sometimes they would and sometimes they wouldn't. I never shot anything there, they never came over. That was the whole gist of the jingbows. FB: Let's now look at your observations of the Chinese military at this time. What did you see in terms of the Nationalists, in terms of the way the soldiers were treated or the soldiers treated the people? CB: The Chinese soldiers, the soldier himself was sort of a peasant. Their system of drafting was just going in a village and scarf up a bunch of them, that's what I could gather. Their higher ranking officers were sort of political, particularly in the Air Force. They came from the upper crust of the family and there was a share of - I won't say bribery - people come from out of town they'd land at the station they'd have to pay off to bring their goods into town. They'd be there taking their money and they had a big problem - now you could always tell the difference between the National soldier and the Communist soldier. The Nationalist soldier dressed in a padded blue uniform, he usually carried a Russian made machine gun or Russian made rifle - the Communist soldier, mustard colored uniforms, he had a lot of German equipment - he had Mauser rifles and they had Mauser helmets and a lot of them carried the old broom handled Mauser pistol - it's a pistol from World War I and they called it a broom handle because it's a real awkward looking weapon. Some of them were completely armed with these pistols also with a sword they carried over their back - the pistol and the sword. FB: You say you saw the Nationalists, I understand that - but how did you see the Communists? CB: [?] It was a Communist Province. The Governor was a Communist. FB: This is what we need to hear. The Nationalists were there CB: In Kunming or Yunan Province, Yunan Province was a Communist Province according to me. They were very reluctant to send their troops down. They would defend Yunan Province but they were very reluctant to send any troops down south. The Nationalist soldiers of course were there in their blue padded uniforms and the Communist soldiers were there and they did have a lot of trouble. They had trouble with the Nationalists seemed to be deserting over to the Communists - not the other way around. I remember one time that we were working down at our munitions building in a place where we 2 �played around with bombs and stuff, and Chennault came down there and said - and we heard the rifle and machine gun fire - we thought it might have been a range or something - we didn't know what was going on - and he came down and he said "Now some Nationalists have deserted to the Communist soldiers and there's a Nationalist company going in there to get them back and if they come across the field, you're to fire on them." Well that to me was not too good of an idea because they might fire back. Anyway I set up my Bren gun and they never came across the field - I'm very happy they didn't. But I did set up my Bren gun and spent the afternoon sitting there - nothing really happened. Then the Nationalist soldiers they did get the deserters back. And that was the first inkling to me that things were not all that great in China. They were having their own internal problems which they definitely did. [BREAK] CB: Our Squadron Commander, Avert Olson, called me in one day and he said "Chuck, we're going down to a base in Burma. What is your opinion - I know we've got some Bren guns" and I knew we had some Waterpool Brownings that came off the Panang, the old gun boat that was sunk - well we got those two Waterpool machine guns we'd got from them and he said "Well I want to take the Waterpool Browinings" and they knew a little more than I did. He said "We want to take those Bren guns. We don't want no fixed defense. Tell you what, let's take 6 Bren guns - or 3 Bren guns and if you want to bring those Waterpool Brownings that's fine." I'm talking about a Waterpool Browning machine gun, it's one that's got a jacket that you fill with water and keeps it from overheating. So I was in charge of that and we got on out. We got on a CNAC plane, took off and almost got clobbered. We came so close to busting our butts. Turned around, did 180 came back and landed and they fixed whatever was wrong with it and we took off and we flew down to Magwe, that's right off the Yunanyi oilfield in Burma - west northwest I guess you'd call it. It's very desert country there. I guess you'd call it a lot like Blythe, California that's about what it looked like and it was - everything was dry and so that's where we went. We landed there and we stayed in the little village of Magwe We stayed in individual homes, people had moved out and we just moved in. You could actually walk to the base, but it was a pretty good hike to the base. That's where we stayed and that's where the Third really got worked on. FB: What was the conditions when you arrived there? What were your duties, what kind of supplies did you have to work with? Did the airplanes arrive at this time? CB: When we arrived in Magwe we got set up in our quarters, the planes came in and we got them ready. We had tents, we used British tents. They have a good desert tent, it's a double ply, there's one section that is an air space and another one. They're a pretty good tent - and slit trenches around there. Well my first job was to set up the machine guns. In slit trenches I set up both the Brownings - I didn't know that I was going to have to build ammo for it though and these were old wet belts, they weren't disintegrating links and I had a little belt maker - it looked like a sewing machine and you'd put your 30 caliber ammo - I had to pull them all out of the links and put them in a strip and you sit there and turn a little crank like this and it tik-tik-tik - the thing that goes through. I didn't have a 3 �very good weapon to tell the truth. Anyway I set those things up and passed the Bren guns out. The Bren gun, incidentally, is a Czechoslovakian automatic rifle. It was a British equivalent of our Browning automatic rifle used in World War II. It was a fine weapon - a lot of people wouldn't say it was - but it was a really fine weapon. But it shot 303 ammunition which was - unless you were with some British troops it was hard to get a hold of. Anyway we passed those things out. Meantime the British air warning - we didn't have any. We thought we did, but they decided to bug out and we had no warning at all and that's when a bunch of us went by weapons carrier or a jeep down to the Yunanyong oilfields to the Yunanyong club, the well diggers and I remember I got so loaded on Drambui booze - Drambui is a horrible whiskey anyway, but it was cheaper than beer and I remember coming back and my head on the back of that - 20 miles I think is what we drove and my head was just going like this. The next morning I was going back to the base - going out to the field rather - and I didn't feel very good and I heard this harrum, harrum, harrum and it was Jap bombers. I just heard the noise and I jumped in a ditch and they came over and did their thing and of course we went on to the base then - went right out to the flight line, got to the flight line and here comes another bunch of them. By that time I'd got my jeep and my Bren gun and I got off the base and they did their thing. They pretty well clobbered the base then. Got back in the car and drove back in, by the time I got back somebody was hollering at me and pointed up and here comes another bunch. Me and the other fellow we jumped back and we went right back where I was and now the fighters were strafing them and I emptied a whole clip at one of them that came by - I should have hit him but I didn't. I made a lot of noise. This fellow in the room said "You shouldn't shoot at him, he's liable to shoot back" I said "That's what I'm here for." Buck Rogers was his name - I knew I'd remember what it was. He died here a few years ago - old Buck Rogers. Anyway we came back and they had really worked us over. They had bombed and it was accurate and they had strafed and we had no warning. The last thing I remember was that we went out to R.T. Smith's 77. R.T. Smith and I went out to 77 and we pulled the armament off of it and the other ones we could get armament that was any good, we pulled the armament off of it and loaded it on trucks and then we left and we headed for Loiwing then via the Burma Road. The truck I was on had a load of Lugit French wine out of Rangoon. The whole truck had nothing but wine and it was horrible stuff. I remember he'd take one out of the case and bust the neck of it off, take a slug and throw it overboard. I might even pay a fortune for it in the States but - we went from there to Lashio and at Lashio we spent the night there and we tried to take the mattresses from the guest house. We tried to load them and take them with us and I always thought it was General Stillwell, but I could have been wrong, but some officer came in there and he just chewed us up for trying to steal this stuff. So after he left we stole it anyway and took it and went on up. On the way up there to Loiwing - No - we went all the way to Loiwing and nothing happened - should have - but we made Loiwing safely. FB: That bombing raid must have done one hell of a number on your hangover? CB: I was cured - I was cured. I think I suffered concussion from my head banging on the side of that dang ??? than anything else. I don't really believe I drank that much, but it didn't 4 �take much for a 21 year old at the time. You could drink two drinks and be on your way. I know I was awful sick. FB: Did you have any close calls during that raid? CB: No. No, no, I was clear of the field and when these strafers would come in they would come in low and they were not looking for me at all. See that's where Johnny Fauth and Will Seipel and Swartz got killed. But see I wasn't there where the bombs were hitting - I was probably from here to the end of the street away from where all this was going on. I was in a pretty safe area. 5 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v07 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 7 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden describes the scene of the Chinese gravesites around Kunming and the experience of witnessing a jingbow, in addition to the working conditions in Magwe. 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/3ffa45b4abea83e6d006fc5ee62e3763.mp4 295a2fea8ae192af079140c859243f69 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/943ec47e6dcb182a70f5780a7f9f2bc4.pdf 3c83c66194d3ecb452df2a8201e4094e PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 6] FB: If you can give us an idea of the next few days up until the next battle? CB: After our first bombing attack in Mingladon we had sort of a lull - if I remember right I think we had several alerts, but nothing transpired. We didn't do anything because once you have your airplanes ready to go, there's not a great deal you can do. You just hang around and wait for the next thing. Really what we did I don't really remember. I just remember one thing, we were in the barracks and Johnny Fauth hung his pistol on a rack and the pistol fell out of the holster and went off and it rather disturbed everybody - it blew a hole in the roof, but it didn't do anything else. It's just sort of vague of what we really did, I don't think we did much of anything. I never left the base. FB: Let's go right to the 25th now CB: The 25th was Christmas Day. I don't remember when we had the alert, but our planes took off and they were taking off in two different directions towards each other. The New Zealanders were taking off in their Buffalos going this way and our guys were taking off going this way and they were missing each other - like this - it got really wild. They were airborne and we - I think we had a jeep, it might have been a station wagon - we got off the field and I remember we got on the end of the runway and here comes a Zero right at us, was firing, came right over us, strafing the field - I looked up to see him. Well we all jumped out of the thing and I jumped into a thorn bush and I had shorts on and I remember one of those thorns stuck me in the leg, which came out about two years later I had a little bump and pulled it out and that damn thorn was about that big, came out of my leg. But we got back to the base - they had really got us this time. Our mess hall, which was right by the barracks had been blown up, all the Indian workers, they had taken off and really made a mess of the place. Then our planes started coming back, Parker DuPouy came in with part of his wing - when a fighter or Zero had made a pass at him and he'd taken the fighter off with the wing - and about flew his plane back. FB: This whole point you're talking about now is very graphic, it's very good. [BREAK] CB: Parker DuPouy came back and landed. He was minus about 2 feet or 3 feet of his right wing tip. Him and a Japanese fighter had made a head on approach and he took the fighter right off with the wing loop. The Japanese went in and he flew it back and he still had aeleron control so he landed and it was rather weird, but he did bring it back. Duke 1 �Hedman landed, he'd shot five down on that mission. He was the first one I ever knew that shot five down in one flight and I said "What did you do?" he said "Well I pushed everything forward and dove" and he came back. R.T. Smith landed and he had bullet holes in his airplane and I gave him a cigarette, he's standing there in the wing smoking a cigarette and I said "darn near got you, didn't they?" and he said "I never had a fighter on my ass in my life. That was a bomber gunner." He said "No Japanese fighter's ever gonna get on my tail." About the truth too. Anyway, the other fellows started coming in and we started making a tally and they had just creamed those Japanese bomber formations. They were using Chennault tactics, got a hit, get above 'em, dive, hit 'em and dive away and crawl back up and do it again because they could not fight those fighters in a dog fight, there was no way they could do it. The Japanese would jump 'em and turn and be on their tail and just - they were just too maneuverable. But if they hit 'em, the Zero went down. They couldn't take the fire power. After that, I don't know whether we began to think we were [?] or not, but right after that I think right at the end of that - a couple of days later, our outfit was relieved and we went by train to Kunming - I mean to Taungoo and we flew out of Taungoo by Chinese National Air Corporation back into Kunming. But we did go by train - if I remember rightly we went by train from Taungoo. FB: I think that's where I got confused. A great big holiday for Americans - what was the Christmas - was there any kind of celebration? CB: We didn't have none. One of the fellows, Pawley - or one of the fellows from CAMCO came out in a little car and he had some sandwiches and tea and maybe beer - yeah he had beer, I know 'cause I had one. But my Christmas dinner was a piece of cold liver and a whole quart of Australian beer - Australian ale. If you've ever drank Australian ale on a hot day, it does leave an effect on you. But that was my Christmas dinner. We never even thought about Christmas really - Christmas just wasn't there - there was no feeling, my feeling was there was no Christmas at all. And of course in that country there - that country is not Christian, they don't have Christmas trees up and all that - I just remember leaving. Also that we had open season on Burmese priests. Now we didn't shoot them, but we shot their umbrellas. We knew they were 5th Columnists, there was no doubt about that because they're the same religion as the Japanese and they were giving information to the Japs - no doubt in my mind they were - I couldn't prove it. But anyway when was going up - wherever we was going, some of the fellows were shooting at their umbrellas, they weren't trying to hit them, but they were scaring them a little bit. I think some of the fellows could - Ole Olson could tell that story better than anybody I guess - I think he was one of the culprits. FB: What was the move like to go into Kunming? Who went first, what was the whole process of moving there? CB: Other than us flying in and landing - and we were pretty much a shaky bunch of individuals when we landed - I've seen pictures of them getting off the airplane and we looked like we'd been some place that we didn't like. I mean it was I think a bunch of young kids that sort of got their eyes opened and when we landed we were assigned to the dormitories. When our airplanes came in - I have no idea - I know we went to the 2 �dormitories and then we went out to the field which was 2 or 3 miles from where we were living and planes flew in and I think some of the fellows stayed there.but then it was the First and Second's - it was their day in the barrel. FB: What was your reaction to coming into Kunming? What was the big difference between where you'd been and where you arrived? CB: Well when we got into Kunming it was cold. It was December. Kunming is about a mile high, it's a pretty high elevation, it was cold and we'd been down in Rangoon where it was fairly warm in comparison. It was cold and the food was good. When we got into the hostel - which had been a Chinese University - and they put us up in these rooms - two men to a room and we had a Chinese servant, he took care of the room, made our beds and all that stuff and we could go in for breakfast and you could order a 12 egg omelet if you wanted one. I mean what you wanted, if they had it, you could have it. The Chinese were just leaning over backwards - anything they could do for us they were doing. I know our room was heated with a little charcoal brazier and you had to keep water on it and I remember one night we woke up and we'd had the windows down and I was with Keith Christensen at the time, he was another armorer, and we barely got outside the door we'd been asphyxiated and didn't know it - that charcoal brazier going in there was cutting all the oxygen out of the air. We'd get in our station wagons and we'd go out to the base, which was a pretty good drive - you'd drive right through Kunming and we had a place they called Thieves Market, where if you lost a hub cap you could go there and find it the next day. They'd steal you blind - but it would go on sale in Thieves Market. FB: What was the drive through Kunming like? This was the first time you'd actually been in China. Give us your first reactions as an American going through Kunming. CB: Well it was dirty, it had been bombed and bombed [BREAK] CB: Kunming in Yunan Province was the terminus of the Burma Road. That's where really all the supplies coming up was winding up at Kunming and then it would be dispersed from there. It was dirty, the people were dressed in padded clothes and China was in rough shape at the time. You could smell the Chinese cooking and you could smell the [?] soil because they used human fertilizer and it made it pretty ripe. We would drive all the way through town. What we had to watch was these Chinese what we called yo-yo sticks - it's a little basket they carry on their shoulder - the idea was to try to hit him and spin him you'd hit the basket and spin him around a little bit and get him unnerved to get out of your way. But if you stopped, you really had to watch or you'd lose your hub caps, they'd be onto your car in a minute. They'd take anything that wasn't nailed down and resell it to you - why not? FB: Give us an impression of - once again, this is an American - a young American, first time in China, you're driving through in your jeep, was it deserted streets, were the buildings intact, what was that like? 3 �CB: Driving through Kunming, some of the buildings were down. Most of the buildings were made of concrete or they were made out of Adobe - I'm not sure what material was used. Exceptionally dirty and just teeming with people - there were just people all over and also we couldn't gather that if somebody got hurt, nobody helped them. Of course we didn't know and I've seen a Chinese try to jump on the back of a truck and he slipped and fell and another truck ran over him - nobody helped him. Because in China if you help somebody, then you're responsible for them from then on, so they don't help nobody except their own family. That was something that took a little getting used to. We had a restaurant there called the Nanping Restaurant where we could get fried rice and pigs. We used to eat there and they had a movie theater we used to go to. But that's about all Kunming had to offer unless you wanted to go to an opium den and we stayed out of those things - at least I did. Exceptionally dirty. Of course when you'd get out to the field we had Chinese guards all over the place and they would do anything to help you. They'd salute when you came by and they'd salute and grin and we also had a lot of the Chinese mechanics worked there - that's where we saw most of the Chinese mechanics was out there at Kunming. FB: Give us an idea of the level of training of the Chinese mechanics. How did you rate them, did you have to teach them anything? CB: Now I don't know about the engine mechanics, I do know the armorers were very good. They knew - if they didn't know, you showed them once and you could - didn't worry about them. And they were very conscientious. They'd work - mainly what they did was clean guns. They didn't work too much on the aircraft. We'd tow our aircraft into these [?] that were camouflaged and was in a bunch of trees and they'd be there. We had little boxes set up for them to work on the planes. I thought they were pretty competent - for the armorers - I know nothing about the other fellows - I knew nothing about them. I think they were fairly competent. FB: What was the working relationship with the Chinese armorers at this time? Was there a certain routine you had when an airplane came in? What was the process? CB: It was sometimes yes and sometimes no. It just depended on what you were doing. Most of the time on the flight line they weren't there. We went - when a plane was - we'd pull everything off of it, they were there to do whatever we asked them to do and could do it usually without supervising them. They were very good at cleaning cowlings. They really wanted that airplane to shine. They'd get old rags and they'd wipe all the - [BREAK] FB: We don't know who they is ……especially this pride you seem to be telling about. They were very proud keeping it clean and all that and how important that was to the gun CB: In Kunming we had re[?] - well the aircraft would be towed in there - it was camouflaged - camouflaged netting and it might be half a mile from the field. They taxied them as 4 �much as they could. Well we had Chinese troops there, Air Force troops, and we had Chinese regular troops who did the guard duty and manned the anti-aircraft machine guns and I found them most of the time - they knew what they were doing and they were very polite and they seemed to take a great delight in trying to help us. That seemed to be their biggest thing. Anything they could do to be of service they would do. Like the crew chiefs would have the cowling off - 2 or 3 of them would jump right on that cowling and get some rags and they'd wipe off everything and they wouldn't put it back on unless you asked them to, but they'd have it ready to go. Armorers were the same way. They'd come down and they'd want to clean the guns. They wouldn't try to do things that they didn't know how to do or they wouldn't get in there and show you how to do something, but they would help you anyway they could. I got along with them real well. I didn't have any problems with the Chinese there, some of the fellows did, but I didn't. FB: It wasn't until later that you got into action again, because Kunming after the 20th was not bombed CB: Mainly we were re-harmonizing and re-bore sighting all our fighters. We had a good range there and we set up and we re-bore sighted and harmonized. Because we had a lot of problems with the gunsights and with the gunsights, if they were off why we tried to get them going. So we would set up - I have a picture someplace showing Chuck Older 68. We'd get set up and we'd do the thing - do the same procedure we had down at Taungoo and except we would bore sight them and I guess we fired them in - I don't remember. That's mainly what we did and a lot of time we sat around playing Acey Deucy. If we'd go out and do pre-flight in the morning and sign off the forms and then we wouldn't know what to do. Unlike the military, where they found work for you, if we didn't have anything to do, we didn't have to do it. They didn't make work for us. That was one of the big things that I liked about the outfit and any outfit I was in, if you're not messing around, if haven't got anything to do - you do it when you have to do it and then you're on your own. That was one of the big differences that they had and I liked it. 5 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v06 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 6 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden describes his reaction to being in Kunming and his first time in China, in addition to the working relationship with the Chinese armorers 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/1d2d3d64e3869a57f07af7ababf83233.mp4 2f6621873467c21d48cb3528459abf2f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/adb62387d243d7627c58395bf59b0d3c.pdf 039628f59728b188338127340156280d PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [BREAK – TAPE 5] FB: And how did you hear about the bombing of Pearl Harbor? CB: I got to think about this Pearl Harbor for a little bit. CB: When we heard about Pearl Harbor. We heard the Japs had bombed Pearl Harbor. There was some damage done but we didn't think there was all that much damage done. Immediately we started pulling our airplanes out of the, Pearl Harbor was bombed. So Pearl Harbor was bombed. We didn't understand how it could have been bombed, but anyway it was. And we started pulling airplanes out of the boondocks. We had them scattered all over Taungoo we had them scattered all over. So we started pulling them out and lined them up, which could have been a disaster, but anyway we lined because we didn't know what was loaded and what wasn't loaded. And we loaded them up and got them ready and right after that we got orders for the 3rd to go to Mingladon. We hauled, I think we went down there on December, I think it was around December 11th. I think those orders were cut December 11th. And we went down by train. And how all the Burmese knew we were there, they were at the station and they were giving us rice cakes. I tried beetlenut, I don't know if you've heard of beetlenut or not. Well, the Burmese are great for chewing it and it's a nut and they wrap it in a leaf and they put some kind of lime in it and anyway they handed to me and I tried one and one's enough. The people were there at the station. Every station we went thru on the way to Rangoon they were there. Now how, the station master, I don't know what, but the crowds were there and they were all cheering us and everything else. And anyway that's how we got down to Mingladon. FB: What the, if you will, what changed amongst the group when Pearl Harbor happened. Was there any attitude change? CB: No, the biggest change we had we were sweating out Jap paratroopers. That was the biggest thing. We thought we'd be they' come in with paratrooper. Rumor or whatever, but that was our big concern. And reason there was no change in attitude is we just all went down Mingladon and that was our new base. And there was nothing until we actually until they start bombing us there was no big change. And then there was a BIG change. FB: I may have gotten my information wrong, but I thought you went to Kunming first with the group that was of crew chiefs and all that. and then later went to Mingladon. 1 �CB: No, I have an original copy of our general orders that took us the 3rd Squadron from Rangoon, I believe the 1st or 2nd had already gone to Mingladon or gone to Kunming. I don't know exactly the date they left. I don't remember, they may have already gone up there or they may have left right after we did, but we evacuated Taungoo. The 3rd went down to Mingladon and we teamed up with the British who were flying Brewster Buffalos. Well, I say British, but they were New Zealand pilots. A real fine bunch of troops. Most of them were flying sergeants. They didn't last very long. The Brewster Buffalos was the U. S. Navy got rid of thing because it was outclassed and these guys were trying to fly that thing and they didn't make it. First they were trying to fly British tactics which you couldn't do against the Japanese zero anyway or even their [?] 97 fighter. They'd be on you in a minute. We got down there set up shop, we had tent, and we had barracks right next to the runway, you had a barracks. And nice [?] trenches and everything else. They hit us, well we heard that there was a bombing attack in Kunming and that they got first blood at Kunming. And then December 20 or the 21st we had, our fellows ran out and jumped in the airplanes and away they went. And one of the fellows, we were all standing outside the barracks, planes had gone and one of the fellows looked up and there's this air formation flying real high you could just see them way up in the sky and one of the fellows was counting, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 21, 24, they're not ours we haven't got that many. And we all dove down in the slit trenches and about that time the bombs started coming down and you could hear, and that's when I got personally acquainted with the war. And it wasn't all it was supposed to be. I was scared, my god, I was scared. I thought every one of those things would land directly at old Watashi? Anyway, they [?] us now this is when Ole Olson got his film. He had gone down to Bombay or Calcutta and had bought a movie camera 8mm movie camera. And that rascal stood on the runway, the side of the runway filming that bomb attack. He bent over to pick up another magazine and a fragment cut the handle off his camera. That's how close it was. If he'd been standing up he'd probably nicked. And they dropped em, I guess the closest one we had was from here out to the street to where the mail box is. They made the attack and I watched P. J. Green come down the chute he was being strafed and pretty soon the fellows start coming back. FB: All right we're going to spend some more time on that. How was the transfer to Mingladon? Crew chiefs went first and the pilots came after what was the actual? CB: Some of the crew chiefs drove including one of the armors, Keith Christiansen, drove trucks down there. My outfit went down by train. The fellows I was with went down by train. The pilots flew in the next day. Flew their planes down the next day. That's now they came in there. FB: What was the first thing you had to do once you got there? CB: First thing we did when we got into Mingladon, first thing we did was look for a place to stay. We got assigned to our barracks and they we just had to wait for the planes to come in. FB: What were the differences in terms of the conditions, living quarters? 2 �CB: Well, we had there we had barracks. About the same as what we had up in Taungoo. Indian cooks. We was actually living in a British barracks what we was living in. Although it's hard to [?] because when you're over there there's a certain smell to the place. You get into one of these barracks and it's got, and you smell the curry and the latrine smell. It's just not a very pleasant smell. You get used to but at the same time it's not home. I just remember, well, here we are and Johnny [?] he was sleeping right next to me. I don't remember, we were all in the same barracks the pilots was in a different place in another area. I don't even remember where they were. I don't remember where they were, but they weren't with us. FB: Now once the airplanes started coming in what where your immediate duties? What were you supposed to be doing? CB: Well, we just had to check them to see that they were ready to go. You see they were completely armed and loaded and ready to go when left Taungoo. But we went out and rechecked them. Usually when you do that you just charge another round thru the. There's gun charges in the aircraft that pilot can do from the cockpit. We just jack a bunch of rounds thru because we kept our guns hot. What I mean by hot is that they were loaded, ready to fire. All they had to do was turn on their armor switches and they would go. We didn't have, cause what we had found that when a pilot got the altitude and they had to charge those 2 50's and those 4 wings--they really knocked them down so we pull the charging handles back on the 30's and lock them up and all they had to do was give them a flip and they would charge in. And the 50's they would charge 50's by hand. FB: Could you give us an explanation of what it means to charge a gun? CB: To charge a gun means to load it. We call it charging a gun and normally on a machine gun you'll do it three times. The first time will feed the round in, next time will put a round on top of a round is a cartridge, next one will put it into the machine gun and then we would charge it the third time which would drop that round and put another one in. In other words, it's a complete cycle. And that's what we would usually do. FB: Once you heard about the battle in Kunming, what was the reaction of the group, what was your personal reaction? CB: When we heard about Kunming, well we thought maybe they'll stop bombing Kunming. I really don't recall too much about the Kunming. We heard that the Japanese had come over there and tried to bomb it and they'd knocked down a couple of planes or whatever the story was and - great, maybe they'll stop bombing then. But we were more concerned with where we were, what was gonna happen where we were because we knew it was just a matter of time that they were gonna be coming over our area because they were down in Indo-China at the time and down around the Moulmein area and there was no reason why they weren't gonna hit us. 3 �FB: If you could, describe the first battle that you encountered from your perspective on the ground - starting from your perspective, give us a picture of what happened. CB: Well when they hit us - when the Japanese bombed us in Mingladon, our planes had taken off and we got down in the foxholes and we heard the bombs coming down and you could hear them - and they walked them right across from one end of the field - you could hear them starting at one end and working their way right towards us and they kept getting louder and louder and louder. Then if a big one went off and it didn't have your name on it - and then they got this many - just the whole stick - which I'm saying, the series of bombs dropped they called it dropping them in a stick of bombs - because they're dropped in train, one behind the other. And they actually missed the runway, they hit all the taxi areas and they hit next to a hangar, they hit in a hangar, they killed some British soldiers but none of our planes was hit. We didn't lose a plane, even the ones that hadn't taken off. So when our planes came back we rearmed and got ready for the next one. We didn't get hit then till Christmas day. FB: It was during this battle that you got a chance to witness what was going on including P.J. Green getting shot down. Will you give us a detailed view? CB: Well you couldn't see very much with the altitude they were at. You could hear those noisy aircraft, you could hear the machine guns and then - I never saw his plane come down - we're talking about P.J. Green - he had bailed out and we saw the chute coming down and then we saw a Japanese fighter coming down in back of him and he made a pass and by the time he went past him, then you could hear the machine guns - I mean the delay in the sound and we were really ticked - you know that they would do such a thing. So we didn't know - he disappeared out of sight and we thought sure he was hit. And then when they came back in we started [?] people we lost like we'd lost Neal Martin, he made a pass at a Japanese bomber and they shot him down - I forget who else - I know we lost Neal Martin. Actually the first raid was sort of a melee that we didn't do all that great - it was Christmas. After that the next raid we had was when things really - we started really knocking them down. FB: What was the reaction of the ground personnel and specifically you, when the planes started to come back? CB: When the planes came back we just ran out there and started working on them. Tried cleaning them up and getting them ready for another mission. There was no - well, they didn't hit us and we figured we'd - I don't know whether you'd call it baptism of fire or what it was - it was very unnerving but when the planes landed, we had a job to do and we just went out and started working on them. FB: Give us an idea of the condition of the airplanes when they came back. CB: Well the planes were loaded with arms equipment - it was just the guns had been fired and we just swabbed them out and loaded more ammunition in them and that was all we did to them. The crew chiefs worked on - the conditions at Mingladon were not all that 4 �great - it was rather dusty and there was one funny thing that did happen though. When they came over and raided, there was a little dip in the ground and when the British troops would run, they all wore black low cut shoes and this was a muddy period, and when the raid was over they all came back looking for their shoes and it was funny to see all these fellows down there - of course they weren't waiting for shoes at the time. This may have happened the first raid, it might have happened the second. I don't remember the exact date. And P.J. Perry got hit at this time, he was hit in the leg with a fragment and he's taken a lot of razzing about it, but he was hit. We did have right after that raid we did have a rather amusing thing happened. We had an alert and General Wavell came in and Shep had gone out - both of us had tommy guns - no, Shep had the tommy gun and I had the bag of round drums - had the ammunition and General Wavell came in and I forget who it was called us over and introduced us to him - I think it may have been Olson. And we had a fellow, an oilfield worker named Tex Blaylock was there. Well the British had lost those ships, the Repulse and other ships in the Indian Ocean - had been sunk and Old Blaylock told the General he said "General, if this thing keeps up you're gonna be reviewing your whole fleet under water." Of course that didn't impress old Wavell at all. In fact when they landed they told him to get out - we were under a bombing attack - that he'd better take cover, which he did. That's really all I remember about that little incident. [BREAK] CB: When P.J. Green was being shot at and he disappeared - just disappeared about 2 or 3 miles away, of course we thought he was dead, but anyway he did show up later on and he said he'd had one of his arms was caught in the shrouds and he was trying to get his pistol out [BREAK] FB: When you start from that, start at the top the fact that he came down in the parachute, make sure they know it's a parachute and then that he was avoiding the airplanes shooting at him, then he disappeared. In other words then finish the story - tell the whole story from beginning to end without all the battle scenes in between. CB: When P.J. Green - we heard the firing and the machine gun fire and then we saw this parachute coming down. Of course at the time we didn't know who it was and we saw this Japanese fighter come in and make a pass at him, he might have made two passes, but I know he made one pass and the chute kept coming on down and just sort of disappeared 2 or 3 miles away - just disappeared and dropped out of sight. Later on we found out, P.J. Green showed up and he was pretty well banged up from the bail out and he said he had his arm caught. If I remember this right, he had his arm caught in the shroud lines, but he said he was trying to get his pistol out, he said "I was gonna shoot at that mother" but you'd have to ask P.J. whether he actually did or not. He was the only one we seen - and of course then our planes started coming back in - landing and we got busy taking care of them then. 5 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v05 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 5 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden discusses his reaction to hearing the news of Pearl Harbor and the days that followed for the AVG, in addition to the reaction of the group concerning the bombing in 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/8b59c127b369536b62c6acf29dd66f3d.mp4 25f9c28e5ebe4872a1bf3e1e0b87db36 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bb3a5cc5edcfc8ee08582f4b9e6af5e1.pdf 6f30825c5780f768d4a9257be70b0c7e PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 4] FB: What we would like to do now is get more into the working relationship that was going on. Now granted you each had your own duties. You were involved in the armaments and you had group that's working and everything, but did you get the impression was it your observation that this was a full working unit? Or was there certain people doing their jobs, certain people that weren't doing their job. What was your observation in terms working relationship of the AVG at this particular time? CB: Well, we start working, we was pretty much on our own. What everybody else, there were people working in the hangers, they had people here they had people there. From what I could see everybody was working. I didn't have any time off. Once in a while we'd take off and go a little bit. Some of the guys seemed to have a little more time than others. Now the pilots seemed to have more time than anybody. That includes R. T. Smith. I read his diary and he has more damn time off then I ever thought. I'll get you R. T. He used to listen to a lot of music I think. But the fellows, we worked together because the crew chiefs and everybody, everybody was working there is no doubt about that. Of course the pilots when they started to fly they had big problems. We had guys flying these PB1 what had been flying patrol boats. They were busting up airplanes and we busted up a few, ground crew had taxi accidents. Guy would fly an airplane in and chew up the tail off of one and that sort of stuff. Guys as a whole were working and like I say, guys knew what they were doing most of them the most part. FB: Let's now address your area, the armaments area. There was you and there was beginning Burmese and eventually the Chinese came in. Is that accurate. CB: Well, let me, the Chinese helped installing the weapons. The Burmese strictly worked in the armor shop cleaning guns, that's all they did. They didn't mess with the flight line at all. They just cleaned guns. We also had Chinese in there cleaning guns. Mainly Chinese. FB: OK, let me stop you just for a second. What we are trying to look for is give us a picture of this area you are talking about. Who did what? What was the process, these get cleaned why do they get cleaned? Were they being taken out of crates? Do you see what I'm saying we need a full picture of what that area looked like and who did what? CB: Well at Taungoo the amour shop well, I guess you could compare it to a garage. It was just a plain old building had a bunch of racks in it where the weapons were stored in the racks Initially there we used to clean the guns to get them ready to put in because the guns were raw grease with [?] And of course when they were fired you had to clean them 1 �every time they come back to the [?] They had to be cleaned. And, of course, we actually used carbon tetrachloride, which has been outlawed for years. It was all we had. We had our problems with keeping them clean. But that's really all the armor shop was used for. Just a place of storage. No munitions were stored in there. The munitions were stored in another place. But all the spare parts the parts that aren't electrical the parts that we had to use was all put in there. If you needed a part that's where you went to get it. FB: What we would like now is in as much detail as possible give us from an insider's view to the outsider what it was like in this armament area. Who did what and what kinds of things were done to prepare these P-40's including the cleaning the constant state of cleaning were the spare parts were, the whole picture. CB: Well, to start talking about what we did in the armor section we had 5 armors in my squadron. Joe Poshefko, P. J. Perry, Clarence Riffer, and myself. We worked together and we worked by ourselves. And also we had some Chinese assigned to us. Now these Chinese were armors, whether or not, they probably hadn't seen a P-40 before, but they did, they were smart, they were Chinese officers they weren't no recruits. They picked up real fast. They are very fast to learn. And they worked with us mainly in installation. Once we got started we didn't see too much of them. They kept them mainly back in the repair section. Woo and Chew, Captain Woo was a ranking Chinese. Well, he and two others had gone to to Taungoo one night and I think they were smashed and came back and one of our fellows cut off his tie. Just cut the thing off and he lost so much face. You just didn't do that to a Chinese captain. He actually later on he didn't mind it, but at the time he did it in front of one of his lieutenants and you just don't do that. When we have a gun remission when they came back of course we'd have to pull, now you didn't have to pull the weapons, the 30 caliber you had to pull out of the aircraft to clean. The 50 calibers you could remove insides from within the aircraft. And that's all we cleaned. But see the ammunition that the service used, the primers are very corrosive, they, and with the salts why they'll start corroding your barrel and they'll start rusting. And particularly with the humidity we had there in two weeks the guns probably wouldn't even work. So we kept them clean. I'm losing track here. FB: How did you communicate with Woo & Chew? You were telling us earlier about FB: I communicated with the Chinese by pointing. Make sure that Woo & Chew CB: The two Chinese officers that worked for me, Capt. Woo and Lt. Chew, Well, I got to backtrack a little bit, Capt. Woo could speak English. And if we had a problem with what we wanted to do he would tell the Chinese. But after we got working a while we got to know pretty much in armor how to say, what to say, and what to do. Of course, I worked with these people until after the war broke out and then we didn't see more of them until we went back to Kunming. We move and they didn't come down go with us after that. FB: How did you communicate with them in the early stages for example? CB: Mainly by pointing. 2 �CB: We mainly communicated with the Chinese by pointing and then later on by pointing to something and saying what it was in English and they would say what it was in Chinese. We had no problems. It wasn't that difficult to do. I didn't have any problems anyway. FB: In terms of the Burmese and the Chinese and then the Americans what was the working relationship there. What the Burmese do, what did the Chinese do, what did you do? CB: When we was working with the mixed groups, the Burmese that we had working, the Chinese that we had working in the armor shop I had nothing to do with. They were under Roy Hoffman would be in there or we had an English Sgt would come in, a little flight Sgt. would come in there and he would sort of keep things moving. The only ones we had much to do with was just these two officers that I was talking about. Other than that why I didn't have much to do with them. Now were around, they had them out there refueling and stuff like, but I didn't have anything to do with them. FB: Do you recall any training scenes now or anything used to communicate with CB: No, the worst come up I would probably remember name. Woo and Chew are the only ones I remember now. FB: No training terms for armaments CB: Oh, well I learned the word for machine gun which is chickwhenchaw. And bullet was a tun. [?] And I think if it was like - if you come quick load the aircraft. Something like that I got all fouled up but it was something like that. And hobble how was how are you? And if he would talk good it was ding how. If you didn't feel good it was boo how. The water was kisway. That's about all I remember. I had a few more but I have no use to use it. FB: What did you observe about the British in this? Was there any interaction with them? CB: We didn't really have too much to do with the British. Now, actually at Taungoo. Let go back track there. We didn't have much to do with them on the field. I went once and got a load of ammunition I had to have British Sgt. or corporal go with me .We got along all right. Went up to Maymo and spent the night in Mandalay and came back and that was it. That was about all I really had to do with the British. Later on we got really involved with them when we went down to Mingladon. But it wasn't actually the British it was New Zealand troops there were British soldiers, but the pilots were New Zealanders. FB: Ok we'll wait til we get to the Mingladon to do that. What was necessary to get the P-40's battle ready? CB: Well, the method we boresighted, making of the gunsights were things we had to do to get them ready to go, but everything all fell into place and that? main provision of course they I know the mechanics had to build stand for lifting engines and they took a truck 3 �they took an old stake body truck and they made winch for it so they could lift the engines off the aircraft, but other than that that's all we had to do the armors. FB: What there's a mention in something I've read about you you said loading equipment does that mean anything? Loading equipment. Something about you had gotten some guns or something like that and you wished you had loading equipment. CB: The machine guns when you get the ammunition come in belts what they call disintegrating link belts. The loading equipment is actually a belt linker is what it is. The belt linker, now you're going to put 300 rounds, or 400 rounds of ammunition and you got loose ammunition. You got a problem because you got to lay each round out in the tray you got to put the belt then you got to pull the lever forward and it's a problem. I forgotten now what would come in a box of ammunition, in a wooden box it comes from munitions place. It think it was 250 rounds for the 50 caliber and I don't remember, but we would have to link them and we had a linking machine which we used, but it's all hand operated no power equipment. And that's what they call and probably what they're referring to when they say loading equipment we call a linking machine. FB: Ok. What was your relationship with the pilots at this time? We're talking about the training period in Taungoo. CB: Ohhhh, my relationship with the pilots was I had a lot of respect for. See when I was stationed at Mitchell Field I was winch operator in a B10. I flew with Parker DuPouy and Bob Brouk, and Pete Atkinson were all pilots I flew with. I was a winch operator we had this old B10 and we'd fly around Fire Island, New York and Langley Field Virginia. We used to fly our tow target for Ft. Monroe and I got to know all these fellows then and most of them was in my squadron I knew. There were some of them I didn't care for, but that was my own personal reaction to some of them. Some of them were a little standoff, but all pilots I knew I had the utmost respect for. FB: In terms of relationship what did you discuss with them did they come out check on the machines. CB: When we was boresighting the pilots would usually come out to their aircraft. They were assigned to. And they would come out there and check and we would try to encourage this because they could see what we was doing. If they come up went up I don't think they were in tow target--air-to-air, but they did have some ground gunnery. I really don't even know where they went because they didn't do it at our place, didn't do it around Taungoo. Most of them got their experience after the war started. In air-to-air firing. FB: What did you hear about or what was your reaction to hearing that somebody got killed in the training. 4 �CB: Well, during our training period previous to this time I'd seen a lot of pilots buy the farm, I mean it was nothing uncommon in fighter pilots in those days for somebody getting killed. When Pete came in on a test stop I heard him go in. Of course I didn't know who it was at the time. And it's a shock, but it's part of the business. You don't want to see nobody get killed, but you just take it that's the way it is. That fellow that was his job and he didn't make it. Some of the fellows, I didn't know some of the fellows, the midair collision Armstrong and Hammer I didn't even know those fellows. And at the time there was quite a few of the pilots I didn't know because they were Navy and so on and so forth. I just didn't get to know them. And there were the other two squadrons. FB: Give us an idea of you know here you are your working on something and then you hear that did you know what it was? CB: When Pete Atkinson crashed although I didn't know who it was in the aircraft at the time we heard the plane when he was coming in and we heard it wind up. And we knew he was over speeding. You could just tell by the way that engine picked up that there was something wrong. Then we heard the crash and the explosion. I don't remember where I was at the time or whether I was working. I might not have been working, but we knew that he never got out of it. Whether his prop over sped, or the engine just disintegrated I don't have any idea I just know that Pete was killed and Pete was one heck of a fine troop, a real easy goin' guy. I probably flown with him then I did anybody else in B10. For some reason he used to get stuck, the fighter pilots didn't care to fly that airplane. It took off at 90, cruised at 130 and landed at about 60. They weren't impressed about having to fly it, but that was the way it was. 5 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v04 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 4 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden discusses his observation of the working relationship of the AVG during their training period and the armament area where the P-40 airplanes were prepared. 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/00b2c36d5e3dc4a62dfafad0a7e766e9.mp4 caa4c0fd83d8cd58291973ef8d006592 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9367e230f18b51902a5e76e428bdb564.pdf 757ea6a2d7f0da0e9e476e5d440f03da PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [BREAK – TAPE 3] FB: What we'd like to do now is to get your reaction to the conditions in Taungoo. Where were you, what were you working in, the environment you were working in, what were the barracks like - you already talked about the food, but give us an idea of the living arrangements and your work arrangements? CB: When we got into Taungoo and started to operate, the airplanes started coming in, the rainy season was still on but it was coming to the close of the rainy season. It rained about every day. When we first started working there, we only worked a half a day. The planes would come in and we'd start - we had an armor shop some little ways from the runway - we started putting the guns in them and the P-40 we had then had two synchronized 50 calibers and they had four wing - 30 caliber wing guns. After we got the guns in then we had to harmonize them and we had a place on the runway where we had our targets set up and we'd go over there and we'd try to get the pilots to come out there with them and we'd fire the 50 calibers with a screw driver because you couldn't fire synchronized guns unless the engine is running and you can't run the engine that fast. Actually synchronization is something that's gone down the road years ago, but when I was there at that period of time, your ability to armor was pretty much how well you knew that system because you could shoot a prop. FB: This part of it I want to spend a lot more time on and once again you're talking to a group of people that have no idea what you're talking about, so if you would, let's first get back to the conditions themselves in Taungoo, the barracks and your working environment. My next question actually was what your first duties were, but let's get the basic area straightened out first. CB: The living conditions in Taungoo were pretty primitive. We didn't have much. It was hot, it was humid, we had outside showers, we had outside latrines and at night when you went out there you'd take a flashlight because you usually had a scorpion sitting there next to you. I don't know if he had the G.I.'s or what but he'd be sitting there next to you waiting to give you a whack. We weren't impressed, but it's what we had. Most of us got bicycles as soon as we could. We could buy bicycles for about $30 and we started using bicycles to go back and forth. A lot of snakes - poisonous or not I don't know, but we had a lot of snakes and we'd see them on the road and they'd get under the barracks and they had centipedes and they had what they called a Burmese centipede which was about that long, they had real nasty looking legs on them. They said if they crawled across you they'd go like that and it would smart. Mainly we just weren't used to the weather, but we 1 �worked a half a day and took a half a day off. Then as we got busy we just worked from dawn to dusk we were busy. FB: What were the barracks like? CB: The barracks were British built barracks. We were all on long teakwood, thatched roof bamboo I guess it was. The beds were typical Indian beds, they were wood, probably teak, with slats across them or rope and a solid mattress and of course we had mosquito nets and that's just what it was, it didn't amount to too much. I've got a picture of it around here someplace - what my cot looked like. We had overhead lights and it wasn't too great. FB: Can you recall, for example at night laying there in the bed or something like that - the sounds - what kind of insects - do you remember any of that kind of stuff? CB: Well all I remember is the little chameleon lizards, which the Burmese were great for having, because they eat bugs. They'd fall off the ceiling - now they wouldn't hurt you and they took a little bit getting used to, but nights just were nights, I couldn't tell a great deal of difference from there or any other place except we didn't hear a lot of noise. It was rather quiet, you'd hear the crickets or whatever the noise was in the background - we didn't hear anything like tigers or anything like that roaring in the distance. Nights were relatively quiet. FB: Do you recall any incidents in which you had to confront a snake or any of those kind of… CB: One time we had one get underneath the barracks [BREAK] FB: Refer to the snake CB: One night one of the fellows yelled "There's a snake under the barracks." Everybody came running out, we're all armed with our pistols and so on and so forth and he must have popped 20 or 30 rounds under the barracks at that snake. Joe [?] finally threw his shoe at him, killed him with his shoe - we never did hit it with the guns. Another night our Armor Chief, Hoffman, said "Turn off the lights." Nobody answered. "I said turn off the G.D. lights" Nobody answered and Powww he shot them off. Shot the one over his head anyway. He said "I told you to turn off those lights" and some of the fellows started getting monkeys and the monkeys weren't very nice - most of them. They'd steal stuff off you and then get up in the rafters of the barracks and they weren't all that great. One fellow had one riding a bicycle and you'd see him going down the road on his bicycle, a monkey perched on the handlebars. Barracks life wasn't too much, but other than sleeping there, we didn't spend a lot time in them. After I had my bicycle we'd go up to from Taungoo we'd go outside the gate and head toward Prome and it was pretty nice riding the bike out there. Then as the season started cooling down a little bit, it wasn't too bad. I 2 �didn't think too much of the Burmese. The Burmese Pongees, the priests, they had free access of the base and they wandered all over the place and we had Burmese laborers working in the thing and then the Chinese came in so we had Chinese working for us. Like I say, the Third Squadron I was in had 25-30 aircraft and there were 5 armorers. Well 5 armorers can't handle it by themselves, so we - but that was it. No night life - we'd go down to Taungoo to a movie and they showed some real old ones and I don't remember what they were now - but we'd go down there and they'd play the British "God Save the Queen" and the "Star Spangled Banner" and we were down there one night and some British soldier down below us said "Where's the Yellow Stripe?" and that did cause a riot, because the first class was up in the balcony, that's where you sat - and then they'd have intermission where you'd get a drink or whatever you wanted, but when they closed this thing, we had a regular riot in there. Guys were jumping off the balcony down on top of them and it was quite a show. FB: Let's get more detail about this and I don't understand what a yellow stripe is - what caused all this? CB: They showed the American Flag FB: Let's start from the beginning. Give us an idea of what happened. CB: Well they played "God Save the Queen" and everybody stood up, then I guess for our benefit they played the "Star Spangled Banner" and they showed the American Flag and this fellow downstairs said "Where's the yellow stripe?" See they were in the war and we weren't. This was before the war started and when he said yellow stripe it just ticked everybody off and they didn't do that again. FB: I'm sorry to belabor the point but first of all we don't understand what yellow stripe means CB: A yellow stripe means coward. In Singapore too, same way. They had a regular riot in Singapore at the Happy Dance Cabaret. I jumped out the window and I left. I didn't stay there for that because they were clobbering everybody with - that may be another reason they wouldn't let the other guys land. I left, I don't even know what happened. I didn't want to know. But the British troops were not - the officers were friendly enough, a little starchy, but they were friendly, but the enlisted men were - they were something else. I remember a lot of nice Noncoms and stuff like that, but they weren't all that friendly until later on, then they got real friendly, when they were getting their butts beat, they got real friendly with us. FB: Let's go into your first duties in Taungoo once the airplanes started to arrive. You said you were on half days, then everything started to really pick up, but give us an idea what the work was like. What was the reaction of the people you were working around? Did everybody chip in or was there some guys that sloughed off and some that guys that worked? 3 �CB: Our work at Taungoo was pretty much individual work. We all knew what we were doing. We were all qualified and they would say well you've got an aircraft out there that needs weapons installation. You didn't have to go ask somebody how to do it, they expected you to know how. So you went on your own but actually to install the weapons on a P-40 it really took two people. Those 50 caliber machine guns were relatively heavy and it needed two people to do the work. They brought some Chinese down - all Chinese armorers and they were officers and I had one assigned to me. He couldn't speak English, I couldn't speak Chinese but we got along real fine and what we had to do was install the wing guns - there were four of them, then we had to install the 50 calibers - there were two of them, then we had to synchronize the machine guns. Now synchronization was a whole art of itself. People think that they're firing through the prop - a machine gun is automatic - it's not. The propeller is turning and in the back of the engine - and the most inaccessible place normally - they have what they call a generator and that generator turns, it turns with the rotation of the propeller. There's a wire that runs from the - called an impulse wire, an impulse tube - runs back to the machine gun and it's tied with what they call a trigger motor and as the prop turns the generator turns, it pulls this wire back and forth and it pushes the sear in and only when that's in position, will that gun fire. The gun appears to fire automatic as the propeller is turning, but it's the propeller that actuates the mechanism that's making the gun fire. Now if you over speed the prop, you're liable to shoot the prop ahead of you, if you under speed the prop, you'll liable to shoot the one that's in, because the synchronize - the point of impact depending on how far behind the propeller the gun is, determines where you fire it. The P-40 was synchronized about an inch and a half from the turning edge of the blade. Theoretically when a gun fired the bullet would go right between the two props. So if you sat down there idling your motor you're gonna shoot your prop, if you speed it up you're gonna get the prop coming up. So you could shoot a prop and we had enough problems with shooting props anyway without goofing that up. FB: We've never gotten any of this. People have talked about shooting through it and in fact Dick Rossi talked about how he actually shot one of his props. We've talked about props being repaired but we've never gotten this kind of detail. If you could continue on then in terms of - you've gotten into the synchronizing of the guns which is good, what condition did these planes come in? You said you had to install the guns on it. I think most people would assume that the airplanes just came in and were ready to go. CB: When the aircraft arrived from Rangoon, [BREAK] CB: When the aircraft, the P-40's arrived from Rangoon to land at Taungoo, they were just made flyable. The radio equipment was installed, the gunsights were installed and the armament was installed. The armament came in crates and we had to take the cosmoline? off them and clean them and we did have Burmese that were working in there and was doing that at the armament shop. All the other stuff was just all accessories were just put on there. Then we had the four wing guns, 30 caliber machine guns that were mounted in the wings, they had to be mounted and most of them we found we had to file the trunion? 4 �mounts in the aircraft itself in order to get them to mount right, because they fit in, they went down to a socket in the back and there were two little lugs below that you had to turn, and they just wouldn't work, so we had to file them. That wasn't really a tough job, you just had to do it. Then when we got all that done, we'd take them out and we'd bore sight them and bore sighting is actually making the weapons shoot where you want them to shoot when they want to shoot, and it's all figured on the angle of attack to the aircraft coming in at a certain speed, what position his nose will be when he makes this attack called the angle of attack. We'd take the aircraft out to the gunnery range, we'd set two jacks up, we'd run a bar through the lifting bar through the back - there was a whole back on the tail - we'd run a bar through there and we'd lift the tail up and we'd back a truck under it. We'd back the truck under it and then we'd take a car jack and then one of the fellows would get in the cockpit and he'd put a bar across the - there were leveling lugs in the cockpit - there was one up here in the left and ones in the back and then there were two across. He set his gunner's quadrant - the gunner's quadrant actually is a level and you set it at mils nose up or mils nose down, you want your aircraft set at. You set that thing up there, then he set the dial onto it and you would jack the tail up until the bubble was centered, then you'd lay the bar across the other way and this had to be level - no mils onto it. Then you'd put two wing jacks under each side and you'd jack one or the other up until the aircraft was level. Then you'd take the gunsight and you'd set your gunsight on the bull. Then you took the machine gun and you could bore sight the machine gun - you could look through it you got the target. Now Chennault had his own system. The left wing guns, your target was 20 foot wide, left wing gun fired at the right target, left inboard gun fired at the target next to it, the right outboard gun fired this way, the right inboard fired that way and your 50 calibers fired right straight. So what you got I don't remember what the range was - 375 yards or what it was - that's called a fire intersected and if you shot at anything there, you got all six guns just going in one spot and it would tear anything apart that was made. Well we fired bursts from the wing guns and then we'd fire a couple of rounds with a screw driver till we got them on the bull, then we'd take the target down and we'd fire a burst, maybe 25-30 rounds from each of the wing guns. We couldn't do that with the 50's. And that [?] how you got them ready. We'd try to have the pilot out there. Now our gunsights, they were terrible because we had to make them. The P-40 had a bullet resistant glass in the front. The ones that were in the States were pre-drilled and you could mount your reflector sight on that. Now what we call a transparent rear. Actually the gunsight itself was set down here below the pilot, down on the floor and it projected an image up to the windscreen and you could see your circle and dot or whatever it was, you could see that. They couldn't mount them, they had no way of drilling those holes, so they had to make a gimmick, which they made, it was curved down and actually it was tied onto the pilot's grab bar - when he pulled himself out of the airplane. Well what kind of grab you could get you pulled the side off. The first one they made was aluminum, they used brass rivets. Well in that weather you got electrolysis and your sight worked loose. We also had a fixed gunsight and I think from what I've talked to the pilots, most of them used the fixed gunsight and most of them didn't do any deflection shooting which is - the airplane is here, so you aim your airplane here and hopefully it will run into it. Most of them didn't do that, most of them would get right as close as they could get and just tear them apart and they would use their 5 �gunsights - the fixed ring [?] gunsight. That's what they told me, I never had a chance to do it myself, so I don't know. 6 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 3 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden describes his reaction to the living conditions and barracks in Taungoo, in addition to his first duties when the aircraft started to arrive 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/03fbe0ef94e876410cdcda615b3fe77a.mp4 bc3865f3e68de239a51c6d49140a5271 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b1e0dc5da37568915943e1cb271f5825.pdf d905a323962ea7adf6e41cfe33a78ab6 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 2] FB: Tell us about your reactions to and your observations about Chaplain Frillman? CB: Well Paul Frillman, Chaplain Frillman, I don't remember when I first met him, but I do remember him being on the boat after we left San Francisco and I respected him because he was very fluent in Chinese and I knew he had a heck of a job on his hands, trying to control it and - I think he was a little apprehensive. But he was trying to do his job the best he could and some of the fellows listened to him, some of them didn't, but I liked the fellow. He'd been a missionary over there, he could speak Mandarin. I don't know if he could speak Cantonese or not and he had a little language class while we were going over there and we learned How Bu How and - I think that was about it - all I remember anyway. Personally I didn't run into him much during the - after we got over to China I didn't see too much of him, he was around but… FB: What was his responsibility for one thing and then what kind of things did he try to do on the boat that either you reacted positively or negatively to? CB: Well Jack [?] when we were on the boat was more or less in charge of him. I think probably Mr. Pawley was the one that put him in charge and he - actually what he did, he tried to smooth things over on the boat going over. But we had several incidents on the boat. One being an Army Colonel who would make an inspection every day - he would make an inspection and I was sitting back in the fan tail one morning and he came by and all the young Lieutenants popped to and I sat there, I didn't see any reason to get up. Boy he chewed me out from end to the other and left. Well I went and told the rest of the gang. So the next morning we were all sitting there waiting for him, none of us was going to get up. He stuck his head out of the port hole and he took one look and he turned around and went back. Then Paul Frillman came in and he said "Fellows the Captain of the ship requests that you don't be back in the fan tail when the Army Colonel makes his inspection in the morning," and we didn't, we left it alone. He didn't really come forward being the guy that was gonna tell you this and tell you that. He didn't do that. Like I say he was just sort of like a speaker for us, other than that we didn't have much to do with him. FB: In terms of the Army discipline that was on the boat with these other soldiers, what was the reaction of the AVG group on - give us a sense of - here you are, you just got out of the military and for your various reasons you're going to China and here's this Army group on board that has to stand up to attention and all that. 1 �CB: Well our feelings with the Army troops on board, we really didn't have much to do with them. Of course the troops themselves, we didn't hardly see anything of them and the officers, the young officers, most of them were Air Corps and I wasn't talking. I might have talked to them, but I wasn't saying where I was going - I just didn't do any talking. We just said we were going to China and that was it. Of course these fellows were going to the Philippines. So I really didn't have too much to do with them. Not that I didn't like them, but we actually spent most of the time playing nickel knock poker going over. We played nickel knock poker day in and day out and that was about the only thing we could do. FB: What was the - I guess what I'm looking for is - you're on this boat, you're playing poker, you're meeting these new guys from all over the country, what was the process of getting to know these guys - some that you liked, some that you didn't like CB: Believe it or not, when we were on the boat there were 28 of us I think or 29 of us, we knew almost everybody. Most of the fellows had been from the East Coast. We did pick up some from Selfridge? Field and the Air Corps at that time was pretty much of a family. If you'd been in the Air Corps a couple of years, you knew a lot of people and that was just about what it was. I just knew everybody and of course we had our own little - 4 or 5 of us used to pal around together and that's the way it was. Really we didn't spend too much time characterizing each other. We were just a bunch of guys and that's what it amounted to. FB: What kind of incidents can you recall that happened on the boat itself? Were there any humorous things that happened or anything that you can - sticks out in your mind? CB: When we were on the boat, I don't remember much of anything on the boat other than that it was rather boring. See we went from Hawaii to the Philippines. Now we stayed in the Philippines - they had - I forget what they had on board at the Philippines - their ship - but they had to steam clean all the tanks, and I think they took coconut oil on or palm oil and we must have been there 10 days. Well they gave us $100 expense money when we left San Francisco, which everybody had spent by the time they got to Hawaii and I remember being on the boat because we were broke and we spent one night at the Grayson Hotel. Well we spent the rest of the time on the boat because we didn't have any money. They gave us checks and I remember Rick Schramm and I were on the same check, they didn't have enough checks to go around, but they wouldn't cash it for us in the Philippines, so we spent 2 or 3 days drinking Sasparilla and Philippine gin and it's quite a mixture. Sasparilla is something like our sarsaparilla and you mix it with Philippine gin and you've got quite a…and of course we perked up there. One of the fellows had been stationed in the Philippines and he had to take us to one of them big cabarets. I mean it was a big thing. It had a big old second floor rotunda around it and things were pretty cheap. We left there and we went to Hong Kong and they cashed our checks at Hong Kong. The Chinese came in and scarfed up all our weapons. Every one we had they took them, locked them up in the Police Station and I think they were sprayed with water anyway they were all rusty when we got them back. We stayed there just overnight I think it was, left there and then we took another boat to Singapore. And we left quite a 2 �record in Singapore. We stayed in Singapore at the Raffles Hotel. We had quite a time at the Raffles. FB: Now this is where we need some detail because the next group that came over was not even allowed off the boat because of the record that you guys made in Singapore. Can you give us an idea of what happened after you got off the boat? CB: Well, we got off the boat at Singapore and went to the Raffles. I just remember my first acquaintance with a Dutch widow and I don't know whether you fellows have ever met a Dutch widow or not, but it's a long roll that you curl around at night to keep you from sweating so bad and it's called a Dutch widow. Of course we had fans going above us and mosquito nets and it was hotter than a pistol there in Singapore. I remember going around - we went to the Tiger Balm Gardens and we went to the Happy World Dance Cabaret and Charlie Kenner - we were there one night and Charlie Kenner won the jitterbug contest. Later on I talked to some of the Japanese and they said "Oh we went there too". So they occupied the same place. I don't remember how long we stayed in Singapore. Then we went to Panang. I gotta backtrack - we took a Dutch Packet Boat from Hong Kong to Singapore and then from Singapore we went to Panang and then onto Rangoon. We had an English ship that from what I heard belonged to the Kaiser and it was a settlement after World War I - it was a settlement that he'd made. It wasn't too much of a ship but that's how we got into Rangoon. So we actually came on over in three ships. FB: I guess the way I'll word this question is, why was it that later groups were not even allowed off the ship into Singapore? What happened that caused such a commotion? CB: Well when we were in Singapore some of the fellows may have made a name - I remember one of them that happened, they were booted out of the swimming club because of their curfews. I don't remember the reason. They pried up all the footbaths which must have weighed 4 or 5 hundred pounds apiece and they chucked them in the pool and that made the British very unhappy. Also bringing native women into the Raffles that tore up the British - I mean they couldn't stand that. I remember one fellow brought one in and she had a ring in her nose and she was dark and had a sarong on. He carted her in and sat her down at a table and got her smashed and that was probably one of the reasons they wouldn't let the rest of the guys in. I hung around with Carl Bugler and - I forgot the other fellows' names - but we didn't get involved in any of this. I lie a lot too. FB: Describe your arrival in Rangoon and I'll set this up for you. Here you are, you're a young American, you've never been out of the country at that time, what was your reaction, what was your observation on your arrival in Rangoon? CB: When we arrived in Rangoon it was in June, I remember going up the river to Rangoon and I remember it was hot, it was rainy and it didn't look like anything. When we got of the dock, I don't remember how we got to Midlow Mansions? - I think we went by taxi and we got in there and that's where I first saw General Chennault, he was there to meet us. They said now get your rooms ready and the Chinese are gonna give you a banquet 3 �tonight and 15 minutes after we got there, within a half an hour there were Japanese there from the embassy and they came rushing in. I know Tex Blaycock said "I'll throw one of them off the balcony" and they just looked around and they left - nothing really happened. That night we had a big banquet by the Chinese embassy and Chennault was there and that's when I got an impression of Chennault. Chennault looked to me like he was looking right through you and you could figure when he was looking at you, he was taking you on. I have an awful lot of respect for the man. He didn't say much. Anyway we went through an umpteen course dinner and spaced by many a shot of scotch whiskey and I guess the thing broke up around midnight and one of the fellows came up to Charlie and said "Charlie Chennault wants you to take the station wagon and the Burmese driver and you take the hold baggage to Taungoo." Now why I was picked I have no idea. Maybe I was the soberest one of the lot, I don't really know. But anyway [?] the Burmese driver and the old wooden station wagon - can't remember what the make of it was, but rattled on up to Taungoo and I got to Taungoo, met my first Ghurka troop - a little guy standing out there with a big stick and a big curved knife and we finally got the British officer, NCO, the officer out there and told them - they'd been expecting us. So I spent the night in the barracks with these little old lizards that kept dropping off the ceiling and I wondered what in the hell have I gotten myself into here. The next morning the troops came in, they came up by train and I went down to meet them. They must have had quite a trip coming up there because this one place they stopped, they grabbed a hold of P.J. Perry and they pulled off his trousers and the train pulled out and P.J. is running up the track trying to catch up with them with no trousers and I guess the natives thought that he had a new type of suit on or something, but anyway he got on the train. You never heard so much grouching in your life when we got into Taungoo, because Taungoo was a hole, I mean it was a hole. That was our introduction to Taungoo - we had no airplanes, the barracks were made out of teak and thatch and had outside johnnies, or heads, or lavatory, whatever you want to call them and rain. The rainy season was just getting over with, but it was raining, the humidity was 95%. FB: I'm gonna go back over about this Taungoo. What I'd like to ask is backtrack just a little bit. We're gonna talk in more detail about Taungoo - here you are on the [?] group, what happens to you? CB: Well that's like I say, when I first met Chennault, meanwhile he was looking us over, lord knows what he was thinking. But when I talked to him it was "Yes Sir" "No Sir," I had an awful lot of respect for the man and he looked like he'd been flying in an open cockpit airplane for 100 years. He was that type of fellow and you had to talk a little loud, he couldn't hear very well. I didn't have any long conversation with him at that time. I thought of Chennault like I thought of Phil Cochrane, when I was with him later in the Air Commandos, here's a guy that I'll follow and the same with him and Jimmy Allison was another one. FB: The question I want - this will be the last part of the meeting Chennault for the first time what I'm trying to get a sense of is this group to Chennault - was there an automatic - like this is the leader now we've gotta shape up or was it still this kind of treatment you gave the Army? 4 �CB: It's hard for me to say about the group - as an individual I had my own opinion and I can't really say about the group. I just don't know. I think some of them thought that they were getting in over their heads and they're gonna flip their way out, but I really don't know. I knew the way I felt - I was gonna do what I was supposed to do and I think most of us felt that way. There were times that we had doubts of what we - sometimes we had our doubts. It looked like it was a rinky dink going on - things we were told, didn't happen. I don't think it was the fault of General Chennault, it was just they didn't happen. FB: Give us a sense of what you mean by that. What were some of the things that you thought…? CB: Well see, when we got up to Taungoo it was hot, it was rainy, we weren't used to that kind of humidity, it was a pretty good hike down to where the flight line was, we had no airplanes. The airplanes were assembled at Rangoon and flown up and when the first planes got in there we didn't have any tools. We were using tools that came in the International pickups - the International station wagons was what we had. We used tools that came out of the trucks and that's not the tools to work on an aircraft with. Then the food, we had a private contractor - I forget what his name was - but he was ripping us off and were getting slop - absolutely it was terrible and on top of that - in the topics, no air conditioning, no refrigeration and things got smelly - we did have a pretty good little bar where we could get Batavia beer, I think it was and a few little items like that, cigarettes. So we got a little disgruntled. But then those planes started coming in and we got real busy. Because every one of the wing guns had to be filed down so you could fit the darn things in there. Aircraft had to be bore-sided and sights had to be installed - we were busy. And once we got busy - another story. 5 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v02 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 2 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden discusses his journey to join the AVG overseas and his observations upon their arrival in 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/37018e9c970b1ad7a42123bad7b5d54c.mp4 902bc5212fc07f2cda2aff2c3f64debc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f0b0aa7c0ecb24dd3c131d83e89d1251.pdf b4ea4f520cb2bfa4fe3e8d812c68f716 PDF Text Text RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interview Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Chuck Baisden Date of interview: June 8, 1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 1] FB: Chuck, we'd like to begin with, what were you doing prior to hearing about the opportunity in China? CB: Well, I was stationed in at Mitchell Field on Long Island with the 57th Interceptor Group and we went up to Windsor Locks, Trumbull Field on gunnery, I think it was April '41. And when we got up there, why we were told there was going to be a meeting. Trumbull Field had an old building that I think had been a mill one time and I was going to have a meeting. So we went to the meeting and they closed all the doors and all that sort of stuff and Skip Adair… FB: Please start again, from the beginning. CB: From the beginning, OK, I was at Mitchell Field, we went up to Groton, Connecticut, at Trumbull, and we were up there for gunnery. and we got a notice on the bulletin board there was going to be a guy there talking to us about, we didn't know what, anyway, we went into the building, and they closed the doors and Skip Adair was there to meet us and he gave us this, which at that time was sort of a song and dance, but he said we need people to go to China to patrol the road up there and we're going to build airplanes over there. And I was Staff Sgt. at the time I was making $72 a month and the question came up are you going to travel for a year? And the pay was $350 a month in 1941, $350 a month was a lot of money and of course I was, just turned 21. So I, bunch of us, [?] Sheffield and I, we put our names on the list and then we, nothing more happened, we went back to Mitchell Field and one day they said go down to base administration - they wanted to talk to you, so we went down to the basement, they had the blinds drawn - they had a rack of civilian clothes and we all got our pictures taken and I had GI uniform on and some kind of a sport coat on and then a fellow said, "What's your job?' I said "Well I'm the aircraft armor." "What do you do?" I said "Well, I take care of machine guns and load bombs and etc., etc. "You're a metal worker." I said "No that's different. I'm an armorer." "You're a metal worker." And he finally convinced me that's what was on my passport so I went overseas as a metal worker and I heard some of the other fellows went over as all kinds of things, but that's what I went overseas as. FB: What were you doing prior to hearing about the opportunity in China? CB: Well, my unit was in Mitchell Field, Long Island New York, 57th Pursuit Group. Col. Phil Cochran was the CO. Phil Cochran was, or actually Phil Corkin?. Anyway, we went up to Groton with the 33rd squadron to do gunnery at Trumbull Field and while we was 1 �there, they told us to report to the main building for an interview. And it turned out it was Skip Adair. And he gave us a presentation of going to China to do patrol on the area there over, I guess it was Loiwing to keep the Japs from bombing the place while we assembled airplanes. And he also gave us the one year contract and being that I was making $72 a month as a Staff Sgt., $350 really impressed me. So that's how it got started. We went back to Mitchell Field and in, I forget the month of it, we were told to report to Base Administration, and the State Dept. was there taking pictures and they had us all lined up with civilian clothes so we had our pictures taken and at the time they asked me what I did. I told them I was aircraft armorer. When they wanted to know what an armorer was I told them, and they said "No, you're a metal worker." I said "No, I'm an armorer, that's different." "No you're a metal worker." That's what I went over as, as a metal worker on my passport. And I got discharged from the Air Corps on June 2nd, no I'm wrong, I got discharged May 24th from the Air Force, continuance of the Government discharge, they made us turn in all our field equipment but they let us keep our shoes and part of our uniform, we had to cut the buttons off and then on the June 2nd I signed the contract with Camp Co, at the Rockefeller Plaza. FB: What did you know about China at this time? CB: Absolutely nothing. FB: Once again, I knew absolutely nothing about China. CB: About China, I knew absolutely nothing. That was a place I hadn't been to and I wanted to see. That's about all I could say at the time. I didn't know anything about their customs or like you said, I knew nothing about China. FB: What did you know or hear about through news reels or anything like that about Japan or what was going on in China? CB: Other than we thought, I think most of us thought, that a couple companies of Marines could probably go in and clean their clocks, that's about what we thought. We didn't know nothing about the Japanese. You take them looking at a, maybe our powers that be did, I don't know, after Pearl Harbor, I don't think our powers that be knew everything they're supposed to know. FB: In terms, you mentioned that somebody told you about the AVG, but how did you actually hear about this opportunity? What was the process? CB: I believe there was a notice on the bulletin board. No I, when we first heard about the AVG, it wasn't called the AVG, it was tied up with the Camp Co, or Continental Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation. was the cover and I really don't, I think it was on the bulletin board, but I really don't remember. FB: What was your motivation, and why get involved in this? I mean, were you satisfied with where you were, or? 2 �CB: Well, I was the Staff Sgt., I'd been through Air Corps. Tech. School and I was perfectly happy and I went in the service in 1939, 1941, I was a Staff Sgt., Air Corps. was expanding and I was not unhappy with what I was doing, in fact I liked work. But I also liked to travel, and let's face it, there was the money consideration. And like I said, it was $72 as compared to $350 and you finished your contract, you got $500 bonus and that's really the reason I went. I didn't have any dumpses?, I didn't like the, when I went in I had planned to spend my 20 or 30 and get off, I was going to be career airman, because the military was something that I was always interested in. FB: What was it that Skip Adair told you in terms of what you were to be doing and what to expect? CB: Well, when Skip Adair was talking to us at Trumbull Field I really didn't understand too much of what we'd be doing, we'd have a fighter squadron there, a fighter group, and whatever your job was that's what you would work on and that was about all we knew. We were just going to another country and to get paid for, that's really about all I knew about it. FB: Could you describe for us the process? If you could describe for us the process of resigning your commission and what was it you actually had to do and did you have any difficulties in getting out? CB: Well, when they came to get me out of the service, I was an enlisted man. I didn't resign no commission. I had a Staff Sgt. pin at war which they gave us at that time, but it was all automatic - we just reported in for discharge and got rid of our clothing and they gave us an honorable discharge convenience of the Government and we went out of the base. That was the end of it. There was no, in fact, I don't know whether it was a relief or what, when I went through the gate, I said well I'm starting a new something or other and anyway, when I went off base I was running around with a gal in Weehawken, New Jersey at the time, so I had to go see her. That's Ft. Willis time. And on the bus going back, I lost my wallet, $150 bucks lost. So when I got home I was broke and my dad said where are you going? I said I'm going to China, yes I'm making $350, he said well I'm making $50 a week so he said be my guest. So that was the whole story of it. Went down to Sunbury, Sunbury, Pennsylvania. and Carl Bugler, and I think it was Rich Graham and we went by train to L.A. and there was a whole bunch of us on the train and I remember stopping in Wyoming and Johnny Fauth and a bunch of them wanted pistols and you stop at Cheyenne, Wyoming, and you can go to the nearest pawn shop and buy the whole store out if you had the money, so we took Johnny Fauth and a bunch of them and I bought them all pistols. Being I was supposed to be the expert, I really wasn't. They thought I was. And we bought a bunch of pistols and stopped in Cheyenne. We went on to west coast and then they put us up at the Jonathan Club and that was, they made a big mistake at the Jonathan Club. Here's a bunch of young GI's that just retired and everybody thinks there, whatever you want to call them, and guys started running up phone bills, that's the first time in my life I ever had grapefruit served in a silver container with a big spoon and 3 �all of that stuff, and I thought, boy we're living high on cotton right now. They moved us out of there and we went by bus to San Francisco. FB: I would like to get a little more detail. Could you describe your own personal observations, your reactions, arriving at the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles? CB: Well, we got off the train and I think we took a taxi to the Jonathan Club and walked in to it and it was a big, old building, soft leather chairs, and all that sort of stuff and looked to me like there was a bunch of, I didn't know at the time what they were, they were very dignified gentlemen, gray haired, I found out later more of them were retired Admirals and Captains and Generals and what have you, how they let our bunch in there, I have no idea but maybe the [?] had something to do with it. And I was very impressed with the meals and the being served by a butler and in the meantime the fellows were having quite a time, they were just turned loose and here we've been under fairly strict discipline and marching from point A to point B with everything buttoned up and we were turned loose, fellows started running up long distance phone calls and charging this and charging that and I think the bills got out of hand and in the meantime, Joe Poshefko, my friend, came down with appendicitis and they had to take him to the hospital. He was one of the reasons he didn't make our, he was on the original bus that went over but he didn't make it on account that he had had appendicitis and because I just know at the time I was just wondering what happened to Joe, I thought he had just gone over the hill or something, but he hadn't, he was sick. And other than that, I don't remember too much about the Jonathan Club, everything is sort of hazy, what went on there. FB: Now once the decision was made to leave the Jonathan Club, I understand you were going to San Francisco, I wonder if you could describe how you got to San Francisco? CB: Well, when we left the Jonathan Club, for San Francisco, we went by bus. On a chartered bus. And I remember going up there - it was hotter than a pistol. The fellows got us a big old washtub and they filled it fill with ice and they filled it full of booze and beer and we got about half way up there and I remember getting off the bus, we had a short rest stop. There was no facilities. So have you ever seen about 15 guys lined up along the highway doing their thing? And most of them were pretty well smashed. But I can remember that because I took a picture of when I was there. I think the driver was glad to get rid of us when we got to San Francisco. And I don't remember even the name of the hotel that we stayed at when we got to San Francisco. I remember we spent the night there, I don't remember where we stayed, we didn't stay there very long, they got us on a boat to get our butts out of there. I think the States were about as glad to get rid of us as anything else. FB: Now, at this time it was around June 1941, you boarded a boat called the President Pierce, I wonder if you can give us your observation of the boat itself and your reaction to it. CB: Well, when we left San Francisco, we were on a cargo passenger ship called the President Pierce, the U.S. President Alliance and of course, we thought we'd have some kind of 4 �state rooms and this was the first time I began to exactly wonder what we were getting in to because they put us up at one of the lounge or lobby, all we had were cots and we were really crowded, the whole bunch of us was in, I don't think Frillman was, but everybody else was in cots in this lounge. And we took off and sailed from there to Hawaii. We got to Hawaii, in the meantime, we also had a bunch of kooks going over there going to the Philippines. When we got to Hawaii, we were there overnight. And I remember old P.J. Perry coming on board and at that time, booze was pretty cheap in Hawaii and so old P.J. come staggering on board and he had a jug of liquor on his shoulder trying to get up the gang plank. And he made it but I don't know how. And anyway, we left and we gave the Colonel a tough time, going over there. He always had an inspection - everyday he had an inspection - and I really didn't see any reason why I had to pop to because he came by, being 21 years old, when he came by, he'd reamed me up one end or the other so I went and told the fellows. Next morning the whole bunch of us was sitting back on the fantail waiting for us. And he came back there and all the, he took one look, he just turned around and walked away, Frillman had called us in to have a meeting, and said the Captain would appreciate it if you fellows make yourselves scarce when they have a, when the Colonel. does an inspection, but we wouldn't have put up with that stuff. And I think that would give you an idea of what kind of guys we had. We knew our job but we wasn't going to put up with a bunch of other stuff. FB: Give us as much as possible, we read the Frillman book and his real trepidation, he was nervous around, of letting you guys know that he was even a Chaplain to begin with, I don't want you to answer yet, give me a brief answer, you did meet him in the hotel right? CB: I think we did, I don't really remember, I just remember him being on the boat. We no doubt had met him, but I remember him being on the boat, because that's when he started calling names and, FB: OK. We want all that detail, on the boat then. 5 � 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_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v01 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baisden, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-08 Title A name given to the resource Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 1 of 11), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden describes his background in the American Air Corps before becoming involved with the American Volunteer Group and his journey overseas from San Francisco. 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