Chinese people who know the history of China’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression know about the Flying Tigers. The group’s official name was the First American Volunteer Group, an air force unit composed mainly of American pilots during World War II to help China fight the Japanese invasion of China. Retired American flight captain Claire Lee Chennault led the Flying Tigers. In 1941, with the support of President Roosevelt, he obtained 100 P-40 Warhawk fighter planes from the United States through the Lend-Lease Act and recruited 100 pilots from the United States.
Shark faces were painted on the front of the planes to scare the Japanese. Since the Chinese had never seen a shark, they mistakenly called these planes “flying tigers.” The next day, a newspaper used the same term. After the Chinese translator in the aviation team saw the article, he told Chennault about it. The pilots liked the idea and officially named the “Flying Tigers.”
The military record of Zhou Xundian
Zhou Xundian was admitted to the Aviation Mechanical School by the National Government Air Force in December 1939. In 1941, he passed a rigorous examination and was admitted to the 15th Aviation School officer class in the United States, where he went for formal training. In July 1944, Zhou Xundian graduated and returned to China to fight against the Japanese. He was assigned to the Flying Tigers.
Zhou Xundian participated in 71 air battles against Japan, shot down 2 Japanese planes, and destroyed 40 Japanese aircraft and 23 military vehicles on the ground. Given Zhou’s outstanding achievements, China and the United States awarded him 13 medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Aviation Medal.
Zhou Xundian had been through many life-and-death situations. In his autobiography, he wrote: “When performing a mission, I was always serious and responsible without considering the issue of life and death. All I wanted to do was to take a breath and attack the target hard. With lofty ambitions and a vast sky, I acted according to my wishes and did it happily. As long as I hit the enemy, I would feel happy even if I died.”
On September 9, 1945, Zhou Xundian, led by the Fifth Air Force Squadron deputy commander, escorted Kuomintang Army commander-in-chief He Yingqin to Nanjing to participate in the surrender ceremony. He was granted the honor of witnessing Okamura Yasuji, the commander of the Japanese army, sign the surrender document. That year, Zhou Xundian was only 24 years old, but he was already a hero in people’s minds.
After the war, Zhou Xundian married his classmate Qian Chengping. They initially hoped to live a peaceful and stable life, but the Communist Party provoked a civil war, and Zhou Xundian went to war again. Due to corruption within the Kuomintang party and out of dissatisfaction, Zhou Xundian left the airlift unit.
Deceived by the Communist Party
After the fall of Shanghai, Zhou Xundian saw an announcement published by the Aviation Department of the Communist Party of China in the Liberation Daily newspaper. The announcement stated: “Former Kuomintang Air Force personnel can register at the Aviation Office. Those willing to work will be considered appropriate; those who want to return to their hometown will be given travel expenses and can go home.”
Zhou Xundian was initially hesitant, but was deceived by the illusion of “serving the people” created by the Communist Party. He joined the Communist Party Air Force and was specially assigned to escort Communist Party leaders on inspection tours to various places.
After the founding of the CCP, Zhou Xundian was transferred to the newly established Tianjin Aviation Training Group to train pilots. During his flight training, he never had an accident, and his skills were deemed to be excellent. In 1964, Zhou Xundian was transferred to Sichuan with the aviation school while his wife and children still lived in Tianjin. He and his family lived apart, and there were only two times for a get-together per year: one for a family visit and one for a short break.
Beaten to death during the Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966. At the turn of spring and summer of 1967, Zhou Xundian returned to Tianjin to visit his wife and children after a break in Hangzhou. After returning to his work unit, he was accused of participating in a “conspiracy to fly away in a group.” He was placed under isolation and investigation.
At first, Zhou Xundian could tell his family about his situation through letters. In a letter to his wife, he wrote: “Now the situation has become such that the case is getting more complicated. There are more and more problems because everyone is under pressure and strives to give thorough and detailed falsified accounts to obtain some leniency. They ignore objectivity to implicate each other. Someone even said in his confession that I had asked for leave to return to Tianjin in October 1967 and then used a false name to try to flee to a foreign country. After that, his family never heard from him again.
On May 2, 1970, this Flying Tigers hero was beaten to death while under investigation. He was 49 years old and did not leave any last words. He Wanru wrote in a remembrance article: “He Ying and Zhou Xundian were sent to pull rice and coal carts all day. They could only buy salted duck eggs to fill their stomachs when hungry. Later, the infamous flight director Zhou Xundian was beaten to death, and they secretly buried him in a field. Because they were in a hurry, they buried the body too shallow. The body of the hero of the Flying Tigers was later dragged out by wild dogs and eaten.”
Translated by Chua BC
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