When China and America Fought Together: The Story of the Flying Tigers
In an age where U.S.–China relations are defined more by tariffs and tense summits than shared toasts, it’s worth remembering that the two nations once fought shoulder to shoulder against a common enemy.
Beijing marked the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in World War II in September 2025 — and among the honored guests were the descendants of the American Flying Tigers, a volunteer unit whose story stands as proof that even adversaries can become allies.
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Remembering in Beijing
As relations between Beijing and Washington stiffen once more, the Flying Tigers story is being revived with fresh urgency. Chinese President Xi Jinping called their legacy a “bond between our peoples,” urging younger generations to carry it forward.
“The Chinese people never forget the Flying Tigers. We built a Flying Tigers museum in Chongqing and invited over 1,000 veterans and their families to visit China,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping at a welcome dinner hosted by Friendly Organizations in the U.S. in 2023.
US President Donald Trump wrote: “The big question to be answered is whether or not President Xi of China will mention the massive amount of support and ‘blood’ that The United States of America gave to China in order to help it to secure its FREEDOM from a very unfriendly foreign invader. Many Americans died in China’s quest for Victory and Glory. I hope that they are rightfully Honored and Remembered for their Bravery and Sacrifice!”
Flying Tigers veteran Mel McMullen said at a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing in 2023: “People are the same. Their governments may be different, but the people actually always have one desire, and that is to live and to raise their families in peace and in the customs of their predecessors. And I needed to say that and I am sorry I took so much time.”
Nell Calloway, granddaughter of the founder of the Flying Tigers, U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault, put it plainly: “The U.S.–China relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world today. The aspirations for peace and a better life are shared by both peoples.”
From Rivals to Brothers-in-Arms
The Flying Tigers, officially the American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, were formed in 1941 under U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault. With their iconic shark-mouthed fighter planes, they gave China hope during its darkest hours.
In December of that year, shortly after arriving in Kunming, the Tigers scored the first significant defeat of Japanese air power. By the war’s end, their joint campaigns with Chinese soldiers and civilians had destroyed or downed roughly 2,600 Japanese aircraft. More than 2,000 of the American volunteers never made it home.
But the numbers tell only part of the story. Pilots stranded behind enemy lines were fed, hidden, and smuggled out by Chinese villagers who risked execution to save them.
“This history has become more than a bridge between two nations,” said Jeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation. “It is a timeless testament to the power of solidarity.”
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Shared Hardship, Shared Legacy
The bond was tested most dramatically in 1942, when Japan cut off China’s last land supply line. Together, Chinese and American forces pioneered the “Hump” airlift, flying over the Himalayas in conditions so brutal that hundreds of aircrews were lost. It was a perilous artery of survival — and a symbol of cooperation that defied the odds.
Veteran Mel McMullen, now 100 years old, still recalls how his unit looked for Chinese villages whenever forced into an emergency landing. “They would risk everything to help us,” he said. “We forged a profound friendship.”
Jeffrey Greene says the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation has brought more than 500 veterans and their families to China since 1998, hoping to keep the memory alive long after the last pilot is gone.
Flying Tigers veteran Harry Moyer
Flying Tigers veteran Harry Moyer celebrated his 103th birthday at the Chongqing Stilwell Museum in 2023. The museum is dedicated to the late United States Army General Joseph Stilwell, the hero who also fought side by side with the Chinese people during the latter part of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
Harry Moyer, born October 30, 1920, has the rare distinction of still taking to the skies well past his centenary. At 100, he set the Guinness World Record as the oldest active pilot, verified in San Luis Obispo, California, on his birthday in 2020.
The achievement drew a delegation from China, a nod to his wartime service with the 23rd Fighter Group of the U.S. 14th Air Force in 1944. That unit, which inherited the legendary Flying Tigers designation, was tasked with defending Chinese airfields and the B-29 Superfortress bombers based there. For Moyer, flying is not just longevity—it’s living history in motion.
Flying Tigers pilot Clifford Long
For 15-year-old Jackson Long, great-grandson of pilot Clifford Long, it was his first trip to China. “I’d heard the stories growing up,” he said. “But seeing the people and places firsthand made me understand what my family was part of. I’ll do my best to help those around me understand China better.”
Clifford R. “Cliff” Long was one of the youngest American fighter pilots to see combat in World War II. A member of the 25th Fighter Squadron, the “Assam Dragons,” of the 51st Fighter Group, he flew both the rugged Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and the sleek North American P-51 Mustang
Stationed at Paoshan in Yunnan Province, Long and his squadron were at the heart of the 1944 Salween River Campaign, where they supported Chinese forces in the savage battles that retook the walled city of Tengchong and forced Japanese troops from Shan Song (Pine) Mountain, ending their last foothold in Yunnan.
On his 23rd sortie, Long’s aircraft was swarmed by 13 Japanese fighters. Riddled with bullets and badly damaged, he somehow regained control and survived a crash landing. He went on to fly 104 combat missions in total—the last on his 20th birthday. Long died on June 3, 2019, at the age of 94.
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Hells Angels Flying Tigers
According to the club’s own history page, the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was founded on March 17, 1948, in the Fontana/San Bernardino area of California. An associate of the founders, Arvid Olsen—a former squadron leader with the “Hell’s Angels” unit of the Flying Tigers in World War II—suggested the name in homage to that wartime squadron
The lead P-38B pilot in the above photo shows Charles “Chuck” Older who later became the judge that heard the Charles Manson trial. He was the third highest scoring ace of the “Flying Tigers” with 10 enemy aircraft downed.
2025 Victory Parade
2025’s Victory Day parade in Beijing showcased modern Chinese military might, but it also highlighted the human connections of an earlier war. Flying Tigers’ families joined delegations of young Americans in commemorations across Liuzhou, Chongqing, and Kunming — cities where the unit had once been stationed.
A new permanent exhibition at the Liuzhou Military Museum displays more than 1,000 artifacts: flight suits, letters, even diaries left behind by the Americans and the Chinese who supported them.
In a week of parades and pageantry, Beijing reminded the world that even in the most polarized times, history offers examples of unexpected unity.
The Flying Tigers may have flown their last missions decades ago, but their legacy whispers across today’s geopolitical divide: when it mattered most, Americans and Chinese once fought side by side.
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