Reception

Honoring Flying Tiger Historical Organization for its

contribution to Guilin Flying Tigers Museum and Honoring

Anna Chennault & Catherine Stevens,

September 17, 2013

Program_______________________________________________________

6:00 pm Social interaction, view artifacts and photos of museum progress

6:30 pm Welcome by Embassy; Remarks by Minster Lu Kang

6:45 pm Speech and Remarks by General James T. Whitehead Jr., Chairman,

Flying Tiger Historical Organization, and Nell Calloway, Director Chennault Aviation and

Military Museum and Congressman Joe Wilson

7:00 pm Nell Calloway and General Whitehead present commemorative plaques to:

Anna Chennault

Catherine Stevens

7:10 pm Nell Calloway and Larry Jobe, President of Flying Tiger Historical Organization, present

commemorative gift to:

Frank Losonsky AVG Veteran

Paul Crawford 14 AAF Veteran

Jerry Yellin 14 AAF Veteran

Short remarks by Veterans

7:30 pm Buffett dinner; DVD of Guilin Flag Raising ceremony

8:30 pm End

Honorees __________________________________________________________________

Anna Chennault

Wife of General Claire Lee Chennault

Born in Beijing, China, on June 23, 1925, Chen Xiangmei received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese from Lingnan University in Hong Kong in 1944. She was a war correspondent for the Central News Agency from 1944 to 1948 and wrote for the Hsin Ming Daily News in Shanghai, from 1944 to 1949. She is the younger sister of Cynthia Chan, who was a U.S. Army nurse in the group under Claire Chennault in Kunming. While visiting Cynthia Chan in Kunming, she met Claire Chennault. Chen Xiangmei was married in 1947 to Chennault, who died in 1958. She has two children, Claire Anna (born in 1949) and Cynthia Louise (born in 1950).

After her husband's death, Anna Chennault worked as a publicist for the Civil Air Transport in Taipei, Taiwan (1946 to 1957) and was vice-president of international affairs for the Flying Tiger Line that he founded, and was president of TAC International (from 1976). She was an occasional correspondent for the Central News Agency (from 1965) and the U.S. correspondent for the Hsin Shen Daily News (from 1958).

In the U.S. she received presidential appointments from U.S. President Richard Nixon to the President's Advisory Committee for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. National Committee for UNESCO (from 1970). She was president of Chinese Refugee Relief from 1962 to 1970 and has served as president of the General Claire Chennault Foundation after 1960.

As Anna became increasingly prominent in mainstream political activities and gradually built up her status in social circles, she came to be known in the U.S. capital as "the hostess of Washington."

In the early 1980s, as the Chinese mainland began to implement its opening-up and reform policy, she naturally served as an envoy between the three points of the triangle – the mainland, Taiwan and the U.S. In 1980, shortly after Ronald Reagan's presidential election victory, she was sent to Beijing as a special ambassador to meet with Deng Xiaoping.

Today Anna visits the mainland frequently and is an active player in promoting cultural exchanges between China and the U.S., as well as across the Strait.

Catherine Stevens____________________________________________

Wife of Senator Ted Stevens

Ted Stevens was a pilot in the Army Air Corps during WWII, serving in the 14th AAF. Catherine and

Ted met on a blind date and were married on December 30, 1980 in Anchorage, Alaska. The day

after their wedding, Senator Stevens agreed to fill in for a colleague on a trip to tout Reaganomics in

China so he and Catherine ended up spending their honeymoon in China.

Senator Ted Stevens served in the US Senate from December 24, 1968 through January 3, 2009.

Eighty-six at the time of his death, he was a U.S. attorney and a legislative counsel of the Department

of the Interior.

Catherine is an attorney, federal prosecutor and lobbyist. Together nearly 30 years, the marriage of Ted and Catherine Stevens ended on August 10, 2010

when Ted died in an airplane crash. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on September 28,

2010.

Frank Losonsky________________________________________

Awarded:

Bronze Star

Presidential Unit Citation

After graduating from high school and attending Chicago Aeronautical

University, Losonsky entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939. While

stationed at Selfridge Field in May of 1941, he was intrigued by the opportunity for adventure that was

offered by the AVG recruiters and soon found himself on a ship headed for Burma and China.

Losonsky was assigned as a Crew Chief in the "Hell's Angels" squadron where he generally was

responsible for 3 to 4 aircraft at a time. In addition to these duties, he also was called upon to carry

out memorable tasks such as delivering bombs via truck from Kunming to Paoshan and salvaging

parts from ill-fated P-40's. On one such occasion Losonsky was part of a salvage crew sent out to

recover 4 wrecked Tomahawks. All four of the planes, led by Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, had made

forced landings near the Indochina border.

Honorably discharged from the AVG, Frank returned home, married, and then returned to the Far

East as a mechanic with Chinese National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). Later, he returned stateside

and assisted in building B-24 Liberators. Leaving the Air Corps, Losonsky took a civil service job at

Clark Field in the Philippines.

Losonsky soon found himself on the ground floor of the new Trans Asiatic Airlines which flew the

Manila, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Rangoon route. He attained one of his earliest goals and became a

commercial pilot. In 1950, he left TAA. After a short time farming in Michigan, Losonsky joined the

Allison Division of General Motors as a jet engine service engineer. He spent the next 30 years with

GM traveling all over the world as Allison's service representative. After retiring from GM, Frank

joined his son's Part IV Columbus, Georgia, restaurant conglomeration as an Executive Officer.

Paul Crawford_________________________________________

Paul Crawford is seen here in 2005 getting a close-up look at a

Clay Soldier in Xi’an. This was the occasion of the 60th

anniversary of the ending of hostilities in China. Fighter pilot

Crawford of the 529th Fighter Squadron of the 14th AAF was

invited into the pits with the clay soldiers - an honor which had

up to that point only been bestowed on 37 world dignitaries and

which included only two Americans, former Presidents Bush

and Clinton.

Paul came to China as a 14th AAF Flying Tiger in the fall of

1944 and left in June 1945. Paul flew P 51’s from bases in both

Xi’an and Chengdu. On one mission he was shot down and

rescued by Chinese villagers. He participated in missions

bombing Japanese supply routes in Hebei and once met with Chairman Mao.

Reflecting on the China he encountered in 1944 during his return visit to China in 2005, Paul said

"China had no cars at that time and only a few trucks were used for military service," Crawford said.

"China's changed so much except that the people are always warm-hearted and hard-working."

Jerry Yellin________________________________________________________

• The man who flew the final combat mission of

the most destructive war in history.

Jerry Yellin, of Fairfield, IA, was flying a P51 fighter plane over Japan on August 14, 1945, the day that President Harry Truman announced that the war had ended – which was followed by spontaneous celebrations across America.

Yellin, now 89, is a national spokesman for “Spirit of ’45 Day,” a national day of remembrance honoring the men and women of the WW II generation, that was passed by Congress in 2010 and is now observed annually on the 2nd Sunday in August [ www.Spiritof45.org ]. “August 14, 1945 was my generation’s greatest day,” said Yellin. “But it was a sad day for the thousands of families whose loved ones never returned.” Yellin lost his wingman Phil Schlamberg of Brooklyn, that historic day.

Congressional Host Committee________________________________

Congressman David Camp Congressman Adam Smith Senator Thad Cochran

Congresswoman Jackie Speier Congressman Joe Wilson Senator David Vitter

Congressman Charles Boustany Congressman Rodney Alexander

List of Sponsors_________________________________________________________

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Potomac Partners

L-3 Communications

Steering Committee_______________________________________________

John Nichols Greg Mills

Potomac Advocates Flying Tiger Historical Organization

Douglas Stewart Guy Hicks

BAE Systems EADS North America

Dennis Carel Stanley Baratta

L-3 Communications Flying Tiger Historical Organization

Nell Calloway Jon Gallinetii

Chennault Aviation & Military Museum Rolls-Royce North America

Acknowledgement______________________________________

The Flying Tiger Historical Organization and the Chennault Aviation and Military

Museum wishes to thank our host, The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China,

Ambassador Mr. Cui, Tian Kai and his staff.

About Flying Tiger Historical Organization______________________

The Flying Tiger Historical Organization, Inc. (FTHO), is a California non-profit

organization, registered with the IRS as a 501(c) (3). We are working with the Lingui

County authorities in China to renovate the Flying Tiger's Command Cave in Guilin,

China.

Our Save the Cave project is to restore the Flying Tiger Command Cave and

establish a museum and memorial park at the site of the Flying Tiger Airfield located in

Guilin, China. The FTHO promotes continued friendship, cultural understanding, and

cooperation between our peoples. This will provide citizens of both countries, and all

over the world, a firsthand opportunity to see, hear and understand the significance of

what transpired in China during World War II.

They watered the flowers of Sino-US friendship with their blood and lives and left a

bridge we can cross today to jointly build a better world.

[ www.FlyingTigerHistoricalOrganization.com/ ] (Email: larryjobe1@gmail.com )

(Telephone: 209.962.5501)

About Chennault Aviation and Military Museum_________________

General Chennault would be proud to know that his legacy has lived on to form a bond

of friendship between the Chinese and Americans.

There are so many Americans that do not understand the tremendous sacrifice of the

Chinese people during this time. They also do not know about the courageous men

and women who fought for China and set records that have never been broken. We

strive to tell both stories. Our partnership with the FTHO is one way that we can teach

this history, not only to the Chinese but to the Americans as well, and bring a better

understanding of the importance of working together both now and in the future.

The Chennault Aviation and Military Museum is located in Monroe, Louisiana, home

of General Chennault. It was established in 2000 as a 501 (c) (3) organization.

[ www.ChennaultMuseum.org ] (Email: nell.calloway@sos.louisiana.gov)

(Telephone: 318.362.5540)

Operations and Command Cave during WW II. Actual

shots taken inside General Chennault’s Command and

Operations Cave.

Plans are to restore Operations and Command Cave to

WW II livery.

Cave

Latest Pictures of Museum Progress

September 10, 2013

General Claire Lee Chennault