New book on downed WWII US airman tells heroic tale

"The more I learned about this story, the more fascinated I was by this cooperation between the Chinese and the Americans that often happened at a grassroots level," Daniel Jackson said at a June 16 event for the publication of his new book titled Fallen Tigers: The Fate of America's Missing Airmen in China during World War II. "I thought it was a story worth telling that needs to be told."

In his book, Jackson sheds light on the stories of downed American airmen, who were rescued, sheltered, and protected by the Chinese people, who risked everything in helping hundreds of "Flying Tigers" evade capture at the hands of the Japanese army and return to territory controlled by the Allied forces.

Volunteer pilots from the United States fighting Japanese troops in China during World War II are better known in the country as the Flying Tigers.

"Cooperation during WWII is something that both China and the US find unambiguously good... the good thing the world needed to move on and grow and become a more peaceful, prosperous place," Jackson said at the press conference held in Livermore, California.

The cooperation during the war also showed the world today what's possible. "We can work together. Even when we don't get along with everything, we can find the things that we can work together on," Jackson says.

"We don't have to be the same to cooperate. We can push past our differences and that's something that I saw in this," he adds.

The people of the two countries have historically come together and fought together for a greater good beyond different languages, cultures, politics. Jackson notes that there are a lot of greater goods that need to be fought for in the world today.

"We've done it before and we can do it again. There's a shared memory on both sides that is extremely important and profoundly impactful that still has roots throughout both countries," he argues.

The event was co-hosted by the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco and the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation. Participants reviewed the historical legacy of the two countries fighting side by side during World War II.

"Looking back at the days when we fought together 80 years ago, there is an enlightenment for today. Cooperation is most conducive to achieving the best interests of both countries," says Wang Donghua, Chinese consul general in San Francisco.

During the war, more than 200 airmen were rescued by the Chinese people, and thousands of Chinese people lost their lives on the rescue missions.

"Americans need to be presented with the facts. There are so many things we can share when we just look back 80 years," says Jeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation.

He stresses that politics might change in a day, but friendly relations are from the people's heart.