Historical Record of Chinese Americans | “Flying for Freedom”: An Air Force Captain without the Gold Medal

Author: Ann Lee (Writer & Historian)

Editor：Professor Fang Qiang

English Editor: Michelle X Li

Abstract:

After the Mukden Incident (September 18, 1931), staged by the Japanese army and followed by the Japanese occupation of all three northeast provinces of China, overseas Chinese communities launched various activities to support the Chinese people’s fight against the Japanese invasion. They donated a great amount of money and materials, and sent their children back to join the Chinese army. Some organizations in the United States also raised funds and set up a number of aviation schools and training centers. Many young men went back to join Chinese Air Force after their graduation.

John Angel Chu was one of these overseas Chinese youth who were from different parts of the United States but joined together in China to fight against the Japanese invaders. They gave the best years of their life to the anti-Japanese cause, some even sacrificed their young life for the peace of the world.

Introduction

“For freedom, you are not afraid to sacrifice yourself. To defeat fascism and create a better world for future generations, you fought bravely regardless of nationality, race, religion, rich or poor. We are deeply inspired by your lofty actions.”

Excerpted from “Flying for Freedom”, written by John Angel Chu, edited by Dr. Zheng Lixing, a researcher of air history[1]

During the war of resistance against Japanese aggression, a group of young overseas Chinese from the United States joined the Republic of China (ROC) Air Force. They crossed the Pacific Ocean and came to the place where their ancestors once lived, risking their young life to save the disaster-ridden China and fight against the Japanese fascist invaders.

Mr. John Angel Chu from San Francisco of the United States, affectionately referred to as the “Forever Captain of the Air Force” by the ROC Air Force, was one of them.

On July 1, 1939, he waved goodbye to his worried parents and younger siblings, boarded the “President Coolidge” steam ship from San Francisco on his own, and set foot on the land of China via Hawaii. When he was admitted to the eleventh term of the Air Force Academy, he was only 16 years old.

Father told him: “Saving the country is most important”

John Angel Chu was a second-generation overseas Chinese born in the United States. His father Zhongcun Chu was from Tongrenli, Tamcunpu, Taishan, Guangdong. At the age of 14, his family fortunes fell and he had to rely on his elder brother to continue his education. He graduated from Peking University in 1919. In the following year, he was invited to serve as the first principal of “Chinese School” in Hanford, California.

John’s mother, Wenzhi Yu, was from a family of scholars. John’s parents married in Guangdong in 1915. Seven years later in 1922, he traveled across the oceans to California to reunite with her husband. On April 7, 1923, their 1st son was born in Oakland, California. The child was beautiful and cute, just like a little fairy Angel in the sky.

After his father’s contract term with school ended, the family moved to San Francisco. Zhongcun Chu taught at Chenzhong School and Zhonghua Middle School. Little Angel spent his entire childhood and adolescence in San Francisco, where there were many Chinese. Every night, He went to the Zhonghua Middle School where his father taught. He was proficient in both English and Chinese.

John Anqel Chu always believed that his father had a great influence on his life!

In his early years, Zhongcun Chu actively supported Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s call on “save the country by aviation”. He organized patriotic youths to establish the “Fei Peng Society” in San Francisco and served as the chairman.

The “Mukden Incident” in 1931 shocked the entire world. The patriotic overseas Chinese in many cities across the United States were outraged. They not only donated money and airplanes, they also established aviation schools in cities with big Chinese populations, such as Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Pittsburgh, and Boston, to train youths flying. In July 1933, the “China Aviation School of America” was established by renting the site of the Chinese Middle School in Stockton Street, Chinatown, San Francisco, and the first principal was Shengting Li.

Zhongcun Chu served as the dean of the aviation school. He was not only responsible for the admissions and internal/external affairs of the aviation school, but also took the aviation classes and became the one of the first graduates with 50 flying hours.

Zhongcun Chu took his son to watch when he practiced flying, so little Angel had been influenced by what he constantly saw and heard about his father’s bravery, decisiveness and strong patriotism since his childhood. With his father’s guidance, he learned that they came from the far east, an ancient country called China, which was being invaded and ravaged by the East Asian aggressor Japan. He understood that every Chinese descendant had the responsibility to rescue their compatriots.

On July 7, 1937, the “Marco Polo Bridge Incident” broke out. The overseas Chinese were filled with outrage and took to the streets to protest the Japanese aggression. John Angel Chu, who had just entered middle school, also went to Chinatown with his classmates from Zhonghua Middle School to campaign and raise funds to support the war against Japanese in China. On July 27 of that year, with the encouragement of his father, at the age of 14, he boarded a trainer aircraft, a single-wing Arrow Sport aircraft powered by a Ford motor, for the first time. Taught by precepts and examples from his father, John had developed  an intense interest in machinery and flying.

From then on, he would run to the airport to practice flying whenever he got free time. Every time before going, he had to carry a big bucket to buy gas for the aircraft first. On July 6th of 1938, after obtaining a 15-hour flight record, he welcomed the opportunity to fly his first solo flight. He was so excited to fly the 100-horsepower two-wing trainer Fleet, roared into the blue sky with its wings spreading like a bird!

He showed his father and coach the extraordinary talents of a 15-year-old boy, and was even more determined to fly.

What was most amazing was that he even hadn’t got any formal aviation training yet at that time!

In July 1938, the “American Chinese Aviation School” began to enroll students for the third flight class, however, John Angel Chu was still too young to sign up. He was so eager to learn flying, with the permission of his parents,  John added two years to his actual age in the application form and was then admitted.

On August 8, the third class of the aviation school began training at Alameda Bay Airdrome, California. In order to minimize his commute time, he transferred to Alameda High School that was close to the airport. Every day he went to school at 6 o’clock in the morning, and then ran to the airport from the school at 3 o’clock to participate in flight training. When he returned home at night, he had to finish his school homework. Oftentimes, he fell asleep on the table while doing his the homework…

Just over a month after the “Marco Polo Bridge Incident”, overseas Chinese in San Francisco took actions and established the “National Salvation Association  of Overseas Chinese in the United States.” Some famous overseas Chinese leaders, Bingshun Kwong, He Yu, Huayao Lin, Yuping Fang, and others were all on the staff members list of this organization.

To support the War of Resistance against Japan, the overseas Chinese were particularly enthusiastic about setting up aviation schools. The Chinese Association paid for most of the expenses, and donations coming from all over the world also helped greatly. The number of students enrolled in the third flight class at “China Aviation School of America” reached a record high. In addition to 32 pilots who passed the exam, another 22 mechanic students were also recruited. The aviation school leased two Fleet training biplanes, and purchased four used training aircrafts of different models. Two retired pilots from US Air Forces who had rich combat experience were hired as instructors, along with four other civil aviation teachers.

A group the students of “Chinese Aviation School of America” at Alameda Air Force Base (John Angel Chu, 4th from the left)

In addition to flight training, they also learned aviation theory, such as aeronautics, meteorology, engine principles and so on. John Angel Chu recalled: “because we were flying on the old plane, every time we flew up to the sky, we were a little bit worried.” As the 2nd generation of American-born Chinese, they only knew a few Chinese characters with Cantonese pronunciation. Luckily, a Chinese student who was studying in the US, Kaizhou Lu, offered to teach them Mandarin Chinese after he learned that Japan was brazenly launching a war against China. 

Time quickly flew by! After eight months of training, on April 15, 1939,  the third flight class graduated, 28 pilots and 17 mechanics all completed their studies and training.

The overseas Chinese had been paying very close attention to news and the war situation in China at the other side of the Pacific. Since the “Marco Polo Bridge Incident”, the heavily armed Japanese invaders had been aggressively advancing to other parts of China and quickly occupied half of the country. China was in urgent need of an air force!

Just one week after the graduation of the third class of “China Aviation School of America”, on April 21, the 1st group of 10 people immediately traveled to China to join the war to fight against the Japanese. The 2nd group of 34 people followed on June 24.

John Angel Chu was only 16 years old at that time, and had already accumulated 150 flying hours on 10 different types of aircraft. He couldn’t wait to join his classmates in China to serve. Although his siblings were still young and their family was not wealthy, he boarded a ship sailing to China via Hawaii alone as soon as he received his high school diploma, with the support from his father and local Chinese community donations.

John Angel Chu (1st right in the back row) before going to China to join the war (June 1939) with his parents and siblings (provided by John Angel Chu)

The United States prohibited its citizens from privately joining foreign military forces, and the offenders’American citizenship would be revoked. In addition, the “Chinese Exclusion Act” also caused discrimination against Chinese immigrants. They must go to the “Immigration Station” on the Angel Island of San Francisco Bay to apply for a “Reentry Permit” with a photo as no passports were issued to Chinese when they left the United States.

John Angel Chu was determined to serve and save China and didn’t let these prohibitions stop him. He believed that, as a descendant of Chinese, he had the obligation to fight for China, even if it would cause him to sacrifice his American citizenship!

On July 1, 1939, he waved goodbye to his family at the San Francisco Port and  boarded the “President Coolidge”. The whistle sounded, and he looked back at his friends and relatives who were fading away. When the huge steamship crossed the bridge, a trace of melancholy welled up in his heart: “Is it a farewell to San Francisco in life?”

“The shrilling wind is blowing, the chilly river is flowing, the hero shall go and never return.” The young Angel knew very well that his journey could only go forward and there was no way to turn back. He would never forget the day when he said goodbye to his family on the dock:

“My father was a very patriotic man. I knew what he was thinking about me going back to China to join the war battles – I would not come back alive. Of course my mother was very sad, the whole family was very sad. On the day I left, we didn’t talk much to avoid the sad conversation. At that time, I was only thinking about saving China. I still think it’s worthwhile for me generation to make the sacrifice for a peaceful future. Then, our next generations could study hard and do things they like with no more fighting!”

After a lonely five-day voyage, the ship arrived in Honolulu. He had mixed feelings and teared up when he saw the warm welcome crowd. After a short break, he boarded the Pan American Airlines (China) flying through the “Midway Island”, “Wake Island”, “Guam”, “Philippines”, and finally united with the 2nd group of “American China Aviation School” students in Hong Kong!

The group took a boat from Hong Kong to Haiphong, Vietnam, and then took a train to travel north along the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway… The bumpy journey lasted for more than a month. On August 13, 1939, they finally set foot on Kunming, the land that their parents had thought about constantly. 

During the war of resistance against the Japanese aggression, the “China Aviation School of America” graduated three classes. Around 70 aircrews returned to China to serve the motherland.

Prepare to fight to the death against the Japanese in the air

Since the first air battle against Japan in Jianqiao of ZheJiang Province on August 14, 1937, the Chinese Air Force had fought bravely against the powerful enemy without fear. However, the enemy was too strong, the Republic of China Air Force personnel and aircraft suffered heavy losses. The “Central Aviation School” was forced to move west to Kunming, and was renamed to “Air Force Officer School” to resume training in 1938.

This group of Chinese American youth who spoke only a little bit Chinese with Cantonese accent travelled a long way to China, and were eager to fly to the front line. After completing the flight assessment administered by American instructors led by Col. Chennault, only 16 out of the 28 young pilots passed the test. John Angel Chu was one of the 16 and they entered the 11th Intermediate Class of the Air Force Academy. 5 people were assigned 12th class due to lack of experience. The remaining 7 failed the test and had to sadly return to the United States. The 17 overseas Chinese mechanics all passed the examination, were promoted to 2nd lieutenant, and were immediately dispatched to Kunming No. 10 Aircraft Repair Factory.

At the age of 16, John Angel Chu became the youngest pilot in the Chinese Air Force fighting against the Japanese aggression!

“Our bodies, planes, and bombs shall perish with enemy warships.” At the entrance of Kunming Wujiaba Aviation School, a flagpole stood high. This was what the students called the “spiritual fortress”. John Angel Chu and his friends immediately sensed an intense atmosphere of war as soon as they entered the school.

John Angel Chu at Kunming Wujiaba Airport (provided by John Angel Chu)

Inspired by the aviation school motto, these patriotic overseas Chinese youths were determined to join the Chinese Air Force and were always ready to sacrifice their lives and to fight the Japanese invaders in the air.

In September 1939, the 11th class students started training in Mengzi near the Sino-Vietnamese border. It was an abandoned French hospital, dark at night with no lights. They were divided into groups of five students each, and two of the five overseas Chinese. These overseas Chinese students spoke very limited Mandarin, which was quite shocking to the instructors. In addition to hiring translators, the instructors also had to use a lot of hand gestures to help them understand during training. Due to the language barrier, they almost made mistakes during every flight training. John couldn’t remember how many reprimands they had received before he and his teammates finally adapted to the rigorous aerial training.

Patriotic overseas Chinese John Angel Chu, graduated from the 11th Air Force Academy, a captain pilot of the Fourth Air Force Corps (provided by John Angel Chu)

Even far away from Kunming, their training was often interrupted by the Japanese air strike. Soon, the Mengzi Airport was destroyed by the Japanese army and they had to return to Kunming. In the summer of 1940, John and his friends entered the advanced class. They were constantly raided and harassed by the Japanese planes. In one of these air strikes, one of his classmates, Huajie Huang, was killed on the spot, and another three mechanics were seriously injured. This was the first casualty of the 3rd “Chinese Aviation School of America” class after their arrival in China , which reminded them of the cruelty of the war.

Before graduating, John Angel Chu had his first engagement with the enemy. Since there were not enough soldiers, the Aviation Academy assigned students to protect the airport using heavy machine guns. One day, two “Zero” Japanese planes struck the hangar at very low altitude. John was furious, he put on his helmet and fired back fiercely. Under the powerful firepower, the enemy plane quickly fled.

During one flight training, their captain, Xiangyang Li, was hit by the enemy fire while organizing an emergency evacuation of the crews. He was quickly sent to a hospital for emergency treatment. Tieshu Liu, a self-funded student from the United States, lost his life in another evacuation…

In another air raid, the school’s auditorium, office, and dormitory were all damaged, even John’s bed could not escape the bad luck. He had to use a few wooden boxes to build his temporary sleeping bed. At night, he would “gaze at the stars” on his new bed through the exploded roof.

After more than a year of intense training, John Angel Chu and his teammates finally completed required courses and became the 2nd lieutenant officer of the Republic of China Air Force on February 10, 1941.

Air Force Officer School’s 11th expulsion group graduation certificate (provided by John Angel Chu)

“From graduation to the battlefield, they started their life countdown. It was considered longevity if one could live for 60 days on the battlefield, because the average age of these students who lost their lives in the fight was under 25 years old.” This was not a legend, but a true story of the Chinese Air Force that fought at the front line against the Japanese aggressors.

No longer considering their life and death

They returned to China to serve the country and fought the Japanese. He thought that he would immediately fight against Japan after graduation. Unfortunately, too many airplanes were destroyed by enemy fire in the early days of the War of Resistance, there was none left for these newly graduated pilots to fly. As a result, John Angel Chu was transferred to Xinjiang to receive the Soviet-assisted aircrafts and continued his training there.

The issue of the “Lend-Lease Program” from the United States cleared the way for China to receive military aid in a timely manner. The 12th to the 24th class students were sent to America for flight training, while John Angel Chu’s 11th class became the last group of pilots trained in China. Among the 16 overseas Chinese students of the “Chinese Aviation School of America”, apart from one eliminated and one retired due to illness, 9 graduated as pursuit aviation pilots and five as bombing pilots.

During the entire War of Resistance against Japan, John Angel Chu often watched his comrades taking off, but never returned. In the vast land of China and over the extremely difficult airlift route “The Hump”, many people sacrificed their precious young lives.

In the spring of 1943, after the Pacific War broke out, all air force units were equipped with American P-40 (Warhawk) and P-66 (Pioneer) fighters. With the arrival of the 14th Air Force of the United States and the return of Chinese Air Force trained at the United States, the combined forces of the 14th Air Force, the “Chinese American Composite Wing” (CACW – One, Three, Five brigades) and the rest of the Chinese Air Force launched powerful air strikes and crashed the arrogant Japanese Air Force!

John Angel Chu was assigned to the 23rd Squadron of the Fourth Brigade of the Chinese Air Force (Air Force Hero Zhihang Gao Brigade) and completed at least 72 missions during the War of Resistance against Japan. During the fierce battles in the air, he was brushed with death many times, thanks to the back seat of the P-40 plane that was made of strong steel plates. After landing, he often found that the enemy fire had left many bullet holes in the fuselage and  the cabin filled with smoke.

In addition to air combat and escort, his squadron was also sent to attack enemy ground positions. After 1944, the Air Force gradually gained air control, but the ground battlefield fight was still raging across the land. When John was promoted to the captain of the 23rd Squadron, he and his team successfully supported the ground troops from the air.

Since 1943, he had repeatedly flown over the extremely difficult air route, “The Hump”, to India to receive new aircrafts. After arriving in India, he usually only had a few hours to rest before immediately flying the new aircrafts back to China. The P-51 (Mustang) fighter jets, equipped with 6 heavy machine guns, were much superior in both speed and flexibility to the Japanese “Zero” fighters and were acclaimed to be invincible in the air.

On May 30th, 12 P-51 fighters took off from Hubei Shien and rushed to Nanjing to attack the Japanese there. They circled  and searched in the air 8,000 feet above the ground and found 4 Japanese planes taking off. Then the P-51 fighter jets dived down quickly and destroyed the enemy planes completely.   

In another incident in June 1945, he accompanied the squadron to attack Hangzhou Jianqiao Airport. Unexpectedly, his wing plane malfunctioned and had to turn back. During the fight, his landline radio suddenly failed and he lost  communication with his captain. The ground artillery fired up heavily into the sky, everyone thought John died in the enemy attack and was very sad. However, after wandering alone in the air for more than 7 hours with the gas almost exhausted, he met his deputy captain and flew back to base. His return made all his comrades who were immersed in mourning extremely happy.

John Angel Chu participated in many important battles: the battle of Changde in the winter of 1943, the battle of the Central Plains in the summer of 1944, the bloody battle of Hengyang in the autumn of 1944, the battle of northern Hubei in western Henan in the spring of 1945, and the battle of Xiangxi in the spring and summer of 1945. In the battle of bombing and strafing Japanese troops on the ground, whenever the bombs and machine gun bullets carried by him and his comrades ran out, they immediately returned to the base for emergency reloading, then took off to support the teams right away. After being back and forth so many times, their plane were scarred and our air force heroes had all forgot themselves…

John Angel Chu participated in many important battles: the battle of Changde in the winter of 1943, the battle of the Central Plains in the summer of 1944, the bloody battle of Hengyang in the autumn of 1944, the battle of northern Hubei in western Henan in the spring of 1945, and the battle of Xiangxi in the spring and summer of 1945. When bombing the Japanese ground force, John and his teammates often strafing Japanese ground troops. Whenever the bombs and machine gun bullets ran out, he and his comrades immediately returned to the base for emergency reloading. Their plane were scarred badly while our air force heroes had forgot beyond life and death.

“Forever Captain of the Air Force” 【2】is a biography written for John Angel Chu by Lizhen Wang, a researcher of air history. His vivid description about John’s actions touches the heart of every reader:

When John Angel Chu flew a fighter jet and fired at the Japanese ground force for the first time, he was so excited that he almost shed tears. He seemed to see the group of overseas Chinese who worked hard in the restaurant kitchen in San Francisco Chinatown for years and donated their hard earned money to help him travel to China and join the Chinese army. They didn’t expect anything in return, but just wished that China would be saved from the Japanese invader.  Now he was flying a fighter jet and attacking Japanese aggressors on the battlefield, he felt that he was fulfilling the wishes of the overseas Chinese who were thousands of miles away.

John Angel Chu would never forget the overseas Chinese Air Force comrades who studied flying at San Francisco Aviation School and returned to China to fight in the battlefields with him. Some of them were seriously injured, and some gave their young lives to the home country of their parents – China.

Return to the United States

The victory of the War of Resistance Against the Japanese Aggressors was fast approaching, and the young Air Force Captain John Angel Chu fell in love.

On July 27, 1945, he married Ms. Youxian Jiang, who was working at the Agricultural Bank of China, and a grand wedding ceremony was held in the “Victory Building” in Chongqing. His air force comrades all came to congratulate, and he truly felt the sweetness of life after many years fighting in the battlefields.

Loving husband and wife: John Angel Chu and his wife (provided by John angel Chu)

On August 15, 1945, one week after their honeymoon, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally!

His friends joked that the surrender of Japan was the best “wedding gift” to John Angel Chu and his wife Youxian Jiang.

For the first time, he flew his P-51 happily and freely in the sky of Chongqing, dropping off flyers about the victory in the War of Resistance against Japan. He wished that the overseas Chinese back in San Francisco had seen and heard this great news.

After the end of the war, the troops were stationed in Peking. In the spring of 1946, John Angel Chu was transferred to the 22nd Squadron as a first lieutenant and combat staff.

As all had worried, the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party began…

In December 1946, Lieutenant Shenling Chen of the 23rd Squadron was hit by ground artillery fire from the People’s Liberation Army in Baoding and forced to land on the position of the ROC Army. John Angel Chu volunteered to rescue his comrade. He braved the fierce artillery attack from the ground and successfully brought Lieutenant Chen to their base. Chen, who was later promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Taiwan Air Force and the chief staff of the Ministry of National Defense, had often talked about how grateful he was to the young captain John Angel Chu for saving his life.

In February 1947, he was ordered to fly an unarmed  P-40 to transport a P-51 tail wheel to Shijiazhuang. Suddenly the engine stalled and he was forced to land on the nearby farmland. The plane was severely damaged, but fortunately he was not. It was then he realized that his plane had fallen into the People’s Liberation Army territory and was damaged by PLA’s firepower.

His family members in the United States were very worried when they heard the news of his capture by the PLA. His sister made a special trip to Beijing and met with the US ambassador of China John Leighton Stuart, urging the US government to help secure his release because John was a Chinese American. 

With help from many people, John Angel Chu finally returned to the Chinese Air Force brigade safely.

“The state will never hire anyone once captured by an enemy”, this strict military rule shocked him strongly: “I can’t fly anymore!”

“Forever Captain of the Air Force John Angel Chu” (Provided by John Angel Chu)

He recalled the rules of the “China Aviation School of America” back then: train aviation talents, strengthen national defense, never participate in civil wars. His father also asked him to return to the US with his wife and children. The letter from his father specifically mentioned: The mission of returning to China to resist foreign aggressors had been achieved, and he had fulfilled his duty as a descendant of overseas Chinese.

From returning to China in 1939 to submitting his resignation in 1948, he did not receive any veterans’ benefits from China for his many years of service and risking his life in the battlefields. Even for their travel expenses back to the United States, he had to write to his father for help. 

This group of overseas Chinese students went to China, fought the Japanese aggressors, and fulfilled their mission to save China. Between 1946 and 1947, they either returned to the United States or transferred to civil aviation.

Long way home, no regrets for the country

At the time he left home for China, John Angel Chu was a lonely teenager. When he returned to San Francisco, the city that he had been missing dearly, he brought back a family. Although the “Chinese Exclusion Act” prohibiting Chinese immigrants to the United States was repealed in late World War II, for John Angel Chu, the way back home was still full of obstacles…

According to United State law, John Angel Chu lost his American citizenship when he joined the Chinese Air Force. After the official U.S. entry into World War II, this law was amended. However, the procedures for re-applying citizenship were very cumbersome. At the time when he returned to the US, John Angel Chu still had not regained his American citizenship yet. In addition, although the 60-year-old “Chinese Exclusion Act” was repealed in 1943, only 105 Chinese immigrants were allowed to enter the United States each year. As a result, John, his Chinese wife, and his eldest son who was born in China were all detained in the San Francisco Immigration Detention Center after landing in the US.

His father hired a lawyer for him. After putting a great deal of effort, the whole family was finally reunited!

The US legislation G.I. Bill, also known as the “Military Realignment Act”, passed in 1944 and provided various benefits for World War II veterans, such as priority college admission, free college tuition, low-interest mortgage loans, small business loans, career training, hiring privileges and unemployment benefit subsidies etc. These legislative benefits were later extended to everyone serving in the U.S. military.

However, John Angel Chu never served in the US military. Before the “Pearl Harbor” incident, he and other overseas Chinese went to China and volunteered to join the Chinese Air Force. Therefore, they were not eligible to receive the veterans’ benefits from the U.S. After returning back to the US, he had to support his college education through part-time work.

To save China from the Japanese aggressors, John Angel Chu resolutely joined the Chinese army and fulfilled his duty as a descendant of Chinese. The war ended, he took off his honorable flight suit and had to start everything from scratch just like an ordinary person.

His father ran a laundry shop, and he learned dry cleaning from his father. During his college years, he worked in his father’s laundry during the day and studied at the San Francisco City University in the evening. After graduating from college, he worked in several companies as a mechanical engineer until his retirement in 1988. Meanwhile, his wife opened a gift shop in Chinatown. He often worked on this mechanical engineering job during the day then went to the gift shop to help his wife in the evening…

Despite all the hardship in life, he took it easy and never complained. Because he left the US to save China at the age of 16, he lost many privileges he would have enjoyed as an American citizen. But he strongly believed that it’s all worth it. 

In the eight years of the War of Resistance against the Japanese Aggressors, he served seven years in the Air Force of the Republic of China. He has always remembered the lessons learned and valuable memories during his years in the Air Force. Since 1949, he had always invited his comrades who went to serve Chinese Air Force with him for dinner on “August 14th” the ROC Air Force Day of each year. The number of participants kept increasing, and the gathering evolved into the “Republic of China Air Force Alumni Association in the United States” with more than 300 members. Later, his association merged with the “Republic of China Air Force Dapeng Association”, and he was elected as the  president of this new joint non-profit organization. He served for the returned ROC Air Force veterans in San Francisco Bay Area for more than 40 years.

President Clinton shook hands with John Angel Chu when he met Chinese soldiers in the War of Resistance at the White House (Provided by John Angel Chu)

The US “Chinese American World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act”, in recognition of the great contributions made by Chinese American veterans, was finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives and was signed by the President on December 13, 2019, after a great deal of effort by the the Chinese General Shaozhang Chen, various media and organizations. These Chinese American veterans  were finally awarded their long overdue Congressional Gold Medal.

The U.S. government at long last officially recognized the more than 20,000 Chinese Americans who fought for the United States during World War II when the “Chinese Exclusion Act” was still in effect. However, for John Angel Chu, since he joined the Chinese Air Force of the War of Resistance instead of the US military, he could not be awarded this significant US Congressional Gold Medal.

The 75th Anniversary Commemorative Medal of the War of Resistance issued to John Angel Chu by the Republic of China Air Force in 2015 (provided by John Angel Chu)

How can a medal be enough to commend a veteran who had served the country and worked tirelessly his entire life for the happiness of the next generation! ?

Everyone who dedicated his life to saving China from the Japanese aggressors and the cause of Chinese aviation is a hero who will always be revered for generations.

John Angel Chu and those overseas Chinese who resolutely joined the Chinese air force are exactly this kind of heroes.

John Angel Chu, a Chinese veteran of the War of Resistance Against Japan (Photo by Li Chunfeng)

Index

【1】《为自由而飞行》朱安琪笔述/郑立行编辑整理（力源出版社）

【2】“第四大队二十三中队 朱安琪”http://www.flyingtiger-cacw.com/gb_453.htm