Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
3:17 | Former WWII Chinese fighter pilot Fred Chiao was recruited by Col. Ed Rector to help build a new Chinese Air Force on Taiwan. Regional politics ensued as President Marcos used Clark Air Force Base as a bargaining chip with Washington.
Keywords : Fred Chiao China Japan Taiwan Col. Ed Rector Vietnam War Clark Air Force Base Ferdinand Marcos
As Japan overran much of China, Fred Chiao and other young Chinese airmen had to keep moving to stay ahead of the occupation. They finished their training despite the national crisis.
There were two lucky breaks in the Chinese air war, the arrival of Claire Chenault and the availability of surplus P-40’s. Fred Chiao recognized the genius of Chenault, but he says that flying the P-40 was like driving a truck.
Fighter Pilot Fred Chiao says the Chinese pilots were not impressed with the P-40 aircraft. The promise they heard was that the coming P-46 and P-66 would be improved. After all, the model number was higher, right?
Chinese pilot Fred Chiao remembers how homesick the young Americans were, sent to the Chinese front from their farms back home. But they got to rotate out after 24 missions while the Chinese got no reprieve from the fight for their homeland.
Fred Chiao’s 29th Squadron never lost any of the young American pilots flying for him. But he had to venture toward enemy territory in a small trainer to rescue one who had bailed out.
Chinese fighter pilot Fred Chiao was credited with shooting down 4½ Japanese planes. The first was after an emergency scramble when his base was attacked. He shrugs off the rest as “nothing” since the best enemy pilots had been sent to the Pacific front.
Memories of the air war against the Japanese, for Fred Chiao, include a non-pursuit policy, the use of horses for transportation by the enemy, the difference between a good leader and a good pilot and the art of signaling by aircraft movement.
Fred Chiao gave his P-40 a Chinese name and lovingly sanded the skin to make it smooth, but he had to bail out when he was hit while attacking advancing Japanese troops. Fighting for control of the plane, he realized a bullet had pierced his jaw.
When he bailed out, Chinese pilot Fred Chiao crawled in a winter rice paddy looking for water to drink. A blow from behind meant he was discovered but he saw a Tommy gun and knew he was in the hands of friendlies.
Recounting his travels and recovery after being shot down, Fred Chiao also remembers how he had no time to be afraid during the attack. Instinct and training took over. Only later, in the hospital, did he feel fear.
Chinese pilot Fred Chiao visited Japanese POW’s and tried to find the pilot who shot him down. He fondly recalls General MacArthur as a “wonderful soldier for history" and asserts that many later conflicts could have been avoided by listening to him.
Chinese pilot Fred Chiao tells how the ground crews of the Chinese American Composite Wing got around the language barrier. They only needed three words.
