A "Flying" Tiger's Tale
by
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And one more incident comes to mind during that brief period in Kunming. While running the rebuilding operation I had a car assigned to me for official business but, for exercise, I usually elected to ride my bike to any place that was relatively close by. A companion and I were riding our bikes into town late one afternoon to attend a show at a local theatre. Suddenly a dogfight broke out directly overhead. The P40 and the zero went after each other with a vengeance. They would go into dive after dive and their bullets began hitting the ground all around us. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We had nowhere to run. We could hear the bullets going zap, zap, zap as they hit the ground within a few feet of us and all we could do was stand there, astride our bikes. Finally the zero sputtered and came hurtling earthward in a ball of fire. It was a glorious sight. The dogfight was finished and we were still alive.
There must have been more than fifty machine gun bullets that struck the ground within a hundred feet of us during that air battle. Another miracle had taken place right in front of my very eyes. And I had survived again.
What had precipitated the dogfight was a Japanese bombing raid on downtown
Without the dogfight we would have very likely gotten to the theatre on time and would have probably been killed, along with all those unfortunates who died that afternoon. I began to think I was invincible. Death was all around me yet I continued to survive without a scratch.
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About the Book
TC Koo, (Koo Teh Chang) lived one of the most fascinating lives imaginable. He was born in 1916 in Washington, D.C. where his father, Dr. Wellington Koo, was a diplomat in the Chinese Legation. At the time of his birth his maternal grandfather, Tong Shao?Yi, was Premier of
This story is about TC Koo, his family, his many friends and a few of his enemies. It is about the trials, tribulations (and rewards) of growing up in a lofty environment; and about his many experiences, running the gamut from joyful to terrifying. He literally grew up in the midst of history in the making and witnessed first hand what you are about to read.
I present this work as a simple (and woefully incomplete) biography, which is derived from recorded conversations between Mr. Koo and me as well as notes he kept in his personal journals. Dates, names and places have been checked for verification using every source available.
TC and I were well aware that in such endeavors (especially when dealing in memory) there are opportunities for errors. In case such errors are discovered we offer our sincere apologies in advance.
TC Koo was a most unusual man, as you about to discover. He lived a story matched by few mortals. Serving as an officer in the Chinese Air Force during World War II (as an important member of General Claire Chennault’s “Flying Tigers” staff) is only one of many interesting periods in his colorful life.
He was appointed to his post, with General Chennault by none other than Generalissimo Chiang Kai?shek himself. He later served as
TC and I first met in 1973 when he was on a business trip to
I was president of three American divisions of Newell/Wearever Corporation before moving to
TC Koo’s life story unfolded during our many conversations and only after we both retired to our retirement homes in Florida did we decide to write this book. Mr. Koo passed on before publication. I hope you enjoy our joint efforts.
William Penn Fallin
About the Author
William Perm Fallin was president of three US Companies before setting up and running a joint venture company in Taiwan. He gained wide experience in creative writing during his corporate executive experiences and began writing a newspaper column with contributions the English Language newspaper (The China Post) in Taipei. Upon retirement Fallin began writing an opinion column for various small town newspapers in the states. He has been published on a weekly basis since 1990. He also started an internet discussion forum in 2000 and has reached a registered membership of 1275 from 111 countries around the globe. His writings, including his columns, almost always reflect his personal experiences.