US veterans praise their forgotten ally

China's suffering ignored

Frank Losonsky, now 96 and one of only two surviving Flying Tigers, was a crew chief.

He was in the US training as a B-29 flight engineer when he heard the news of the Japanese surrender.

"Today, Aug 15 means remembering those who died in the hope of peaceful times," he said.

While WWII ended 72 years ago, a few diehards in Japan still avoid acknowledging the suffering inflicted.

In Whitaker's opinion, "old-school" Japanese leaders remain uncomfortable with their mistakes and defeat: "They lost face and are attempting to restore that old respect they once had."

In December, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Pearl Harbor to "pray for the souls of the victims".

"I say, 'stay home,'" Whitaker said, when asked for his reaction to the gesture. "We will never forgive Japan for its sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, and nothing they could ever do will ever alter the events of Dec 7, 1941, a 'day of infamy'."

Jan Thompson, a professor at Southern Illinois University, was angry at the abuse her late father received at the hands of the Japanese during the three years he spent as a POW.

"The POWs I knew did not buy Japanese products, like Japanese cars and TVs," she said.

The Japanese government has apologized to US POWs and their families as a gesture of reconciliation. Thompson believes Japan could apply this model to other countries.

"There is still so much tension in East Asia, and it is all because of WWII," she said.

"WWII is so important for what is going on in Asia now. We have to be accurate and embrace the truth, no matter how painful."

China fought shoulder to shoulder with the Allies and made a major contribution to the victory.

Perry Dahl, who enlisted in 1940 and fought in the Pacific, shot down nine Japanese fighter jets.

"I was 17 years old when I joined the National Guard," he said. "Everyone then was rather patriotic. My colleagues and I wanted to do the best we could for China as an ally. China's contribution to WWII is undervalued."

Throughout WWII, China was a major battlefield in the fight against the Japanese invasion. By the time the Japanese surrendered in 1945, about 35 million Chinese military personnel and civilians had lost their lives or were wounded.

"The symbolic value of the Flying Tigers is as important today as it was then. It represents a time when two great peoples put aside their differences and defeated an enemy that sought to conquer the world," Calloway said.