Tigers or sharks, but always true friends

Did you know that the Flying Tigers - the legendary volunteer force that fought the Japanese in defense of China prior the US entry into World War II - should actually be called the Flying Sharks?

I learned that when I met many of the remaining Tigerspilots, nurses and support workers - at a conference near Orlando, Florida, about 13 years ago. Their numbers since have declined to just two survivors.

Turns out that as the squadron flew to and from its base, a Chinese journalist mistook the famous logo for that of a tiger's mouth, and not a shark's. He called them fei hu, which translates as flying tigers. It stuck.