Fewer than 100 non-Chinese military veterans have ever been bestowed a medal of honor from the People’s Republic of China, but this week two Malvern area men hosted a Chinese delegation who did just that.
“70 years ago, Americans and Chinese stood shoulder to shoulder to fight against Japanese aggression,” a Chinese statement read, according to a Daily Local News report. “70 years have passed; time didn’t diminish our friendship forged then. We will always appreciate and remember you, now and forever.”
The men are Air Force lieutenants Jack Goodrich and Clifford Long, both pilots who flew much-needed supplies over the Himalayan Mountains into China during the fight against Japan.
The Medal of Honor award presentation this week coincided with the 74th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which thrust the United States into World War II.
Goodrich, who previously visited China after the war but was unable to attend the official recognition ceremony in Beijing in September, recalled his visit and the memory that “one Chinese man told him that in China’s history, the Americans were the only ones who came to China to defend them, and ‘didn’t ask for anything in return.’ … I think it’s very humbling.”
Read more about the “hump” pilot and Flying Tigers escort, as well as their East Whiteland Medal of Honor award celebration, in the Daily Local News here.
Channel 3 CBS spotlighted Jack Goodrich’s Medal of Honor recognition by China on Thursday evening’s nightly news broadcast.
