Heartwarming story—I’m part of a Flying Tiger’s family!
“In the summer of 1942, Danny Hardy bails out of his fighter plane into a remote region of south-western China. With multiple injuries, malaria, and Japanese troops searching for him, this American pilot’s odds of survival are slim.” This is how the synopsis of Wings of a Flying Tiger begins. The novel is a heroic tale about the rescue of a wounded American pilot (one of the Flying Tigers) in WWII in China.
On June 29, a gentleman attended my talk at Sedona Public Library, bringing in a flight jacket. It belonged to his father, a Flying Tiger, who fought the Japanese in WWII in China as a pilot, just like my hero, Danny Hardy.
After the talk, Mr. Greg Alexander allowed me to wear the flight jacket.
“It fits you,” he said, “and on another level, it really fits you.”
We started to communicate. He told me he was “holding a lump” in his throat when he heard my talk. “You possess a rare level of courage to speak for those who can't, who are silenced, who have passed…” He thanked me for writing books about the American heroes.
Two days later he finished reading Wings of a Flying Tiger. “My eyes blurred with tears… You reached me, touched me in a way I haven't felt for ages…”
He continued, “Before sleep, I asked my father’s permission to share his flight jacket with you…” He asked his father, who passed away many years ago, to give him some sign, and he woke up next day by the tapping of a pure yellow bird he’d never seen before on his window. “A bird with wings spoke to me, and I listened.”
He had been offered $5K for the jacket; he had been asked to donate it to a WWII museum; his son was hoping to have it.
Yet, he would give it to me, a person he’s met once in his life.
Greg told me the reason:
The similarity between Danny Hardy and his father is striking: Both were courageous American pilots who were shot down in southern China, and both lost their friends during the mission. They had leg injuries and malaria. Both were rescued by Chinese villagers, who treated them with herbal medicines and sheltered them for several months. In both cases, the Japanese soldiers desperately searched for them…
And the flight jacket played an important role—a Blood Chit was sewed to the back of the jacket. In Chinese, it reads: “This foreigner has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should protect him.” Jasmine Bai, the heroine, recognized Danny as an American pilot because of the Blood Chit.
But giving the precious jacket to me wasn’t the end of the story.
“I will ask you to become my sister. In this way, I can honor my Mother’s wishes and keep Dad’s flight jacket in the family with you!”
He asked me to consider this unusual request.
I didn’t need time to consider. Tears ran down my cheeks. “I’ll be honored to be your sister!” In my second book, Danny Hardy and Birch Bai, a Chinese pilot who participated in the rescue, became sworn brothers. Will of a Tiger is about friendship and brotherhood.
I wrote the books because the Flying Tigers’ stories touched me. I wanted to thank them for their bravery and sacrifice. How could I ever imagine that one day a Flying Tiger and his son would walk into my life and touch me in such a profound way?
On July 4th, I became the little sister of a Flying Tiger’s son. I’m part of a Flying Tiger’s family. How cool is that?
Official Book Trailer of WINGS OF A FLYING TIGER on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jYXq0LATrWM
Official Book Trailer of WILL OF A TIGER on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5dxAouGQups
www.irisyang-author.com
On June 29, a gentleman attended my talk at Sedona Public Library, bringing in a flight jacket. It belonged to his father, a Flying Tiger, who fought the Japanese in WWII in China as a pilot, just like my hero, Danny Hardy.
After the talk, Mr. Greg Alexander allowed me to wear the flight jacket.
“It fits you,” he said, “and on another level, it really fits you.”
We started to communicate. He told me he was “holding a lump” in his throat when he heard my talk. “You possess a rare level of courage to speak for those who can't, who are silenced, who have passed…” He thanked me for writing books about the American heroes.
Two days later he finished reading Wings of a Flying Tiger. “My eyes blurred with tears… You reached me, touched me in a way I haven't felt for ages…”
He continued, “Before sleep, I asked my father’s permission to share his flight jacket with you…” He asked his father, who passed away many years ago, to give him some sign, and he woke up next day by the tapping of a pure yellow bird he’d never seen before on his window. “A bird with wings spoke to me, and I listened.”
He had been offered $5K for the jacket; he had been asked to donate it to a WWII museum; his son was hoping to have it.
Yet, he would give it to me, a person he’s met once in his life.
Greg told me the reason:
The similarity between Danny Hardy and his father is striking: Both were courageous American pilots who were shot down in southern China, and both lost their friends during the mission. They had leg injuries and malaria. Both were rescued by Chinese villagers, who treated them with herbal medicines and sheltered them for several months. In both cases, the Japanese soldiers desperately searched for them…
And the flight jacket played an important role—a Blood Chit was sewed to the back of the jacket. In Chinese, it reads: “This foreigner has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should protect him.” Jasmine Bai, the heroine, recognized Danny as an American pilot because of the Blood Chit.
But giving the precious jacket to me wasn’t the end of the story.
“I will ask you to become my sister. In this way, I can honor my Mother’s wishes and keep Dad’s flight jacket in the family with you!”
He asked me to consider this unusual request.
I didn’t need time to consider. Tears ran down my cheeks. “I’ll be honored to be your sister!” In my second book, Danny Hardy and Birch Bai, a Chinese pilot who participated in the rescue, became sworn brothers. Will of a Tiger is about friendship and brotherhood.
I wrote the books because the Flying Tigers’ stories touched me. I wanted to thank them for their bravery and sacrifice. How could I ever imagine that one day a Flying Tiger and his son would walk into my life and touch me in such a profound way?
On July 4th, I became the little sister of a Flying Tiger’s son. I’m part of a Flying Tiger’s family. How cool is that?
Official Book Trailer of WINGS OF A FLYING TIGER on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jYXq0LATrWM
Official Book Trailer of WILL OF A TIGER on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5dxAouGQups
www.irisyang-author.com
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