Most of you know parts of this but since its an early start (like packing I do everything in advance) I’ll flesh it out a little.
As most of you know, my Dad and I were close to each other. Not so much the constant companion thing as in personality; we’re both silly as Hades and enjoy raising an eyebrow now and then. Dad always enjoyed it when folks from his generation would start talking about WW II. He would just sit that and look interested through the usual I-was-at-the-Bulge or I-was-at-Salerno and then he would drop his bombshell:
“I declared war on the Japanese 8 months before the United States did.”
Huh?
Well, to understand this you need some background. His father was a ---- bad father isn’t quite right. He was just Old Country born and raised and those were his ways. He had been over here and worked before going home to get married and start his family, but the “American way” just wasn’t his way. As a result all his kids basically ran off on their own as quickly as they could after their mother passed away. The oldest boy used family contacts (an uncle who was famous to some degree in early aviation) to get into the Army Air Corps. The oldest girl ran off to live with relatives (rather than be married off at 16 to a 50some year old man) and later ended up in the WACs. The younger girl to something air-related that no-one was ever clear about; maybe one of her kids will clue us in some day. If they know. Did I ever mention my family is a little strange?
That left Dad, the baby of the family, at home. With Grandpap. And no-one was really happy about that.
Sometime in 1940, Claire Chennault approached my uncle about this scheme he was working on; forming an air combat unit for the Chinese government with basically-sort-of-permission from the US. He specifically wanted someone who was a whiz with radios but also fluent in Russian because there was an outside chance that in addition to American and British volunteers, there could be a group of Russians as well. Everyone in the old “brown-shoe” AAC told him “you want Sarge” as Uncle Kopek was known to everyone. But Uncle Kopek had no interest in giving up what he saw as his life’s calling for this oddball plan.
But his little brother now; hmmm. This could just maybe work out. He was a magician at anything radio or electrical. And he spoke a couple of the “old-country languages”. And Claire or whoever it was who talked to him (or whoever they talked to - like I said my family can be a little strange) was very impressed. One slight issue though; he could have been as young as 13 or 14. But we’re talking coal-fields 13; someone who had farmed since he could walk and been a breaker-boy since he was 5. I have pictures of him (unfortunately undated) marked as “age 10” and I have to admit that he could have passed for 16 even then. A hard life will do that to you.
But my family is sort of clan-ish and not above breaking some small laws here and there (usually the distilling of spirits and speed limits) to do what they see as right. And EVERYONE agreed getting Dad away from Grandpap was right so -------- the parish priest was enlisted in the scheme and paperwork was created making Dad something like 17. And Chennault - or someone at least - bought it! In retrospect I always felt that the AVG (American Volunteer Group) was either desperate or Dad’s skills were so wild that someone winked and turned their head.
But the long and short is that as of April 1940 or so, technically, Dad was a member of the Chinese Air Force. All the fudging of papers and all kept his from being among the very first people who went overseas and he didn’t get into the Theater until right around Pearl Harbor or a bit later and even serious historians aren’t sure if he’s “second group” or just what but --------- we’re talking about someone who didn’t let small details stop him very often. And who had the Chinese enlistment papers, uniform, and the original patch to back it up. He actually “pulled rank” (he had risen to the lofty rank of sergeant as well) and got clearance to wear his Tiger patch on his blues when he got called up for Korea. So clearly something was going on there even if the edges were a little fuzzy.
I could go on from there (and will from time to time – you know anyone else who was awarded medals by Chiang Kai-shek’s wife?) but that answers the questions asked. And sets me up for a future OP about hardcoal kids if someone can host a picture for me of the Edwardsville High football team of 1940; some of whom look to be in their 30s but weren’t. But that’s all for another week.
So --------- since the MMP often ends up with a question: anything surprising in your “roots”?
I may have mentioned this in passing before but if you watch that movie, where Steve is chasing through the train? The old couple with the guy wearing sunglasses are my Great-Aunt-and-Uncle.