China visit underscores flying tigers' legacy

Youth engagement

Jackson Long, the 15-year-old great-grandson of Flying Tiger Clifford Long Sr, is a member of the generation that is expected to carry forward the legacy of friendship.

A fan of Chinese dumplings, and an avid member of his high school golf team, what impresses him most of all his great-grandfather's wartime stories is that he managed to survive two plane crashes.

He said China is "a lot different "from the impression he gained of the country from the US media and politicians.

"You can't really grasp everything about China just by looking at social media ... you have to be here to experience all the amazing different cultures that China has to offer," he said.

The 10th-grade student underlined the importance of better engaging young people to pass on the Flying Tigers' legacy.

"If we just got a bunch of people in their 50s in a room, learned all this information, and it just stayed with that group, it wouldn't really get carried on to the next generation," he said.

He added that when he returned to his school in the US, he would definitely tell his fellow students to visit China with him the next time.

"We visited the Great Wall, which is pretty cool. I'll tell them why, when I show them pictures of myself on the Wall," he added.