Feature:China,U.S.youthscommittofriendshipinnewchapterofFlyingTigersstory_GuangmingOnlineFeature:China,U.S.youthscommittofriendshipinnewchapterofFlyingTigersstoryTheChineseConsulGeneralinNewYorkHuangPingspeaksduringaphotoexhibitioncommemoratingtheFlyingTigersandDoolittleRaiders,AmericanswhofoughtJapaninWorldWarIIincooperationwiththeChinesepeople,attheNationalMuseumoftheU.S.AirForceinDayton,Ohio,theUnitedStates,April18,2024.(Xinhua/LiuJie)"TheFlyingTigersgiveusawonderfulopportunitybecausethere'ssomethingthatallChineseandallAmericanscanbeproudof,"saidJeffreyGreene,chairmanoftheSino-AmericanAviationHeritageFoundation(SAAHF).byXinhuawritersLiuYanan,XuXingtangDAYTON,UnitedStates,April21(Xinhua)--Infrontofa3.7-tonstonerollerandafighterjet,twoChinesemiddleschoolsandanAmericanschoolexchangedacooperativememorandumofunderstanding(MoU)intheMidwestU.S.cityofDaytonthisweek,tocommemoratetheFlyingTigersandDoolittleRaiders,theAmericanswhofoughtJapaneseaggressorswiththeirChinesecohortduringWorldWarII.ThestonerollerhasbeenondisplayattheNationalMuseumoftheU.S.AirForcefor20years.ItwasusedtoflattenandleveltherunwayintheconstructionofanairportfortheFlyingTigersinsouthwestChina'sYunnanprovinceduringWWII,pulledbysheermanpowerbythousandsofChineselocals.KunmingForeignLanguageSchoolandtheNo.2MiddleSchoolofXiangyunCountyfromYunnanexchangedtheMoUoncooperationundertheprogramof"FlyingTigersFriendshipSchoolandYoungLeaders"withInternationalLeadershipofTexas,anetworkofpubliccharterschools.Morethan80yearsaftertheirheroicoperationsinChina,"we'rerunningoutofFlyingTigers,"saidJeffreyGreene,chairmanoftheSino-AmericanAviationHeritageFoundation(SAAHF),anorganizationaimedatpromotingfriendshipandunderstandingbetweentheUnitedStatesandChinabyfosteringapracticabledialogueontheircommonaviationhistory.GreenetoldXinhuathatthenumberoftheFlyingTigershascomedowntoaroundadozenfromaround500whenthefoundationwasstartedin1998,thusit'svitaltopassonthehistoryandmemoryforgedbyblood."ForAmericankids,wewantthemtocomeandlearnabouttheChinese.WewanttheChinese(students)tocomeandlearnsothateachgroupisproudoftheothercountry,"hesaid."TheFlyingTigersgiveusawonderfulopportunitybecausethere'ssomethingthatallChineseandallAmericanscanbeproudof."TheSAAHFandDr.JackL.SchofieldMiddleSchoolinLasVegas,Nevada,jointlyinitiatedtheFlyingTigersFriendshipSchoolandYoungLeadersProgramin2022inabidtocarryforwardthespiritoftheFlyingTigersamongChineseandAmericanstudents,enhancemutualunderstandingandfriendship,anddeepenmutualrespectandcooperationbetweenthetwocountries.PeoplevisitaphotoexhibitioncommemoratingtheFlyingTigersandDoolittleRaiders,AmericanswhofoughtJapaninWorldWarIIincooperationwiththeChinesepeople,attheNationalMuseumoftheU.S.AirForceinDayton,Ohio,theUnitedStates,April18,2024.(Xinhua/LiuJie)"Theideawasbasedonallthetripsfromalltheveteranswe'vetakentoChina,"saidGreene.Theprogramwaswell-receivedwithdozensofschoolsfrombothsidesactivelyparticipatinginitandsigningMoUs."Iwantour20,000kidstobeinChina,notjustthissummerbutnextsummer,notjustfortwoweeks,butforamonthatBeijingLanguageandCultureUniversity,IwantourkidstobeabletogodeepintoChinatounderstandthat5,000-yearhistory,"saidEddieConger,superintendent,CEOandfounderofInternationalLeadershipofTexas,whichserves23,000studentsfromkindergartnersto12thgrade.ErikLutz,mayorofPicoRivera,toldXinhuathathehopestosendstudentstoChinathisJunetovisitChineseschoolsandexperienceChinesecultureforabouttwoweeks.HesaidwhattheFlyingTigershavedonewasunifyingtheUnitedStatesandChinaonthepeople-to-peoplelevel."Forthefutureofourtwocountries,thethingwecando(and)willhavethemostimpactisourstudents.Andwegetthemtoknoweachotheryoungandthenit'lltakeofffromthere,"saidRichardMyers,formerchairmanoftheJointChiefsofStaff.DialogueisreallyimportantintheChina-U.S.relationshipandtheinitiativebytheSAAHFis"exactlywhathastohappen,"saidMyersattheopeningceremonyofaconcurrentphotoexhibitionontheFlyingTigersandDoolittleRaiders.GreenesaidthestoryoftheFlyingTigersandDoolittleRaidersarea"lifeanddeath"thingandtherearenotalotofthingslikethat.HebelievedtheU.S.students'liveswouldbeforeverchangedaftertheirvisittoChina."They'llknowtheChinesepeoplearejustlikethem,theAmericansandtheChinesesharehumorandlaughatthesamething."Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.