Oldpilot

Mr. Jackson wasn't a member of the 1st American Volunteer Group, the 60 or so pilots who resigned from the US military in 1941 to fly for the Chinese Air Force. Here's a complete list of the AVG Flying Tigers and perhaps more to the point, here's a list of survivors, of whom there are only five men who flew the Curtiss P-40 in combat. Their names are Hill, Bond, Jernstedt, Keeton, and Rossi. But here's something to ponder: there was also a 2nd AVG, a bomber group recruited in the fall of 1941. Some ground crew and one pilot sailed for Burma (the AVGs were trained in Burma) in November, and the first pilots and air crews were scheduled to fly out on December 10, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The planes were 33 Lockeed Hudson light bombers with long-range fuel tanks, sitting on the tarmac at Burbank CA. Planes and crews were taken back into the USAAF. So it's just remotely possible that Mr. Jackson was a member of that group, and that he was subsequently picked for the Doolittle Raiders. But I wouldn't bet the family jewels on it! HarperCollins is publishing -- today, as a matter of fact! -- my history of the 1st AVG under the title Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942. Click on the title for more information. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford