Show the utmost respect!

The tower controller just repeated the simple six words of the leader of the military region, but it made Chen Xu, who was a soldier, and the co-pilot feel infinitely moved and honored.

moved because of the attitude of the leadership of the military region, such a simple word, but the weight is heavier than Mount Tai;

It is an honor because the leaders of the military region instructed themselves to fly this Boeing 747 passenger plane to represent the military region in the sky over Chuncheng and to pay the greatest respect among the pilots to the more than 20 American Flying Tigers on board and the more than 20 Chinese Flying Tigers waiting at the airport.

The huge sense of mission made the two pilots sit upright, Chen Xu looked at the co-pilot beside him who was already red, and suddenly said to him: "No. 2, now you are in command!"

When the captain controls the aircraft, the second co-pilot has no control, and his task is to do the deputy chief duties assigned by the captain, such as retracting the flaps, controlling the throttle, and opening or closing the landing gear, but once the captain says the words "commanded by you", it means that the captain has handed over the piloting power to the co-pilot.

For such a significant matter, the co-pilot didn't expect the captain to suddenly hand over the piloting power to him, he instinctively wanted to refuse, but Chen Xu said again very firmly: "Say it again, now it's up to you to command." ”

The co-pilot was stunned for three seconds, then immediately nodded solemnly, and said with great excitement: "Understood, I command!"

After that, the co-pilot immediately entered the state and said: "Tower, Air China CA turns two or three times to request the altitude to drop to 300 and start flying around the field!"

The tower immediately replied: "Air China makes two or three turns, and it can be lowered to 300, and Chuncheng Airport has cleared the sky for you!"

The captain was in a stirring mood, turned on the cabin radio, and said in skilled English: "Ladies, Gentlemen, distinguished members of the Flying Tigers, this is the captain's broadcast, thank you for taking the Air China chartered flight, and it is also a great honor for us to be able to serve as the flight mission of your trip to China, our plane is about to arrive at Huaxia Chuncheng Airport, we have just received the request of the Chuncheng Military Region, the airport has cleared the space for us, our plane will fly around the field at a low altitude of 300 meters, that is, nearly 1000 feet, in order to express the greatest respect of the Chinese people to you, our plane will have a certain tilt when flying around the field, please buckle up, we will land after the end of the circle。 ”

The American Flying Tigers on the plane were extremely excited when they heard the news, and they cleared the entire civil aviation airport in a short period of time, just to let the plane fly around the field at a low altitude, and the Chinese side did give them respect and attention that exceeded expectations.

They have been in the United States for so many years after the war, and they have never received such courtesy, the American people do not know about the Asian battlefield of World War II, plus the United States has a lot of European descendants, so the Americans pay much more attention to the European battlefield than the Asian battlefield, in the United States, although the veterans of World War II are very respected, but the most respected is the one who went to the European battlefield at the beginning, and the most respected is to participate in the D-Day that is, the Normandy landing, although these Flying Tigers do not care about these, but they have indeed been relatively neglected for so many years, and now they are so valued by the Chinese people, which gives them great comfort。

When the Air China 747 descended to an altitude of 300 meters, the behemoth could already be seen very clearly from the ground.

More than 20 members of the Chinese old Flying Tigers sitting on the stool stood up excitedly when they saw the large passenger plane with the familiar shark mouth paint start to lower its altitude.

No one told them which plane the American pilots had arrived on, but when they saw the shark's mouth, everyone knew it was coming!

The sharks are coming!

The Flying Tigers are here!

Old comrades-in-arms are here!

These Chinese Flying Tigers, who were waiting for their old comrades in arms, did not expect to be able to see such a spectacular and familiar scene, which was indeed a huge surprise.

This cartoon shark mouth is of great significance to the old American Flying Tigers, and it is also of great significance to the Chinese Flying Tigers.

The plane got closer and closer, and then did not land on the runway, but turned around not far from the end of the runway, tilted the fuselage and began to fly around the field.

The old Flying Tigers know this move too well, and during the war years, the highest way for fighter pilots to show respect was to fly the plane around the field at a low altitude!

The old Flying Tigers of Chinese nationality spontaneously saluted and saluted, and their bodies couldn't help but turn with the hovering of the plane, always looking at the plane and the familiar and bloody shark mouth.

One, two, three......

These old Chinese Flying Tigers members can't help but burst into tears, as if the world has undergone earth-shaking changes, as if the surroundings are no longer modern civil aviation airports but the humble military airports of the past, as if the sky is not a modern civil airliner, but the Flying Tigers fighters of the year, as if they instantly returned to the age of more than 20 years, as if the unique engine sound and whistling sound of the propeller plane sounded in their ears, as if they heard the long sound of the air defense siren, It was as if they had heard the instructions from their superiors to go on the expedition, and the blend of history and modernity made them tremble with excitement.

After five laps, whether it was in the plane or on the ground, the veterans were in tears, 747 finally aimed at the runway, the huge passenger plane with its nose held high and gradually descended in the air, as if it was a fierce shark out of the water, smoothly landed, thrust back, decelerated, the plane left the runway into the taxiway, and taxied towards the area that had been prepared.

The Yunnan Provincial Military Region coordinated with the Yunnan Provincial Armed Police Corps, and the Chuncheng Airport Fire Squadron, which has been stationed at the airport for a long time, sent six fire trucks to prepare on both sides of the taxiway several hundred meters away from the red carpet greeting area.

The veterans were pleasantly surprised again.

Even their relatives felt incredible!

The low-altitude flight around the field and the ground water gate to greet them, the etiquette given by Huaxia is really beyond everyone's expectations, and no one thought that they would receive such a grand courtesy from Huaxia.

Through the window, the elderly people and their families on the plane saw the firefighters standing on the roofs of the six fire trucks and saluting, although they did not know whether these officers and soldiers could see themselves, but the old people by the window still raised their right hands for the first time and saluted these young firefighters in return.

No matter how many hostilities and conflicts the two countries have had in recent years, it does not affect the respect of the young Chinese soldiers for these veterans.

Li Mu, Liu Xinxin, and Chen Chengwu, a representative of the military region and who came in civilian clothes, stood at the front of the red carpet, and behind them were more than 20 Chinese veteran Flying Tiger members, as well as their relatives, and next to them were more than 30 young people wearing black trousers and white shirts.

The Yunsheng Provincial Military Region made a lot of effort to welcome this time, but because considering that the Veterans Immortal Charity Foundation is a non-governmental public welfare organization, and inviting American veterans to come over is also a non-governmental exchange activity, it is not appropriate for the official to participate directly, so it was arranged for Chen Chengwu and the members of the military band to be dressed in plain clothes.

Non-governmental public welfare organizations should ensure its purity, and under the condition of being legal and reasonable, they can seek official help, but they cannot be influenced by the government, which is what the chief asked Chen Chengwu to bring to Li Mu and Liu Xinxin, his attitude, and his encouragement to the Veteran Immortal Charity Foundation.

The plane passed through the three water gates, slowed down, and finally stopped steadily in front of the horizontal red carpet, and the ladder truck immediately opened and docked with the door, and then the flight attendant opened the door from the cabin.

Before the veterans began to get off the plane, Chen Chengwu waved his hand, and the more than 30 members of the military band in civilian clothes immediately stood up and prepared their instruments.

Finally, among the American Flying Tigers, the eldest Paul Crawford, with the support of his son and granddaughter, slowly walked out of the hatch, and when he took the first step on the ladder, all the Chinese old Flying Tigers members saluted in unison, and the old man immediately stopped and raised his hand to salute the military salute.

At this time, the conductor of the military band made a starting gesture, and the military band played one of the most famous military songs of the American World War II era, "Old-Soldiers-Never-Die, They-Just-Fade-Aay"

Douglas MacArthur, a famous American general of World War II, once quoted the title of this song in his farewell speech, veterans never die, but fade away.

The music sounded, and all the old Flying Tigers members sighed with emotion.

This song is extremely familiar to Western veterans who have experienced World War II, and it is not unfamiliar to these Chinese Flying Tigers, the American Flying Tigers, and even Chennault often use a gramophone to play this song, although the overall cultural level of the Chinese army at that time was very low, but the Chinese soldiers who can participate in the Flying Tigers have a very high cultural level, and they have always been taught by Western instructors, English is a compulsory course, and after becoming comrades-in-arms with American pilots, English listening and speaking skills are very good.

One after another American veteran Flying Tigers stepped off the plane, Li Mu, Liu Xinxin and Chen Chengwu were at the front, bowing and shaking hands to each of the veteran Flying Tigers who got off the plane, and welcomed them to China and Spring City.

This group of old Americans and Chinese elders have been staring at each other for a long time, and fifty or sixty years have passed, and each person's face has changed dramatically, and almost no one can recognize who the other person is anymore.

Paul Crawford, who was at the forefront, began to shake hands with the first member of the Chinese Flying Tigers, that is, Mr. Sun Xiaozhong, who was personally visited by Li Mu, and then, Paul Crawford introduced himself excitedly: "Hello, my name is Paul Crawford. ”

"Paul?!" the old man Sun Xiaozhong asked him in English in surprise, "Are you really Paul?"

"It's me, you're it?"

"I'm xiaozhong, SunXiaoZhong!"

Paul Crawford hugged Sun Xiaozhong excitedly, and immediately cried: "Oh my God, XiaoZhong, my friend, my brother, you are still alive! For more than 50 years, I often dream that we were together with the help of the Chinese villagers, hiding in the cellar from the Japanese soldiers, God knows how much I miss you over the years, I have always thought, before I die, the person I want to see again is you, I didn't expect it to really come true!"