(Peng Jiaheng/File Photo)

 On this sultry Saturday morning, amid a sea of white flowers and people with admiration gathering in Beijing Babaoshan Cemetery, the deceased soldier, Peng Jiaheng, is given an intimate, private type of public memorial after his death on Aug. 22, only a few days before the 65th anniversary of the victory of the war against Japanese aggressors and the world anti-fascist war.

As one of the WWII veterans, and a fearless pilot who was awarded the

Distinguished Flying Cross at the age of 24, his legacy will be the memories he shared of a near-mythical group of warriors called the Flying Tigers.

Created by Clair Lee Chennault in 1941, the original Flying Tigers, formally named the American Volunteer Group, were technically an arm of the Chinese Air Force, but consisted of volunteer pilots returned from the U. S. military.

Peng's death means that, of the more than 500 Chinese Flying Tiger members, less than five are known to still be alive in the Chinese mainland.

Born in Indonesia to a family of Chinese immigrants in 1921, Peng Jiaheng was sent back to China by his father at age 13.

When Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in 1937, 16-year-old Peng joined the army. Peng, together with about 1,000 other overseas Chinese, was enrolled in the Whampoa Military Academy under the Kuomintang in 1940.

Peng was sent to the United States to take flight courses in 1942 after the outbreak of the Pacific War.

In 1944 Peng returned to China as a probational Warrant Officer in the

Fighter Group of the Chinese American Composite Wing, under the 14th Air

Force of the U.S., which was formerly called the "Flying Tigers".

As the pilot of P-40 and P-51 Mustangs, a high-performance fighter aircraft, Peng was responsible for escorting, spying, air combat and bombing during the war.

However, the most cherished moment in Peng's life is neither when he was awarded the "Distinguished Flying Cross", which was also awarded to former American President George Bush, nor when he survived an air battle,

sustaining more than 20 bullet holes in his plane, but when he was invited

to attend the memorial meeting for the 60th anniversary of the victory of

the war against Japanese aggressors and the world anti-fascist war at the

Great Hall of the People on Sept. 3, 2005.

"Father said that he was about to burst into tears when hearing President Hu Jintao praising the Flying Tigers pilots' contribution at the 60th anniversary meeting and that was the premier moment in his life,"

said Zhuoxi, Peng's second son.

Peng seldom talked about his life-and-death experiences during the war.

"My husband said that he could clearly recollect every detail of the death of his fellow soldiers while fighting in the war, which was a nightmare haunting him all his life," said Fu Rumei.

"He is a soft-hearted person who always hated the war, and he was sympathetic toward the Japanese soldiers," Fu added.

"I flew very low and I could see the faces of the dead Japanese soldiers. Although they invade China, they are also sons, husbands, or fathers with families," said Peng when he was alive.

As an experienced pilot, Peng was forced into battle during the Chinese

civil war after the war against the Japanese aggressors ended in 1945, but

he was determined not to kill fellow compatriots.

"I shot bullets into towers and dropped bombs into lakes," Peng told his family members.

Peng returned to Indonesia during the war in 1947.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Peng Jiaheng went back to China and began his career in China's civil aviation sector.

Peng was employed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in 1949 and married Fu Rumei one year later.

He accumulated 7,000 hours of flight time in ten years, and carried out

many flying missions, including mine prospecting, forest fire extinguishing

and spraying to combat insects.

"My father was not interested in politics. He seldom identifies himself with any particular party. He said that he came back to the mainland just out of his love for the nation and the people," said Zhuoxi, the second son.

"My father is an easy-going and cheerful person who was very easy to be

satisfied. A walk in the morning, a nice meal with the family and a little

chat with a vendor in the market can all make his day," said Zhuoxi.

Peng's life was an eventful one, and the ups and downs he went through were a reflection of the fate of the Chinese nation.

At the peak of his career as a pilot, Peng was interrogated during the

Cultural Revolution since he was an overseas Chinese, a student of Whampoa

Military Academy and a Flying Tigers pilot.

Peng was sent to labour in Inner Mongolia Production and Construction Corps between 1970 and 1972.

"Not a sentence of grousing could be heard from him. He's not a man of

complaints," said Tian Guiying, an educated youth who worked with Peng in

Inner Mongolia.

Tian, in her twenties at that time, said 50-year-old Peng was just like her father.

"Meat was rare at that time, but Peng caught wild animals in the field and roasted the meat for us and he also taught us how to survive in the wild," Tian said.

After the Cultural Revolution, Peng Jiaheng did not return to the post of a pilot, but worked as a data manager for the Civil Aviation Administration of China for the rest of his work life.

"Father was used to flying in the air; the blue sky was his companion. We knew he was upset about not being able to fly again, though he seldom

mentioned it. Just imagine a bird with a broken wing," said Zhuoxi.

Peng's biggest dream in his old age was to reunite with his fellow pilots who were still alive, both American and Chinese, inviting them to China to see the country they once helped, according to family members.

"Much to our regret, my father had lost contact with most of his fellow

pilots since the end of the anti-Japanese war. We know that there are still

many Flying Tiger veterans living in and out of China, but it was very hard

to arrange a reunion for them since we didn't know the exact whereabouts of them and they were all very old," Peng's son Zhuoxi sighed.

Among the three sons of Peng Jiaheng, two are living in the States. Last

year, Peng's eldest grandson joined the American Navy.

Fu Rumei said, "My husband was so proud of his grandson and he told nearly everybody he met that there was one more soldier in our family."

Fu said, "I was not very happy at the beginning and thought that our

grandson should come back to join the Chinese army, but my husband said that it made no difference to be a soldier in America or in China, as long as our child is serving the people and contributing to world peace."