Ken Jernstedt, AVG pilot passes.

[Bill Shatzer]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonatwar/2013/02/ace_pilot_father_ex-mayor_and.html

Ken Jernstedt, famed World War II aviator, two-time mayor of Hood River,
longtime Oregon legislator and successful businessman, died Tuesday
morning at the age of 95.

"He was really, genuinely a fine human being," said former Gov. Vic
Atiyeh, a longtime friend. "He was the perfect guy for his district.
Actually, for Oregon."

Ken Jernstedt Airfield in Hood River is named for him, as is the main
gate at the Portland Air National Guard Base. A replica P-40, the Flying
Tiger, with his name on it is on display at the Evergreen Aviation
Museum in McMinnville.

His fame as an aviator came from his time flying for the Chinese
government before the United States entered World War II. He resigned
his commission in the Marines in order to join the American Volunteer
Group, which fought for Chinese ruler Chiang Kai-Shek against the
Japanese. He was a flight leader for the famed Flying Tigers and is
credited with destroying 10.5 Japanese aircraft -- three in the air and
7.5 on the ground. The Chinese government paid him $500 a plane.

Only decades later did the U.S. government acknowledge that it helped
organize the squadron on behalf of the Chinese. In 1996, Jernstedt was
awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

[Padraigh ProAmerica]

IIRC, the Flying Tigers were ORGANIZED before the US entered the war,
they didn;t start flying until AFTER the entry.

--
"A man who can own a gun is a citizen. A man who cannot own a gun is a
subject."--

LTC Allen West, USA, (Ret.)

[a425couple]

Post by Padraigh ProAmerica
IIRC, the Flying Tigers were ORGANIZED before the US entered the war,
they didn;t start flying until AFTER the entry.

Well,,,, they were flying & working up in theater prior
to Dec. 7, 1941.
Agreed, that the first combat seems to have been on
20 Dec. 1941.

[a425couple]

Post by Padraigh ProAmerica
IIRC, the Flying Tigers were ORGANIZED before the US entered the war,
they didn;t start flying until AFTER the entry.

Well,,,, they were flying & working up in theater prior to Dec. 7, 1941.
Agreed, that the first combat seems to have been on 20 Dec. 1941.

Meanwhile, in sidetrips, I found something that I
found unusual & interesting.
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tigers
(that specificly does mention Jernstedt) but also into:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Alsop
"Alsop and Kintner suspended their column and volunteered for
the armed forces. Alsop entered the Navy and used his political
connections to be assigned to Claire Chennault's American Volunteer
Group, to become famous as the Flying Tigers, as Staff Historian,
while the group was training at Toungoo, Burma.
While on a supply mission for Chennault in December 1941, Alsop
was captured and interned at Hong Kong by the Japanese. Repatriated
on the neutral liner Gripsholm, he rejoined Chennault in Kunming, China
and served with him for the rest of the war."

Hmm, from various readings
(including "Siege of Hong Kong" & Gavin Daws "Prisoners
of the Japanese") I'm aware that when the Japanese
captured Kong Kong, they summararily executed some,
and put the rest into rather brutal POW usages.
I wonder how & why they let a US prior officer & AVG
member (Alsop) go.
Also, it was certainly US policy (probably to comply
with pre war treaties), that a person once a prisoner
should never go back into combat in that theater.
I guess I'll have to try looking more into that.

Hmm, ok, I've read about Gripsholm, Red Cross chartered.

Hmm, "Japanese-American Civilian Prisoner Exchanges and
Detention Camps, 1941-45" - a bit pricy for my tastes.
But some of a preview at:
(I gotta delete this cite - too long for moderation)
just go google books & put in title---

from one of his obits:
"Alsop leaped enthusiastically into World War II, first joining the Navy
and then transferring to Gen. Claire L. Chennault's volunteer air force,
the Flying Tigers.
Alsop was captured by the Japanese in Hong Kong but, falsely claiming
civilian status as a journalist, was repatriated in an exchange of civilian
prisoners.
He then became chief of the Lend Lease Mission to China in 1942, and,
once back in China, became a captain on Chennault's staff until the end
of the war."