Decorated WWII Pilot Flew With The Flying Tigers

Retired Air Force major general Charles R. Bond Jr.,  one of the last surviving Flying Tiger pilots of World War II, passed away in Dallas, TX August 18th. Bond was 94.

General Bond retired in 1968 as commander of the 12th Air Force in Waco TX after more than 30 years of service. He had been decorated by multiple governments during his career, and was credited with shooting down 9 and a half enemy planes. He was also shot down twice.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Bond joined the Texas National Guard in 1932. A West Point graduate, he was commissioned into the Army Air Forces in 1939. When President Roosevelt formed a volunteer unit to protect trade routes in China, the now famous Flying Tigers, Bond volunteered for the secret program. He was already a bomber pilot, but he wanted to fly fighters.

After the war, he flew as a commercial pilot for about three weeks. He was re-inducted into the Army Air Forces in 1942, and flew cargo planes for China. His military honors include a Purple Heart, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster and an Army Commendation Medal from the United States; a Distinguished Flying Cross from the British; and the Fifth Order of the Cloud Banner and the Seven Star Wing Medal from the Chinese.

Bond earned a bachelors degree while in the service, and entered the business world after retiring from the Air Force. He is survived by a son and three daughters.

FMI: www.flyingtigersavg.com