US Pilot Remembered for Dedication to China's Anti-Fascist War

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, October 24, 2002

US Pilot Remembered for Dedication to China's Anti-Fascist War

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James Fox, a US pilot who dedicated his life to China's anti-Japanese war 60 years ago, does not have an official tombstone in the United States. However, a bronze statue presented by the Chinese people will stand as a permanent monument to the late American hero.

The unveiling ceremony of the bronze bust of Fox, an American captain whose plane crashed into the Himalayan mountains on the China-Burmese border in 1943, was held Tuesday at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, about 100 miles (about 160 kilometers) north of Houston.

The bust, designed by Chinese artists, was unveiled as part of the Memory of History exhibition in the United States sponsored by China's Information Office of the State Council (IOSC). The exhibition was held in memory of the joint Chinese-US fight in the anti-Fascist war more than half a century ago.

"With this bust comes the Chinese people's love and respect," said IOSC Director Zhao Qizheng at the ceremony. He read the inscription written by Chinese President Jiang Zemin: "Resting here is an American pilot, who valiantly dedicated his life helping China win the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The Chinese people will forever remember his name, James R. Fox, Jr."

Douglas Menarchik, director of the library, read a letter sent by President George W. Bush to the organizers of the ceremony. In the letter dated on Oct. 3, Bush said: "I send greetings to all those gathered for the dedication of a statue honoring the life and legacy of World War II pilot Jim Fox in Dalhart, Texas."

The only son of his family in Dalhart in northwestern Texas, Fox volunteered to go to China in 1942. On March 11, 1943, a cargo plane he flew with two Chinese crew members crashed on its route from Kunming, the capital city of China's southwestern province of Yunnan, to Dinjan in northeastern India. The route, the only air passage for the international community to deliver supplies to China's battlefields and is widely known as the daunting Hump Route, claimed the lives of more than 1,500 pilots over a three-year period starting in 1942.

The unveiling ceremony and exhibition "brought to life the emotion and history of our relations," Menarchik said. He expressed the hope that China and the United States will continue to develop friendly cooperation.

Dalhart Mayor Gene Rahl said he was "pretty excited" that a young man from his town has become the hero of the day. He said the event would "help a lot" in the development of Sino-US relations. The statue of Captain Fox will eventually be sent to Dalhart.

Among the participants were a dozen Chinese and American veterans who had fought against the Japanese aggressors in China.

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