Last Flying Tiger?

[John Dupre]

I have seen on social media that a veteran last name Sherman has passed and it is claimed he is the last of General Chennault's Flying Tigers. The obituary is really devoid of much detail but does mention that he was a B-25 crewman. I know enough that he cannot have been a member of the actual American Volunteer Group. There is no one of that name listed in online rosters. The AVG also never operated the B-25. It is likely that he was a veteran of the 14th Air Force that Chennault commanded but is he really the last veteran of that unit? He was 96 so it seems to me that there were probably any number of young men still teen agers in the 14th air Force who would still be only 92 or 93 today. Don't mean to cast aspersions on anyone but I am really interested in whether there is still a veteran of the original AVG alive and are there other veterans of the 14th Air Force alive?

[BK]

A friend posted the same article on my FB page. No, Mr. Sherman was not a Flying Tiger. He is not listed on the official rosters of the Flying Tigers Association, and they are very strict about who is considered a Flying Tiger (ex. Boyington). There are no living members that served with the Tigers in 1941-42. I found one article that mentioned he had been shot down in 1944, which is two years after the Tigers were disbanded. I have no doubt Mr Sherman served his country well, he just wasn't a Flying Tiger.

[marine air]

He was probably in the 14th Air Force under General Chennault after it absorbed the AVG.

[JohnH]

That was the deal with Capt. Incredible- Roland Sperry. He actually was a B-24 gunner, served his country well, then had to cook up all that Flying Tiger nonsense. Too bad, he also was a great air show announcer, charismatic and a nice guy-no need to embellish.

[JohnB]

I have seen a lot of references where the 14th AF assumed the "Flying Tiger" identity.

The easiest example is to simply look at the 14th AF patch:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Air_Force

Also, do a Google search and look under the "shopping" header...it's all AVG stuff.

Not a surprise that his family (and obit writer) made the assumption that they were synonymous.

[Dana M Bell]

This argument about who was actually a "Flying Tiger" has been going on for years. After the war, former AVG members began claiming that only they were real Flying Tigers, but during the war Chennault continued to refer to the Fourteenth AF as Flying Tigers. There are photos of Chennault smiling (well, what passed for a smile from Chennault) with posters documenting the Flying Tigers 1944 accomplishments (tons dropped, etc). The Flying Tigers and the original Flying Tigers may be two different organizations with very little overlap, but if Chennault considered them all Flying Tigers, that's good enough for me...

Cheers,



Dana

[JohnB]

Dana is correct.

So we have another bit of minutia* to consider in our writings and conversations...when we mean AVG, we should say AVG.

*other examples include....it is Bf-109 -not ME, using a lowercase i in MiG, appreciate not all the "L-birds" were "Piper Cubs", understanding the pre-1962 Navy designation series, and using the - when writing (it's B-17, not B17)...and I'm sure a few dozen other examples that marks a serious aviation "nerd" from someone who has seen a few films and thinks he's the next Roger Freeman or Peter Bowers.

[old iron]

Yes, we should make a distinction between the original AVG and the unit's extended history, which continued to call itself the Flying Tigers.

To use an American [I have to make that clarification as I am presently in Poland] football metaphor, The Baltimore Colts team moved to Indy. But it is still the Colts (Flying Tigers). Johnny Unitas, however, played with the Baltimore Colts (American Volunteer Group).

Can we end this issue and move on? (probably not...)

[JFS61]

Is Frank Losonsky still alive? If so, that would make him the last surviving member of the AVG.

[marine air]

One clarification of the two is that the AVG was made up of volunteers (mercenaries), of which 60% were from the pre-war Navy and Marine Corps. The 14th AF/AVG would've been 100% Army Air Force enlistees, draftees and officers almost none of which came from the Navy and Marines Corps..

[Dan K]

Is Frank Losonsky still alive? If so, that would make him the last surviving member of the AVG.

As of January 10, it would appear Frank Losonsky is still with us.

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/0 ... -obit.html