WWII Flying Tigers pilot Wayne "Whitey" Johnson (Full Interview)
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- čas přidán 1. 08. 2016
- Wayne "Whitey" Johnson, World War II veteran of the US Army Air Corps, talks about his experience as a member of the Flying Tigers. This daring group of young pilots, also known as the 1st American Volunteer Group, which was eventually absorbed into the US 14th Air Force, played a vital role in the Pacific Theater of the Second World War.
Recorded August 26, 2016.
I miss talking with old timers. This channel is saving thy stories from such great men.
Amazing, he must be close to 100 years old!! His humidity, resolve and decency is a trait in short supply these days. I love hearing these WWII Vets and am so damn sad that they are vanishing so quickly. Their generation will never be matched.
humidity?
@@telesniper2humbleness or something like that I guess. Non-native speaker just admiring no more no less. What great interview!!
I have never been so comfortable anywhere, as when I am in the air. Thank You!
I had ten great-uncles who fought in WWII...one was a navigator who flew with the Flying Tigers, 14th Air Force; another one was a pilot of the B-24 Liberator. I love watching these interviews of the GREATEST GENERATION! Thanks for posting.
Bless em all! 🙏🏻
I had Uncles that fought in the 8th airforce and Africa and Italy campaigns. My father built pipelines bringing oil to the west coast in Canada surprising the Japanese on our ability to supply the west coast with oil.
Amen to that! Had pride n the ol country n faith n their leaders.
Amazing story! The stuff movies are made of! The fact he crashed landed his plane safely then traveled by night to get back to safety was an extraordinary story! Love all these guys
A life of service and adventure; what a life!
God bless this guy.
THANK YOU WHITEY FOR YOUR SERVICE TO A NATIVE MINNESOTAN FLYING TIGERS WERE BAD ASS
What a story, Sir! I will look for the book. P-40, P-51s, to Stearman Crop-dusters. Found the book on Amazon.
Thank you sir.
My dad was a chaplains assistant in the Air Force. A few years ago, he met a guy who flew with the Flying Tigers. The man was 100 years old and was concerned about if he would go to heaven or not because he had killed people in the war. The chaplain and my dad talked to the guy and they were able to help him ease his conscience. He died not long after that meeting.
The only afterlife we can be sure of is the memories we leave in the minds of others and I’m sure there will be positive ones about him for many years to come, so no worries mate, he flies on.
I can't buy the atheist views of the first person to respond to your comment but I can say is that if he excepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and personal savior then he is in heaven with God. If you're not sure then know that he is in the hands of a just and loving God. War is war. It's not wanted but it happens!
@@wadepenley7380 religion is for fools. Good luck fool
He served his time in hell, earned his reward in Heaven.
Just amazing. A true hero.
what a great story from a great person
I salute this hero!
Me Too!
Very nice!....wonderful history and guy
I am Honoerd to hear your Story. It wasn't so much Then. Now it is.
Wayne Johnson passed away in Aug 2019, aged 97. RiP
RIP Brother Johnson
As of mid 2021 there are well over 1/4 million ww2 vets still living.
My Aunt is 106 years old. She was a Technical Sargent in WWII. She was stationed in Hooglie, India, flying the hump, and in Fort Wayne, Indiana, training aircrews during WWII. Her pet peeve is old men wanting her to share war stories.
He was with the 14th airforce with general Chennault
The Flying Tigers were bad ass mofos God Bless them! 🇺🇸
Why do you use obscenities and then say God bless?
Thanks for the interview. What a guy. China from the fall of the Ching is of great interest to me. I learned Chinese over 40 years ago, lived in China and Hong Kong. The Flying Tigers is of great interest to me, flying also. Now, living in Taiwan in 2022, it's good to hear these heroes talk. We need men and women of this caliber now to fight the sociopath Communist Chinese.
Uncle Wayne. You were indeed, one of the most interesting people I've ever known! Thank you for being you. 🥰 Yvonne Meyer Johnson
THANK YOU ❤️❤️
the greatest generation ever may these men and women be so blessed in the next lives hopefully not as rigorous may the lord keep and bless them forever
Yes and they are teaching kids in school that these brave young me were ‘ privileged ‘ hmm? I guess the fifth column never went away !
@@martinhanley9524 You said that so well in fact you took the words right out my mouth..Martin your a good man.. As for Whitie he is the Greatest.!! GOD BLESS YOU BOTH..
My father was in the Chinese Airforce who flew P51Ds in China near the end of WW2. Both the US and Chinese Airforce had P51s. My father never said he was part of the Flying Tigers but I saw newpaper clippings saying he was and my Uncle also said he was. He was also trained in the US similar to Whitey Johnson and had American and Chinese Airforce Wings. What is interesting is I heard from my relatives that my dad was also doing low level straffing against the Japanese and shot down and had to be rescued by the local Chinese who said his hair was on fire. Except my father never ever talked about being shot down. And we are thinking perhaps it was a very traumatic experience for him that he didnt want to talk about perhaps if it ever did happen. But what he did say that he did do alot of straffing and that the correct strategy was to attack the enemy from behind their lines so that if you are shot down then you would land on your own side the friendly side. So hearing Whiteys experience Im assuming would be very similar to my dads experience.
Our Country is eternally grateful for actions taken to preserve our freedom here in America 🇺🇸
“Then it kinda straightened out”. Yeah, what was left of “it”. Maybe the whole plane disintegrated around you until there was nothing left but you in your seat. Man, these guys were something else.
Wonderful to hear an Army Air Corp vet talk. Or any WWII vet talk for that matter. My Dad was Army Air Corp, signed up at the age of 17 but needed his parents to sign off a permission slip of sorts. Dad trained in a B-25 Mitchell flew over Germany in an A-26 Invader. After the war was over, he never flew again. Dad didn't talked very much about it except for memories of the war skiing the alps with Air Corp buddies, riding the ship back to the USA with Tony Bennett who Dad has much respect for, and basic training where, as Dad said, "Donald O'Conner, that wimp. He cried every night in Biloxi, Missippi, and cried his way out of the war." He hates the movie "Singing in thr Rain" needless to say. Other times he'd call him a sap, jerk, asshole, worthless jerk.
Dad was healthy, walked the treadmill daily, we'd talk on the phone every day when I couldn't see him and was lucid all the way through 95 until his last month and died peacefully with dignity, and loved ones at his side October 3, 2021. The world was fortunate this man existed. Am am I.
The Chinese venerated the Flying Tigers and the P-40. My wife and I once visited the Aerospace Museum in Seattle. They had a WWII section. The section had a P-40 in full war paint. There was a Chinese couple just in awe of the P-40. Taking pictures of each other and the plane. My wife offered to take a picture of them together in front of the plane. At first, I was a bit puzzled. Then it hit me, "They flew like tigers, Flying Tigers." Before the Flying Tigers, the Japanese bombed at will. The Tigers put a stop to it. The couple remembered. To them it was a big deal to see the plane that helped save their country.
Much respect for the 14th.Air Force.
born in 1921...guess he's passed by now....the great ones all arr
2018, at the age of 97.
The original flying tigers with general Chennault was disbanded and the 14th airforce took over led by General Chennault the original flying tigers were operating in China before Pearl Harbor He joined the day after Pearl Harbor
Ya that’s what I thinking, thanks for clearing that up.
They were still known as the Flying Tigers of the 14th AF. My great uncle was a navigator who flew with this group. I know that they weren't the "originals" under Gen. Chennault, but they were very proud to still be known as Flying Tigers...fighting in China and Burma.
@@valeriegriner5644 the main difference is the Chinese called the AVG "Flying Tigers", and the 14th Air Force called themselves that.
@@edrussell9573 True...I knew that already, but thanks for the tip!
He apparently did have injuries, because he said a Chinese man carried him on his back to safety. I’m guessing his legs must have been broken, because the plane smashed into several pieces.
Wow !!
AVG AVG AVG!
One has to wonder what the P-40 could have been if it had had a decent engine. Not that the Allison was a bad engine, but it had its shortcomings compared to others.
They collected bounty on their kills as,well
Yes they did, a $500 bonus per-kill. (ground or air).
Now that is a "Go to Hell" hat.
ASK ABOUT GB THE GAMES BEST THE TRIPLE ACE THE TRIPLE THREAT
Thaaaaat's a technical foul.
I think was 14th AF flying tigers, he may have actually been in AVG in 1941.
His name is not shown on the roster of the AVG website. He was never a member of the true FT's. A notably great warrior but not a 'Tiger; historically.
When my girlfriends son was 2 he told her that last time he died he got shot down in a plane with a shark face on it and his name was Robert Little. She didn't know there was such a plane until recently. Now we wonder if any were shot down? And who were they? Details , names? Anyone know Robert Little? To this day he hasn't flown. He was offered flying classes and he said he already knew how but no thank you when he was 5. Any help? I don't believe in reincarnation but this kid is serious.
@derek morton like I said I don't believe in reincarnation but I'm starting to think something is going on where some souls come back? How old is your son now?
@derek morton wow ours will be 33 nov. 29
@derek morton yea me too, weird stuff. I wouldn't mind hearing about your stuff. I'm very interested in weird stuff these days.
@derek morton me too, twice I've had a silver orb about the size of a softball ride next to my driver mirror. It made me not think of it or freak out somehow..? Nice to meet you too. I wish I could find out if robert little existed in the flying tigers. If so it was my girlfriends son and he was shot down.
@derek morton wow, I knew it. Thats awesome. Now what? I would like to meet his descendents. After I saw your comment I did find one small picture and it looks exactly like my girlfriends son Chris. What are we supposed to do when we know this stuff? I'm amazed. But then what? Thank you for finding that he is real. He had drawn a picture of the plane when he was about 5 and cried when he to l d her that he saw his blood all over the air and he put that in the picture. She is going to storage to look for it this Winter. She said she didn't know about the planes and told him he must have been a foreigner. His friends name was Robert and she was reading the mouse book Stuart Little when he told her so she thought thats where he got that name. She is now sad she didn't listen more but she says she has the picture and wrote down what he said. Her other son had another life story when he was two also. Do people come back? I don't know but we are blessed to have them!
Is that the skipper on Gilligans Island?
Perfect example of, there’s no point in arguing with fools.
This comment proves that the US educational system has failed to teach what these HEROS did in the face of overwhelming odds…
The questionable garden grossly matter because cougar resultspreviously consider up a animated head. meek, worthless course
This is no place to quote Joe Biden.
Wow, what an ignorant post. These guys were hero’s, and they didn’t know that then, and don’t know it now. Characterizing this man as the “Skipper from Gilligan’s Island” just proves that’s our educational system has failed miserably.
The Chinese paid 500.00 in gold for every jap plane you shot down. Gold was 40.00 an once in those days.