1945

A view across part of American air base at Liuzhou in 1945, after being reoccupied by American and Chinese forces following Japanese withdrawal in 1945. Note apparent B-25 in tidy revetment, driving jeep, and ruins of base buildings, destroyed during Allied retreat, Japanese occupation, and again during Japanese withdrawal.

Elmer Bukey posing alongside a salvaged P-40 in the service area at Guilin. During WWII.

"This is a picture of one of the eight P-40's that was built from our salvage yard at Kwelin (Guilin) China. The planes had new engines installed and were tested and turned over to the fighter groups for combat service.To our knowledge all planes performed to everyone's satisfaction." Caption courtesy of Elmer Bukey.

"We had many night-time visits from the Japanese and when that happened we headed for the caves around our hostel areas. This picture was taken from inside one of those caves overlooking the 396th hostel area. Needless to say this picture was not taken during an air raid but by someone that wanted to see what the area looked like...

"Lt.Sohl took this cycle with him to every base we serviced. I had never ridden a cycle before and he let me ride it around the revetment one day and I ended up driving right thru the door of the engineering shack and pinned "Rocky" Taurisano against the back wall of the shack. That was the first and last time...

Members of 12th Air Service Group recovering fuel from crashed Nationalist-marked B-25: "Gasoline was a precious commodity in China. All the gas we received had to be flown over the Hump from India into China. This picture shows some members of the 396th pumping gasoline out of the wing tanks of a crashed B-25. With the supply situation of everything...

Lt. Colonel William D. Hopson Of Little Rock, Arkansas, Squadron Commander In A Heavy Bomber Group Of The "Flying Tigers", Receives The Distinguished Flying Cross From Major General Charles B. Stone At A 14Th Air Force Base In China. 19 September 1945.