Ua lele ʻo Felix Smith i ka "Hump" ma luna o ka Himalayas i ka wā o ke Kaua Honua II, ua hoʻopili ʻia me ke alakaʻi o ka Flying Tigers kaulana ma Kina ma hope o ke kaua ʻana a no nā makahiki he nui i hoʻokele mokulele no ka mea e lilo i CIA-run Air America ma Kina, Taiwan, Korea, ʻO Vietnam a me Laos -- kiʻi mau ʻia i ke kaʻina hana.
Ua male ʻo ia i ka moʻopuna a ka mōʻī hope loa o Okinawa a ma hope mai ua lilo ʻo ia i luna hoʻokele no ka South Pacific Island Airways ma Hawaii.
ʻAʻole paha he mea kupanaha, i ka wā i hoʻopuehu ʻia ai ka lehu o Smith mai kahi ʻoki ʻoki ʻo Coast Guard ma Oʻahu i ka pule i hala, ua kau ʻia kekahi luna CIA kahiko, he hoa pailaka ʻo Air America, kahi moʻolelo lele o ke Kaua Honua II a me kekahi mau mea hoʻonaninani ʻē aʻe.
"ʻAʻole 1, he kanaka kupanaha ʻo ia - nani ke noho a puni. A he mea hoʻokele maikaʻi loa, "wahi a ka hoaaloha lōʻihi a me ka hoa pailaka ʻo Glen Van Ingen, ka mea i ʻike iā Smith mai ka hopena o nā makahiki 1960 a ua lele pū ʻo ia no Air America.
"Inā hele mai ʻoe mai kahi kūlanakauhale liʻiliʻi ma Wisconsin a makemake ʻoe e ʻike i ka honua, ʻaʻole hiki iā ʻoe ke hana i kahi hana ʻoi aku ka maikaʻi," wahi a Van Ingen, 86, no Smith.
Ua make ʻo Smith ma ʻOkakopa 3, 2018, ma Milwaukee i ka makahiki 100. Ua ʻōlelo ʻo ka hoaaloha ʻo Clark Hatch, e noho ana ma Honolulu, ʻo kāna makemake hope e hoʻopuehu ʻia kona lehu ma ka Pākīpika a puni Hawaii.
Ua ʻōlelo kāna wahine kāne make, ʻo Junko Smith, ʻo kāna kāne ka "manawa maikaʻi loa" e noho ana ma Hawaii no 21 mau makahiki, e hoʻomaka ana i ka hopena o 1970s.
"Aloha ʻo ia iā Hawaiʻi," i ʻōlelo ai ʻo ia ma hope o ka hana hoʻomanaʻo ma luna o ka moku ʻoki ʻoki ʻo Coast Guard ʻo Oliver Berry."(Ua ʻōlelo mau ʻo ia) ʻo Hawaiʻi kona home. He ola maikaʻi loa ko mākou ma Hawaiʻi."
ʻO Lt. Cmdr.Ua ʻōlelo ʻo Kenneth Franklin, ka luna ʻokiʻoki i kēlā manawa, "Ua lawelawe ʻo Felix Smith i ka ʻāina, a ua haʻaheo ka Coast Guard i ka hoʻohanohano ʻana i ke ola o ka poʻe i lawelawe i ka lāhui."
Ua hoʻomanaʻo ʻo Smith i kona ola lele - ʻo ia ka mea e pili ana i ka hoʻonaʻauao honua a me ka hoʻokalakupua - ma kāna puke, "China Pilot: Flying for Chennault During the Cold War."Ua lele mua ʻo ia no Civil Air Transport, i lilo i ʻāpana o ka CIA's Air America.
Ua hoʻoholo ka ʻoihana naʻauao e pono i ka hiki ke lawe i ka ea ma Asia, a i ka makahiki 1950 ua kūʻai malu i nā waiwai o Civil Air Transport.
Ua haʻi aku kahi luna mokulele "CAT" ʻaʻole pono nā pailaka e haʻi i ka CIA ma ka inoa a pono e kuhikuhi i nā ʻelele ma ke ʻano he "mea kūʻai."
I ka wā o ke Kaua Kōlea, ua hoʻonohonoho ʻia ʻo Smith e lele i Saipan.I kona hōʻea ʻana i ke kahua mokulele ʻo Andersen ma Guam, ua hoʻokuʻu kekahi pūʻali koa Air Force i kāna Jeep a kū a nīnau, "He aha kāu e hana nei ma ʻaneʻi?"Wahi a Smith ma kāna puke.
"Ma mua o ka hiki ʻana iaʻu ke noʻonoʻo i kahi pane hanohano, ua holo aku kekahi mea lawe mea kaua me 15 mau makaʻāinana me nā pālule aloha a i ʻole nā khaki maʻemaʻe, nā pāpale 10-galani, nā mahiole lā a i ʻole nā papale, nā kāmaʻa pipi, nā kāmaʻa kāpili a i ʻole nā kāmaʻa tennis," i kākau ai ʻo ia.
Ma ka lele hoʻi, ua lele ʻo Smith i ʻeiwa mau poʻe i pani ʻia i ka maka -- ua aʻo ʻia nā lāhui Kina āpau ma ke ʻano he kiu - a ʻekolu "mea kūʻai."ʻO ke kani koke ʻana o ka ea e kahe ana i loko o ke keʻena i haʻi aku iā ia ua wehe a pani ʻia ka puka nui.
"ʻAʻole wau i ʻōlelo akā ua ʻike, ma hope o ka pae ʻana, ʻewalu wale nō mau mea kaʻa i haʻalele.
I ka pau ʻana o ke Kaua Honua II, he pailaka ʻo Smith me ka China National Aviation Corp. e hana ana ma lalo o ka pūʻali koa US.
Ua hoʻomaka ʻo Gen. Claire Chennault, ʻo ia ka mea ma hope o ka Flying Tigers, he hui o nā mea hoʻokele manawaleʻa ʻAmelika i hakakā me nā Kepani ma Kina, ua hoʻomaka ʻo Civil Air Transport e hālāwai me nā pono o Kina.
Ua hoʻolimalima ʻia ʻo Smith, a i ka makahiki 1946 ua lele ʻo ia i Hawaiʻi e lawe i nā mokulele keu e hoʻomaka i ka mokulele.
"I ko mākou hiki ʻana i Wheeler Field, nānā mākou i kahi lua kupapaʻu kahi i hele ai nā mokulele e make," wahi āna i kāna puke."ʻO kā mākou 15 Curtis C-46 me he mau ʻelepani palaho."
Ua hana pū ʻo CAT me ka Chinese Nationalist Party i alakaʻi ʻia e Chiang Kai-Shek.I kekahi manawa ma luna o kekahi mau mikiona, ua hoʻokele ʻo Smith i nā kulu ea o nā ʻāpana keleawe no nā pahu pūpū a me ka raiki i Taiyuan ma Kina i ka wā i pani ʻia ai ka Red Army.
"Ua lawe ʻia kekahi mau pā e hoʻokuʻu i ka laiki a pau. ʻO nā pōleʻa kolepa ʻulaʻula - nā mea ʻimi pū mīkini - ua ʻāwili ma lalo o mākou," i kākau ai ʻo ia.
Ua lawe ʻo CAT i ka pila kālā kālā a Bank of Kina i Hong Kong ma mua o ka hoʻolilo ʻana o Chiang iā Taiwan i noho o ka ʻaoʻao Kuomintang.
Ua hoʻomanaʻo ʻo Jack DeTour, he kamaʻāina ʻo Honolulu a me ke Kaua Honua II B-25 pailaka, i ka hui ʻana me Smith i ka wā i lele ai ka mea mua i Philippines e hoʻomaʻamaʻa i nā hoʻokele CAT ma ka C-119 "Flying Boxcar" e kōkua i ka Farani ma Vietnam.
"Ua helu au iā Felix ʻo ia kekahi o nā pailaka maikaʻi loa aʻu i ʻike ai," i hoʻomanaʻo ai ʻo DeTour, aia ma luna o ka ʻokiʻoki ʻo Coast Guard no ka hana hoʻomanaʻo.
Ua lele ʻo Smith i ka mokulele C-47 i loko a i waho o Vientiane ma Laos a i nā kauhale Hmong kahi i loaʻa ai nā mea kaua i nā kakaka a me nā pu raifela.Ma kekahi lele ana, ua lawe aku oia i na grenades no na koa aupuni, a ma kekahi, he laiki no ka US Agency for International Development.
Ma kāna puke i ka makahiki 1995, kākau ʻo Smith e "hoʻi i ke Komohana kūpono, he mau makahiki kaʻawale mai ka 'Alice in Wonderland's topsy-turvy domain, paʻa au i nā hoʻomanaʻo ma ko lākou huelo, me ka noʻonoʻo inā ua hana maoli kēlā mau mea ʻē. maka elemakule."
This article is written by William Cole from The Honolulu Star-Advertiser and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
Ka manawa kau: Sep-07-2019