Fu Szeto General Fu Szeto ( Frank ) ( born 1916 in Beijing ) was the Chinese ( Taiwan ) Air Force Commander - In - Chief and four - star general from 1974 to 1977 , then Chairman of the Board of Directors for China Air Lines between 1977 and 1983 . He further served as advisor to the President of Taiwan ( Republic of China ) from 1983 to 1992 . Biography . Joining the air force in time for WWII . Fu Szeto graduated from Hui Wan Boys High School in Beijing , then joined the Air Force Academy and graduated from Class 6 and was a fighter pilot ever since Japan ’ s aggression and Second World War . He had an outstanding record , shot down Japanese planes in China but was twice shot down himself by Japanese ground fire in combat . He was reported missing in action and fortunately rescued by the farmers : One plight lasted a month and Szeto could not get to his rescue plane on time which , according to Col . Summers during his visit to Taiwan at a Flying Tigers Reunion related how lucky Szeto was to catch the plane searching for him sent by Chinese Air Force . Fu Szeto was still on the run behind the enemy lines with a pistol , once almost killed by the farmers who mistook him as a Japanese pilot who later helped him to run . He hid in stables and ate nothing but the beans used for horse feed . Weeks later , Szeto arrived at an air base and no one recognized him . Fu Szeto received approximately 29 medals , including two Purple Heart medals for being wounded in action during the war . He flew P38 , P51 , P40 fighter planes and dedicated his life to his country and was a pilot in his whole life . During the past couple of years , quite a few articles regarding Szeto ' s life of bravery and outstanding achievement have been published in some Chinese magazines . He remained single until three years after the war . Szeto had several missions to fly over the Himalayas to Burma and India to get the P - 40 planes known as Warhawk supplied by the USAF to strengthen air power for China against Japan ’ s eight - year aggression . Chosen to join the Flying Tigers , originally founded by 14th Air Force General Claire Chennault as an American volunteer corps , was a source of great pride for Szeto . He was assigned a squadron commander in the Chinese American Composite Wing ( CACW ) under Brigadier General Bennett , and was in the combat together with Colonel Summers and Arthur Chin , the latter a mentor and brother to Szeto . For his bravery and sacrifice during the war , Chin had a post office in Portland named after him : His face was completely disfigured by Japanese air attacks while he was in the hospital , and he was never able to recover it with plastic surgery . During these years , Szeto flew with many Tigers pilots , he and General Tex Hill enjoyed a friendship and mutual respect . When Hill visited Szeto in Taipei , he told him that although he was not with the USAF , the Ace Association had honored him as an honorary member with high respect . Hill died last year . Brigadier General Bennett visited General Szeto at a Flying Tigers Reunion dinner in Taiwan when he promoted to four - star Commander - in - Chief of the Air Force , and General Szeto saluted him there for Bennett was his senior commander while he was with Flying Tigers . After World War II . After World War II Szeto was sent to Air Force Staff College in ChengTu , Szechuan then was assigned to Chungking as operation director in the CAF headquarters during the era of anti - communism . When Chiang Kai - Shek was in Taiwan leading the military forces against Chinese Communists , General Szeto was a Wing Commander of the 4th Wing for six years and later 3rd Wing Commander in Taichung CCK airbase when it was also a new well - equipped USAF air base . He checked out as an F - 86 , F - 100 and F - 104 jet pilot and got citations from the USAF . Later , Szeto was promoted to Air Combat Command as commander when Chinese Communists posed a serious threat to Taiwan . In 1974 General Szeto was promoted to be commander - in - chief of the CAF in Taiwan until he retired from the Air Force in 1977 . Chairman of the board of China Air Lines . President Chiang Ching - Kuo ( son of Chiang Kai - Shek ) appointed General Szeto as the Chairman of the Board of China Air Lines trusting his integrity and knowledge of aviation . China Air Lines inaugurated an air route to Amsterdam and continued developing extensive air routes to various other continents including South Africa and Canada . When Szeto retired , he was appointed an advisor to the President of Republic of China ( Taiwan ) until his death in 1992 . General Szeto was a doer , and while he believed in talking but also listening . He agreed Reverend Billy Graham ’ s tenet “ Act justly and walk humbly . ” Background . The Szeto family was an unusual family of medical doctors : His father and brothers all practiced in Beijing and were reputed as experts in the fields of contagious disease , radiology , and gynecology . Szeto was the youngest of seven children , and was only in his early teens when his father died as a volunteer doctor in an off - limits quarantined city in Northern China leaving a will to his wife . Many lives were saved on his trip but he fell victim to that contagious disease , the bubonic plague . Home life . General Szeto has a son , a daughter , and grandchildren . He was athletic , being a goalkeeper of an ice hockey team and one in soccer . He also enjoyed ice skating , swimming , golfing ( getting two holes - in - one ) , and other sports .