Charles Bond ( pilot ) Charles Rankin Bond , Jr . ( April 22 , 1915 – August 18 , 2009 ) was an American pilot and United States Air Force officer . He served with the Flying Tigers in Burma and China during World War II . He was shot down twice and was credited with shooting down nine and a half Japanese airplanes . He later served in the Soviet Union as an aide and personal pilot to Averell Harriman . He rose to the level of brigadier general and , during the Vietnam War , he was the deputy commanding officer of the 2nd Air Division in Vietnam and the 13th Air Force in the Philippines . He retired from the United States Air Force in 1968 as commander of the Twelfth Air Force . In 1984 , Bond ' s diary of his service with the Flying Tigers was published and became a bestseller . Biography . Early years . Bond was born in Dallas , the son of Charles R . Bond , Sr . , and Magnolia Turner Bond . His father operated a small business painting and hanging wallpaper . Bond was an honor student in high school and a participant in the Reserve Officers ' Training Corps . He joined the Texas National Guard while in high school . His family could not afford to send him to college . In 1935 , he enlisted in the United States Army and enrolled in a West Point preparatory program hoping to be selected to attend the United States Military Academy . After failing to secure an appointment to the Military Academy , he returned home and worked for his father in the painting business . In 1938 , Bond learned of a program through which high school graduates could take an examination in lieu of college for acceptance as a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps . He passed the exam and reported to Randolph Field for pilot training . He received his commission as a pilot in January 1939 . In February 1939 , he was assigned to the Second Bomb Group at Langley , Virginia , where he served under Curtis LeMay . In March 1941 , he was assigned to the newly formed U . S . Army Air Corps Ferrying Command in Long Beach , California . World War II . Upon learning in June 1941 about the formation of the American Volunteer Group under the command of Claire Chennault , Bond immediately volunteered and departed in September 1941 to serve in the Pacific . After stops in Hawaii , Java , and Singapore , he arrived in Burma on November 12 , 1941 . The unit , based in Burma and China , was tasked with protecting supply routes between China and Burma and with supplying Chinese forces fighting the Japanese . The group was credited with shooting down 299 Japanese aircraft . It became known as the " Flying Tigers " . After seeing a picture of a Royal Air Force plane in North Africa , the group painted a shark mouth on the nose of their planes . Bond was the first to paint his Curtiss P - 40 Warhawk . Bond was credited with shooting down nine and a half Japanese aircraft , including three during a single 1942 mission . Bond was also shot down twice during his Flying Tigers service : in May 1942 , he was shot down over Paoshan , China , and he parachuted into a cemetery after his plane and clothing caught fire . He was hospitalized , but returned to combat and was shot down again in June 1942 ; he suffered head injuries but returned to combat within a week . The Flying Tigers received $ 500 for each Japanese plane they shot down , and Bond used the money to help his parents buy a house . He was awarded China ' s Order of the Cloud and Banner , fifth grade , and Seven Star Wing Medal for his service in the Flying Tigers . In addition to the Chinese decorations , Bond was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal , the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster , the Army Commendation Medal , the Distinguished Flying Cross , the Purple Heart and several other service and campaign medals . Bond returned to the United States in 1942 and was honored by the Dallas Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of the most outstanding young men in Texas . In October 1942 , he rejoined the Army Air Corps . During the latter part of the war , Bond served as an aide and the personal pilot for Averell Harriman , the American ambassador to the Soviet Union during the war . In that position , Bond met Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and many Russian officials . Bond was forced to make an emergency landing at Stalingrad after the famous battle for that city . Post - war military service . In 1949 , Bond received a Bachelor of Science degree in management engineering from Texas A & M University . He worked briefly worked as a commercial pilot , but rejoined the Army Air Forces after a few months of civilian work . In the post - war years , Bond had assignments with the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics and as chief of the Air Division of the U . S . Military Mission in Moscow . In 1957 , Brigadier General Bond assumed command of the 25th Air Division ( Defense ) with headquarters at McChord Air Force Base . During the Vietnam War , he served as deputy commanding officer of the 2nd Air Division in Vietnam and the 13th Air Force in the Philippines . In 1967 and 1968 he was commander of the Twelfth Air Force in Waco , Texas . In January 1968 , President Lyndon Johnson presented a Minuteman flag to Bond in ceremonies at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Texas . Bond accepted the flag on behalf of the entire Twelfth Air Force . Later years . After retiring from the military in 1968 , Bond worked as a consultant for Texas Instruments for ten years . He also worked for a skylight manufacturing company before retiring in 1983 . In 1984 , Bond co - authored " A Flying Tiger ' s Diary " with Terry H . Anderson , a historian at Texas A & M University . The bestselling book was based on a diary in which Bond made entries at the end of each day in 1941 and 1942 while serving with the Flying Tigers . Bond died at an assisted - living facility in Dallas from the effects of dementia .