Members of the Air Force's 34th squadron gathered yesterday for a reunion in Taipei, with members in attendance from both Taiwan and the US.
Their gathering was not only an opportunity for squadron members to rejoice in one another's company some 30 years after they were last together. It was also an opportunity to reflect on their past and the close military ties Taiwan and the US used to share.
"Although this is a joyful occasion, at this point I can not stop remembering our 140 gallant airmen who lost their lives to achieve innumerable missions over a vast area guarded by a strong air defense system," said Lieutenant General I Fu-en (
From the 1950s to the mid 1960s, the squadron carried out 838 missions -- 585 sorties over China and 253 in Vietnam, Yi said.
Without ground crews in Taiwan at the time, backing up the 34th on its missions, the collection of valuable electronic information would have been impossible, Yi said.
Flying these risky U2 reconnaissance missions, the Air Force's 34th and 35th squadrons gathered valuable intelligence information.
This information gave US bombers and missiles coordinates for valuable targets.
Such targets "opened up a window over China" and helped "strengthen the position of leaders in Washington when dealing with Chicom [the Chinese communists] at that time," Yi said.
Such a reunion "is a testimony of the contribution made by the 34th squadron to the free world," he said.
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