Captain Moon Fun Chin was never ever been a U.S. military personnel, yet he was awarded four prestigious medals by the U.S. government: The Distinguished Flying Cross, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal (Silver Star), The Air Medal, and The Presidential Unit Citation. He became one of the most decorated civilian pilots by the U.S. military. Who was Captain Moon Chin, and how did that happen? He was the pilot who flew Jimmy Doolittle from Chongqing to Calcutta, first leg of Doolittle’s journey back to the U.S. after leading the famous “Doolittle Raid.” He was probably the first pilot who flew over “The Hump” (the Himalaya Mountains) which was so crucial with providing supplies to China via the Flying Tigers during WWII. He was also an early aviation pioneer and entrepreneur who successfully founded and managed an airline. This article provides a brief summary of the fascinating life story of Captain Moon Chin. It is based on a much longer article “Biplanes over China to the Edge of Cyberspace: The Life of Moon Chin” by Philip Chin (no relation to Moon Chin).[1]
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The Fascinating Life Story of Captain Moon Chin: A Highly Decorated Chinese American Hero
Taiji and Parkinson Disease
Many medical research studies in the last 20 years have already shown that there are many health benefits from practicing Taiji. [1] These include benefits for lowering of blood pressure, increase in immunity to shingles, relief to osteoarthritis, improvement in the control of Type 2 diabetes, lowering stress and pain reduction, reducing probability of falling for senior citizens, reducing probability of Alzheimer’s disease, and general improvement in overall health. A recent study [2] shows an additional benefit from practicing Taiji with respect to Parkinson’s disease.
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Magnificent Istanbul: A Glimpse of Its Early History
As the world’s only metropolis that extends into more than one continent, Istanbul straddles Asia and Europe, with the Bosphorus Strait separating the two continents. Not only that the eastern part of Istanbul situates in Asia and its western part situates in Europe, Istanbul is also at the cross road for trade between Asia and Africa and between Europe and Africa. Because of this strategic location connecting the three continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa, and of a huge, beautiful harbor, Istanbul has been a key city for many empires during its 3,000 years of existence, and is known by many names: Byzantium, Constantinople, and Istanbul.
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The Doolittle Raid: Mission Impossible and Its Impact on the U.S. and China
April 18, 2012 marks the 70th anniversary of the legendary Doolittle Raid that involved personal sacrifices, engineering ingenuity, human compassion, and deadly vengeance. In the several months after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Japan continued its military success with one victory after another. [1] In spite of the government rhetoric, because the American government didn’t appear to be able to fight back and infringe damage on Japan, the morale of the American people was very low. To his credit, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, together with the American military, proposed what at first seemed like an impossible mission: Send bombers on a surprise but non-suicidal attack to drop bombs on Japan. What resulted was the Doolittle Raid. This article discusses this “impossible” mission, and its impacts on the U.S. and China.
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