John Richard Rossi

John Richard Rossi was born in Placerville, CA, schooled in San Francisco and attended the University of California at Berkeley. He enlisted in the Navy in the fall of 1939 and was selected for flight training. Upon receiving his wings and commission in 1940, he was assigned as a Flight Instructor at Pensacola, FL.

“Dick” resigned his Navy commission in 1941 to join the American Volunteer Group (AVG) under the command of Colonel Claire Chennault. He arrived in Rangoon on November 12, 1941, and was undergoing a training program in P-40 aircraft at Toungoo, Burma, when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Rossi engaged in his first combat over Burma in January 1942 (the second time he fired the guns in the P-40 he was in combat) and flew his last over the East China front in July 1942. Dick was a member of the AVG’s First Pursuit Squadron (“Adam and Eve”).

When the AVG, better known as the “Flying Tigers,” was disbanded in 1942, Rossi joined the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), flying supplies from India to China. By the time the war was over he had flown a record 735 trips across “The Hump.”

After the war, Rossi, a founder of the Flying Tiger Line freight carrier, returned to California, where he flew as a captain for 25 years, logging a lifetime of more than 25,000 flying hours. He served as president of the AVG Flying Tigers Association for 65 years and is a member of the American Fighter Aces Association. Rossi was also a founder of the Hungry Tiger, a chain of restaurants that were popular from 1960 to the 1980s.

The Chinese government awarded Rossi the White Cloud Banner Grade V, China Air Force Wings (5 Stars) and the China War Memorial Decoration. He was also awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses; the Air Medal; two Presidential Unit Citations; a World War II Victory Medal; the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with four bronze stars for the India-Burma, Central Burma, China Defensive and China Offensive campaigns; and the Honorable Service Lapel Button.

In 1969 he was given a Commendation from the USAF for sustained aerial support of combat operations in South Vietnam. The AVG was inducted into the Confederate Air Force Hall of Fame in 1998 and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 1999 Rossi was awarded the status of “Eagle” by the International Association of Eagles. In 2007, the local Fallbrook VFW Post 1924 selected Rossi as their Veteran’s Day honoree.

Rossi and his wife, Lydia, enjoyed traveling the world and visited China seven times. The last time Rossi was seated next to the President of China, Hu Jintao, who toasted him and thanked him for what the Flying Tigers and other American veterans had done for the Chinese people.

He loved being with his family, going on Boy Scout hikes with his son and growing avocados.

Rossi, a 35-year resident of Fallbrook, succumbed to complications from pneumonia and passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by his loving family. He is survived by wife Lydia Rossi of Fallbrook, son Anthony Rossi of San Diego and numerous other relatives.

Services will be held on Saturday, May 3, at 3 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 1405 E. Fallbrook Street.