On December 7, 2017, EWI Global Vice President Bruce McConnell, traveled to Tengchong, Yunnan Province, China to participate in an important event honoring United States assistance to Chinese forces during World War II.

At Tengchong’s Western Yunnan War Memorial and War museum, Bruce and his brother Dorsey W. M. McConnell, the 8th Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh, PA, prepared a personal tribute honoring their father, General John Paul McConnell. General McConnell was a decorated pilot who became the sixth Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, and served alongside Chinese forces in India, Burma, and China during and after the war. Their mother, Sally Dean, also served in the U.S. military in Asia, and their parents actually married in Nanjing in 1946.

As part of the ceremony, the family donated to the museum a saddle blanket from Mongolia, originally presented to their father by Mao Zedong as a token of his appreciation for General McConnell having flown him for diplomatic negotiations.

At the ceremony, they were joined by local dignitaries and received a warm welcome from Li Ping, vice mayor of Tengchong. Bruce McConnell shared brief remarks on the importance of U.S.-China cooperation in promoting global peace and security.

For more information about the event, please click here.

Click here to read McConnell's remarks in English and Chinese.