Robert McCawley Short

Robert McCawley Short (October 4, 1904 in Steilacoom, Washington - February 22, 1932, in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China) was an American aviator, United States Army Air Forces pilot, and Republic of China Air Force Academy instructor.

[3] In 1932, when the Battle of Shanghai broke out and the Japanese Air Force bombed Chinese civilians, Short asked to participate in the anti-Japanese military operations.

[6][7][8] He was the first foreign pilot killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War,[9] and the first American casualty in operations against Japan, nine years before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

After the funeral meeting, four Chinese and American pilots carried the coffin, nearly tens of thousands of Shanghai citizens came for Short's send-off.

On April 28, more than 10,000 people from all walks of life in Suzhou rallied at the Hangzhou Public Stadium to commemorate Short.

[12] After the outbreak of the War, the Japanese army destroyed all of Short's graves, memorial pillars and monument pavilions.

After the victory of war in 1947, the national government brought Short's coffin from Shanghai to the Nanjing aviation martyrs cemetery for burial.

[15] On September 1, 2014, Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China listed Short as a Famous Hero Against Japanese Aggression (zh:著名抗日英烈和英雄群体名录).