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ANNALS OF THE FLYING TIGERS

Bubba shows his teeth

Gotta love the nose art of Bubba Wallace's Camry, painted in tribute to the AVG Flying Tigers, with nods also to Comcast Xfinity, the USAF, and -- poignantly! -- the best-selling sedan from, oh my, Toyota, with its headquarters at the eponymous city between Osaka and Tokyo. Wouldn't Claire Chennault be surprised?

If, like me, you've never heard of Bubba, he was born William Darrel Wallace Jr and competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving a Camry XSE. You can pick one up at your Toyota dealer for about $36,000 with all-wheel drive, but the shark-mouth paint job will cost you extra. As for the Xfinity connection, watch for the commercials.

Chopping up a Ki-27 fighter

At least two Japanese fighter pilots made jibaku ("body-crashing") dives on Mingaladon airport in January 1942, one apparently trying to hit Robert Sandell's Tomahawk as he was making an emergency landing on the runway, the other trying to hit a parked RAF Blenheim bomber. The photo above doesn't seem to match descriptions of either. It appeared in the Australian edition of Retreat in the East by the British war correspondent O'Dowd Gallagher, published in the US as Action in the East. (There's a pirated edition on Amazon but I've no idea if it includes the photo.)

Blue skies! -- Daniel Ford You can send humanitarian aid through Razom for Ukraine (a tax-exempt US-based charity). Or donate to the military through the National Bank of Ukraine.

A 'Special Air Unit' for China: