AIDC Commemorates General Ke-Jhen Wu on His 25th Anniversary of Fatal IDF Test Flight
2016/7/21
To commemorate General Ke-Jhen Wu and his inspirational morale and extraordinary bravery and faithful service to our country and in his fulfillment of responsibilities, today July 21st, AIDC Chairman Anson Liao addressed a large gathering in front of General Wu’s bronze sculpture to observe the 25th anniversary of his passing. General Wu’s beloved wife, Huei-Ling Jheng, his brother Ke-Chin Wu, IDF Chief Test Pilot K. M. Wu, his fellow classmates from the Air Force Academy, his fellow AIDC colleagues from various departments once involved on the IDF in various functions and capacities gathered to honor and pay their respect to General Wu for his fearless sacrifice for his nation.
An extract from a translation which General Wu wrote read; “On October 20th, 1974, I came to Ching-Chuan-Kang Air base where I received basic and 8 months combat training on the F-104G after which I truly become a first-line R.O.C. fighter pilot. After nearly 9 years of training and cultivation by my country, finally, I became a real soldier with needed skills to guard it. From now on, I will dedicate myself to serve my country with all contributions I can offer to fulfill my childhood wish.” And all who knew General Wu, knows he never waived from that commitment. “I am and will forever be proud of him,” said Mrs. Wu.
Recalling the fatal aircraft incident on July 12th, 1991, while General Wu was flying the F-CK-1A 10002 prototype while conducting a low-altitude, high-speed flight test maneuver which claimed his life at his age of 41 years old, AIDC Acting President Kang Shiah along with AIDC colleagues in attendance, on the day of July 12th, 2016, presided over a memorial ceremony to honor General Wu, as Chairman Liao could not preside over the ceremony due to prior business obligations necessitating his attendance at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow in UK.
Chairman Liao titled the 25th Anniversary Commemoration of General Ke-Jhen Wu by stressing that “Who a nation remembers? Who AIDC remembers?” and cited what former U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy said: “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.” Chairman Liao expressed his heartfelt gratefulness and respect toward General Wu with all participants in attendance saying: “We are always and will be forever grateful to General Wu for his contribution and sacrifices for our country. He will always live in our hearts.”
Chairman Liao further mentioned that in a speech by former Premier Fei Tang of the Executive Yuan given at a seminar -- “Black Bat Squadron Memorial Hall in Hsinchu : Pay Tribute to the Brave” it was said that in World War II, Hitler had sent troops and had prepared for massive air strikes to bomb the English Channel, but abandoned the strikes as both sides had already suffered heavy casualties from war. Subsequently, the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in a broadcast to all his people expressed his gratefulness for the deceased soldiers by saying that we all owed the deceased British soldiers for their sacrifice. On March 29 of last year, Chairman Liao, as a veteran himself and on behalf of AIDC, was invited to attend the Spring Memorial Ceremony to honor the deceased soldiers at the Bitan Air Force cemetery. Prior to the ceremony, he went to lay flowers in front of the graves of General Ke-Jhen Wu and General Yong-Jhao Li to pay tribute for their contributions.
Chairman Liao pointed out that while government policy was being directed towards independent national defense and indigenously-made trainer jets, AIDC should take advantage of the opportunity along with our firm determination to again consolidate the various professional knowledge of engineering, R&D, manufacturing, tests, etc. and personnel morale to achieve the goal of building domestic advanced trainer, so as to restore AIDC’s bright history of the past and live up to General Wu’s expectations and blessings in Heaven. Chairman Liao further committed and reiterated that AIDC definitely will strive for the indigenous design and manufacture of the next generation advanced trainer jets to ensure the sustainability of the company.
An extract from a translation which General Wu wrote read; “On October 20th, 1974, I came to Ching-Chuan-Kang Air base where I received basic and 8 months combat training on the F-104G after which I truly become a first-line R.O.C. fighter pilot. After nearly 9 years of training and cultivation by my country, finally, I became a real soldier with needed skills to guard it. From now on, I will dedicate myself to serve my country with all contributions I can offer to fulfill my childhood wish.” And all who knew General Wu, knows he never waived from that commitment. “I am and will forever be proud of him,” said Mrs. Wu.
Recalling the fatal aircraft incident on July 12th, 1991, while General Wu was flying the F-CK-1A 10002 prototype while conducting a low-altitude, high-speed flight test maneuver which claimed his life at his age of 41 years old, AIDC Acting President Kang Shiah along with AIDC colleagues in attendance, on the day of July 12th, 2016, presided over a memorial ceremony to honor General Wu, as Chairman Liao could not preside over the ceremony due to prior business obligations necessitating his attendance at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow in UK.
Chairman Liao titled the 25th Anniversary Commemoration of General Ke-Jhen Wu by stressing that “Who a nation remembers? Who AIDC remembers?” and cited what former U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy said: “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.” Chairman Liao expressed his heartfelt gratefulness and respect toward General Wu with all participants in attendance saying: “We are always and will be forever grateful to General Wu for his contribution and sacrifices for our country. He will always live in our hearts.”
Chairman Liao further mentioned that in a speech by former Premier Fei Tang of the Executive Yuan given at a seminar -- “Black Bat Squadron Memorial Hall in Hsinchu : Pay Tribute to the Brave” it was said that in World War II, Hitler had sent troops and had prepared for massive air strikes to bomb the English Channel, but abandoned the strikes as both sides had already suffered heavy casualties from war. Subsequently, the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in a broadcast to all his people expressed his gratefulness for the deceased soldiers by saying that we all owed the deceased British soldiers for their sacrifice. On March 29 of last year, Chairman Liao, as a veteran himself and on behalf of AIDC, was invited to attend the Spring Memorial Ceremony to honor the deceased soldiers at the Bitan Air Force cemetery. Prior to the ceremony, he went to lay flowers in front of the graves of General Ke-Jhen Wu and General Yong-Jhao Li to pay tribute for their contributions.
Chairman Liao pointed out that while government policy was being directed towards independent national defense and indigenously-made trainer jets, AIDC should take advantage of the opportunity along with our firm determination to again consolidate the various professional knowledge of engineering, R&D, manufacturing, tests, etc. and personnel morale to achieve the goal of building domestic advanced trainer, so as to restore AIDC’s bright history of the past and live up to General Wu’s expectations and blessings in Heaven. Chairman Liao further committed and reiterated that AIDC definitely will strive for the indigenous design and manufacture of the next generation advanced trainer jets to ensure the sustainability of the company.
