In retrospect the only thing I ever remember the F-117 or B-2 “stealth” planes from was 90s airshows and vidya, and that time...
In retrospect the only thing I ever remember the F-117 or B-2 “stealth” planes from was 90s airshows and vidya, and that time one got shot down by like the Serbians
so you’re saying the stealth planes slipped right by you huh
The events of the spring of 1999 have mostly been forgotten by Americans, but they left a comparatively deep impression on the Chinese. Here is (an extremely long) excerpt from Peter Hessler’s book Oracle Bones, about his work as a “clipper” for the Wall Street Journal when he was living in China:
In May of 1999, when a United States B2 plane took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, flew to Belgrade, and dropped a series of satellite-directed bombs on the Chinese embassy, killing three Chinese journalists, the Wall Street Journal created a new file: U.S.-CHINA—EMBASSY BOMBING. It fit next to EXCHANGES.
I happened to be in the southern city of Nanjing when the attack occurred. That was my first research trip: I planned to write a newspaper travel article about the history of the city, which had been the capital of China during various periods. Nanjing was the sort of place important events always seemed to march through on their way to some other destination. Over the centuries, various armies had occupied the city, and great leaders had come and gone, leaving nothing but tombs and silent memorials of stone. Even the name itself—“Southern Capital”—was a type of memory.