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SFO Museum mourns the passing of Captain Moon Fun Chin (1913–2023), one of commercial aviation’s greatest heroes. Born in Taishan, Guangdong, China, he immigrated to the U.S. as a child and after completing high school, obtained his pilot's license from the Curtiss Wright Flying School. In 1933, he returned to China and began his career with the China National Aviation Corporation as a mechanic and co-pilot. Three years later, he was promoted to captain. Although not a member of the U.S. military, he frequently volunteered for dangerous military rescue and ferrying missions during World War II and became one of the conflict’s most decorated civilian pilots, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal (Silver Star), the Air Medal, and the Presidential Unit Citation. Shortly after the war, he became head of operations for China’s Central Aviation Transport Corporation (CATC) and, in 1953, co-founded TransAsia Airways. In 2004, SFO Museum conducted an oral history interview with Captain Chin, and in 2014, he received the Achievement in Aviation Award from the San Francisco Aeronautical Society. New Horizons: The Magazine of America's Merchant Marine of the Air April, 1943 Collection of SFO Museum Gift of Marion L. Yates in memory of John A. Yates, PAA April 1938 -1973 2006.008.021.001-.025 Captain Moon Fun Chin, standing next to Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter, receives the Achievement in Aviation Award from the San Francisco Aeronautical Society in 2014 This image was posted on May 16, 2023.