Emil C. Tallant was born on May 26, 1921 in Illinois. He served in the US Air Corps as a Flight Officer and Co-Pilot of an aircraft during World War II. He was one of the four airmen killed, when their transport, C-46A Commando #43-47210, loaded with gasoline, crashed on takeoff from the airfield at Kumming, China. He is now buried in the Springfield National Cemetery, Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA. Flight Officer Tallant was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.