In 1982, Loeffke became the first US Army general assigned to the American embassy in China, as defense attaché. In three years, he made Chinese friends and became fluent in Mandarin.

He also became the first foreigner to jump with Chinese paratroopers. Loeffke had been trying to make that jump for almost two years without success.

Then US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger made the request on his behalf when he visited China in 1984.

When the Chinese expressed concern that Loeffke might be injured, Weinberger replied: "I have hundreds of generals in the Pentagon. If he dies, I will send you another one."

"I started training with the Chinese Army within two weeks," Loeffke recalled. "The Chinese wanted me to jump with my own US parachute packed in the US. My answer: I want to use a Chinese parachute packed by Chinese riggers. I wanted them to know that I was trusting them with my life."

Loeffke laughed as he pointed at a photo in which a few Chinese military men were checking his parachute.

"This has been the most checked parachute of my whole life. They checked it 10 times. Usually you only check twice. I said I know why: If something happens to me, all of you will be executed. And they laughed."

He said that the jump and the time he spent with the Chinese paratroopers created a bond difficult to duplicate.

"I am now a Chinese brother paratrooper," Loeffke said.

More than 30 years later, the general still possesses the Chinese military helmet he wore when he made the jump in China.

While stationed in Beijing, Loeffke helped American runner Stan Cottrell set up a run from the Great Wall to the southernmost part of China. Three years later in 1985, Cottrell ran 3,600 miles across America with three Chinese runners.

Loeffke and 1,000 American paratroopers joined the run in Washington DC with a celebration afterward.

In 2006, he went to China for the 11th time, taking with him his 17-year-old son, Marc. Together they taught English to Chinese students.

Later he convinced his daughter Kristina to teach theater in China for a short period so that she could form some kind of bond with China.

In 2012, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the White House Fellows, Loeffke published a book, China, Our Enemy? A General's Story, in which he documented his experiences in China. He used the picture of Lei Fei for the cover, because Lei died helping others.

"An up-and-coming nation like China is bound to have friction with the United States, but that does not have to be an enemy. We need to establish a strong relationship to prevent war," he said of his book.