The faculty at FU is proud to add Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault to it’s Hall of Heros.  Claire Chennault was a contentious officer, and a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fight-interceptor aircraft during the 1930s when the U.S. Army Air Corps was focused primarily on high-altitude bombardment. Kinda of sound like our military leadership of today?  Chennault retired in 1937, went to work as an aviation trainer and adviser in China, and commanded the "Flying Tigers” during World War II, both the volunteer group and the uniformed units that replaced it in 1942.

Poor health and disputes with superiors (I guess they didn’t do Rolling Stones interviews back then) led Chennault to resign from the service on 30 April 1937. He then went to China and joined a small group of American civilians training Chinese airmen. When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in July, he served as "air adviser" to Nationalist Government leader General Chiang Kai-shek.

Immediately following the Japanese air Attack on Pearl Harbor, the first news reports released to the public pertaining to Claire Chennault's war exploits occurred on 20 December 1941 when senior Chinese officials in Chungking that Saturday evening released his name to United Press International reporters to commemorate the first aerial attack made by the international air force called the American Volunteer Group (AVG).

These American flyers encountered ten Japanese planes heading to raid Kunming, and successfully shot down four of the raiders. Thus, Colonel Claire Chennault became America's first military leader to be publicly recognized for striking a blow against the Japanese military forces. 

Based primarily out of Rangoon, Burma and Kunming,  Yunnan, Chennault's 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) – better known as the "Flying Tigers” – began training in August 1941 and fought the Japanese for seven months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Chennault's three squadrons used P-40s to guard the Burma Road, Rangoon, and other strategic locations in Southeast Asia.

After the War, Chennault had a high opinion of Chiang Kai-shek and advocated international support for Asian anti-communist movements. He purchased several surplus military aircraft and created the Civil Air Transport (later known as Air America).  These aircraft facilitated aid to Nationalist China during the struggle against Chinese Communists in the late 1940s, and were later used in supply missions to French forces in Indochina.

In 1951, a now-retired Major General Chennault testified and provided written statements to the Senate Joint Committee on Armed Forces and Foreign Relations, which was investigating the causes of the fall of China in 1949 to Communist forces. Together with Army General Albert C. Wedemeyer, Navy Vice Admiral Oscar C. Badger II, and others, Chennault stated that the Truman administration's arms embargo was a key factor in the loss of morale to the Nationalist armies. Shortly before his death, Chennault was asked to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee of the Congress. When a committee member asked him who won the Korean War, his response was blunt: "The Communists." 

Here's a great video clip from back in the day about Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers.
 

What can I say, but the 4^th is by far my favorite holiday so we here’s another shot across the bow for all you red blooded freedom lovers.  The video narrated by Oliver North speaks for itself.  We live in the land of the free because of the brave men and women we have willing to step up to the plate and answer the call to protect freedom.  So without pontificating any further, our latest addition to the hall of FU hero’s is the American Soldier, Sailor, and Marine serving our country around the world 24-7-365. 

Members of the Lafayette Escadrille.  Bill Thaw, fourth from the left.