Flying Tigers Project : oral history, 1962.

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Flying Tigers Project : oral history, 1962.

At the Flying Tiger reunion at Ojai, California, in 1962, pilots, mechanics, radiomen, administrative, and ground crew personnel reminisced of their experiences with Chennault's American Volunteer Group in Burma and China, and with the China National Aviation Corps, during and after World War II. They detail adventurous days in Rangoon, Toungoo and Kunming, retreating over the Burma Road, flying P-40's against Japanese bombers and Zeros, and operating the Mukden shuttle before the fall of Shanghai in 1949. The natural focus of those days was Claire Chennault, and these men and women recount anecdotes and impressions of him. While informal and unstructured, these interviews provide source material on a thinly documented phase of World War II, and the lore that has grown around it. Participants and pagination: Mrs. Anna Chennault and Thomas Corcoran,4; Thomas Corcundale, 16; Jerry Costello and John Vivian, 12; Tom Cotton, 31; Doreen Davis, 47; Tex Hill, 23; Joe Jordan, 38; Gayle McAlister, 13; Robert Neale, 60; Charley Older, 38; Bob Prescott, 43; Doc Richardson and Bob Blyer, 21; Don Rodewald and Wilfred Schaper, 40; Don Rodewald, Harvey Wirta and Wilfred Schaper, 57; Bob Smith, 38; Tom Trumble, 78; John Vivian, 24.

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Chennault, Claire Lee, 1893-1958

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gr7n7d (person)

Claire Lee Chennault (September 6, 1893 – July 27, 1958), sometimes known as Old Leatherface, was an American military aviator best known for his leadership of the "Flying Tigers" and the Republic of China Air Force in World War II. Chennault was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fighter-interceptor aircraft during the 1930s when the United States Army Air Corps was focused primarily on high-altitude bombardment. Chennault retired from the United States Army in 1937, and went to work as an av...