Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-08
By: CNA
Taiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, paid tribute to the late commander of the American
Ma Ying-jeou with Anna Chennault, a sprightly 90-year-old, Oct. 7, 2015. (Photo/CNA)
Volunteer Group, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, which flew missions for the ROC Air Force against Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War while receiving the group leader’s widow at the Presidential Office in Taipei on Wednesday.
The late major-general Claire Lee Chennault arrived in China in May 1937, two months before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and served as an adviser to the Aeronautical Commission of the Republic of China, assisting with the development of the Republic of China Air Force, Ma said. Chennault died in 1958.
In recognition of Chennault’s contributions to the ROC, Ma presented a commemorative medal to the American aviator’s widow, Anna Chennault, whom he received at the Presidential Office.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chennault recruited American pilots to create the Flying Tigers, which played an important role in air defense and transportation, Ma said. The unit flew missions between December 1941 and July 1942 before it was folded into a regular US fighter unit with the American entry into the war against Japan. [FULL STORY]
