The Chinese government paid the AVG salaries and bonuses for downed Japanese planes.. gov-ernment could not honor the AVG members, the Chinese government decorated many for heroism, as d
Trang 1Japanese movements The Chinese government paid the
AVG salaries and bonuses for downed Japanese planes
In all, the AVG had 299 confirmed kills and damaged
153 planes so badly that they probably could not fly
again, in addition to many destroyed on the ground It
also destroyed thousands of tons of Japanese supplies and
many trucks A total of 29 AVG men would become aces
for recording five or more enemy kills It lost 12 planes
in combat, 61 planes on the ground, 13 men in action,
and 10 in operational accidents Although the U.S
gov-ernment could not honor the AVG members, the Chinese
government decorated many for heroism, as did the
Brit-ish government for their actions over Rangoon Many of
its men joined the regular U.S Army Air Corps after the
AVG was disbanded Chennault also continued to serve
in China, but for the U.S armed forces
The AVG lasted for less than two years and saw
action for nine months Chennault’s skill, temperament,
and courage were essential for molding its members into
a great fighting unit that inflicted heavy damage on the
Japanese, boosted Chinese morale, and contributed to
Allied victory in World War II
Following the war Chennault remained in China to
assist the nationalist government against the
Commu-nists During that time he organized an airline called
Civil Air Transport (CAT), which would later become a
major resource for the U.S Central Intelligence Agency
in South Asia Chennault died on July 27, 1958, in new
Orleans, Louisiana
See also Sino-Japanese War
Further reading: Chennault, Anna Chennault and the Flying
Tigers new York: Paul S Ericson, 1963; Chennault, Claire
Way of a Fighter new York: Putnam, 1949; Ford, Daniel
Flying Tigers Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution
Press, 1991; Schultz, Duane The Maverick War: Chennault
and the Flying Tigers new York: St Martin’s Press, 1987.
Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur
Chiang Kai-shek
(1887–1975) Chinese military and political leader
Chiang’s proper name was Chung-cheng, but he is
bet-ter known by his courtesy name, Kai-shek The son of
gentry parents from Fenghua in Zhejiang (Chekiang)
Province, Chiang was raised by a widowed mother,
graduated from the first class of Paoting Military
Acad-emy, and then studied in a Japanese military school,
where he joined Dr Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary
move-ment, later called the Kuomintang (KMT, or national-ist Party [Guomindang]), in 1911 It became his lifelong cause He fought in the wars that overthrew the Man-chu Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty in 1911 and with Sun out of power in 1912, became a businessman in Shanghai
In 1922 Chiang answered Sun’s call in Canton Sun sent him to the Soviet Union in 1923, where he spent three months studying Red Army techniques and
in talks with Leon Trotsky (father of the Soviet Red Army) This trip made him deeply suspicious of
Sovi-et intentions in China Back in China he founded the Whampoa Military Academy, which trained officers in Sun’s Three People’s Principles and in modern military techniques In 1926 Chiang led the Northern Expedi-tion to unite China under the Kuomintang His rapid victories led to the capture of southern China and the Yangzi (Yangtze) River valley by 1927, whereupon he broke with the Soviet Union, expelled its advisers, and purged the KMT of its left-wing elements, led by Wang
Chiang Kai-shek led the Nationalist forces in the Northern Expedi-tion and was ultimately defeated in the Chinese Civil War.