A look at the Americans who helped the Chinese Air Force

World Today

One hundred pilots and 200 technicians were recruited as “volunteers” for the Chinese Air Force. Their mission: to help defeat the Japanese. They were dubbed “The Flying Tigers.”

CCTV’s Roee Ruttenberg filed the story.

More details:

  • Under Japanese occupation in the 1930s, the Chinese endured relentless aerial bombardment by Japan.
  • As China’s chief air adviser, American Claire Lee went back to Washington to lobby for help. The result: covert American support for the Chinese military-including money, material, and men.