Word: chennault
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Major General Claire Lee Chennault, 54, genius of U.S. air power in China, quit his job last week. In Kunming he announced that he had resigned as commander of the Fourteenth U.S. Army Air Force. He said he planned to retire from the Army and return...
...Chinese people (who called him "Old Leatherface") and to American airmen in his command, the news marked the end of a great era. Closer to Chiang Kai-shek than any U.S. military man, Chennault had, said one Chinese, "endeared himself to China more than any other foreigner since Marco Polo." Said one U.S. pilot: "We would rather fight with Chennault than any other man in the world...
Retired from the Army in 1937 because of ill health, Chennault went forthwith to China, at Madame Chiang's request, plunged immediately into building up Chinese air power from a handful of outdated planes. His first big success came in 1941, when he formed the famed, spectacular American Volunteer Group ("Flying Tigers"), which shot down 297 Jap planes at a cost of 14 pilots...
Army within Army. Wedemeyer's U.S. forces-only a few thousand-formed the nervous system of the new Chinese Army. The only combat Americans in China were the men of Major General Claire Chennault's redoubtable Fourteenth Air Force; their coordination was a key factor. Then U.S. ground troops, under Major General Robert ("Uncle Bob") McClure, a Guadalcanal veteran, were organized in a network of liaison units running like a stiffening spine through selected Chinese divisions...
Major General Claire L. Chennault, 54-year-old 14th Air Force Commander, sent a deadpan application from China for a postwar pitching berth with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He pointed with pride to his opening one-hit, 6-to-0 shutout game in the 14th's softball season, explained: "It appears the war should be over soon, and I am looking for a place to settle down...