The museum is housed in the last remaining classrooms of the Selman Field Navigation School, the largest navigation school in the U.S. during WWII. The Museum honors the story of General Claire Chennault and the Flying Tigers during WWII and how one man helped change the war in China. The bilingual “Way of a Fighter” exhibit is based on General Chennault’s book written in 1949. The museum also tells the story of how a small crop-dusting business evolved into the second largest airline in the world, Delta Airlines.
Opening its doors in 2000 with 3000 square feet, its expanded galleries have grown to 10,000 square feet providing over 11,000 artifacts and several veteran outreach programs. The aircraft restoration park is now open and provides a close-up look at many different aircrafts, from World War II to Vietnam.
Early disappointment taught him resilience and the bayou taught him self-reliance. Chennault lost his mother at the age of eight, and then lost his stepmother at the age of 16. He began hunting and camping by himself soon after his mother died. He learned how to track his prey and conserve his resources- skills that would serve him later in war.
 |
| Gen. Claire L. Chennault |
Who was Gen. Claire L. Chennault? General Chennault was born September 6, 1893, in Commerce, Texas. He grew up in Gilbert, Louisiana, and in 1909, at the age of 16, attended LSU. In 1913, Chennault moved to Kilbourne, Louisiana, with his wife, Nell. He was the principal of Kilbourne High School from 1913-1915.
At the outbreak of World War I, Chennault applied for the Army Air Service. He was denied multiple times and instead got accepted into the Army where he was assigned to the Army Signal Corps. Post-war he wnt to flight school and graduated in 1919. He was discharged in 1920, and later got accepted into the Army Air Service. In 1932, he formed the "Three Men on the Flying Trapeze," an Army air show flying group. During their last show in Florida, Chinese officials came to give Chennault an offer to train their aviators.
In 1937, Chennault retired from the military and traveled to China, where he was hired to survey their Air Force. He would report directly to Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. He found it lacking with outdated planes and little knowledge of flight. After Japan invaded China, Chennault flew to America to form the American Volunteer Group. There, he convinced the U.S. Government to send 100 P-40s to mainland China. They were outdated for the time and were originally meant for Britain, who instead recevied a newer model.
Chennault was integral to securing China's victory in WWII. His tactics were far superior to the Japanese and their Zeros. This resulted in a ratio of about one AVG craft to 25 Japanese crafts downed, and one 14th Air Force craft to 10 Japanese crafts downed. His tactics were so renowned that even the Air Force today employs some of his same tactics.
Chennault created a huge network of information in China, with it becoming an extremely effective early warning system. There was a long chain of telephone/radio operators, lookouts and runners. What makes it so impressive is that China had little to no infrastructure for systems like these. Radar wasn't easily accessible and almost impossible to implement. So he created a National Observer Corps from scratch as a radar substitute.
In 1947, after the divorce of his first wife Nell, Chennault would marry a Chinese reporter, Anna. She further cemented Chennault's legacy in China, who was and still is seen as a war hero to the Chinese people.
The main part of the museum has several exhibit rooms dedicated to the wars the U.S. fought in with exhibits from World War I, World War II Army and German artifacts from both wars. Europe's Great War was during 1914. There was also a small exhibit about Delta Airlines. Huff Daland, a regional aerial crop dusting service launched during 1924 in Monroe, became one of today's largest and most respected airlines, Delta, which provided Northeast Louisiana its first passenger service, and relocated to Atlanta, Georgia in the 1940s.
.jpg)
 |
| Tale of Two Brothers |
Sgt. Joe W. Wilson and Pvt John T. Wilson, two brothers from Texas took togetherness seriously. They joined Regt 36th Division and were transferred to France going over on the same ship. They then went "over the top" together and were both wounded during the battle of St. Etienne Cemetery in France. They were treated in the same hospital and later they both returned to the States. They received their honorable discharges together as well.
 |
| John Luther Kelly, M.D. |
Dr. John Kelly was a physician and surgeon in WWI with the Army Medical Corps in 1917.
 |
| Tuskegee Airmen -- We Dare Not Fail |
 |
| Class 42-H Tuskegee Flight School |
This profile of Adolf Hitler is cast in iron. This is a very rare piece and probably used in home or office decoration.
.jpg) |
| Hideki Tojo |
Hideki Tojo was Minister of War of Japan during WWII. He supported the attack on Pearl Harbor and other Allied outposts in the Pacific. He also masterminded the massacre and starvation of POWs. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945 one of General MacArthur's first measures was to issue arrest warrants for the most wanted war criminals. When the men arrived at Tojo's home to take him into custody they heard a gunshot at Tojo attempted, but failed, to kill himself by shooting himself in the heart. His life was saved and he was incarcerated at Sagumo Prison, put on trial, and hanged for war crimes in December 1948.
 |
| Tokyo Rose |
Iva Toguri graduated from the University of California in Los Angeles and an American citizen. She was the daughter of Japanese immigrants and had traveled to Japan to take care of a sick aunt just before Pearl Harbor. She was not able to return home after the war started, and accepted a job at Radio Tokyo and became a broadcaster. During the war Tokyo Rose was not any one individual but a group of female broadcasters for the Japanese Empire. Their programs were broadcast in the South Pacific and North America to demoralize Allied troops' wartime difficulties and military losses.
Lt. Col. Turner went to get Tokyo Rose and found out that she was at their communications center cuttting records for the boys. He arrested her and she stated she was no longer an American citizen but had married a man from Portugal hoping to not be subject to prosecution as a traitor. When she attempted to return to the U.S. she was arrested, tried and became the seventh person in the U.S. history to be convicted of treason. She was eventually paroled in 1956 and received a presidential pardon from President Ford for her role in the war.
 |
| Battle of Midway |
The Battle of Midway was one of the United States' earliest and most significant victories during WWII. In June 1942, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto aimed to expand his nation's territorial holdings in the Pacific. However, following the Doolittle Raids, Japan realized the need for a stronger defensive perimeter. The Japanese plan was to capture Midway and lure out the remaining American fleet to destroy it.
Despite being vastly outnumbered, the United States gained a strategic advantage by cracking parts of the Japanes naval code before the battle. As a result, the U.S. was able to ambush the Japanese fleet. The battle saw the Japanese lose ships, aircraft and men.
.jpg)
 |
| Silas Merritt -- "Uncle Si" Robertson Served 1968 - 1993 |
During WWII the United States was "friends" with China and fought with them against Japan. The next exhibits are some history about China and Claire Chennault.
 |
| Foo Dog |
Chinese guardian lions or Imperial guardian lion, traditionally known in Chinese simply as Shi, and often called "Foo Dogs" in the West, are a common representation of the lion in pre-modern China. Statutes of guardian lions have traditionally stood in front of Chinese Imperial palaces, Imperial tombs, government offices, temples, and the homes of government officials and the wealthy, from the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220), and were believed to have powerful mystic protective benefits.
The lions are always presented in pairs, a manifestation of yin and yang, the female representing the yin and the male yang. The male lion has its right front paw on a type of cloth ball simply called an "embroidered ball," which is sometimes carved with a geometric pattern (coincidentally, resembling the figure called "The Flower of Life" in the New Age movement). The female is essentially identical, but has a cub under the closer (left) paw to the male, representing the cycle of life. Symbolically, the female fu lion protects those dwelling inside, while the male guards the structure. Sometimes the female has her mouth closed, and the male open. This symbolizes the ennunication of the sacred word "om."
These two Terra-Cotta Warriors were cast from the original remains of some of the original statutes that were unrepairable. The molds were made from undamaged originals.
 |
| Terra Cotta Soldiers |
 |
| Qin Dynasty Terra-Cotta Army |
The Terra-Cotta Army or the "Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses" is a collection of terra-cotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emporer of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210-209 BCE, over 2,200 years ago. The purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife. The figures were discovered in 1974. Estimates are that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.
 |
| Claire Chennault |
A Sense of Destiny ~~ In 1937 Capt. Claire Chennault was 44 years old and should have been at the prime of his military career. Instead, he was recuperating from illness, restless and ready to resign.
"Nothing that I have advocated or recommended has been attained, every move I've made has been fought bitterly and my future career as an officer has been thoroughly blocked," Chennalt wrote to his brother. "Time moves on, cycle upon cycle, and life must find its justification in accomplishment. When an old, well known road is blocked, a new path must be opened. Obedient to the universal law, I am now surveying the outlines of a new life -- a life which will have little in common with anything I've known before."
China wanted Chennault to command its fledgling air force and use his innovative approach to aeronautics to repel the superior Japanese forces. The job "may amount to very little except a good paying position, but it may amount to a great deal... It is even possible that my 'feeble' efforts may influence history. I couldn't possibly pass up this opportunity for, after all, very few boys from Gilbert, La. will ever have the slightest chance to influence the history of the future years." ~~ Chennault's letter to his brother, Bill, tracing his thoughts as he decides to leave his homeland and go to China.
 |
| Billy McDonald, Claire Chennault & Luke Williamson |
Three Men on a Flying Trapeze ~~ In 1934 the U.S. Army Air Corps commissioned Chennault to form and lead an aerobatic exhibition team. The criteria: airmen capable of keeping up with Chennault during a 30-minute aerobatics trial. Chennault used this team to refine fighter tactics he and others developed.
Three pilots made the team: Haywood "Possum" Hansell, John H. "Luke" Williamson, and Billy McDonald. Chennault, Hansel and Williamson flew in most shows in the early days. McDonald filled in as an alternate. When Hansel left the team in 1934, McDonald took his place.
The men built strong relationships based on mutual respect for their flying skills and a shared belief in the importance of fighter aircraft in combat. During air shows, the planes flew so close together that many spectators thought they had collided. The distance between the planes sometimes was as little as three feet.
Gen. Mow Pang of the Chinese Air Force attended the group's farewell performance in January 1936 at the Miami Air Show. American businessman William Pawley invited the team to meet with Mow on his yacht. There, Mow asked Chennault and his wingmen to come to China to work as flight instructors.
Chennault encouraged McDonald and Williamson to pursue the offer. Taking Chennault's advice, McDonald and Williamson formed an advance team, headed to China and kept Chennault informed about Chinese military aviation capabilities.
Chennault retired from the U.S. military on April 30, 1937. The following day he sailed to China on a three-month contract. En route, he met McDonald in Japan. Posing as a farmer and an assistant manager of an aerobatic troupe, the two worked undercover gathering intelligence. They were ready to help the Chinese defend themselves.
"Nobody seemed to realize that, far from being just a stunt, the Three Men on a Flying Trapeze were convincing proof... that fighters could battle together through the most violent maneuvers of combat." ~~ Way of a Fighter
.jpg) |
| Three Japanese officers and a soldier take part in killing a Chinese captive |
 |
| Chemical weapons were used against the Chinese during the battle of Shanghai |
The Invading Storm ~~ The Japanese invaded Manchuria in September 1931, occupying it until the end of World War II. The aggressive Japanese expansionism triggered 14 years of war and untold acts of violence and cruelty that left 3-4 million Chinese soldiers dead and an estimated 20-55 million Chinese civilians dead.
Japanese Emperor Hirohito lifted international legal constraints on the treatment of Chinese prisoners in 1937. An estimated 30% of the Chinese prisoners of war died at the hands of their captors.
Over a six week period beginning in December 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied China's capital city of Nanking, with orders issued to "kill all captives." Filmed footage and still photographs taken by the Japanese themselves document the atrocity. An estimated 250,000 to 300,000 Chinese were murdered during this massacure alone.
The Chinese government seemd powerless to stop the slaughter against a much better trained and funded military force.
Section of the "24 bends" of the Ledo-Burma Road; 1944-1945 in Quinglong County, Guizhou Providence, China.
 |
| Repairs on the Burma Road |
 |
| A Burma Road supply convoy prepares for another climb |
 |
| On the Burma Road above the Mekong River Bridge |
 |
| Burmese and Chinese laborers using hand tools to build Burma Road |
Building a Supply Line ~~ Getting access to fuel and supplies was critical to China's ability to fight. They had to fight to maintain existing supply routes and open new ones. The mainland arteries were the Burma Road, and the railroad from French Indo-China. Chinese Pacific ports were blocked by the Japanese.
The Burma Road was built from 1937-1938 over rugged mountains and deep canyons. It stretched from Kunming in Yunnan Province to Lashio, Burma and gave China access to ports on the Indian Ocean. It covered a straight-line distance of 320 miles, but with the curves and switchbacks needed, it wound a daunting 717 miles.
More than 200 male and female workers labored to build the road. They hauled stones and crushed them into gravel using primitive rollers. Workers mixed crude paving slurry with their feet. The Road supplied China with as much as 87,000 tons of supplies hauled by 300-400 trucks a day until 1942.
The Japanese bombed the Burma Road repeatedly, but each time the Chinese rebuilt it for pennies. Manual labor was cheap and abundant. Improvements were ongoing until May 1942 when the Road was taken by the Japanese. It would not be fully operational until it was reopened by the Allied Forces in 1945.
"By early 1941 the Burma Road was the only remaining link between free China and the rest of the world." ~~ Way of a Fighter
 |
| Air raids sent the people of Chongqing to the dug-outs |
Building a Web ~~ When Chennault began training troops at Hangchow in 1937, he had a few good planes and many poorly trained pilots. Pilots who claimed to be battle ready routinely died during basic training exercises, destroying critcally needed aircraft.
 |
| The Gloster Gladiator, a British-made biplane fighter |
Chennault said the Chinese pilots trained by the Italian forces "were a menace to navigation," but those trained at American Col. Jouett's Hangchow Flight School "were extremely competent." He set about rebuilding the Chinese Air Force in the American mold, taking over the pilot training and moving the school to Kunming.
To be successful against the larger and more powerful Japanese air force, Chennault also knew he would have to leverage intelligence from "spotters" on the ground. Working with villagers throughout the countryside, Chennault was able to craft a system that gave him an hour or more to counter any impending attack.
The early warning net connected spotters by telegraph, telephone, and radio. They reported on the presence of aircraft and sometimes their number, direction, altitude and type. This network spread across China and became critical to the AVG's early successes and its ability to defend the Hump.
 |
| Young Claire Chennault during WWI |
 |
| Claire Chennault and Nell Thompson Chennault |
Claire and Nell Chennault had eight children -- six sons and two daughters.
 |
| Anna and Claire Chennault in 1947 |
 |
| Claire and Anna Chennault with their daughters |
 |
| Fake P-40 to fool Japanese pilots |
Becoming the Tigers: American Volunteer Group ~~ As Chinese supply routes continued to break down, the Chinese appealed directly to the U.S. for support. The lobbying effort was led by Dr. T.V. Soong, Madame Chang's older brother. American sentiment ran against entering the war in either Europe or the Pacific, but Soong persisted.
The aerial threat intensified in August 1940 when the Japanese began flying the Model Zero fighter. The Generalissimo knew that China needed American planes and pilots to fight back and asked Chennault to join the lobbying effort.
Chennault and Gen. Mow boarded the Chinese Clipper for America to join Soong's lobbying efforts. The trio met with Secretary of War Henry Stimson, who agreed to divert 100 P-40 fighter aircraft to China. In March 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared support for the Chinese against the Japanese and began sending military supplies that would form the basis for the American Volunteer Group.
Recruiting of military personnel was quietly authorized at the highest level, allowing a few select men to resign and volunteer for "advanced training." Even then, many top American military leaders opposed the AVG project.
The AVG dissolved July 4, 1942, and was replaced by the China Air Task Force. Chennault remained in China; in March 1942 he returned to active duty in the U.S. Army as a Colonel. He was promoted a few days later to Brigadier General. Over Chennault's objections, the Army refused to recognize their previous experience.
The Chinese Air Task Force struggled to defend China without adequate resources from the Allied Command. In an unprecedented move, Madame Chiang addressed Congress appealing for aid for China. Chennault sent a letter to President Roosevelt outlining the peril of not halting Japanese aggression. Their voices were heard, and on March 10, 1943, the 14th Air Force was created to replace the Chinese Air Task Force and placed under the command of Maj. Gen. Chennault.
The 14th Air Force is credited with destroying 2,600 enemy planes, sinking 2,230,000 tons of enemy merchant shipping, 14 naval vessels, 13,000 riverboats and knocking out 573 bridges. They established records for having the highest accuracy and the greatest number of aerial victories of any U.S. fighter group.
 |
| The Hump |
What was "the Hump"? ~~ As the Japanese occupied China's eastern ports and were threatening to take the Burma Road, help for the Chinese people could come from only one place -- the sky. The U.S. Military had never tried an aerial supply line on this scale, but the War Department was determined to "keep China in the war."
The "Able Route" as it was known, took pilots 525 miles from the Assam Valley of India across northern Berma and into Yunnan Province and Kunming. The mountainous route was nicknamed "The Hump."
But first the U.S. needed to get its ground support personnel in place. Members of the U.S. Army Air Forces Ferry Command left for Karachi to rendezvous with 27 Douglas DC-3 aircraft being sent to aid the war effort. The pilots were Air Force reserve pilots recruited from U.S. airlines.
The military part of the Hump Operation began in August 1942. The goal was to transport 5,000 tons of supplies a month to China. Problems with aircraft, weather and sickness limited the first month's delivery to less than 100 tons.
By the last full month of operation in July 1945, 71,000 tons of supplies were carried over the Hump. That effort took 722 aircraft, 34,000 military and 47,000 civilian personnel.
The Hump operation's success came at a high cost. The U.S. Air Force records list 508 aircraft lost, 81 of which were never found. There were 1,314 aircrew personnel killed and 354 still missing. But 1,171 pilots walked away safely.
 |
| Kunming people celebrating the end of WWII |
A Reluctant Good-Bye ~~ In April 1945, the Japanese launched an offensive to capture two key Chinese air bases. Over a six-week campaign, Chinese ground forces and the Chinese American Composite Wing drove them back. Attacks on Japan's supply lines set up a broader retreat that marked the turning of the tide in the war for China.
In the final weeks of the conflict, Allied command reorganized its forces to de-emphasize air power, dramatically reducing Chennault's command. His superiors made it clear that he would be "barred from any significant participation in the victory." Eight years to the day from his offer of service to Chiang Kaishek, Chennalt requested relief from his duties.
Chennault left Kunming bound for America on August 8, 1945, two days after the first of the two atomic bombings that brought WWII to an end.
[We visited the K-25 History Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee where we learned about the building of the atomic bombs and them being dropped on Japan. It was very interesting and I would recommend you click on the blue link and read about it.]
 |
| Chennault parade in downtown Monroe |
In addition to these exhibits, the Museum also has an outdoor exhibit of airplanes, which is where the rest of the pictures come from.
"All Gave Some -- Some Gave All" ~~ Dedicated to the memory of all who proudly served and protected their country.
 |
| OH-6 Cayuse "Loach" |
The OH-6 grew out of the Army's "LOH" (Light Observation Helicopter) program in the early 1960s. LOH came to be pronounced "Loach." Its role was to scout for enemy forces so that other air or ground forces could engage them. This scouting mission requires getting close enough to see the enemy forces, which means being exposed to all sorts of small arms and antiaircraft weapons. Operating at such low altitude, and typically unarmed, is therefore extremely hazardous. Indeed, about 2/3 of all the OH-6s produced were lost in the Vietnam War, along with many of their crew.
The OH-6 has been operated by multiple other countries and over 5,000 of the civilian variant MD-500 have been built. This OH-6 was one of the first aircraft acquired by the Chennault Museum.
 |
| P-40 Warhawk |
The Curtis P-40 Warhawk has become so closely linked to General Claire Chennault's American Volunteer Group that many people call it a "Flying Tiger." The Flying Tigers flew P-40s as volunteers attached to the Chinese Air Force before the United States entered the war in 1941. Nearly 14,000 P-40s were built and served with US and Allied forces throughout the European and Pacific Theaters in World War II. Although technically outclassed by many opposing fighters, Chennault's superior training and tactics made the P-40 a success.
 |
| A-7B Corsair II |
The A-7B Corsair II was developed as a light attack aircraft to replace the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. It features many innovative design features which result in greatly improved survivability and weapons accuracy compared to its predecessor. Introduced to service in 1967, 1,545 A-7s were built for the Navy, Air Force and allied air forces.
This plane is a veteran of the Vietnam War, serving with "Blue Blazers" off the USS Midway. Sonny Kifer, the Monroe native whose name appears on the cockpit rail, flew multiple combat missions in this plane.
This Corsair was restored by the Museum staff in 2016.
 |
| MiG-15 |
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 is best known as our primary adversary in the Korean War. Its capabilities as a fighter came as a serious shock when the Air Force and Navy first encountered it in combat. For 1950, it was fast, maneuverable, and well-armed. Although the arrival of the F-86 quickly tipped the advantage back to the US Forces, the MiG's remained a constant threat. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was confirmed that many of the MiGs in Korea were actually flown by veteran Russion pilots, including WWII aces. The MiG-15 was flown by 41 different countries.
 |
| F-86L Sabre |
The North American F-86L is an improved model of the F-86D "Sabre Dog" interceptor. It was designed specifically to counter the threat of Soviet bombers at the start of the Cold War. The F-86L was fully integrated with the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) control system which would detect incoming assaults and guide the interceptors directly to the enemy aircraft regardless of weather.
 |
| UH-1H Iroquois "Huey" |
When most people think of the Vietnam War, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter is the first image that comes to mind. Its nickname "Huey" comes from its initial Army designation HU-1, which was later changed to UH-1. Hueys were first used in Vietnam in 1962.
Over the course of the war about 7,000 Hueys served and nearly 2,600 were lost in combat and accidents. Hueys have served in every imaginable role, most notably as troop transports, gunships and medivacs. Over 17,000 Hueys have been built and served in the United States Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force as well as in the armed forces of over 60 countries.
 |
| Model 18R |
The Beechcraft Model 18R is a highly unusual and historically unique aircraft. Over 9,000 Beech 18s were built in dozens of different variants, but only seven were completed as 18Rs. Six of these were exported to China as light bombers.
The example here has been restored to model the 18R used as General Chennault's personal transport while he was organizing and then leading the Flying Tigers. Besides use as a personal transport, it was used to haul parts, supplies and people between bases and was an essential part of keeping the Flying Tigers fighting.
No comments:
Post a Comment