Honoring Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault Commander of the American Volunteer Group and the Fourteenth Air Force

Remarks of Donald M. Bishop
Minister-Counselor for Press and Cultural Affairs
American Embassy Beijing
At the Jintai Museum, Chaoyang Park, Beijing

September 15, 2005
 
It is an honor to represent the American Embassy at this ceremony to unveil this new bust of Lieutenant General Claire Chennault at the Jintai Museum.

I bring the greetings of Ambassador Randt and all the Americans who live in Beijing.
 
General Chennault’s contributions to the victory in the Second World War are well known in China.
 
He was originally a teacher in a country schoolhouse in rural Louisiana.  But he entered the Army and became one of America’s most innovative military pilots.
 
After he retired, he was an aviation advisor to Chiang Kai-Shek in the late 1930s.  He recruited and led the original American Volunteer Group that defended the skies over Kunming in late 1941 and early 1942.  The Flying Tigers defeated the Japanese in the air, and their victories raised morale in China and the United States.
 
Under his command, the Flying Tigers of the 14th Air Force were in the war from 1942 to 1945, again contributing to the eventual victory.  American Air Force units flew from many airfields in China, including several in Guizhou province.  They destroyed Japanese aircraft, troops, railroad trains, riverboats, and shipping.  They supported the Chinese army’s offensives against the enemy.  During the Japanese offensive of 1944, Chennault’s aircraft protected the refugee columns from attack by Japanese units.
 
Chennault was known for having a rugged face that gave some an impression of a hard and unfriendly character.  But the pilots who served under him knew he was still a teacher at heart.
 
This bust of General Chennault honors a great American.  But it also honors the friendship and the alliance between China and the United States.  The Jintai Museum deserves our thanks for creating the statue and placing it here in this lovely setting.  May this bust of General Chennault remind Chinese and Americans of their shared sacrifices and shared victory – for many generations.
 

Please click here to view pictures from the ceremony.