Life magazine, August 10, 1942. Life cover displays Brigadier General Claire Lee Chennault; born in Texas, 1890; enlisted in Army Air Force, 1917; barnstormed around country in Army's flying circus, 1922; retired because of deafness, went to China to plan aerial defense, 1937; commanded A.V.G., 1941; made chief of U.S. Air Force in China, 1941
Legacy[edit]
Legacy
In December 1972, Chennault was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, along with Leroy Grumman, Curtis LeMay and James H. Kindelberger. The ceremony was headed by retired Brigadier General Jimmy Stewart, and a portrait of Chennault by cartoonist Milton Caniff was unveiled. General Electric vice-president Gerhard Neumann, a former AVG crew chief and the technical sergeant who repaired a downed Zero for flight, spoke of Chennault's unorthodox methods and of his strong personality.[50]
Chennault was honored by the United States Postal Service with a 40¢ Great Americans series (1980–2000) postage stamp.[51][52]
Chennault is commemorated by a statue in the Republic of China's capital, Taipei, as well as by monuments on the grounds of the Louisiana State Capitol at Baton Rouge and at the former Chennault Air Force Base, now the commercial Chennault International Airport in Lake Charles. The Chennault Aviation and Military Museum, located near the entrance to Monroe Regional Airport, and Chennault Park, also in Monroe, are also named in his honor. Nell Martien Calloway, named for her grandmother, Nell Thompson Chennault, and the daughter of Rosemary Simrall and Simrall's first husband, Norman Hopkins Martien, Jr. (1926-2012), is the director of the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum in Monroe.[53][54]
A vintage Curtiss P-40 aircraft, nicknamed "Joy", is on display at the riverside war memorial in Baton Rouge, painted in the colors of the Flying Tigers. In 2006 the University of Louisiana at Monroe renamed its athletic teams the Warhawks, honoring Chennault's AVG Curtiss P-40 fighter aircraft nickname. A large display of Genl Chennault's orders, medals and other decorations has been on loan to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., by his widow Anna since the museum's opening in 1976.[citation needed]
For many years Chennault was viewed negatively within the People's Republic of China, due to his role against the Communist forces during the Chinese Civil War. However, this has changed slowly since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the PRC and the U.S., with Chennault being viewed more positively. In 2005, the "Flying Tigers Memorial" was built in Huaihua, Hunan Province, on one of the old airstrips used by the Flying Tigers in the 1940s. On the 65th anniversary of the Japanese surrender, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and PRC officials unveiled a statue of Chennault in Zhijiang County, Hunan.[55] The Kunming Flying Tigers Museum opened on December 20, 2012, on the 71st anniversary of the first combat in Kunming of the Flying Tigers.[citation needed]
On October 7, 2015, Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou awarded a medal commemorating victory in the War of Resistance to Chennault, which was accepted by his widow Anna Chennault.[56]
.jpg)
.jpg)
Chongqing is also home to a Flying Tigers Memorial and Exhibition dedicated to Chennault and his aviators. It is opposite the former residence of General Stilwell.
Film portrayal[edit]
In the 1945 US propaganda film God Is My Co-Pilot, Chennault as commander of the AVG was played by the Canadian Raymond Massey.
Dates of rank[edit]
| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
 | First lieutenant | Officers' Reserve Corps (Infantry Section) | 27 November 1917 |
| First lieutenant | Officers' Reserve Corps (Signals, Aviation Section) | 27 November 1917 (accepted 5 March 1918) |
| First lieutenant | Regular Army (United States Army Air Service) | 1 July (accepted 14 September) 1920 |
 | Captain | Regular Army (United States Army Air Corps) | 12 April 1929 |
 | Temporary Major | Regular Army (United States Army Air Corps) | 11 March 1935 |
| Major | Regular Army (United States Army Air Corps), Retired | 30 April 1937 |
| Major (restored to active duty) | Regular Army (United States Army Air Forces) | 7 April 1942 |
 | Colonel | Army of the United States | 10 April 1942 |
 | Brigadier general | Army of the United States | 22 April 1942 |
 | Major general | Army of the United States | 14 March 1943 |
| Major general | Regular Army (United States Army Air Forces), Retired | 31 October 1945 |
 | Lieutenant general | United States Air Force, Retired | 18 July 1958 |
Source:[57]
Awards and decorations[edit]
- Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
- Navy Distinguished Service Medal
- Legion of Merit
- Distinguished Flying Cross
- Air Medal
- Victory Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four campaign stars
- World War II Victory Medal
- Order of Blue Sky and White Sun (China)
- Order of the Cloud and Banner, 3rd Grade (China)
- Commander, Order of the British Empire (United Kingdom)
- Legion of Honor (France)
- Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)
- Croix de Guerre (France)
- China War Memorial Medal (China)
In addition to the above, Chennault received several other foreign orders and decorations.
Chennault, who, unlike Joseph Stilwell, had a high opinion of Chiang Kai-shek, advocated international support for Asian anti-communist movements. Returning to China, he purchased several surplus military aircraft and created the Civil Air Transport, (later known as Air America).[36] These aircraft facilitated aid to Nationalist China during the struggle against Chinese Communists in the late 1940s, and were later used in supply missions to French forces in Indochina[36] and the Kuomintang occupation of northern Burma throughout the mid- and late-1950s, providing support for the Thai police force. This same force supplied the intelligence community and others during the Vietnam conflict.[37][38][39]
Claire Lee Chennault
与约瑟夫史迪威不同，陈纳德对蒋介石持高度评价，主张国际支持亚洲反共运动。 回到中国后，他购买了几架多余的军用飞机并创建了民用航空运输（后来被称为美国航空公司）。[36] 这些飞机在20世纪40年代后期与中国共产党人的斗争中为民族主义中国提供了援助，后来被用于印度支那法国军队的供应任务[36]以及整个20世纪50年代中后期国民党对缅甸北部的占领， 支持泰国警察部队。 在越南冲突期间，同样的力量为情报界和其他人提供了帮助。[37] [38] [39]
