It is always fascinating to examine well-studied historical events from neglected perspectives — especially when those perspectives involve a nation with whom our country currently has fraught geopolitical relations. Sam Kleiner’s Flying Tigers brings precisely this sort of perspective to the well-known story of American involvement in World War II’s Pacific theater. He recounts the tale of a group of American pilots who effectively (and, according to some, unlawfully) supported China’s struggle against Japanese imperialism before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Kleiner’s book offers readers insight into a pivotal era of American history from the unique point of view of Americans who fought alongside our forgotten ally, China, and thus provides a reminder to readers on both sides of the Pacific that the Sino-American relationship hasn’t always been adversarial.
The account begins with American aviator Claire Chennault’s resignation from the U.S. military. He did so at the request of Soong Mei-ling, the wife of Chiang Kai-shek — republican leader of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1975 and lifelong enemy of future Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong. Chennault left his position to accept her invitation to survey and improve the Chinese Air Force. When he arrived in China in April 1937, Japan and China were not yet at war, but the situation was volatile and a Japanese ultimatum to China was only months away.
Chennault had been in China for only a few months when the Rape of Nanking galvanized him to do everything he could to support China and end the war with Japan. Nanking surrendered shortly after the Japanese invasion, but the monthlong atrocity (which left up to 300,000 Chinese men, women, and children dead, and tens of thousands of women and young girls mutilated, tortured, and raped) had only just begun.
Kleiner recounts how John Rabe, a German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party living in Nanking, became an unlikely protector of Nanking’s Chinese citizens. Rabe harbored victims in his home, outside of which he raised his Nazi flag to ward off Japanese soldiers. He wore his Nazi armband while he marched the streets, stopping Japanese soldiers form assaulting women. He even wrote a scathing report to Hitler condemning the senseless violence (unsurprisingly, the brutality did not deter Adolf Hitler from entering into an alliance with Japan a few years later).
Chennault began to convene American pilots for training. In 1940, he went to the United States on China’s behalf to purchase aircraft — a feat complicated by an isolationist Congress that had passed Neutrality Acts restricting what America could to do help China and a public that wished to avoid foreign engagement. But President Franklin Roosevelt, recently re-elected to his third term, was increasingly infuriated by Japanese aggression and the indiscriminate suffering they wrought — he sensed that war was inevitable.
Roosevelt authorized the purchase and allowed several American air squadrons to fight on behalf of the Chinese. The operation needed to be secret, however; if news got out, it would put further pressure on America’s already tense relationship with Japan. The Flying Tigers, which comprised 140 planes and 100 pilots, became part of Roosevelt’s larger plan to oppose the Axis powers without formally entering the war. His decision to form the Flying Tigers, to “hurt Japan without provoking,” as he once said, proved prescient.
Just two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the Flying Tigers, already in the Pacific, led the first counterstrikes against the Japanese. The pilots became heroes overnight. The brave young fighters with their famous shark-painted planes gave America hope in the wake of devastation.
As we endure an era of deep domestic division, stories like the Flying Tigers’ are important to remember, as they represent America at her best in the face of adversity. Kleiner’s book reminds us of a lesser known instance where we combated encroaching tyranny and imperialism. Books that recount forgotten moments that we can be proud of are essential to remind us all what we have to be thankful for as Americans.
Alexandra Hudson (@LexiOHudson) is a writer and bibliophile. She earned an M.S. in comparative social policy at the London School of Economics as a Rotary Scholar, lives in the American Midwest, and is currently writing a book on civility.
