I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2441 
To award a Congressional gold medal, collectively, to the 1st American Volun-
teer Group of the Chinese Air Force, also known as the AVG Flying 
Tigers, in recognition of their service to the nation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 19, 2015 
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee 
on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional gold medal, collectively, to the 
1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, 
also known as the AVG Flying Tigers, in recognition 
of their service to the nation. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AVG Flying Tigers 
Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) In April 1937, Claire L. Chennault, a re-
tired Army Air Corps Captain was working as a 
military advisor to Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek 
during the Sino-Japanese War. 
(2) After President Roosevelt approved of 
Chennault’s request for a special air unit, Chennault 
spent the winter of 1940–41 overseeing the purchase 
of P–40 fighters and the recruitment of pilots and 
ground crew that would constitute the 1st American 
Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, also 
known as the AVG Flying Tigers. 
(3) Of these pilots, 60 came from the Navy and 
Marine Corps, and 40 from the Army, and they were 
discharged from the armed services to be trained 
and instructed for the mission. 
(4) By 1942, after being organized and in part 
directed out of the White House, the AVG Flying 
Tigers had effectively been brought into the U.S. 
Army chain of command. 
(5) The AVG Flying Tigers successfully kept 
the port of Rangoon and the Burma Road open for 
a crucial stretch of time to allow Allied forces to re-
inforce the Pacific theater, which was dominated by 
the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. 
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(6) The AVG Flying Tigers’ kill ratio was far 
superior to that of Allied air groups in the Pacific 
theater. 
(7) The AVG Flying Tigers’ success is remark-
able considering they were far outnumbered by Jap-
anese fighters in almost all their engagements. 
(8) During their service, 33 AVG Flying Tigers 
pilots and three ground crew received the Order of 
the Cloud and Banner. 
(9) Many AVG Flying Tigers pilots received the 
Chinese Air Force Medal. 
(10) Each AVG Flying Tigers ace and double 
ace was awarded the Five Star or Ten Star Wing 
Medal. 
(11) President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated 
that the AVG Flying Tigers’ ‘‘outstanding gallantry 
and conspicuous daring . . . is a source of tremen-
dous pride throughout the whole of America’’. 
(12) The AVG Flying Tigers were disbanded on 
July 4, 1942. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) AWARD
AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 
House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 
of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 
award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 
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