The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-02-09
CHAPTER XIII

Word had come now that the AVG,
with General Chennault as Com
mander, was to be indicted into the
Army Air Corps. Chennault, then
General in the Chinese Army but
retired Captain in the U. S. Army,
was to be given the rank Of Briga-
der General to head the China Air
Task Force. But from what had
gathered from the few newspapers
we had received and from runors
that filtered through, knew that
not many Of the AVG were going to
accept induction.
There were officious men around
the China-Burma-India theater who
thought the AVG were unruly and
undisciplined. To these statements
/ always remarked that ] wished we
had ten such undisciplined groups
for they would have destroyed some
three to four thousand enemy air
planes, and that would certainly
have hindered the japanese. There
were others who claimed that the
fighters of the AVG fought for the
high salaries and the extra bonus Of
five hundred dollars for each ene-
my plane they shot down. That
made me laugh, for ! had seen the
AVG fight, and later on I was to fly
with them against the enemy. !
knew those great pilots-I knew that
they were great American adventur-
ers who would have fought just as
hard for peanuts or Confederate
money-as long as they were fight
ing for General Chennault and were
flying those beloved P-40's.
AS it stood now: after long hours
of combat the men were tired; they
had been out OF the United States
under the most trying conditions
for nearly a year. They were all
showing combat fatigue and needed
q rest. Some of them were combat
weary and ought never to be risked
in combat again.
Furthermore, the induction Of the
AVG had hit snag, from poor judg-
ment on the part of one man. It
seems that someone had lined the
boys up for fight-talk on the CLAM
our of induction into the Army, and
had used very little tact. He re-
cited newspaper stories intimating
that the AVG fought for the high
pay of Camco-between $500 to $3.50
a month, depending on whether or
not the pilot was a wing man or a
squadron leader. This salesman
went on to state that he sincerely
hoped the AVG would accept induc-
ton, because if they didn't, and
when their contracts with Cameo
expired, they would probably find
their draft boards waiting for them
when they stepped off the boat that
carried them back to the United
States. In that case, they would of
course be indicted as privates rath-
er than commissioned as officers.
A large percentage Of the AVG
are reported to have got up and
walked out on the speech. After all,
they were high-strung fighter pilots
who had fought one Of the greatest
battles against superior odds that
has ever been reported. In this
case, they were being threatened
without complete knowledge of all
the facts involved. know that from
that day on they taught the Chinese
coolie boy on the refueling truck
jokes about that reverse sales
speech. One involved an expression
that Of course was never permitted
to reach its destination. The boy
was trained by some of the AVG
who were leaving Climate run up
to every transport that landed, and,
as the passengers got out, to repeat
for their benefit an unprintable
American expression aimed at the
speech-maker. The gas-truck COO
lie would reigiously meet every CAT
and with bland countenance would
repeat the sentence. Most of the
AVG used to make sure that he
never reached the transport unload
ing the right man, but several times
it took the best of American flying
tackles to stop him In time.
Handled in another way, be-
ieve that every one of the AVG
who was physically able would have
Stay &Ao AZ W0o, OAAAy uVG Q1IOtS
remained, and some thirty ground
crew men. We had wanted to di-
vide them into two groups-those
who from physical standpoint bad
ly needed rest In the United States,
and those who could stay out in
China for six months longer without
impairing their health. We were to
permit the first group to go home
on July Fourth (the day their con-
tracts with Cameo terminated) and
to remain there on leave for no less
than month, after which they were
to come back to China. It is my opin-
ion that at least ninety per cent of
the AVG would hive accepted this of
fer. But as it was, five of the great
est pilots in the world stayed with
the group when their contracts ex-
pred. And those five were enough.
went back to India and continued
my single-ship raids on the Japs.
After my fights with the AVG.