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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/048612c846fd483c1dd454599f83e5f2.mp4
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1c88fe6418709defa015a9db22cf2f4e.pdf
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PDF Text
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Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 1]
SA:
I flew for Eastern Airlines for a while, got out of that and I was doing - there were a
hundred things to do up there. I told you I went to the University of South Carolina. I had
a pretty good athletic background. The thing that really got me interested in flying was an
engineer I was working with on the roads. I had one of those easy, so-so jobs, $100 a
month which was a lot of money in those days. But this guy says, "You know I have this
book here you might want to read," and I says, "Sure". That was a book about the early
days of World War I, by Elliot Springs who later became a [?]. People kept asking me
one after the other. I said one time, I said to this engineer, I said, "I read this book and
I've contacted a friend of mine who has gone through this things, and he said it's a real
tough deal to get into flying these days because there's no money and this is the words
depression we've ever had, and all that stuff, and I just happened to get in, and to get in
wasn't just a simple thing. You had to go to your Congressman, write to so and so and so
and so, and I did all this and the guy in – I joined a bunch of other people about ten
people down at Montgomery Alabama for a test, final test, examination and if you passed
that, they had some pretty good … So I …you don't mind me saying "hell" do you? Sure
enough, I was two of the ten who got through - I was on my way then. I had a friend who
owned the [?] and he was a fine person, lived in a little, small town, his son was going to
Tulane and he said, "Skipper, I know you from way back and you're the kind of guy that
will go to a dance and get drunk and everything else and teach Sunday School next
morning. If you pass this thing, come on down to New Orleans and we'll help you
celebrate and he'd pay the bill. And he did, and I did. And that was a great idea - and
Mardi Gras, that was really something, something fine, and for a man who likes to eat as
much as I do, and occasionally drink - but I thought it was a good idea, and I got in. [?]
…it wasn't easy in those days, but I got in. And the first thing you know, the
Commandant, pulled out a long list of names, A-A-A, obviously he's going to start with
1
�the names [?] this little fellow was - I've forgotten his name but he was ahead of me …all
right Mr. so-and-so, you're designated. He started hemming and hawing and said, "I can't
do that and do this", and he went down the second name, "Skip Adair, Brian Adair, are
you willing to accept the responsibility in this, you'll be the top dog in this whole class?"
I said, "Yes sir" because I never turn down an opportunity to prove myself, and that's
what it amounted to, I understand. I was looking at the best line instructor in the air force
to teach me. He did a good job of teaching.
FB:
Once you followed through with that…
SA:
What do you want to put in the year book? I said, "Travel" because that's what I wanted
to do, and I said "Okay". What was the original thing we were talking about, I've
forgotten.
FB:
After you were finished up, you were training under one of the best trainers in the air
corps. What happened after that?
I got through class, two of them, and after graduation, I was sent to this place in Virginia
- Chesapeake Bay, a fine place to start out for a young officer. I did that and Chennault
came by one day and he just came in - he was visiting. I didn't know him from anything,
and he had a couple of friends - that I had - joint friends with him. He said, "Come on
Skip, we're going out on Chesapeake on my boat, and Chennault's coming along too." So
we did, and that's the only time I met him so I doubt very much whether he'd remember
meeting me. But things were different when we got into China, very different. For some
reason he seemed to take a … he said, "This is the kind of guy I want to do this and that
and the other". He never told me about it, we'd go hunting together, shoot those …drink
bourbon, not to any excess but we did. That was pretty good, good deal. What else do
you want?
SA:
FB:
When did you - the first time that you went to the Gulf?
SA:
[?] Stratton, a good friend of mine from Texas, the classmate of mine, I wrote him a letter
that I would like to come out there - they don't have a job at the moment and what do you
think? He wrote back immediately and said, "Yes, you'll be perfect for this job." So,
we'll send $1,000 check from the Bank of China for this thing and you just come on out
here when you want to. So I went.
2
�FB:
What were they asking you to do? What were your duties to be for this $1,000? What
were you supposed to do?
SA:
Teach the Chinese, as simple as that, that was the only thing. Not a fighting deal or
anything like that, that's all it was. What else?
FB:
Why did you want to go to China to begin with?
SA:
Because I got $500 a month. Was that a good reason? In a time when I never made more
than $100 a month. Okay?
FB:
What did you know about China at that time?
SA:
What did I know about it? What I learned in school and studying. I'm pretty good on
geology and geography. I had no particular preparation for it. I couldn't speak Chinese,
nobody could. We all had to use interpreters.
FB:
Where did you go in China? Where were you actually stationed to teach these Chinese?
SA:
Kunming, Kunming was the first place I went to. They sent me up to a little place called
Yunanyi and they had about six Americans there. Some of them had been there two
years. I'd been there ten days before Chennault flew up from Kunming to Yunanyi and
said, "Skip, the Chinese want you to be the boss of this outfit," I didn't know whether
that was true or not - whether he wanted me to do it, I don't know. He said, "Are you
willing to take it? It won't be any more money." I said, "Yes sir". I'm the kind of guy
that - I've always done that - opportunity to take responsibility, I took it. In this case, it
worked out pretty good.
FB:
What did you find at first in Kunming and then later on? What was the state of the
Chinese Air force at that time?
SA:
Practically non-existent. We had one outfit with about ten bombers in it. They had a long
history of being taught by Russians and by the Germans and one thing and another, but
Chennault went over there about first two years before I did, and he was unbeatable in a
fighter plane, he shot down half a dozen of those things - just like shooting ducks in a
pond or something. What he was doing was running an outfit and improve the character
3
�of the Chinese pilots. We were not supposed to teach Chinese students, instruct and check
on them, and be sure they were worth having, which is what we did. So that was that.
Now what?
FB:
The Chinese Air Force at that time, what kind of airplanes were you training in? What
were the facilities like?
SA:
Very obsolete planes, one seaters, as a matter of fact, the same type of plane that some of
the classmates of mine flew. I didn't ever fly them except as occasionally out of interest.
What I had was the best planes, newest ones, and I was taught in that. We were the
subject of a lot of derision by other students, who said, "You've got it easy! You're
pushbutton pilots. That kind of stuff. Well, that's baloney. But I did get to fly the best
planes they had at that time.
FB:
Had you decided to ask your wife to come out to China, or was that later?
SA:
A lot of pilots had wives out there already and I said, well, I may as well have too, so I go
to Chennault and he says, "Yes, go ahead, bring her out". Well, she came out - and out of
Hong Kong, and one of my friends, Madam Chiang, - personal airplane, - she flew in
from one place into Kunming up to the place where I was. By the way [?] which was the
first and most lovely home and nobody in China had a home like that, the rest of them
were just junk. You'd pull out the gun and shoot rats off the rafters and things like that.
This was a good place and my wife was flown up in this beautiful C43 by an American
pilot with the permission of Chiang Kai Shek, isn't that so? Anything else you want to
know?
FB:
We're going to change the tape now…
4
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Skip_1991-06-06_v01
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Claude Bryant "Skip"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Skip Adair interview (video and transcript, 1 of 7), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Skip Adair trained as a pilot and was recruited by Col. Claire Lee Chennault in 1938 to serve as an instructor for the Chinese Air Force. During the months leading to the formation of the AVG, he toured Army Air Corps bases recruiting pilots and ground personnel in secrecy for the AVG. As part of the AVG Headquarters Staff, Adair acted as the Operations and Supply Group Executive Officer. In this tape, Adair discusses his background before becoming involved with the American Volunteer Group and his first meeting with Claire Chennault in Chesapeake Bay.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1512ee98c41af140741c3444d053fa5f.mp4
19f645a4bd9bf113c640644559fb0b0f
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e7abf957ae3c9216db82932f4b7bd7d0.pdf
b5007fc480f6e5de532070199ae4f55d
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 2]
FB:
Did you ever witness him (Chennault) fighting the Japanese?
SA:
No, I never witnessed - but I've seen and read so much about him, and I knew so much as a matter of fact, he was head of the air force, fighter division, down in Montgomery
and when he first went out to China, he took off and did a one man air force. According
to what I've heard, I didn't see it and I didn't see it, but I know he shot down at least a half
a dozen of them. But when I arrived on the scene, he said - I don't remember now - I'll
tell you he - there are so many things, I'm trying to pick out the important things, the
things that will be interesting to you.
FB:
Whatever you want to talk about is fine, but what you're talking about I think, is what we
were talking about in the kitchen, when he said, "Skip do you want to fight in airplanes?
SA:
Yeah, that's one of the things. I asked him point blank what that was - "Are you and I are
going to fight in this war," and he said, "No, nobody, not you or I either. We've got our
own jobs and somebody's got to run this outfit." The implication was that either one of
us got hurt, it would be a blow, which it would be.
FB:
Let's go back to the early days in Kunming in China, can you tell us about your
observations of the Japanese bombings?
SA:
Yeah. We'd go out and sit on a hilltop somewhere and watch them. We always had this
warnings, we knew they were coming, then we'd spot them in the sky. They'd be up
maybe 20,000 ft., something like that, and they'd start dropping these bombs and boy,
when they hit you could see them hit, big explosions all over town and it kind of made us
1
�mad, naturally. Chennault and myself and everybody else connected with this thing
wanted to see what could be done. I guess the most harrowing experience I've had was, I
was up in a brand new little fighter plane, we'd just got it into China. I was trying it out,
sat in it and one thing and another for half an hour. I had sense enough to come on back
then, pulled the plane up and went along into town where my house was, and you know
what? The Japanese came on that thing and just [?] the hell out of that airplane I'd been
in just a few minutes ago. I was just lucky that I wasn't sitting - there was nothing I could
do about it but hide and run. That was the closest I've ever been.
FB:
Why would you say the Chinese were not able to defend themselves against the
Japanese?
SA:
That's a leading question I would prefer not to answer.
FB:
At this time, the Japanese had a lot of airplanes, they had a lot of investment into the
military. They also had pilots that were very well trained. You were just training the
instructors who then had to go out and train - it was a long process just to learn how to
fight.
SA:
You might say that until the AVG days - we're talking about before the AVG - that's
nothing, there was absolutely nothing you could do about those Japanese. They had a
field day. It's simple! I can't think of anything easier. Nobody shooting at them. We had
a few pilots, some outstanding fighter pilots - they were capable of doing something, but
they didn't have the equipment or anything else.
FB:
Skip, my intention was not to give you a leading question - I'll tell you why I asked that we've already interviewed some of the Chinese that were those pilots and they basically
said that there was no way of stopping them.
SA:
I don't remember that, but I have never known any of them to shoot one of them down.
I'm sure it must have happened, but I'm not aware of it, certainly not while I was there.
FB:
Were you a part of the discussions with Chennault about the difficulties he was having in
training the Chinese and what alternatives you had to fight against the Japanese?
2
�SA:
To a certain extent. I don't think I had a great deal. He had his own ideas made up and
there was nothing I could say or do to him about it.
FB:
When did you first hear that he was going to start up an American Volunteer Group?
SA:
I guess it was about the time I left China, somewhere along about that time. We knew it
was going to happen, and the reason we knew it, he and I in the States had made a $50
million loan and that was the purpose of getting some airplanes. It was all a secret thing,
nobody ever put in the paper or said anything. No. Everything I did was quiet and
absolutely no ………I got on the boat to China, you think I said I was going over there to
fight? Hell, no! I was a newspaper writer I think, yeah, that's what I was. Later on, when
I was recruiting these boys, we all gave them a sign, some kind of identification. That's
the way we did that - we were very quiet. So, one day, all hell broke loose as far as I'm
concerned when this joker from Florida who was probably a pretty good friend of
Roosevelt, Franklin D. Anyway, he was testing the wings, when he said, "This AVG is
going to be …Blah, blah, blah, let the whole goddam thing go". Well, before that we had
nothing, absolutely nothing. We kept it shut and quiet, the whole way, that's what we
were supposed to do, otherwise the Japanese would sink every goddam boat [?]. We
signed nothing. So even then I was mad at Chennault and everybody else the matter had
become public, that it was going to happen. Everybody I hired, and I hired a lot of them to everyone I said, "Don't say anything about this".
FB:
Let's get to that point then. You returned back to the United States after training the
Chinese - you decided to return to the United States - why did you then decide to go back
to China?
SA:
I was going back I think because everybody knew the whole deal was over. When I got
back - Chennault and I, besides playing a few rounds of golf on the course there, he said,
"I want you to meet somebody," and I met T.V. Soong, Dr. T.V. Soong. He was the
money man of [?] at that time and Mr. Chennault said, "This is Mr. Adair and we're going
to use him to recruit," and he just nodded his head. That's about all there was to it. He
didn't ask me any questions. Chennault wanted it. That was it.
FB:
What were you told to tell, or what were you looking for when you went out to recruit
these various people for the AVG? What were you told to tell them and what did you
actually find when you went out looking for them?
3
�SA:
I wasn't so much told what to tell them, but in general I said, "We're building up a group
of fighter pilots to defend the Burma Road." The Burma Road was the only lifeline, you
understand that? All right, that was the whole deal. That's about it. Anything else you'd
like to know about it, I'd be glad to answer it.
FB:
Of these men that you were going to recruit, when they came in to see you, can you give
us some idea of some of the personalities of some of the people who [?] you or …?
SA:
That's a – of what I thought, and I had had enough experience all the way in the air force
one way and another, about 5,000 miles in the air. I had all this [?] I didn't have to do
anything. I didn't make up any lies or anything, I told the truth. As a matter of fact when I
got back, I said, "One of these guys told me, he surprised me, he said, "You're a soft sell".
I don't know if I was a soft sell or not but I got two or three hundred people, and I got a
few bums in there, but most of them were good. Anything else?
FB:
Once you had done the recruiting, give us an idea of how you went from base to base
looking for - you were travelling across the country looking for people?
SA:
Yeah - a list, and bases, eight or nine air force bases, and most of them had P-40's or
something like that they trained on. I was given a letter identifying me, a very simple
thing. "This will introduce Mr. C.B. Adair who will explain the nature of his business."
That doesn't say much does it, but that's exactly the way it was. So I went. A lot of these
guys that walked into the base were classmates of mine. They all said, "I'm not gonna let
this guy go." I said, "You have nothing to say about it." He picked up the telephone and
"call Personnel right now if you want to." Some of them did call. I was given the freewheel to go ahead, they didn't cooperate and get a group of them together - I talked to the
group. I didn't go one by one or anything like that. I had a long list of requirements
Chennault had put up. He wanted a [?] of the so-and-so, all different mechanics. Different
phases of it he would go through and spell it out, how much they would get in salary. I
didn't much like that but I was innocent more than the pilots.
FB:
In terms of the pilots themselves, you were looking specifically for pilots that had P-40
experience, is that correct?
SA:
Yeah.
4
�FB:
What did you actually find in terms of pilots?
SA:
Some of them had P-40 experience and some of them didn't. When I got down to San
Antonio when this R.T. Smith and P.J. Green - they were there - they had never been in a
fighter plane in their life. They knew what the hell it was all about, they were the kind of
guy that I wanted, and I hired them. You know something? They're both aces. You know
what an ace is? Five or more.
5
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Skip_1991-06-06_v02
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Claude Bryant "Skip"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Skip Adair interview (video and transcript, 2 of 7), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Skip Adair trained as a pilot and was recruited by Col. Claire Lee Chennault in 1938 to serve as an instructor for the Chinese Air Force. During the months leading to the formation of the AVG, he toured Army Air Corps bases recruiting pilots and ground personnel in secrecy for the AVG. As part of the AVG Headquarters Staff, Adair acted as the Operations and Supply Group Executive Officer. In this tape, Adair describes the early days working with General Chennault in Kunming, China and the early discussions of the American Volunteer Group and their recruitment efforts.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1d62b95fb0fd3ac5f68505115be35ee6.mp4
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PDF Text
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Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 3]
SA:
… maybe someone in administration, Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was a man of his own, he
knew what he wanted to do, I'd never make any criticism of him, but guys like the
Senator who shoots his mouth off, nobody else did. He might have for some reason in
administration wanted to have affirmation to get out, but he leaped out, isn't that what
they say? What it was, it was a bad deal for us and them. He was later, can't remember
the gentlemen's name, but he was lot's older than I am, and I'm old enough. He just was
told to do it - I think that's what happened. But he would never say that, he says, "Do it as
a [?].” I know so much about it – this is going to happen – he would never have been
fool enough to do that. So I think that's what it was, the way it was. They didn't want all
of a sudden this thing to fall on them like a ton of bricks. You know what I mean? That's
the way it was, exactly.
FB:
Once you had completed the recruitment process, what was the next thing that was asked
of you? What was the next thing that you did?
SA:
To be frank I got in one of these airplanes that land on water, Pan American [?]. I got on
one - incidentally, I had a card I could fly anywhere I wanted. I went to Hawaii. Gave
myself another ten days’ vacation [?] "I'm gonna do it, nobody else can ever - I'm could
stay there a month if I wanted to. But I did see a lot of my classmates out there, in the air
force. They were concerned, they knew that the Japanese were getting - and I did too. I
said, "Jesus, you'd better watch 'em because…" I didn't predict that Pearl Harbor, but
that's what happened. I stayed there and this friend of mine took me all over the island,
which is a good thing. Then I got back on the Pan American Clipper - that's what it was they take off and land on water. You've seen them I'm sure. I flew all the way in the Hong
Kong area.
1
�FB:
At this time of the organization, were there ships going over to take them over? Did you
get involved in that at all?
SA:
I had nothing to do with that. CAMCO, which is the Central American Manufacturing
Co., run by the Pawley brothers, there were two or three of them and they did a good job
of doing what they were supposed to do. Chennault never got along with them very well.
I got along with them a lot better than Chennault did. Pawley, Gene Pawley was a good
friend of mine. I was walking down the street in Times Square and bumped into him and
he said, "Let's have a drink." We were that way and I used his office which was up there
in the RCA building - I think it was about the 70th floor, it was way up there I can tell
you that. I'd never do all the paperwork for him, I'd send it in to this and that and so and
so and so.
FB:
Once you had completed the recruitment process, what was your next duty? What else
did you do for the AVG?
SA:
I got to Rangoon which was the place where we started. Above Rangoon about 120 miles
was a little British airport that the British weren't using. We got permission to use it as a
training center, which we did. What else do you want to know about it?
FB:
What was the next responsibility? You'd finished with the recruitment part, now what did
you do for the AVG? What was the next step?
SA:
The next thing? Just about what I told you, except for the time before. Chennault and I
were just like this. I didn't have to ask him a damn thing, I just went on and did it, and so
forth and so on. Only upsetting thing about the whole process as far as I was concerned
was, I got malaria. Now malaria over there is a killing process. It was a good thing we
had a couple of nurses, two females and another male, a doctor and everything else and
they were using the finest things in the world on me. I was 104 temperature. They put me
on a slab, bald naked and ice all over me. These nurses all got very familiar with me.
They didn't really think much of me because I'd [?] One morning, while I was there, still
in the hospital, Chennault came by - he usually came by in the morning to tell me what
was going on [?] I said, "What's new this morning?" He says, "Nothing much. The Japs
have bombed Pearl Harbor. They're next door to us and they could be here in another
twenty minutes." I said, "Nurse, bring my pants." That's exactly what I said. So, I got
2
�the hell out of there and he said, "I want you go on up, when you get the chance -after
you get through - send these people and all these spare parts, motors and everything else
we've got to go. I didn't go with the experts. I had a little guy that was a supply clerk, and
I says, "Listen, you have a responsibility. You've got ten trucks, new trucks, and millions
of dollars’ worth of things. You know who's going to be responsible for it, who's running
that thing? You! That usually set him up and they did it, like I did a lot of things. So
that's the way it was. We've got to give them credit for moving more material in the
fastest time than anybody else - it had been routine army joke that it "had taken forever",
but they didn't do it that way. He just said, "You, that's your job and you're not taking off
tomorrow, you're taking off today."
FB:
That leads me to another question. What would you say were the differences between the
way the military did things and the way the AVG did things?
SA:
A big difference - based on the same thing, but I would say we had more freedom, we
could do it if we wanted to. We didn't have to go right down the line and do everything
one, two, three and so forth. We could use our own discretion and do things like that. The
army could never do that. They'd take a month to get ready, and we'd be already up there.
Did that get through you?
FB:
Part of the energy process - sometimes we have to ask you - but the part that you talked
about when you had malaria, and you were laid out and Chennault came in to tell you
about Pearl Harbor? Could we have you repeat that again? If you could start with the
fact that you got down with malaria and they had to lay you out on the ice and then
Chennault came in as he usually did and then …?
SA:
While I was in the hospital, we had a good medical staff of our own. I'd had nothing to do
with hiring them, Chennault did most of that. There was a doctor and nurses and they
were very good. They kept me alive because that type of malaria they had over in Burma,
that was a killer. Our doctors had as good a knowledge of it as anybody, better than most.
I didn't have no trouble out there. I got out, and that's it. After sending a few more people
up, we had a little transport [?] by ten people, two engine airplane, I'd flow in one a lot of
times. We just moved on up to Chunking with that. These pilots had been trained down
there in this place, and they had done a pretty good job of doing it. They had to land on
real short runways, some of them were busted up. But in general, they were pretty good.
We saw three organizations, squadrons, many [?].
3
�FB:
Could we get back to …?
SA:
He never was kicked out, he [?] or nothing, he didn't get that way, he wasn't that kind of a
guy. He said, "How are you feeling"? I said, "I'm feeling better, I'd better get out of
here." He said, "I hope so, I want you to go on up to Kunming because the Japanese have
done just what I said - bombed Pearl Harbor." And what's the name of that little kingdom
- the Japanese could go anywhere they wanted to go - they were there. And that's about it.
I got out and never had any recurrence of that thing, malaria.
FB:
How long did you stay in Burma? You went almost immediately to Kunming, didn't
you?
SA:
I don't know how long, but it wasn't a short period of time, it was a matter of a month or
so.
FB:
So you were there during the training period?
SA:
Yeah, that's right. It doesn't sound like much, but that's exactly what it was. Do you know
what "supplies" meant? Everything! They couldn't move without it - can't do anything.
So, I hated the darn thing. I told him "I don't know a damn thing about supplies, and you
know it." It doesn't take that kind of a thing, it takes someone with a few brains to do it,
to take advantage of opportunities, and go ahead and do it with limited facilities." Got it?
FB:
Could you tell us a little bit more about what the supply situation was like. What kind of
problems did you run into? What did you have to do?
SA:
The guy, as I told you, was a tough man. He walked into the room and you wanted to
walk out the other side, because he had a body odor that'd kill you. But he was the best I
had. You couldn't tell him to go back to the United States and send over somebody else
like that. So, you've got to go. I had about three or four others, we had clerks who had
probably more experience in supplies that I had, but I couldn't have gotten to where I was
in the air force without knowing a lot about supplies. Does that answer your question?
FB:
What we're looking for is - as if we know nothing about this. I know the supply situation
was very difficult, that you were running out of supplies, it was a constant problem.
4
�SA:
We didn't have any corner drug-store or anything like that.
FB:
This is what we need on camera. We need to know what kind of problems you ran into
and what the supplies situation was like.
SA:
I'd pick a telephone and I'd call Rangoon - I'm way up there about 120 miles away, and I
say, "Send down a box, we just lost another pilot," or something like that. I had to do
things like that all the time. I'd use the telephone, and who would I call? CAMCO. A lot
of people don't know anything about CAMCO, but they were pretty important.
5
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Skip_1991-06-06_v03
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Claude Bryant "Skip"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Skip Adair interview (video and transcript, 3 of 7), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Skip Adair trained as a pilot and was recruited by Col. Claire Lee Chennault in 1938 to serve as an instructor for the Chinese Air Force. During the months leading to the formation of the AVG, he toured Army Air Corps bases recruiting pilots and ground personnel in secrecy for the AVG. As part of the AVG Headquarters Staff, Adair acted as the Operations and Supply Group Executive Officer. In this tape, Adair discusses hearing the news of Pearl Harbor while being treated for malaria, in addition to the supply situation during the training period in Kunming.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f6d59698cb93f6a01e27ebcb6e3e32e7.mp4
744bdee38daafbf216237eae1a1dad47
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/84b13ce4f8f02d0e9e5a25f29187f9e9.pdf
cb76b13ce4185f1598c7b9f97e784a22
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 4]
FB:
Can you give us an idea of what it took to get equipment, and to get it to the crews?
SA:
I'm going to say that that was something that CAMCO did - airplanes, spare parts, they
would do it. All that stuff was arriving in Rangoon, and one of the brothers - I've
forgotten whether it was Gene - but we would receive these crates, a shipment. I'd open
them up and - they were P-40 airplanes - we'd put them together the way it has to be
done. In case you don't know, a crate comes in, it's not an airplane, they put it all together
and a lot of people spend a lot of time working on it. Once it gets together, then they call
somebody - maybe me - and say, "We've two or three more planes ready", so we'd send
down some pilots and they'd fly them back, just like that. That was supply. We weren't in
the business of buying things, but you've probably heard of a guy named Joe Alsop. He
came out there and got in the organization, and we were getting to be friends. We would
send him on [?] and one time when he was - some guns and some small side arms you
might call them. He went all the way to the Philippines and bought a bunch of them and
came back. Another trip he was out there getting something like that for us, is when the
Japanese folded up Hong Kong, and so what he had to do was claim he was a pilot at the
embassy, not a part of AVG, his life wouldn't have been worth a nickel if he was that
way. You understand that? Well, that happened. Joe Alsop was later friends later on after
the war in Tex Hill, and I used to go up to that place and have dinner. He'd apologize
because he didn't have so much money, but all these people would bring him delicious
fish and stuff like that, and he'd say, "I apologize for the fish," but it was real good stuff.
That's the way Joe Alsop was.
1
�FB:
It was once stated that you and Chennault had a conversation in which they said he'd
never last 15 days - that the AVG would never last 15 days without parts. Do you
remember that conversation?
SA:
Uh, Uh. But it could be very true. I'm not part of that, but anybody that knew anything
about military, knows damn well that supply is - without it, you're dead. Even though I
thought, "To hell with it," I didn't want the damn job, but it seems it hounded me later on.
[?] said, "That's the only job I've got open, supply". I said, I don't know a damn thing
about it but I'll take it. That's about the way you learn.
FB:
We need you to give us your personal opinion, your personal observations about some of
the people that were in the AVG. We have a pretty good idea about the pilots, the
mechanics, but none of them knew the staff. You're the only one we've been able to talk
to that actually had real contact with the staff. So I'll just ask you a few questions about
people, and if you could just comment on those people. Chennault had an interpreter the
whole time he was out there named P.Y. Shu. Did you ever have any contact with him or
do you have any …?
SA:
I just freewheeled, just as I … I'm 82 years, I don't remember things like I used to, hells
bells! But these Chinese were indispensable, as interpreters and otherwise. I'll tell you
one thing, these Chinese people - I don't know how to put it but they'd do the best they
can with what they've got, but you can't stack them up against Americans who were
educated, and that's the truth, no way. I had lots of things that astound me. I'm just like
you or anybody else. You know what? This Tiananmen Square, where all the massacres
of students took place? I don't know whether it took place or not but that's beside the
point. In China, you can't come out and say offhand that somebody's bad, somebody's
good - you can't do it.
FB:
Let's talk about some of the people on the staff.
SA:
Williams - that's a good one to start with. Williams was a [?] officer, and I had problems
with him. One time, we moved out from Kunming? up to Chung King, and as much as
we may dislike it, we had no niggers in this outfit, that's one thing, and another thing what the hell did I start to talk about?
FB:
Williams.
2
�SA:
He was a radio man, he was very important to us because he set up this bunch of radio
stations and early warning things - it was very [?] but we had to have it. You couldn't sit
on the ground and wait for them to [?] you had to know they were coming - did it by
airplane communications. We did it that way. We didn't take anything from him, he was
never an officer. Our system was based on what the navy had. We had different bars,
different dining rooms. You might say, how can you be so snooty. Chennault set it up
that way originally and I had to carry it out, and I didn't like it that way but I did it. For
example, we moved up to Kunming and I sent Williams ahead to prepare, to do certain
things before I came up and the rest of it. I got up there and I got so goddam mad, I went
and blew my top. He had set everything all together, strewn everything out the window,
and that wasn't the way we operated. His mentality and the way he went - he said he
couldn't see anything different about it, but goddam it, I could and everybody else could I gave him hell and immediately changed it myself, but he called me a "son of a bitch"
and everything else. I didn't give a damn. He goofed and he didn't ask anybody for
information, he'd just go ahead and do it that way. Now Williams, I like, he's older than I
am, but that doesn't mean he was in the AVG so long. I don't know where the hell he was
before that but all I know is, he's older. And the one reason I know he's older, one day I
was talking about someone - how old I was - and he say, "I'm older than you," I says,
"You are?" It surprised me, but he was. But Williams was a tremendous person. It just so
happened he never was an officer, and we had so damn many good'uns - crew chiefs and
[?] personnel - no use laboring the point, but in this case - I could have gone along with
it, with the same damn thing, you see. But it was absolutely - didn't jibe at all with what
we'd set up.
FB:
How about Harvey Greenlaw?
SA:
He was a no-no. I don't know why Chennault ever brought him over there but he was an
old friend of his. He hadn't been in the army or anything else as far as I know, but he was
supposed to know China, but he didn't know much. He had a wife who didn't know much
either, so I heard.
FB:
Can you comment any further about his duties or what she was supposed to be doing?
SA:
He didn't do much of anything. They got credit for that [?] but he wasn't.
3
�FB:
How about Boatner Carney?
SA:
He left for the [?] Another thing, Chennault always told me, if you want to get rid of
somebody, you do it. Well, I had to, I said to him "That's a tough job but one of the things
I have to do." [?]
FB:
Can you comment on that - on reasons why some of the AVG were fired, or any in
particular that you remember?
SA:
I was having lunch with some friends of mine - I don't want to say friends, maybe
officers - a Chinese waitress came up and said, "Somebody at the door wants to speak to
Mr. so-and-so. Mr. so-and-so was one of our pilots, a good pilot, but he'd had an
operation, a double hernia, so we'd taken him off until he'd gotten over that and
somebody - I didn't do it, but I guess somebody had sent him to inspect the barracks, so
to speak and look for drugs and things like that. He went round and he must have upset
somebody but they came - two of them - big s.o.b.'s - big boys - and this pilot went back
to the door to find out what they wanted, and they started pounding on him right and left,
and boy, you're talking about somebody getting mad. I let them both have it! Right and
left! I let them know I was there. I didn't knock them out but they were so goddarned [?]
that I couldn't do a damn thing else. My reputation was made! They went, "Christ, that
Skip can really do it"! But I'm not the kind of a guy that can sit aside and watch
somebody be slaughtered. Are you? What else?
FB:
You were talking in the kitchen about the incident in which Boyington, Pappy Boyington.
SA:
Pappy! Chennault hired him, he can't blame that on me, I didn't hire him, but Chennault
did. It was a mistake and he'd admit it. I like whiskey, but I'm not a drunk, [?] but this
guy did. He was a good pilot but, hell, who wants a good pilot, someone who's drunk and
going to taxi around and crack up some of the airplanes. That's what he did, one after
another, that's a bad damn thing. He'd do that and he'd ignore it. He was supposed to be
such a hotshot - I don't know how many he shot down, if any, I don't know. I'd like to
repeat it, I don't care who knows it, when Madam Chiang Kai Shek was on my arm - I
was escorting her and showing her what a fine set-up the Chinese had provided, the
Chinese had always provided these things, we didn't do it. Things like hotels and food
and whatnot, [?] going through and there was this Boyington, goddam! I had no idea he
was there or I wouldn't have took her in there, but he staggered up to - drunk himself and
4
�that's what - he had done, he had busted into the van, the liquor van and which is safer
than ??? Nobody thought he would do a thing like that. I told Chennault, I said, "Listen,
you probably know what happened, but this is what happened, I'd bash the hell out of - I
don't see why the hell we need a guy like that around." And he said, "Skip, get rid of
him." Even though he hired him. So I called him in, I says, "Boyington, you're such a
nice boy, really nice, I like you, but things the way they are, we're just going to have to
let you go". I let him down as easy as I could, that's the truth. He left and he went and got
to Hollywood and started making films and whatnot. In my opinion, he was a no-no.
5
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Skip_1991-06-06_v04
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Claude Bryant "Skip"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Skip Adair interview (video and transcript, 4 of 7), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Skip Adair trained as a pilot and was recruited by Col. Claire Lee Chennault in 1938 to serve as an instructor for the Chinese Air Force. During the months leading to the formation of the AVG, he toured Army Air Corps bases recruiting pilots and ground personnel in secrecy for the AVG. As part of the AVG Headquarters Staff, Adair acted as the Operations and Supply Group Executive Officer. In this tape, Adair describes the supply situation for the AVG and his personal observations of some of his fellow members including Harvey Greenlaw, Boatner Carney, and Pappy Boyington.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8417780cf02f38072ab639b010d03d98.mp4
07149302a0ac09c3838759e4b53399e3
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/36de568561fef919c189c128ea19a7ed.pdf
2b800fbf4c463a8a6ca22d3a99b6b0bb
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 5]
FB:
In the kitchen, you had talked about that incident where you were escorting Madam
Chiang Kai Shek and then Boyington was in the - you sort of set it up in the beginning
fine, and you told the ending fine, what we need to edit it in, is what you said … you
hurried her past? We need a little more detail on that?
SA:
There was a table with a sort of [?] on it. This guy was sitting at a table but when he saw
us enter the room he realized that he was in the presence of somebody important - she
was certainly important, she was chief of the air force. So I just maneuvered her away
from that and I didn't stop or make a comment. She probably knew exactly what was
going on, just as I did. But things like that are upsetting. When the President of the
United States should come down and give the one squadron outfit like we had in S.
Carolina a party or something like that and you don't even bother to go? What kind of a
guy are you?
FB:
Let's talk about somebody that you liked a lot more. Give us your impressions from your
personal perspective, your impressions of Claire Chennault.
SA:
He was a maverick. He had infinite skill as a fighter, he knew exactly - he was perfect
with the Chinese, and that was one of the smart things they did, to get him out there.
That's true. I had numerous occasions to know him. As I told you, I went down to [?] way
ahead of home, and he had nine children down there, and that's enough for a baseball
team. He didn't ask me down there just because he liked me, a lot of people that way, he
just probably wanted to tell me something, I don't know. I'm not just saying, but
afterwards, after the AVG, he would come right here - he would send me a telegram
saying, "I want to stop here for a few minutes, come out and see me again." We did, and
1
�left when this was going through. Another time, I was in a pretty good position and
General Haynes had been good enough to give me a job on his staff, and we had a house
on ??, a beautiful house, and all that stuff, and Chennault came through one day, and
came in and he said, "Skip, I'm going to be here - I'd like to see you." Once the General
said I could use his table to eat on. And I said, "That’s something else, something more
important than that. General, some people back in New York have been badgering me
over and over again, saying that I should get Chennault to come to this celebration and
whatnot, so he could be the fall guy and I had this worked out - and I told Chennault, and
[?] on my part because he wouldn't like it. I said to him everybody's going to be there,
what are you going to have, everybody's going to be there, the mayor and - and a lot of
AVG people are going to be there so we want you to show up and they'll get up and say
the usual bad things about you and funny things too, and he'd just take it with a grin and
let it go at that. And that's what happens. What's the name of that governor - the mayor of
New York, Italian gentleman, everybody know him …………and then we got a baseball
guy from - one of the [?] club. He said, "Get get a good game on this afternoon, I'll get
everybody in that wants to", and [?] said, "The only problem is getting there and I'll have
all the motorcycle policeman and escorts and everything else, and I was sitting next to
General Haynes, in the same car with him, we were going out to the - we were going so
fast and screaming, you'd think that we'd be killed ten times, it would go through
everything [?]. We all got there, but I said to Haynes, "I've never been through a god
dammed thing like this before, in China or any place else, because it scared the hell out of
me.”
FB:
SA:
Let's go to China again with Chennault, what was your impression of Chennault during
the AVG period of time, what was your own personal observation?
He was my boss, he was the best boss I've ever had. He was a guy who knew airplanes
and I had a tremendous respect for him and I don't think there's anything I can say that in my opinion he was one of the finest people I've ever known.
FB:
If he was in the room when you walked into a room and Chennault was there, what did
you see?
SA:
When I walked in the room - what room?
FB:
Any time when you walked into a room - if I was there, what would I see?
2
�SA:
I don't know exactly what you mean by that?
FB:
Just in terms of his look. How did his looks strike you? Some people talk about his
piercing black eyes, or his leather face. What was your impression? When you looked at
Chennault, what did you see?
SA:
He was an individual and it was a hard thing for him to get anywhere in the military
because as I said before, I always thought of him as a maverick. So many generals get to
be generals by smoothing in this and that situation but I don't think he had an idea of
going back to the United States and becoming a general. He got to be a general because
Madam Chiang Kai Shek put the heat on with [?]. The regular people out there, Stilwell
and his group were telling a lot of people that they don't understand this AVG, Flying
Tigers and stuff, didn't understand that at all. One of them called me, waked me up in the
middle of the night, one of the colonels, waked me up and got me out of bed. He said,
"Have you got an airplane you can send down to rescue General so-and-so." I said, "I
don't have one but there's one here. I'll tell him that you want it done and if he does, that's
fine, but I can't order him, because he's an American, not an air pilot and I'm reserve
officer and out of it." So that's the way it happened. And you know what? This guy got
to the airplane down there and landed at dawn and General Stilwell decided, that no, he
was going to walk out. He was going to walk out, that we could take the nurses he had
and put them on an airplane, but he was going to walk out. That saved his neck I think.
He walked out. There were a lot of things like that.
FB:
Did you ever meet Stilwell?
SA:
Yeah, I just told you. Not only that but Madam Sun Ya Tsen invited him and his aide and
me and her secretary to play bridge, not once but twice. I had respect for him as a general
and all that be had was not my idea of Chennault. Now Chennault and Stilwell would get
together and say, period. Stilwell - Chennault, the guys in the trenches are going to win
this war. Chennault - there ain't no damn trenches. That's about the way they got along.
That's the truth I think.
FB:
How about Stilwell's aide, Bissell?
SA:
Bissell was just the opposite of what I said. He was an over the line military man.
Nobody liked him, not particularly me. He was the kind of a guy that didn't give a damn
3
�about anybody. He would say, "I guess we've got to adhere to the line and do exactly
what the army says. He couldn't really last for a minute the way we could. So why in the
hell would he have to call me, a guy that wasn't even in the army, middle of the night, to
bail out Stilwell from his own goddam stupidity? I don't know. I think Mrs. Stilwell must
be gone too. I don't think any of my friends are still alive, not many of them. Some of
those pictures you showed me - but they're younger. I took one of them - this is a good
story. I think one of them came from Las Vegas and I met him in the lobby at one of
those conventions we had, and I said, "I understand you've been raising horses. Come up
to the room and have a drink of scotch or something, I've got some good stuff up there."
He said, "Okay, we'll do that." He gets up there and he says, "Skip, when I first saw you,
I thought you were as old as hell. Now I don't think so any more." Now things are
different, he wasn't a kid any more either.
FB:
We really need to get better understanding - for the documentary …
SA:
You might say it was nil. When I started to do something when Chennault wasn't there, I
did it - that was a staff meeting. Did I call everybody together and say, "Can I do this?"
No. We didn't have staff meetings as the army and air force has them. Didn't do it, or
anything. So we used the word "staff" - I've got a book here somewhere that lists all the
names over everybody, what they did. But it's the best book that's ever been written.
There have been a hundred or so of them written. Half of them are spurious.
FB:
In terms of Chennault, he had a very bad case of bronchitis, give us an idea of he would
get sick, who would take over and how did he communicate with the pilots?
SA:
I don't think he was eve to that point. He had this throat condition but it didn't amount to
anything. He never said anything about who was going to take over if he died - I don't
know, I suppose I'll have to.
4
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Skip_1991-06-06_v05
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Claude Bryant "Skip"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Skip Adair interview (video and transcript, 5 of 7), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Skip Adair trained as a pilot and was recruited by Col. Claire Lee Chennault in 1938 to serve as an instructor for the Chinese Air Force. During the months leading to the formation of the AVG, he toured Army Air Corps bases recruiting pilots and ground personnel in secrecy for the AVG. As part of the AVG Headquarters Staff, Adair acted as the Operations and Supply Group Executive Officer. In this tape, Adair discusses his impressions of General Chennault as a maverick and admirable boss, in addition to General Stilwell and General Bissell.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/635f460a791a12ac6ec75a73a9a74913.mp4
17925ae6d9930a4882ed50ecb4b5691e
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/533f0d56e8890057a8ac3f95722706bb.pdf
1644e4a6671822c7d2040d95568cecd0
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 6]
FB:
I'd like to ask you about the bombing of Kunming and the AVG on the 20th of December
fought against the Japanese and was successful, and actually the Japanese never even
came back again. What was your reaction and what were you doing while that battle was
going on?
SA:
There wasn't any big deal about what I was going to do. It was a difficult thing to pick
out these Japanese as they came in. Although we were getting information on the radio
they were so-and-so and at such and such a time. Also our pilots in the air found them took advantage of it and knocked down a few. We had some other places too, small
places, it wasn't just Kunming - down the road - I know I was down there one time, my
teeth were bothering me and - you'd never believe it - we had a dentist, Milt Wilton. He
said, "You've got an impacted wisdom tooth. I can do it but it's not going to be pleasant
because I don't have the proper elevators - you know what that is?" I said, "Go ahead and
do it." While that was going on, the Japanese were swarming in from nowhere and we
had guys like Tex Hill - as a matter of fact, it was Tex Hill and his outfit were there, and
they had a battle pretty much, all over the damn place they were. I went out to see these
Japanese airplanes that had come down - Tex Hill had shot them down - and Tex Hill
jumped out of his airplane and walked over there to him, kicked the corpse - I think it
was a corpse "Hey, you son of a bitch." He did something he didn't like, anyway, he
didn't feel sorry for the guy one bit. That's what you've got to do, I think. I've never shot
one down though.
FB:
I guess what I was looking for in the question, Skip, was - before December 20th, the
AVG had never encountered the Japanese. They had been training but had never
encountered the Japanese. Kunming had been bombed without - as you said before, there
1
�was no defense, so when they actually shot down those airplanes, what was the reaction
from you, from Chennault?
SA:
That was tremendous, you can't describe it. The Chinese all were - something from
heaven - they just couldn't - it was just one after another - these AVG people are just
tremendous. We had a Governor out there in that province - did I ever tell you about him?
Long Yuen. He put on a party for us out there [?] and all that stuff and wines of all kinds,
and I had to get up and respond and do this and that - I hated it that stuff, but I still had to
do it. But it was a beautiful place. The Chinese - I don't want to get into anything about
what I think of them and all that, but the governors had unlimited power. You can't say
"Chiang Kai Shek" - but each local governor - they're the ones that are - and of course,
they all pretty much think Chiang Kai Shek is one too, but you can't on that. They never
liked him at all.
FB:
What was your reaction and Chennault's reaction to the success? Because Chennault's
name in a sense was on the line. He'd been training these guys - what was the reaction
you had and what was the reaction that Chennault had to the success over Kunming?
SA:
I don't know about success - as you say, I can't recall any of us jumping up and down like
some people seem to do. We expected it. You go to all the trouble and get the airplanes
and get the equipment and get the best mechanics and the best pilots, you got to expect
some good things, and it happened. Of course, we were glad. One guy - you probably
never heard of Neale? You don't know? Neale was one of the squadron commanders.
He's alive now - he lives up off Oregon, one of those islands up the west coast up there.
Chennault made him his air commander, as he called him, because he'd shot down about
18 or 20 planes himself, tremendous. I sat next to his wife and talked to him - I never
thought he liked me, I don't know why. I never did anything overtly or anything else, but
I guess he just didn't express himself too much, he kept quiet.. Incidentally, can I say one
more - we had loads of newspaper writers and whatnot come in there, and they would ask
one question after another. "How can you tell which is the fighter and which is the ace
and which is not?" And I said, "The best way is going and look in the bar and they've got
the smallest little guy you could see, and the quietest guy, he's the [?], and that's about the
way it was. Don't listen to his bad mouth. Am I on camera or am I not? I am.
2
�FB:
What would you say the Chinese role was in the defense of Kunming? The Tigers were
fighting in the air. What would you say the Chinese role was in the defense of Kunming?
Did they have ground [?] over there?
SA:
Their role was very important. Just because we had the pilots - every airplane had a
bunch of Chinese - if you looked at the airplanes, there was always one American maybe
- they had three or four others - but they were tremendous.
FB:
What was your relationship - this is during the AVG period - how did you work with the
Chinese? Were they involved in the supply at all? Were they involved with ……?
SA:
No, I don't think we did a damn thing with the Chinese. [?] They did a marvelous job, the
Chinese, of supply us - a place to stay, the finest quarters, we took over places that had
been in the past, probably, schools, houses and whatnot. We had otherwise - we had been
dodging it really but [?] one thing that bugged me about our own people - they didn't
realize how good this damn service they were getting was - it was nothing like as good as
they were getting back home, that kind of stuff, you know. Hells bells, I think it was
damn good. How do I know it? Because I had lived in China before and we were damn
lucky to have any kind of thing. The only way I looked at it, was - to build it myself or
have it built, pay for it, and get a beautiful woman out there to man it!
FB:
When did you first hear that the AVG was going to be incorporated into the army air
corps?
SA:
It was pretty obvious that. I think I heard it some time, I wouldn't know exactly when but
that was - no way we could make a [?] which we did on July 4th. These men could go
home if they wanted to go home or they could stay in the army. I was one of the few who
stayed, as a major. I went back to the United States, to the Pentagon and some friends got
me a job, and that's about the way it was.
FB:
Skip, what was your reaction to the military now about to come in and take over the
AVG? What was your personal reaction?
SA:
The communists?
3
�FB:
No, the American military was about to take over the AVG, what was your personal
reaction?
SA:
It was just one of the things that was going to happen. You don't have to worry about it,
whether it was going to happen or not. This was a long plan and we had a long time to
figure out - they had an apartment of four or five military officers who had [?] and
anybody who wanted to stay in the army could stay and they would consider what they
were - so a lot of them stayed in. You know what I mean by that? Everybody knew it
was going to happen, and it did happen.
FB:
What would you say the morale was like amongst the AVG during this period of time?
SA:
The AVG in general were stupid to always say that the army was a terrible place. They
didn't like the idea of getting back in the army, that kind of stuff, on the other hand, they
didn't like the way - a lot of the things we did in the AVG.
FB:
Do you think that Bissell's speech had something to do with that? Were you present?
SA:
Some people say so - that's the kind of speech I'd expect from him.
FB:
Were you present at the Bissell speech?
SA:
I don't think so.
FB:
…observation at that time. Why do you think most of the AVG did not rejoin with the
army air corps?
SA:
I don't know. I think a lot of them had been in before - a lot of them were navy people
and navy people said, "Why in hell should I join the army", - something like that. Tex
Hill, for instance, was a navy man, but he came back in. He got a job as a general.
FB:
What was your personal decision? What were you going to do after July 4th? What did
you decide to do?
SA:
I decided to stay for a while, which wasn't too long, when I went back.
4
�FB:
The AVG was promised passage back home in their original contract. They were
supposed to be brought to China and returned back to the United States. What was your
observation of what really happened?
SA:
Some of them they did send back, some of them they didn't. Some of these people, I
didn't know much about, but they just went out for the ride. As soon as they got out there,
they wanted to turn back, and they said, "We ain't gonna pay their way back, hell no.
Somebody we fire, we'll see that they get transportation and we'll pay for it." That's the
way it was.
5
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Skip_1991-06-06_v06
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Claude Bryant "Skip"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Skip Adair interview (video and transcript, 6 of 7), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Skip Adair trained as a pilot and was recruited by Col. Claire Lee Chennault in 1938 to serve as an instructor for the Chinese Air Force. During the months leading to the formation of the AVG, he toured Army Air Corps bases recruiting pilots and ground personnel in secrecy for the AVG. As part of the AVG Headquarters Staff, Adair acted as the Operations and Supply Group Executive Officer. In this tape, Adair describes the reaction to the AVG's first combat with the Japanese pilots after the bombing in Kunming, in addition to the final days of the AVG and the arrival of the American military.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eda1ec9bdf158decc3dfcd101f505953.mp4
111855ad61c8ca873b1a610fbbead85d
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/158a68fc1ecd0921ee2f0ce92abb4dfe.pdf
b8ea7738c91093c363c82fda4785d90b
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 7]
FB:
……volunteered to stay on for the two weeks had difficulty getting back to the States,
can you tell us anything about…?
SA:
I don't know anything about that, I don't know. We had no control over the - going into
the air force - most of the got away.
FB:
What did you think the AVG accomplished in that one year? What would you say, from
your own personal observation?
SA:
I think it's a proven fact that they are not just a simple bunch of people together, but they
are really unspeakable in the way they accomplished what they did, and I would say they
were entirely 100% successful all the way through, and I'm proud of being connected
with it. I consider it the best thing that ever happened to me, to be in that organization.
Does that answer you?
FB:
My next question is, what do you personally feel you accomplished during that year, and
what effect did it have on your life?
SA:
I don't think I accomplished much. I might have accomplished a few things but I don't - I
can't have missed much. For instance, some friends of mine gave me a job inspecting the
problem and I was immediately one of the people to send out all over the United States in
a short period of time, say one month, it was terrific. You'd think I was God, because I'd
go from one place to another and write a report on the combat people and that, over and
over. I didn't like that business of being an inspector, but I had to. Then I got out and with General Haynes and Mitchell Steele? And it was a bomber command, that's what it
1
�was. I was just happy to be - that was a happy thing, I guess. We had this house - we had
to lease it. We bought it in '40.
FB:
Somewhere inside there, is all those friends of yours that I showed you pictures of [?] 5th
anniversary, so instead of talking to me, I'd like you to talk to them. Because we will
show this - I need you to look right into the camera - get yourself comfortable and look
right into the camera.
SA:
Ladies and Gentlemen: I'm extremely sorry that I'm unable to be with you on this
historic occasion, the 50th anniversary of the AVG, but I would like to say, being a part
of this organization is something in my life - I'm proud of it, and always will be. There's
one thing I would like all of you to know, that I have done the best I could, and I wish
that my learned friends would tell me that I was right to go ahead with it. I also would
like you to know that I think Dick Rossi has done a tremendous amount of good for the
AVG and nobody forced him to do it. I have read a lot of books, met a lot of people, but I
have nothing to be ashamed of, anything that I've done. The one thing that I do and hope
that you will understand is my tremendous admiration for Chennault while he lived and
everything. I also have some friends, best friends I've ever had - still are my friends, and
one of them was good enough to say after writing a book, "Skip, I never heard anybody
say an unkind word to you." I don't believe that. You can't take on a job like I had
without making enemies, and I just want to say, "Hullo and goodbye to all of you."
FB:
That was beautiful. I want to ask one more question over again, and I realize that perhaps
it's a difficult question to answer, but if you could try. We're doing these interviews with
each person to get - what do you personally feel you accomplished in the AVG, and how
did that affect the rest of your life?
SA:
I don't know that it affected the rest of my life, I don't know that. It's a question that's
difficult to say - but I'll say this, and I mean every word of this. I have never made more
than $10,000 in my life. I attended a party recently with a tycoon and at home, and he
said, "That old so-and-so never made more than $10,000 in his life," and I said, "You're
talking to one right now." Well, I don't still make that much, but I can't complain about
my luck at all. I've got everything I want. I've got three children, put them all through
college. They've all done much better than I ever did. My wife has been extremely
important to me. She's had many, many friends in the upper echelons. I don't know of
2
�anything I can say except I appreciate you fellows coming by here to do this. I hope it
hasn't been a bust. Goodbye.
FB:
I know it’s somewhat difficult to talk about yourself, but if you hadn’t gone around and
recruited those people – there would be no AVG. And I guess, what we’re looking for…
SA:
They probably could’ve gotten somebody else… I don’t know…
FB:
Skip, we’ve heard what the guys have said about YOU! You haven’t heard that and I’ll
tell you something – you’re pretty high up on the ladder in terms of people that they
respect. And I know it’s kind of difficult, but this is for the record. There’s gotta be a
certain amount of pride in what you did.
SA:
I have…
FB:
Please tell us about it.
SA:
Well, I have a tremendous amount of pride… I've said repeatedly, I think it was the most
important thing I've ever done in my life, and I have done, on the other hand, some very
significant things. I'm very much impressed - I don't anybody, that I know who has three
children who have grown up and been so successful and I even have two great
grandchildren, and what kind of life do you think I've done? Do you think I've been
busted all the way? No. I don't think so either, and I'm just proud of everything I've got
now. There's one little thing. This little house cost us $7,500. Now it's a hundred and
some - way up there. They come by every goddam year and say, "That son of a bitch is
worth more than that, let's raise his taxes up. He's so and so." Well, I bought it to live in,
not trade off and make money out of. But that's what they're doing. They just keep on. I
don't know what the hell's going to happen in death. If they keep on raising the damn
taxes - I paid $20 a year for taxes when I bought it, now - thousands. That's just the house
tax.
3
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Skip_1991-06-06_v07
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Claude Bryant "Skip"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Skip Adair interview (video and transcript, 7 of 7), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Claude Bryant "Skip" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Skip Adair trained as a pilot and was recruited by Col. Claire Lee Chennault in 1938 to serve as an instructor for the Chinese Air Force. During the months leading to the formation of the AVG, he toured Army Air Corps bases recruiting pilots and ground personnel in secrecy for the AVG. As part of the AVG Headquarters Staff, Adair acted as the Operations and Supply Group Executive Officer. In this tape, Adair discusses the major accomplishments of the AVG during their historic year and the tremendous pride he has for being a part of the Flying Tigers.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9bde23484c9938a23132fd5b42e9fc41.mp4
81294a96cfba4730d106b840d537bd31
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fb819585952585bd65934bf0cfe0e18d.pdf
ffb9e0b1392d6b0421b2711f48d27a97
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Marian "Steve" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 1]
FB:
Now is this your given name, or is this a nickname?
MA:
My real name is Marian Jeannette Stevens. And Skip's sister nicknamed me Steve
and I've been called Steve ever since.
FB:
Steve, if we could begin with when Skip decided to go to China in the first place,
what was your reaction to him to go off to China?
MA:
I knew when I met him that he had planned something. So I was not surprised when
he went.
FB:
Steve, if you could tell us your reaction of him going to China.
MA:
When I first met Skip, I knew he was planning to go somewhere. He was in
between. And it was to China.
FB:
What did you know about China at the time?
MA:
Nothing especially, except what I had read in the papers and history lessons.
FB:
And what was it that you had read or heard about?
MA:
Well it was such an entirely different lifestyle and people and we were in America.
Those people living in China and their beliefs and yet some of their women had
been educated in the United States which was very important and since I wasn't
1
�there for this they had gone to the Methodist Church and gone to the Methodist
schools.
FB:
Now when he finally asked you to come to China, what was your reaction?
MA:
Well because I was really excited and my whole family was excited, the thought of
their baby leaving the country and leaving her baby but my family thought it was
the thing to do and my mother offered to keep my child and he really had a lot of
love and care. My sister, Virginia helped her with care and he's known nothing but
love all his life.
FB:
What did you find when you actually arrived in China, give us some of your
observations, your first reactions, if you will. Here you are a young woman,
American, you've heard your husband is going off there, you've seen things in the
movies, read books, and everything, what did you actually find when you got to
China?
MA:
Well, I landed in Hong Kong when I first arrived all the noise on the street and the
conversations back and forth, not understanding anything, the [?] shows, that was
fun and the most exciting thing was and upsetting thing was he was not there to
meet me. He had had his friends meet me and the young lady that met me was
Margaret Potsmith. It was a wife of, I've forgotten her husband's first name,
Potsmith, he was a pilot, one of the CNAC's pilots. We became very good friends.
They had made reservations for me at the Hong Kong and somebody else had made
reservations at the Peninsula Hotel. And it ended up, Skip came in the next day, I
think there was a Typhoon and the Indian Ocean I think was supposed to go through
Hong Kong to get to Indo-China. And that was great pleasure.
FB:
Now, where did he take you next, where did you leave, when you left Hong Kong,
where did you go?
MA:
We went by boat to Hathong [?] and then on up the train, a little local train to
Mongsa [?] where there was a group of Americans stationed there, what they were
doing, I don't know. Part of them eventually ended up in Kunming or had been in
Kunming or Yunnan Ning. And became great princes, some of them.
2
�FB:
What did you find when you arrived there, what was your living accommodations
like?
MA:
The living accommodations in Mongsa [?]… I was only there a few days but the
hotel we were in had been part of the French Embassy. The French had just recently
left Indo-China.
FB:
Where did you go from there?
MA:
Went on up to Kunming, Baa, the French Railroad and it seemed like an awfully
long trip but it wasn't as long as I thought. We arrived and all of Skip's buddies
were there to welcome us. And that's all of the immediate reaction, I had to, things
happened so fast about then. I have very little recollection of it.
FB:
When did you first meet Claire Chennault?
MA:
Sometime later, probably several months, I met Col. Chennault. That's what I
always called him. That's what he was when he left the service before and at his
own home in Kunming I met him with a group of other Pre AVG's and the CNAC
pilots and of the men stationed in China.
FB:
Begin at the beginning of where you were when you heard the sirens go off and
then…
MA:
Of the first air alert that I was in, was in Mongsa and just doing nothing but hanging
around. Everybody said get your things together. We've got to go to [?], so we did, I
think about a dozen of us. .When the Nang men went off to Rios together, we really
did nothing until the siren stopped and then we got the all clear sign and we went
back in. And it was exciting because I didn't know whether there'd ever been an air
raid or not, but to expect it.
FB:
Amongst the Chinese population, either there or later on in Kunming, you had
stated that you didn't have too much contact with Chinese people personally, but
what were your observations of the Chinese in terms of their daily life or of this
condition that they were in, though we saw pictures of goiters and things like that.
3
�Can you give us a sense of what it was like to live there and what your reaction was
to the Chinese people?
MA:
Well the Chinese people that I knew some slightly through Skip's work and through
our help, and our house boy they were very cooperative and wanted to help me in
any way they could. The boys could even understand my English and I couldn't
even understand their Chinese. Which was interesting. One house boy got
fascinated because we let him run the Victrola. Played the records and after the
machine wound up while he was playing them and he loved the Beer Barrel Polka.
And one day by mistake, he got in and found the Begin the Beguine and the young
boy was so hacked. Because he liked the rhythm of that Beer Barrel Polka. And the
people on the street were in awe of me I think, they were polite and helpful I'm
sure, If I had needed any help, mostly I was walking down at the airfield waiting for
Skip to come in and walking around behind the hills behind the house and the, and
one time, I know, when I arrived there, Skip had hoped to have a home built for me
and the rains came and washed away the mud brick. So I stayed in the main
neighboring town in a nice two-story complex, kind of a U-shaped building in the
owner's quarters. And our house boy, Oscar, his family went over there with us.
And it was fun. I finally bought a pair of Cooley shoes because all of my shoes
were uncomfortable for walking the Chinese roads and highways and so the
Chinese thought my big feet were just riots. They were pointing at my feet and I
just laughed. And of course, I didn’t know what to think I just met them flat, didn't
make any difference to me, I knew my feet were big. And seriously I didn't have a
real Chinese friend and when I was in Hong Kong, I did meet and have lunch with
Butterfly Woo. She had heard I was there and heard the girls talking about me and I
had tried to play [?] with some of the women, and [?] she wanted to meet an
American woman, so Mary Margaret Potsmith and I had lunch with Butterfly Woo.
Now the big deal was that Butterfly Woo would speak English to me and would not
speak English to anybody of America. And the girls just couldn't believe that she
was talking to me in English. But she realized that I couldn't understand her
Chinese and didn't want to go around an interpreter. So we had a very nice luncheon
and that was my visit with Butterfly Woo.
FB:
Without trying not to sound too ignorant, who was Butterfly Woo?
4
�MA:
She was the young lady that the young Marshall, I think they called him, a Chailor,
became involved with and I don't exactly know what the situation was, like
everything else, there's stories. But she had quite a reputation but she still seemed to
be a fine young woman.
FB:
Did you witness any of the, what you would call brutality? Amongst the Chinese?
There were executions for example, or anything, did you ever have any
recollections of those?
MA:
They were very peace loving people and as far as I was concerned, they are
definitely family people and loved the children, they of course, the medical
situation out there, it just looked like they let the little flies and varmints eat up the
sores that were on the children but possibly they didn't know anything better to do
because it was definitely in the backwoods. And there were still women there with
bound feet which had been outlawed for some years in China. And they all seemed
to have some animal of some kind, following along with them.
FB:
Let's talk now about Chennault. You had a chance to get to know him fairly well,
you got a chance to perhaps see a side of him that nobody else saw. What can you
tell us about Claire Chennault?
MA:
Well, Claire Chennault, I met him first at his home in Kunming. And the group was
getting together for supper and he was very friendly and kind and gentlemanly and
we didn't have much to say to each other. Being in a group like that, I was sort of on
the outside and looking in. I was obviously a newcomer. And then later I got to
know him fairly well I think and he got to know me and we had some
conversations.
From your perspective, as an outsider looking in, what was your first reaction to
seeing Chennault? What did he look like? Did he stick out in a crowd to you at all,
was he, his face is often described as a leather face and his eyes were piercing
black, did you have any of those kinds of observations about him when you first
met him?
FB:
MA:
Well, when I met him he was just one of the group. And he was much older than
anyone there and I didn't react too much of his personal appearance. I've always
been an observer and not a participant.
5
�FB:
How about later, when you got a chance to know him better?
MA:
Oh, we just chattered around, general things, and some things that weren't so
general. But…
FB:
What was your, well I guess what we're looking for is that Claire's no longer with
us anymore. And all we have left, or just for posterity sake are just memories of
people who did know him. And I'm not looking for you to give away any secrets, or
anything like that, but what I am looking for is a personal perspective. You knew
him and I didn't. My father knew him and I didn't. I guess what I'm looking for is
for you to be able to give me an idea of what you like so much about him.
MA:
Well, I liked the man because he was quiet and was not trying to impress anybody.
He had his own way of doing things and receiving people and handling himself. He
loved children and he loved animals. He had a little Dachshund that he had with
him for years. And the little dog, he'd say rats and that little dog was under the sofa
and everywhere else looking for rats. And he, one of his favorite tales in Hong
Kong after Pat was born, this was a year later than, he came by to see Pat have a
bath. And I didn't think too much about it, went out to dinner that night and
fortunately one of Skip's friends had let me use his house because his wife had been
evacuated back to town, to Canada…
FB:
You're doing fine. The only problem is that the fabric on your pants, when you
touched.........
6
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Marian_1991-06-06_v01
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Marian "Steve"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Marian "Steve" Adair interview (video and transcript, 1 of 3), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Marian "Steve" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Adair, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was the wife of pilot Skip Adair. In this tape, Marian "Steve" Adair discusses her reaction to her husband, Skip, going to China and her first impressions upon joining him overseas.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
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video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a3c384584adf07bb8ef439b766b94ff3.mp4
834772fec0998c4185297962dbc16603
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/704fcff906dc5cf9c1e7111265dd2ca6.pdf
62bb01bfdaf4ff998607ce493e21e15e
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Marian "Steve" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 2]
FB:
If we could, your personal observations of Chennault.
MA:
Well, Chennault to me was, as I say I met him first at a get together at a party. The
Kunming, employees, or whatever you call them, that were working with him, were all
there and he was just a quiet gentleman, playing host to the group. He was helpful
because I didn't know how to handle this food you're supposed to cook like Sukiyaki,
except it had a Chinese name. I did it again.
FB:
I think when you met Chennault at this party and he was very helpful and then go into the
story about the Sukiyaki.
MA:
When I first met Chennault, was at a party that they had a get together of a CNAC and
the instructor school, he was there and very quiet, very gentlemanly and very helpful.
Trying to make me seem at home in a foreign country. He even helped me try to learn
how to make the Chinese version of Sukiyaki which I have still not learned to pronounce.
My inflections of the Chinese is not to be admired by anyone so I'll stop trying to, I did
learn to count, and I left one number out. I don't know which one it is, like an E or some
[?], I get lost in the middle of it but that's just part of me. Dead ears I suppose. Then later,
he used to come and see the little girl that was the daughter of the common dot in Yu
Nang Yee when he was up there, she was somewhere about 5, 6 years old. And he always
came by and spoke to her, he seemed to enjoy knowing her. And one instance, he had
come by, this was a year later, had come by to see my baby Pat, the redhead that was
born in Manila, and he wanted to see that thick of hair. And so, he came out and Mama
was giving her a bath and he just had more fun watching that little baby, probably about
3 or 4 weeks old and that evening I went out to supper with the gang to McDonald's and I
1
�guess I'd been living with the one that was the hero of kings. Had an apartment together
and had us over there and he had arrived before I did and if there wasn't anybody else.
Most of the people had arrived. He had been telling them about he had seen the redhead
take a bath and of course they lived in what was called a fishbowl in Hong Kong, all of
the apartments you could see from one apartment to the other. And so they were all
trying to decide which redhead had not drawn the curtains, and when I had arrived, they
found out that he talked about my baby Pat. But we got along fine. And he liked having
his little jokes.
FB:
What are some of the things that you recall about Chennault's personality - in regards to
you in terms of when he would talk to you? Did you feel like he was listening to what
you had to say? Did it seem like he was interested in talking to you or was he just very
much a part of the group?
MA:
When I was around him, the most, it was… the conversation was that he was talking to
me and felt like I was a good listener. You probably can tell by the way I'm talking now,
I'm not much of a talker. I guess when I get excited.
FB:
What things would he talk to you about? What kind of things did he talk about?
MA:
Well, one things about all the wars going on in the world and the standings of the
Russians and the English and the Chinese and the branch - it was just astonishing some of
the things he would come out with that I thought, my goodness, but I never did repeat
what he said to anybody because he was talking to me and nobody else.
FB:
Did he tell you what he thought was the danger from Japan, that China was in danger?
MA:
I think so, that could have been included in this conversation he had with me. I mean he
was just talking to me. I've forgotten we were going somewhere in a taxi, there were 3 of
us in a taxi and he was on one side and I was in the middle. And it seemed to be very
serious to me what he was talking about - his expressions of what was going on in the
world.
FB:
What did he look like when he was happy? What would his face look like when he was
happy?
2
�MA:
He was just that relaxed little grin, with a few more wrinkles showing when he was
happy. I never did see him when he seemed to be exuberantly happy. I don't think he was
the type of man that would express his feelings too much.
FB:
What other kinds of emotions did you see in him, when he talked to you and he was
maybe very serious about something? How did he look like to you?
MA:
Well, when he was talking seriously, he was very somber and was really concentrating on
what he was saying, he was just not talking off his head to make conversation with me.
He was expressing some deep feelings of his that would not be repeated and he knew it.
Now I don't know that I ever had any reason to have conversations with him - he would
visit us in our quarters at Mitchell Field later after Skip had gone back into the Air Force
and brought his little dog with us, and his little dog chased the rats. Had fun and wanted
to see the redhead again. And of course, that was before Stephanie was born and Mike
was there - I had two redheads then, and I don't think he got to see him, I think they were
in school the day he came by. He enjoyed it. We enjoyed having him.
FB:
If he was standing in this room right now, what would we see? Describe Chennault for
us.
MA:
Well, he was, he'd be a middle-aged man, and probably looking older than he was
because of his furrowed face, but a very alert person. Very much interested in the other
part of the world. It wasn't just him, he was interested in other people and individuals as
well as world affairs.
FB:
There was an incident you had mentioned about flying in an airplane with Billy
McDonald? Do you recall that McDonald was flying from... If you could tell us about
the trip that you took that was arranged on Man Tuck Hai Shek's [?] airplane?
MA:
I finally got ready to, Skip had proceeded to Yu Nang Yee and I was left in Kung Nang.
McDonald who was one of Da Nang's pilots, got permission for Reynolds to fly me to Yu
Nang Yee on the Madame's plane.
FB:
Start again, because of the phone.
3
�MA:
Skip had left me in Kung Nang waiting for me to get transportation to Ny Nang Yee and
McDonald who must of you know as Billy, and I always called him Mack got permission
from Madame Chiang Kai-shek to fly me in her plane and Roland was the pilot, he and
McDonald were the two pilots and it was fun because I had not flown in a small plane
before and the dog which Skip had inherited from one of his friends who had just left,
was in the back seat looking over our shoulders and got a little car sick and between me
and the dog I think the pilot had his hands full, but we made it. Probably in good shape.
And Skip was there waiting on us and was happy to see us and the dog was real happy to
see the ground and Skip.
FB:
If you could give us an idea of, here you are a young married couple, and you had a child
that was back in the States, describe to us what that must have been like? Here you are in
a foreign country, you're in a backwoods environment, you're a young married couple.
Living in a foreign land, your child back in the States, you're in actually a dangerous,
even though you had a couple of air raids, it still was a war zone, if you will What was
that like?
MA:
I didn't really feel, I felt the pressure of there being possible air attacks, but I felt I was
being cared for, and I knew my child back home was being cared for and as far as being
lonely I supposed I was lonely, but I was busy doing something all the time. Because the
house you saw the curtains in there and you didn't see probably the bedroom and all the
curtains, I made all of them by hand out of cooly cloth. Hems and ruffles on them, then
the covers to the two things that looked like studio couches in the living room, and if
there was a table cloth, I had done something to put an edge on that and I finally started
making some clothes for myself and the houseboy rented a machine for me - a Singer
sewing machine. I don't know how much, how he conned the tailor in the town to part
with that machine for a week for me to use it, but he did and he - they were just very kind
to me, all of the people, the house people and the people on the street, they would
acknowledge the presence but they weren't, there was nothing threatening, the only thing
Skip told me to be aware of the dog because they were unpredictable and our dog,
himself was unpredictable. He'd been trained to chase the lights from the flashlights and
just went wild running around the compound after the walls were finally built, chasing
that light, and I told them I thought it was cruel that they shouldn’t do the dog that way
but they went on and did it. It was fun to watch the dog. My dog chases around here, and
I think she just chases herself. She has a ball that she grabs hold on occasion then, runs
around, will not give it to anyone, she doesn't play pick and return to the owner.
4
�FB:
Did you find life in China, a surprise, was it surprising to you, things that happened
there? What kind of things did surprise you out there as an American woman out there?
MA:
Well, the, of course, I was brought up in a good size city which was Charlotte, N.C. and
the difference in living in a fairly large city, not Metropolis, but a large city, and to see
the difference in the streets and the roads, and the housing and the lighting and the, all the
facilities was not unexpected because Skip had written to me about everything to expect
when I got there, so I was not seeing the streets being used as a deposit stories, and no
plumbing, no running water we had two Cooly boys that their one job was to bring water
and gasoline in cans. I don't know what we would have done without the gasoline cans. 2
gasoline cans - only? A mile and a quarter from the one place you could get drinking
water and this was all you used for all our household water and out tubs, they had to fill
to keep the water on the stove, made out of gasoline cans and our latrine was made out of
gasoline cans, everything, we don't know what we'd do without those 5 gallon cans.
FB:
What things in China upset you?
MA:
Well, I think the filth. In a way it couldn't be helped, in a way you'd think that somehow
along the way that something, whether it been that the poor little children being strapped
on the mother's backs, we see our children being strapped on the mothers backs when the
mothers go shopping, these days just like those little infants out there, and that's the
modern way of young mothers taking care of their children there. That [?] what the [?]
had done for years.
FB:
What sorts of things amused you about China?
MA:
I don't know that I got amused too much. Now I enjoyed the Chinese Theater. It came to
entertain the troops, so to speak, the boys and the Flying School, when we were invited to
attend, and I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the stage, it was fun to watch
with all in Chinese and expressive, but still I didn't know what was going on.
FB:
How did that year that you spent in China, how did that year affect you?
5
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
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video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Marian_1991-06-06_v02
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Marian "Steve"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Marian "Steve" Adair interview (video and transcript, 2 of 3), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Marian "Steve" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Adair, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was the wife of pilot Skip Adair. In this tape, Adair describes her personal observations of General Chennault, in addition to her experience as a young married couple living away from their child in a foreign land.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/016f79a3ea25ae930d2fbe60f12dca6c.mp4
73ea2476f54f202df07296fdaaf10e66
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7e264cbd605b757a17bcba58279e5eff.pdf
3df28071b98c26698154ec8747842682
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Special Collections & University Archives
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interviews
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Marian "Steve" Adair
Date of Interview: 06-06-1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 3]
FB:
That year that you spent in China - how did that year affect your life and your marriage
with Skip?
MA:
The year in China with Skip really welded our marriage and we both have been stronger
because of it and as he said Mike brought us together and Pat kept us together and
Stephanie, who is our baby, the one you saw the write-up on, was the one that really
made the difference because we have a deeper understanding of each other and he also is
more tolerant and I have become more tolerant. I'm supposed to be a creative person and
I made fashioned clothes for some of my friends and could select who I wanted to work
for and he puts up with that. That's the reason the house is such a mess, I don't think
about housekeeping. I'm doing something else, creating. So he just says creative people
have to make a mess. I'll create the cooking and I'll create the mess in the sink for
somebody else. And sometimes I don't have that somebody else.
FB:
What are your memories of the war in China? Do you have any memories of the war?
Skip was involved in the war.
MA:
To begin with, the only good news in the paper was these little blocks about that big,
sometimes just two lines of what the Flying Tigers were doing in China. It wasn't on the
front page, it was on the back page and my mother was an excellent reader and she would
bring them to me and show them to me every morning if there was something good in the
paper and I always felt like Skip could take care of himself. I didn't much feel that he
might not come back.
1
�FB:
MA:
What did you know about Skip's work? Did you think that it was important? Were you
aware of what he was doing? Did you have any idea of what it was he was doing?
Well, in a way, but not too much because he didn't talk to me too much about it. His own
family didn't know much about it.
(break)
FB:
Did you feel that what Skip was doing was important?
MA:
Oh yes I did because I believed in China and China at that time was threatening to be
invaded and was invaded and that made a difference because he was doing what he
thought was right and it was good for both of us.
FB:
How was it good for you?
MA:
Well I think it made me a lot stronger person. I definitely would probably be momma's
baby because I was. I never had to make a decision of my own all my life and I've had to
and even now I have to make decisions that are sort of whopping. But we get along. He
makes some decisions too.
FB:
How did you feel about leaving China?
MA:
FB:
I didn't want to leave and yet I did want to leave. I felt for Pat's sake because she had
already been born, that I ought to come home and it was much more crucial than when I
got out there because I've forgotten whether the Chinese had closed the Burma Road - I
don't remember why it was closed - it was closed and travel was not allowed on it and
when it was reopened they didn't know what was going to happen and they were trying to
get all civilians out of Hong Kong and I was one of the ones - probably the last ones - it
wasn't long after that Hong Kong was invaded. My memory abates in years - confused. I
never did make good marks in history.
How did you feel about Skip returning to China to join the AVG?
MA:
Well that was in the book when our life together began because he was so dedicated to
doing it and he only slept in this house 3 nights after we bought the house and it was
devoid of curtains and rugs and furniture. We had a few sticks of furniture, but it was a
challenge. There again, I had to do all the purchasing and decision making. I put myself
2
�on an allowance. He was making enough money at the time that we didn't spend it all and
I just wrote my allowance from the account - Chase-Manhattan - and put it in my bank
account here and kept the kids going and paid for a servant and paid for whatever I
needed and then when things got too high, I just raised my allowance.
FB:
During this period of time, it was very unusual for a woman to be on her own raising a
family. I wonder if you could give us an idea and give your family an idea of what that
was like to be raising a family on your own?
(break)
MA:
How did I feel as a single mother, so to speak, since my husband was gone? Actually one
of the boys down the hill - a twelve year old boy - he used to come up and play with the
kids and I was smoking cigarettes then and he was at the age - he might have been
fourteen - he thought he could get by coming up here and smoking with his parents not
knowing it and I couldn't stop him from smoking too much, I'd let him smoke one or two
and then we'd do something else. He got the word around that nobody even knew
whether I had a husband or not and of course, the people next door who we had known
for these 52 years now, bless his heart, he's gone, but she's still living in town and they
sold the house about 15 years ago to the people that are in it now, and the strange part
about it - they also have 3 boys. The former almost had 3 boys and my boy didn't have a
brother and he surely wanted that brother, but we just couldn't give him a brother. I did
not have any problems. Occasionally, when I'd go out in the evening somebody might get
kind of a smart attitude, but I never did have any trouble with men trying to outsmart me
or financially or being rude to me because I had known several of the couples that he had
known the six months he was here, you see, we lived in an apartment and met a lot of the
- the McDaniel Heights Apartments is an apartment that a lot of people in Greenville
started their lives in and I still know some of them. Just were about starting housekeeping
like I was for the first time. I did have an apartment in Charlotte one time, but that didn't
last long. Skip made me get it before he came back and I had a place for him to be with
Pat and Mike without my parents being in the way, but they never have bothered us. They
never have tried to run our lives and never did and we've just been strictly independent.
Later his family moved to Greenville, we agreed we would not live in the town that either
of our families lived in, but his father died in the meantime and his brother was in
Burman, so his mother and sister moved to Greenville to be close to the other brother,
3
�and that's the reason we ended up - and it's been fortunate because we're all close and she
needs us and we need her.
FB:
MA:
You had touched briefly upon seeing articles or little bits and pieces about the AVG, but
what was your reaction during that period of time you probably also knew that the
Japanese were practically taking over Asia and the only real bright spot was the Flying
Tigers. What was your reaction as a person here - a wife of one of the Tigers here in
America what was your reaction to what was going on over there?
We didn't like Japan trying to take over China, but that has been for thousands of years
between the two countries - misunderstandings. China has been able to take care of itself
and we thought that with this work that Chennault and the Flying Tigers were doing, that
China had a chance of survival.
(break)
MA:
The little bits of news that was in the paper were billed from the back pages of
everybody's news and it was - Charlotte being a much larger city had better coverage
probably than Greenville papers, but it meant a lot to them and to my friends here in
Greenville it meant a lot knowing that Skip was over there.
FB:
We're trying to get a sense of during the dark days in China 1941-42 when the
Americans, the British, everybody was being defeated over there, but this one group
called the Flying Tigers had incredible successes against incredible odds. And your
husband was over there. There was People, there was Time Magazine, there was Life
Magazine, it was a big thing, but you had much more personal insight into all that. I
guess what we're looking for is your personal reaction to the successes of the AVG when
all else seemed to be lost.
MA:
The news filtering into the papers about the Flying Tigers in China of course affected me
quite a bit and my friends who at that time had widened considerably, were impressed
with it and would ask me questions that of course I didn't know, being so far away. But
they kept up with it and were just most impressed. When Pearl Harbor came along, my 12
year old friend down the hill, the boy, came up - I had just come home from Sunday
School with my two little kids and I had a rose garden at the top of the hill then - now it's
grass - and I was looking at the rose garden, I had planted some pansies, and Do said
"Ms. Adair, I hear the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor and Singapore and where's
4
�Skip?" I said "what?" He said "It's all over the newspapers" - not the newspapers - I
think then the newspapers hadn't even come out - "It's all over the radio news" and so of
course I had to turn on the radio and that was about 11:30 on Sunday morning, which was
not too long after it really happened - come to think about it - 'cause that was Sunday. So
I was informed of it right away by my little neighbor and the other people were
concerned about me in the meantime. Don, next door had gone - he'd been in the Navy he'd gone back and became a Commander in the Navy and people were just leaving [?]
my friends who had been in the service of any kind.
FB:
Well as they left, Pearl Harbor and the time after that, there was no real successes. The
people that went over there were not being successful with the Japanese, but the Flying
Tigers were. What was the reaction back home in the dark days before you knew the
successes of the Flying Tigers?
MA:
It was just incredible. No one could believe how this little group of pilots could be
performing such fantastic feats over there and it was Chennault's genius - I think it was
nothing short of that - the way he trained them to attack and I think he should go down in
history books as a genius in flying and having pilots trained.
(break)
FB:
During the time that they were the American Volunteer Group, The Flying Tigers, what
do you think Skip and Chennault and all the pilots and ground crew and nurses and
doctors accomplished for the morale of the United States and the defense of China?
MA:
Well it was just so tremendous a thing that I cannot express it. Everyone was talking
about the Flying Tigers and what they were doing. And some people didn't know my
husband was over there. Some people thought - as I told you - the boy said that people
were saying that I didn't have a husband - but to people around here the man that sold us
the house knew I had a husband and the next door neighbors knew I had a husband
because they were the only people here. In fact, there were just the 3 houses then - oh
there were 4 - the one at the top of the hill. All the other houses have come in since then
and the road wasn't paved. When we moved here it was a red mud road and Skip's
brother, one of the last night he was here it had been raining before Skip left and he
skidded down the terrace in that mud and they couldn't get the car out anyway so they
had to send him - somebody else had t take him home and come back the next day to get
5
�the car out of the mud. But those people, that night were part of the group that of course
knew Skip was around and knew that he was part of it and I think we all felt like Skip
was always safe. I don't think it ever once entered my mind - I know some women were
so fearsome - maybe I just didn't have sense enough to be afraid, but I've always believed
in him and he must have always believed in me.
6
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Adair_Marian_1991-06-06_v03
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adair, Marian "Steve"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Marian "Steve" Adair interview (video and transcript, 3 of 3), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Marian "Steve" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Adair, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was the wife of pilot Skip Adair. In this tape, Adair discusses how the year she spent in China affected her life and marriage with Skip Adair, in addition to how the Flying Tigers affected the morale of the United States and China.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/37018e9c970b1ad7a42123bad7b5d54c.mp4
902bc5212fc07f2cda2aff2c3f64debc
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f0b0aa7c0ecb24dd3c131d83e89d1251.pdf
b4ea4f520cb2bfa4fe3e8d812c68f716
PDF Text
Text
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interview
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Chuck Baisden
Date of interview: June 8, 1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 1]
FB:
Chuck, we'd like to begin with, what were you doing prior to hearing about the
opportunity in China?
CB:
Well, I was stationed in at Mitchell Field on Long Island with the 57th Interceptor Group
and we went up to Windsor Locks, Trumbull Field on gunnery, I think it was April '41.
And when we got up there, why we were told there was going to be a meeting. Trumbull
Field had an old building that I think had been a mill one time and I was going to have a
meeting. So we went to the meeting and they closed all the doors and all that sort of stuff
and Skip Adair…
FB:
Please start again, from the beginning.
CB:
From the beginning, OK, I was at Mitchell Field, we went up to Groton, Connecticut, at
Trumbull, and we were up there for gunnery. and we got a notice on the bulletin board
there was going to be a guy there talking to us about, we didn't know what, anyway, we
went into the building, and they closed the doors and Skip Adair was there to meet us and
he gave us this, which at that time was sort of a song and dance, but he said we need
people to go to China to patrol the road up there and we're going to build airplanes over
there. And I was Staff Sgt. at the time I was making $72 a month and the question came
up are you going to travel for a year? And the pay was $350 a month in 1941, $350 a
month was a lot of money and of course I was, just turned 21. So I, bunch of us, [?]
Sheffield and I, we put our names on the list and then we, nothing more happened, we
went back to Mitchell Field and one day they said go down to base administration - they
wanted to talk to you, so we went down to the basement, they had the blinds drawn - they
had a rack of civilian clothes and we all got our pictures taken and I had GI uniform on
and some kind of a sport coat on and then a fellow said, "What's your job?' I said "Well
I'm the aircraft armor." "What do you do?" I said "Well, I take care of machine guns and
load bombs and etc., etc. "You're a metal worker." I said "No that's different. I'm an
armorer." "You're a metal worker." And he finally convinced me that's what was on my
passport so I went overseas as a metal worker and I heard some of the other fellows went
over as all kinds of things, but that's what I went overseas as.
FB:
What were you doing prior to hearing about the opportunity in China?
CB:
Well, my unit was in Mitchell Field, Long Island New York, 57th Pursuit Group. Col.
Phil Cochran was the CO. Phil Cochran was, or actually Phil Corkin?. Anyway, we went
up to Groton with the 33rd squadron to do gunnery at Trumbull Field and while we was
1
�there, they told us to report to the main building for an interview. And it turned out it was
Skip Adair. And he gave us a presentation of going to China to do patrol on the area there
over, I guess it was Loiwing to keep the Japs from bombing the place while we
assembled airplanes. And he also gave us the one year contract and being that I was
making $72 a month as a Staff Sgt., $350 really impressed me. So that's how it got
started. We went back to Mitchell Field and in, I forget the month of it, we were told to
report to Base Administration, and the State Dept. was there taking pictures and they had
us all lined up with civilian clothes so we had our pictures taken and at the time they
asked me what I did. I told them I was aircraft armorer. When they wanted to know what
an armorer was I told them, and they said "No, you're a metal worker." I said "No, I'm an
armorer, that's different." "No you're a metal worker." That's what I went over as, as a
metal worker on my passport. And I got discharged from the Air Corps on June 2nd, no
I'm wrong, I got discharged May 24th from the Air Force, continuance of the
Government discharge, they made us turn in all our field equipment but they let us keep
our shoes and part of our uniform, we had to cut the buttons off and then on the June 2nd
I signed the contract with Camp Co, at the Rockefeller Plaza.
FB:
What did you know about China at this time?
CB:
Absolutely nothing.
FB:
Once again, I knew absolutely nothing about China.
CB:
About China, I knew absolutely nothing. That was a place I hadn't been to and I wanted
to see. That's about all I could say at the time. I didn't know anything about their customs
or like you said, I knew nothing about China.
FB:
What did you know or hear about through news reels or anything like that about Japan or
what was going on in China?
CB:
Other than we thought, I think most of us thought, that a couple companies of Marines
could probably go in and clean their clocks, that's about what we thought. We didn't
know nothing about the Japanese. You take them looking at a, maybe our powers that be
did, I don't know, after Pearl Harbor, I don't think our powers that be knew everything
they're supposed to know.
FB:
In terms, you mentioned that somebody told you about the AVG, but how did you
actually hear about this opportunity? What was the process?
CB:
I believe there was a notice on the bulletin board. No I, when we first heard about the
AVG, it wasn't called the AVG, it was tied up with the Camp Co, or Continental Aircraft
Manufacturing Corporation. was the cover and I really don't, I think it was on the bulletin
board, but I really don't remember.
FB:
What was your motivation, and why get involved in this? I mean, were you satisfied with
where you were, or?
2
�CB:
Well, I was the Staff Sgt., I'd been through Air Corps. Tech. School and I was perfectly
happy and I went in the service in 1939, 1941, I was a Staff Sgt., Air Corps. was
expanding and I was not unhappy with what I was doing, in fact I liked work. But I also
liked to travel, and let's face it, there was the money consideration. And like I said, it was
$72 as compared to $350 and you finished your contract, you got $500 bonus and that's
really the reason I went. I didn't have any dumpses?, I didn't like the, when I went in I
had planned to spend my 20 or 30 and get off, I was going to be career airman, because
the military was something that I was always interested in.
FB:
What was it that Skip Adair told you in terms of what you were to be doing and what to
expect?
CB:
Well, when Skip Adair was talking to us at Trumbull Field I really didn't understand too
much of what we'd be doing, we'd have a fighter squadron there, a fighter group, and
whatever your job was that's what you would work on and that was about all we knew.
We were just going to another country and to get paid for, that's really about all I knew
about it.
FB:
Could you describe for us the process? If you could describe for us the process of
resigning your commission and what was it you actually had to do and did you have any
difficulties in getting out?
CB:
Well, when they came to get me out of the service, I was an enlisted man. I didn't resign
no commission. I had a Staff Sgt. pin at war which they gave us at that time, but it was all
automatic - we just reported in for discharge and got rid of our clothing and they gave us
an honorable discharge convenience of the Government and we went out of the base.
That was the end of it. There was no, in fact, I don't know whether it was a relief or what,
when I went through the gate, I said well I'm starting a new something or other and
anyway, when I went off base I was running around with a gal in Weehawken, New
Jersey at the time, so I had to go see her. That's Ft. Willis time. And on the bus going
back, I lost my wallet, $150 bucks lost. So when I got home I was broke and my dad said
where are you going? I said I'm going to China, yes I'm making $350, he said well I'm
making $50 a week so he said be my guest. So that was the whole story of it. Went down
to Sunbury, Sunbury, Pennsylvania. and Carl Bugler, and I think it was Rich Graham and
we went by train to L.A. and there was a whole bunch of us on the train and I remember
stopping in Wyoming and Johnny Fauth and a bunch of them wanted pistols and you stop
at Cheyenne, Wyoming, and you can go to the nearest pawn shop and buy the whole store
out if you had the money, so we took Johnny Fauth and a bunch of them and I bought
them all pistols. Being I was supposed to be the expert, I really wasn't. They thought I
was. And we bought a bunch of pistols and stopped in Cheyenne. We went on to west
coast and then they put us up at the Jonathan Club and that was, they made a big mistake
at the Jonathan Club. Here's a bunch of young GI's that just retired and everybody thinks
there, whatever you want to call them, and guys started running up phone bills, that's the
first time in my life I ever had grapefruit served in a silver container with a big spoon and
3
�all of that stuff, and I thought, boy we're living high on cotton right now. They moved us
out of there and we went by bus to San Francisco.
FB:
I would like to get a little more detail. Could you describe your own personal
observations, your reactions, arriving at the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles?
CB:
Well, we got off the train and I think we took a taxi to the Jonathan Club and walked in to
it and it was a big, old building, soft leather chairs, and all that sort of stuff and looked to
me like there was a bunch of, I didn't know at the time what they were, they were very
dignified gentlemen, gray haired, I found out later more of them were retired Admirals
and Captains and Generals and what have you, how they let our bunch in there, I have no
idea but maybe the [?] had something to do with it. And I was very impressed with the
meals and the being served by a butler and in the meantime the fellows were having quite
a time, they were just turned loose and here we've been under fairly strict discipline and
marching from point A to point B with everything buttoned up and we were turned loose,
fellows started running up long distance phone calls and charging this and charging that
and I think the bills got out of hand and in the meantime, Joe Poshefko, my friend, came
down with appendicitis and they had to take him to the hospital. He was one of the
reasons he didn't make our, he was on the original bus that went over but he didn't make
it on account that he had had appendicitis and because I just know at the time I was just
wondering what happened to Joe, I thought he had just gone over the hill or something,
but he hadn't, he was sick. And other than that, I don't remember too much about the
Jonathan Club, everything is sort of hazy, what went on there.
FB:
Now once the decision was made to leave the Jonathan Club, I understand you were
going to San Francisco, I wonder if you could describe how you got to San Francisco?
CB:
Well, when we left the Jonathan Club, for San Francisco, we went by bus. On a chartered
bus. And I remember going up there - it was hotter than a pistol. The fellows got us a big
old washtub and they filled it fill with ice and they filled it full of booze and beer and we
got about half way up there and I remember getting off the bus, we had a short rest stop.
There was no facilities. So have you ever seen about 15 guys lined up along the highway
doing their thing? And most of them were pretty well smashed. But I can remember that
because I took a picture of when I was there. I think the driver was glad to get rid of us
when we got to San Francisco. And I don't remember even the name of the hotel that we
stayed at when we got to San Francisco. I remember we spent the night there, I don't
remember where we stayed, we didn't stay there very long, they got us on a boat to get
our butts out of there. I think the States were about as glad to get rid of us as anything
else.
FB:
Now, at this time it was around June 1941, you boarded a boat called the President
Pierce, I wonder if you can give us your observation of the boat itself and your reaction to
it.
CB:
Well, when we left San Francisco, we were on a cargo passenger ship called the President
Pierce, the U.S. President Alliance and of course, we thought we'd have some kind of
4
�state rooms and this was the first time I began to exactly wonder what we were getting in
to because they put us up at one of the lounge or lobby, all we had were cots and we were
really crowded, the whole bunch of us was in, I don't think Frillman was, but everybody
else was in cots in this lounge. And we took off and sailed from there to Hawaii. We got
to Hawaii, in the meantime, we also had a bunch of kooks going over there going to the
Philippines. When we got to Hawaii, we were there overnight. And I remember old P.J.
Perry coming on board and at that time, booze was pretty cheap in Hawaii and so old P.J.
come staggering on board and he had a jug of liquor on his shoulder trying to get up the
gang plank. And he made it but I don't know how. And anyway, we left and we gave the
Colonel a tough time, going over there. He always had an inspection - everyday he had an
inspection - and I really didn't see any reason why I had to pop to because he came by,
being 21 years old, when he came by, he'd reamed me up one end or the other so I went
and told the fellows. Next morning the whole bunch of us was sitting back on the fantail
waiting for us. And he came back there and all the, he took one look, he just turned
around and walked away, Frillman had called us in to have a meeting, and said the
Captain would appreciate it if you fellows make yourselves scarce when they have a,
when the Colonel. does an inspection, but we wouldn't have put up with that stuff. And I
think that would give you an idea of what kind of guys we had. We knew our job but we
wasn't going to put up with a bunch of other stuff.
FB:
Give us as much as possible, we read the Frillman book and his real trepidation, he was
nervous around, of letting you guys know that he was even a Chaplain to begin with, I
don't want you to answer yet, give me a brief answer, you did meet him in the hotel right?
CB:
I think we did, I don't really remember, I just remember him being on the boat. We no
doubt had met him, but I remember him being on the boat, because that's when he started
calling names and,
FB:
OK. We want all that detail, on the boat then.
5
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v01
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Baisden, Charles
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-08
Title
A name given to the resource
Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 1 of 11), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden describes his background in the American Air Corps before becoming involved with the American Volunteer Group and his journey overseas from San Francisco.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/03fbe0ef94e876410cdcda615b3fe77a.mp4
bc3865f3e68de239a51c6d49140a5271
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b1e0dc5da37568915943e1cb271f5825.pdf
d905a323962ea7adf6e41cfe33a78ab6
PDF Text
Text
RHC-88 Fei Hu Films
Flying Tigers Interview
Interviewer: Frank Boring
Interviewee: Chuck Baisden
Date of interview: June 8, 1991
Transcriber: Frank Boring
[TAPE 2]
FB:
Tell us about your reactions to and your observations about Chaplain Frillman?
CB:
Well Paul Frillman, Chaplain Frillman, I don't remember when I first met him, but I do
remember him being on the boat after we left San Francisco and I respected him because
he was very fluent in Chinese and I knew he had a heck of a job on his hands, trying to
control it and - I think he was a little apprehensive. But he was trying to do his job the
best he could and some of the fellows listened to him, some of them didn't, but I liked the
fellow. He'd been a missionary over there, he could speak Mandarin. I don't know if he
could speak Cantonese or not and he had a little language class while we were going over
there and we learned How Bu How and - I think that was about it - all I remember
anyway. Personally I didn't run into him much during the - after we got over to China I
didn't see too much of him, he was around but…
FB:
What was his responsibility for one thing and then what kind of things did he try to do on
the boat that either you reacted positively or negatively to?
CB:
Well Jack [?] when we were on the boat was more or less in charge of him. I think
probably Mr. Pawley was the one that put him in charge and he - actually what he did, he
tried to smooth things over on the boat going over. But we had several incidents on the
boat. One being an Army Colonel who would make an inspection every day - he would
make an inspection and I was sitting back in the fan tail one morning and he came by and
all the young Lieutenants popped to and I sat there, I didn't see any reason to get up. Boy
he chewed me out from end to the other and left. Well I went and told the rest of the
gang. So the next morning we were all sitting there waiting for him, none of us was going
to get up. He stuck his head out of the port hole and he took one look and he turned
around and went back. Then Paul Frillman came in and he said "Fellows the Captain of
the ship requests that you don't be back in the fan tail when the Army Colonel makes his
inspection in the morning," and we didn't, we left it alone. He didn't really come forward
being the guy that was gonna tell you this and tell you that. He didn't do that. Like I say
he was just sort of like a speaker for us, other than that we didn't have much to do with
him.
FB:
In terms of the Army discipline that was on the boat with these other soldiers, what was
the reaction of the AVG group on - give us a sense of - here you are, you just got out of
the military and for your various reasons you're going to China and here's this Army
group on board that has to stand up to attention and all that.
1
�CB:
Well our feelings with the Army troops on board, we really didn't have much to do with
them. Of course the troops themselves, we didn't hardly see anything of them and the
officers, the young officers, most of them were Air Corps and I wasn't talking. I might
have talked to them, but I wasn't saying where I was going - I just didn't do any talking.
We just said we were going to China and that was it. Of course these fellows were going
to the Philippines. So I really didn't have too much to do with them. Not that I didn't like
them, but we actually spent most of the time playing nickel knock poker going over. We
played nickel knock poker day in and day out and that was about the only thing we could
do.
FB:
What was the - I guess what I'm looking for is - you're on this boat, you're playing poker,
you're meeting these new guys from all over the country, what was the process of getting
to know these guys - some that you liked, some that you didn't like
CB:
Believe it or not, when we were on the boat there were 28 of us I think or 29 of us, we
knew almost everybody. Most of the fellows had been from the East Coast. We did pick
up some from Selfridge? Field and the Air Corps at that time was pretty much of a
family. If you'd been in the Air Corps a couple of years, you knew a lot of people and that
was just about what it was. I just knew everybody and of course we had our own little - 4
or 5 of us used to pal around together and that's the way it was. Really we didn't spend
too much time characterizing each other. We were just a bunch of guys and that's what it
amounted to.
FB:
What kind of incidents can you recall that happened on the boat itself? Were there any
humorous things that happened or anything that you can - sticks out in your mind?
CB:
When we were on the boat, I don't remember much of anything on the boat other than
that it was rather boring. See we went from Hawaii to the Philippines. Now we stayed in
the Philippines - they had - I forget what they had on board at the Philippines - their ship
- but they had to steam clean all the tanks, and I think they took coconut oil on or palm
oil and we must have been there 10 days. Well they gave us $100 expense money when
we left San Francisco, which everybody had spent by the time they got to Hawaii and I
remember being on the boat because we were broke and we spent one night at the
Grayson Hotel. Well we spent the rest of the time on the boat because we didn't have any
money. They gave us checks and I remember Rick Schramm and I were on the same
check, they didn't have enough checks to go around, but they wouldn't cash it for us in the
Philippines, so we spent 2 or 3 days drinking Sasparilla and Philippine gin and it's quite a
mixture. Sasparilla is something like our sarsaparilla and you mix it with Philippine gin
and you've got quite a…and of course we perked up there. One of the fellows had been
stationed in the Philippines and he had to take us to one of them big cabarets. I mean it
was a big thing. It had a big old second floor rotunda around it and things were pretty
cheap. We left there and we went to Hong Kong and they cashed our checks at Hong
Kong. The Chinese came in and scarfed up all our weapons. Every one we had they took
them, locked them up in the Police Station and I think they were sprayed with water anyway they were all rusty when we got them back. We stayed there just overnight I
think it was, left there and then we took another boat to Singapore. And we left quite a
2
�record in Singapore. We stayed in Singapore at the Raffles Hotel. We had quite a time at
the Raffles.
FB:
Now this is where we need some detail because the next group that came over was not
even allowed off the boat because of the record that you guys made in Singapore. Can
you give us an idea of what happened after you got off the boat?
CB:
Well, we got off the boat at Singapore and went to the Raffles. I just remember my first
acquaintance with a Dutch widow and I don't know whether you fellows have ever met a
Dutch widow or not, but it's a long roll that you curl around at night to keep you from
sweating so bad and it's called a Dutch widow. Of course we had fans going above us and
mosquito nets and it was hotter than a pistol there in Singapore. I remember going around
- we went to the Tiger Balm Gardens and we went to the Happy World Dance Cabaret
and Charlie Kenner - we were there one night and Charlie Kenner won the jitterbug
contest. Later on I talked to some of the Japanese and they said "Oh we went there too".
So they occupied the same place. I don't remember how long we stayed in Singapore.
Then we went to Panang. I gotta backtrack - we took a Dutch Packet Boat from Hong
Kong to Singapore and then from Singapore we went to Panang and then onto Rangoon.
We had an English ship that from what I heard belonged to the Kaiser and it was a
settlement after World War I - it was a settlement that he'd made. It wasn't too much of a
ship but that's how we got into Rangoon. So we actually came on over in three ships.
FB:
I guess the way I'll word this question is, why was it that later groups were not even
allowed off the ship into Singapore? What happened that caused such a commotion?
CB:
Well when we were in Singapore some of the fellows may have made a name - I
remember one of them that happened, they were booted out of the swimming club
because of their curfews. I don't remember the reason. They pried up all the footbaths
which must have weighed 4 or 5 hundred pounds apiece and they chucked them in the
pool and that made the British very unhappy. Also bringing native women into the
Raffles that tore up the British - I mean they couldn't stand that. I remember one fellow
brought one in and she had a ring in her nose and she was dark and had a sarong on. He
carted her in and sat her down at a table and got her smashed and that was probably one
of the reasons they wouldn't let the rest of the guys in. I hung around with Carl Bugler
and - I forgot the other fellows' names - but we didn't get involved in any of this. I lie a
lot too.
FB:
Describe your arrival in Rangoon and I'll set this up for you. Here you are, you're a young
American, you've never been out of the country at that time, what was your reaction,
what was your observation on your arrival in Rangoon?
CB:
When we arrived in Rangoon it was in June, I remember going up the river to Rangoon
and I remember it was hot, it was rainy and it didn't look like anything. When we got of
the dock, I don't remember how we got to Midlow Mansions? - I think we went by taxi
and we got in there and that's where I first saw General Chennault, he was there to meet
us. They said now get your rooms ready and the Chinese are gonna give you a banquet
3
�tonight and 15 minutes after we got there, within a half an hour there were Japanese there
from the embassy and they came rushing in. I know Tex Blaycock said "I'll throw one of
them off the balcony" and they just looked around and they left - nothing really
happened. That night we had a big banquet by the Chinese embassy and Chennault was
there and that's when I got an impression of Chennault. Chennault looked to me like he
was looking right through you and you could figure when he was looking at you, he was
taking you on. I have an awful lot of respect for the man. He didn't say much. Anyway
we went through an umpteen course dinner and spaced by many a shot of scotch whiskey
and I guess the thing broke up around midnight and one of the fellows came up to Charlie
and said "Charlie Chennault wants you to take the station wagon and the Burmese driver
and you take the hold baggage to Taungoo." Now why I was picked I have no idea.
Maybe I was the soberest one of the lot, I don't really know. But anyway [?] the Burmese
driver and the old wooden station wagon - can't remember what the make of it was, but
rattled on up to Taungoo and I got to Taungoo, met my first Ghurka troop - a little guy
standing out there with a big stick and a big curved knife and we finally got the British
officer, NCO, the officer out there and told them - they'd been expecting us. So I spent
the night in the barracks with these little old lizards that kept dropping off the ceiling and
I wondered what in the hell have I gotten myself into here. The next morning the troops
came in, they came up by train and I went down to meet them. They must have had quite
a trip coming up there because this one place they stopped, they grabbed a hold of P.J.
Perry and they pulled off his trousers and the train pulled out and P.J. is running up the
track trying to catch up with them with no trousers and I guess the natives thought that he
had a new type of suit on or something, but anyway he got on the train. You never heard
so much grouching in your life when we got into Taungoo, because Taungoo was a hole,
I mean it was a hole. That was our introduction to Taungoo - we had no airplanes, the
barracks were made out of teak and thatch and had outside johnnies, or heads, or
lavatory, whatever you want to call them and rain. The rainy season was just getting over
with, but it was raining, the humidity was 95%.
FB:
I'm gonna go back over about this Taungoo. What I'd like to ask is backtrack just a little
bit. We're gonna talk in more detail about Taungoo - here you are on the [?] group, what
happens to you?
CB:
Well that's like I say, when I first met Chennault, meanwhile he was looking us over, lord
knows what he was thinking. But when I talked to him it was "Yes Sir" "No Sir," I had an
awful lot of respect for the man and he looked like he'd been flying in an open cockpit
airplane for 100 years. He was that type of fellow and you had to talk a little loud, he
couldn't hear very well. I didn't have any long conversation with him at that time. I
thought of Chennault like I thought of Phil Cochrane, when I was with him later in the
Air Commandos, here's a guy that I'll follow and the same with him and Jimmy Allison
was another one.
FB:
The question I want - this will be the last part of the meeting Chennault for the first time what I'm trying to get a sense of is this group to Chennault - was there an automatic - like
this is the leader now we've gotta shape up or was it still this kind of treatment you gave
the Army?
4
�CB:
It's hard for me to say about the group - as an individual I had my own opinion and I can't
really say about the group. I just don't know. I think some of them thought that they were
getting in over their heads and they're gonna flip their way out, but I really don't know. I
knew the way I felt - I was gonna do what I was supposed to do and I think most of us
felt that way. There were times that we had doubts of what we - sometimes we had our
doubts. It looked like it was a rinky dink going on - things we were told, didn't happen. I
don't think it was the fault of General Chennault, it was just they didn't happen.
FB:
Give us a sense of what you mean by that. What were some of the things that you
thought…?
CB:
Well see, when we got up to Taungoo it was hot, it was rainy, we weren't used to that
kind of humidity, it was a pretty good hike down to where the flight line was, we had no
airplanes. The airplanes were assembled at Rangoon and flown up and when the first
planes got in there we didn't have any tools. We were using tools that came in the
International pickups - the International station wagons was what we had. We used tools
that came out of the trucks and that's not the tools to work on an aircraft with. Then the
food, we had a private contractor - I forget what his name was - but he was ripping us off
and were getting slop - absolutely it was terrible and on top of that - in the topics, no air
conditioning, no refrigeration and things got smelly - we did have a pretty good little bar
where we could get Batavia beer, I think it was and a few little items like that, cigarettes.
So we got a little disgruntled. But then those planes started coming in and we got real
busy. Because every one of the wing guns had to be filed down so you could fit the darn
things in there. Aircraft had to be bore-sided and sights had to be installed - we were
busy. And once we got busy - another story.
5
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Flying Tigers Interviews and Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG.
Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Boring, Frank
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938/1991
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fei Hu Films
Christopher, Frank
Gasdick, Joseph
Misenheimer, Charles V.
P.Y. Shu
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English; Chinese
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video; text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1938-1945
World War II
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-88_Baisden_Chuck_1991-06-08_v02
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Baisden, Charles
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991-06-08
Title
A name given to the resource
Chuck Baisden interview (video and transcript, 2 of 11), 1991
Description
An account of the resource
Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden discusses his journey to join the AVG overseas and his observations upon their arrival in Rangoon.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Boring, Frank (interviewer)
Christopher, Frank (director)
Fei Hu Films
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
United States--History, Military
China--History, Military
Veterans
China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng