The Flying Tigers

The U.S.S. President Garfield was heading to China. His true task was to assess the condition of China's air force. His planned three month assignment turned into eight years of warfare. By its end, he would be a major general and the unity created, the Flying Tigers, would be the most famous squadron in the history of aerial warfare.

In 1941, a motley dressed group of Americans sailed across the Pacific. Few who saw this ragtag group would've guessed that they would soon become one of the most famous military units in history. The American Volunteer Group entered the war through the backdoor, literally. By the time they arrived in Asia, Japan controlled all of China's ports. So they traveled to Rangoon, Burma.

Pilots who flew over the Hump Route of the Eastern Himalayas said they didn't need a compass. Also known infamously as the Aluminum Alley had so many crashed planes along the route that they could navigate by the wrecks below. From early 1942, the Hump Route flying over the Himalayas was the only channel for supplies to reach China.

In April 1943, two American generals traveled from China to Washington. They had the same goal, to drive Japan out of China, but very different agendas. General Claire Chennault wanted more planes. General Joseph Stilwell wanted equipment for the infantry. Only one man could decide what to do, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.