TC Koo, (Koo Teh Chang) lived one of the most fascinating lives imaginable. He was born in 1916 in Washington, D.C. where his father, Dr. Wellington Koo, was a diplomat in the Chinese Legation. At the time of his birth his maternal grandfather, Tong Shao?Yi, was Premier of China and TC's father was to destined to follow in his father? in? law's footsteps less than ten years later. This story is about TC Koo, his family, his many friends and a few of his enemies. It is about the trials, tribulations (and rewards) of growing up in a lofty environment; and about his many experiences, running the gamut from joyful to terrifying. He literally grew up in the midst of history in the making and witnessed first hand what you are about to read. I present this work as a simple (and woefully incomplete) biography, which is derived from recorded conversations between Mr. Koo and me as well as notes he kept in his personal journals. Dates, names and places have been checked for verification using every source available. TC and I were well aware that in such endeavors (especially when dealing in memory) there are opportunities for errors. In case such errors are discovered we offer our sincere apologies in advance. TC Koo was a most unusual man, as you about to discover. He lived a story matched by few mortals. Serving as an officer in the Chinese Air Force during World War II (as an important member of General Claire Chennault's "Flying Tigers" staff) is only one of many interesting periods in his colorful life. He was appointed to his post, with General Chennault by none other than Generalissimo Chiang Kai?shek himself. He later served as China's Air Force representative on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur during the early stages of the Allied occupation of Japan. TC and I first met in 1973 when he was on a business trip to Illinois. Later when I moved to Taipei to start up an Asian operation for our corporation we renewed our friendship and it grew until we became "bestfriends" by any definition. I was president of three American divisions of Newell/Wearever Corporation before moving to Taiwan in 1985 to organize and operate a joint venture company, specializing in manufacturing selected products.

THE FLYING TIGERS

The American Volunteer Group was largely the creation of Claire L. Chennault, a retired U.S. Army Air Corps officer who had worked in China since August 1937, first as military aviation advisor to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the early months of the Sino-Japanese War, then as director of a Chinese Air Force flight school centered in Kunming. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union supplied fighter and bomber squadrons to China, but these units were mostly withdrawn by the summer of 1940. Chiang then asked for American combat aircraft and pilots, sending Chennault to Washington as adviser to China's ambassador and Chiang's brother-in-law, T. V. Soong.

Since the U.S. was not at war, the "Special Air Unit" could not be organized overtly, but the request was approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself. The resulting clandestine operation was organized in large part by Lauchlin Currie, a young economist in the White House, and by Roosevelt intimate Thomas G. Corcoran. (Currie's assistant was John King Fairbank, who later became America's preeminent Asian scholar.) Financing was handled by China Defense Supplies – primarily Tommy Corcoran's creation – with money loaned by the U.S. government. Purchases were then made by the Chinese under the "Cash and Carry" provision of the Neutrality Act of 1939.[1] Previously in the 1930s, a number of American pilots including Annapolis graduate Frank Tinker had flown combat during the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side. Members were organized into the Yankee Squadron.

Chennault spent the winter of 1940–1941 in Washington, supervising the purchase of 100 Curtiss P-40 fighters (diverted from a Royal Air Force order; the Royal Air Force at that time deemed the P-40 obsolete[citation needed] ) and the recruiting of 100 pilots and some 200 ground crew and administrative personnel that would constitute the 1st AVG. He also laid the groundwork for a follow-on bomber group and a second fighter group, though these would be aborted after the Pearl Harbor attack.

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