Background
Chennault was born on September 6, 1893 in Commerce, Texas, to John Stonewall Jackson Chennault and Jessie (nėe Lee) Chennault. He grew up in the Louisianan towns of Gilbert and Waterproof.
Chennault was born on September 6, 1893 in Commerce, Texas, to John Stonewall Jackson Chennault and Jessie (nėe Lee) Chennault. He grew up in the Louisianan towns of Gilbert and Waterproof.
He was educated at Louisiana State University.
Shortly after the United States entered World War I he joined the army, serving as an officer in the aviation section of the Signal Reserve. Retiring from the army in 1937, Chennault became air adviser to Chiang Kai-shek, and during the next three years he trained Chinese pilots in aerial warfare against the Japanese and reorganized the tiny Chinese air force. In 1941 he organized the "Flying Tigers, " a volunteer force of mostly American pilots and mechanics, which won a series of victories against the Japanese between December 1941 and July 1942. He was made a major general in 1943 and headed the U. S. Air Force in China from 1943 to 1945, when he retired. His autobiography, Way of a Fighter, was published in 1949. He was made a lieutenant general on July 18, 1958, and died nine days later in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Chennault was twice married and had a total of ten children, eight by his first wife, the former Nell Thompson (1893–1977), an American of British ancestry, whom he met at a high school graduation ceremony and subsequently wed in Winnsboro, Louisiana, on December 24, 1911. The marriage ended in divorce in 1946, long after his service in China started. He had two daughters by his second wife, Chen Xiangmei (Anna Chennault), a young reporter for the Central News Agency whom he married on December 2, 1947.