USAAF AVG FLYING TIGERS CHINA BURMA INDIA CBI 999 SILVER HAND MADE RING昆明Kunming

WWII USAAF AVG FLYING TIGERS CHINA BURMA INDIA CBI 999 SILVER HANDMADE RING (from Kunming昆明, China)
This is a very special WWII USAAF AVG FLYING TIGERS CHINA BURMA INDIA CBI 999 SILVER HANDMADE RING (from Kunming昆明, China). You will receive the item as shown in the first photo. Please note that there are color variations due to settings on different PCs/Monitors. The color shown on your screen may not be the true color. Personal check payment is welcomed.
THE THREE PHOTOS SHOWING THE FRONT, AND THE TWO SIDE VIEWS
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF), informally known as the Air Force, or United States Army Air Force, was the aerial warfare service of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1939/41–1945), successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force of today, one of the five uniformed military services. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which in 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the Services of Supply (which in 1943 became the Army Service Forces), and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff. The AAF administered all parts of military aviation formerly distributed among the Air Corps, General Headquarters Air Force, and the ground forces’ corps area commanders, and thus became the first air organization of the U.S. Army to control its own installations and support personnel. The peak size of the AAF during the Second World War was over 2.4 million men and women in service and nearly 80,000 aircraft by 1944, and 783 domestic bases in December 1943. By “V-E Day”, the Army Air Forces had 1.25 million men stationed overseas and operated from more than 1,600 airfields worldwide. The Army Air Forces was created in June 1941 to provide the air arm a greater autonomy in which to expand more efficiently, to provide a structure for the additional command echelons required by a vastly increased force, and to end an increasingly divisive administrative battle within the Army over control of aviation doctrine and organization that had been ongoing since the creation of an aviation section within the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1914. The AAF succeeded both the Air Corps, which had been the statutory military aviation branch since 1926, and the GHQ Air Force, which had been activated in 1935 to quiet the demands of airmen for an independent Air Force similar to the Royal Air Force which had already been established in the United Kingdom / Great Britain. Although other nations already had separate air forces independent of their army or navy (such as the British Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe), the AAF remained a part of the Army until a defense reorganization in the post-war period resulted in the passage by the United States Congress of the National Security Act of 1947 with the creation of an independent United States Air Force in September 1947. In its expansion and conduct of the war, the AAF became more than just an arm of the greater organization. By the end of World War II, the Army Air Forces had become virtually an independent service. By regulation and executive order, it was a subordinate agency of the United States Department of War (as were the Army Ground Forces and the Army Service Forces) tasked only with organizing, training, and equipping combat units, and limited in responsibility to the continental United States. In reality, Headquarters AAF controlled the conduct of all aspects of the air war in every part of the world, determining air policy and issuing orders without transmitting them through the Army Chief of Staff. This “contrast between theory and fact is…fundamental to an understanding of the AAF.”
China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including US forces) in the CBI was officially the responsibility of the Supreme Commanders for South East Asia or China. However, US forces in practice were usually overseen by General Joseph Stilwell, the Deputy Allied Commander in China; the term “CBI” was significant in logistical, material and personnel matters; it was and is commonly within the US for these theaters. China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was officially the responsibility of the Supreme Commanders for South East Asia or China. In practice, U.S. forces were usually overseen by General Joseph Stilwell, the Deputy Allied Commander in China; the term “CBI” was significant in logistical, material, and personnel matters; it was and is commonly within the US for these theaters. U.S. and Chinese fighting forces in the CBI included the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the Flying Tigers,transport and bomber units flying the Hump, including the Tenth Air Force, the 1st Air Commando Group, the engineers who built the Ledo Road, the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), popularly known as “Merrill’s Marauders”, and the 5332d Brigade, Provisional or ‘Mars Task Force’, which assumed the Marauders’ mission. Japanese policy towards China had long been a source of international controversy. Western powers had exploited China through the open door policy, advocated by United States diplomat William Woodville Rockhill, while Japan intervened more directly, creating the puppet-state of Manchukuo. By 1937, Japan was engaged in a full-scale war of conquest in China. The infamous Rape of Nanking galvanized Western opinion and led to direct financial aid for the Kuomintang (Nationalists) and increasing economic sanctions against Japan. In 1941, the U.S. made a series of decisions to support China in its war with Japan: Lend Lease supplies were provided after President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the defense of China to be vital to the defense of the United States. Over the summer, as Japan moved south into French Indo-China, the U.S., Britain and the Netherlands instituted an oil embargo on Japan, cutting off 90% of its supplies. The embargo threatened the operations of the Kwantung Army, which had over a million soldiers deployed in China. Japan responded with a tightly co-ordinated offensive on 7/8 December, simultaneously attacking Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, Guam, Wake Island, and Thailand. Japan cut off Allied supplies to China that had been coming through Burma. China could be supplied only by flying over the Himalaya mountains (“The Hump”) from India, or capturing territory in Burma and building a new road—the Ledo Road. In 1941 and 1942, Japan was overextended. Its naval base could not defend its conquests, and its industrial base could not strengthen its navy. To cut off China from Allied aid, it went into Burma and captured Rangoon on 8 March 1942, cutting off the Burma Road. Moving north, the Japanese took Tounggoo and captured Lashio in northern Burma on 29 April. The British, primarily concerned with India, looked to Burma as the main theater of action against Japan and wanted Chinese troops to fight there. The United States conjured up visions of millions of Chinese soldiers who would hold the Japanese then throw them back, while providing close-in airbases for a systematic firebombing of Japanese cities. Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek realized it was all fantasy. On the other hand, there were vast sums of American dollars available if he collaborated. He did so and managed to feed his starving soldiers, but they were so poorly equipped and led that offensive operations against the Japanese in China were impossible. However, Chiang did release the Chinese Expeditionary Force of two Chinese armies for action in Burma under Stilwell. Due to conflicts between Chiang, the British, Stilwell, and American General Claire Chennault, as well as general ill-preparedness against the more proficient Japanese army, the Burma defense collapsed. Stilwell escaped to India, but the recovery of Burma and construction of the Ledo Road to supply China became a new obsession for him.[5][6] “On April 14, 1942, William Donovan, as Coordinator of Information (forerunner of the Office of Strategic Services), activated Detachment 101 for action behind enemy lines in Burma. The first unit of its kind, the Detachment was charged with gathering intelligence, harassing the Japanese through guerrilla actions, identifying targets for the Army Air Force to bomb, and rescuing downed Allied airmen. Because Detachment 101 was never larger than a few hundred Americans, it relied on support from various tribal groups in Burma. In particular, the vigorously anti-Japanese Kachin people were vital to the unit’s success.” Detachment 101’s efforts opened the way for Stilwell’s Chinese forces, Wingate’s Raiders, Merrill’s Marauders, and the counter-attack against the Japanese Imperial life-line. After consultation among the Allied governments, Air Command South-East Asia was formed in November 1943 to control all Allied air forces in the theater, with Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse as Commander-in-Chief. Under Peirse’s deputy, USAAF Major General George E. Stratemeyer, Eastern Air Command (EAC) was organized in 1943 to control Allied air operations in Burma, with headquarters in Calcutta. Unlike the strained relations and confusion with Allied ground force commands, air force operations in the CBI were relatively smooth. Relations improved even further after new U.S. military aid began arriving, together with capable USAAF officers such as Brigadier General William D. Old of CBI Troop Carrier Command, and Colonels Philip Cochran and John R. Alison of the 1st Air Commando Group. Within Eastern Air Command, Air Marshal Sir John Baldwin commanded the Third Tactical Air Force, originally formed to provide close air support to the Fourteenth Army. Baldwin was later succeeded by Air Marshal Sir Alec Coryton. U.S. Brigadier-General Howard C. Davidson and later Air Commodore F. J. W. Mellersh commanded the Strategic Air Force. In the new command, various units of the Royal Air Force and the U.S. Tenth Air Force worked side-by-side. In the autumn of 1943 SEAAC had 48 RAF and 17 USAAF squadrons; by the following May, the figures had risen to 64 and 28, respectively. At Eastern Air Command, Gen. Stratemeyer had a status comparable to that of Stilwell. Coordinating the efforts of the various allied air components while maintaining relations with diverse command structures proved a daunting task. Part of Stratemeyer’s command, the Tenth Air Force, had been integrated with the RAF Third Tactical Air Force in India in December 1943 and was tasked with a number of roles in support of a variety of allied forces. Another component, the US Fourteenth Air Force in China, was under the jurisdiction of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek as China theater commander. Although the India-China Division of the AAF’s Air Transport Command received its tonnage allocations from Stratemeyer as Stilwell’s deputy, ICD reported directly to Headquarters ATC in Washington, D.C. In the spring of 1944, the arrival of Boeing B-29 Superfortresses in the theater, presaged a major offensive against Japan. XX Bomber Command of the Twentieth Air Force was tasked with the strategic bombing of Japan under Operation Matterhorn. It engaged in very-long-range Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombardment operations against Japan, Formosa, China, Indochina and Burma. It reported directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., and had no command relationship with any authority in India. However, XX Bomber Command remained totally dependent on Eastern Air Command for supplies, bases, ground staff, and infrastructure support. The B-29 force included the 1st Photo Squadron, and the 58th Bombardment Wing at Chakulia, Kharagpur, with the 40th (Chakulia Airport), 444th, 462nd, and 468th Bombardment Groups. While in India, XX BC was supported logistically by Tenth Air Force and the India-China Division, Air Transport Command. The B-29 groups moved to West Field, Tinian, in early 1945. After a period of reshuffling, Eastern Air Command’s air operations began to show results. In August 1944, Admiral Mountbatten said to a press conference that EAC fighter missions had practically swept the Japanese air force from Burmese skies. Between the formation of ACSEA in November 1943, and the middle of August 1944, American and British forces operating in Burma destroyed or damaged more than 700 Japanese aircraft with a further 100 aircraft probably destroyed. This achievement considerably reduced dangers to Air Transport Command cargo planes flying in support of the Hump airlift operation. By May 1944, EAC resupply missions in support of the Allied ground offensive had carried 70,000 tons of supplies and transported a total of 93,000 men, including 25,500 casualties evacuated from the battle areas. These figures did not include tonnage flown in the Hump airlift missions to China..
Well-known Allied units in the CBI included the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the Flying Tigers, transport and bomber units flying the Hump, the 1st Air Commando Group, the engineers who built Ledo Road, the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), popularly known as “Merrill’s Marauders”, and the 5332d Brigade, Provisional or ‘Mars Task Force’, which assumed the Marauders’ mission.The “Flying Tigers” (Traditional Chinese: 飛虎隊; Simplified Chinese: 飞虎队; Pinyin: Fēi Hǔ Duì; Japanese: フライング・タイガース) was the nickname of the American Volunteer Group, a group of USAAF, USN and USMC pilots recruited under a secret Presidential sanction by Claire Chennault, that formed a fighter group with three squadrons that trained in China and defended the Burma supply line to China prior to the American entry into World War II to fight against Japanese forces.
The AVG did not see combat until December 20, 1941, thirteen days after Pearl Harbor. The Flying Tigers achieved notable success against the forces of Japan during the lowest period of the war for American forces, and gave hope to Americans that they would eventually succeed against the Japanese. The Flying Tigers were credited for destroying almost 300 aircraft with a loss of only twelve of their own in combat. After the dissolution of the AVG in mid-1942 and absorption into the USAAF, the name was applied to its successor military unit, the 23rd Fighter Group, and more broadly to the China Air Task Force and the U.S. 14th Air Force. The shark-faced fighters remain among the most recognizable of any individual combat unit of WWII, and they demonstrated innovative tactical victories when the news in the USA were filled with little more than stories of defeat after defeat at the hands of the Japanese forces at the start of WWII.
Kunming has a long history related with the Flying Tigers. The Flying Tigers was born and developed in Kunming, where the first combat took place and Japanese plane was first shot down by tigers. It is the Flying Tigers fought against Japan’s aggression, and stopped long-time air attacks over Kunming. The people of Kunming will never forget these pilots who once helped them through a rough period. Stories about the Flying Tigers are still popular in Kunming and will be recounted generation by generation. The Flying Tigers museum started to construct in 2009. Because of the limited historical pictures and materials, the construction was blocked. From 2010 to 2012, with the help of Anna Chennault, wife of Chennault, Pedro Chen, an honorary citizen of Kunming in US, and people from abroad and home, the museum got over 2000 artifacts of the Flying Tigers. Kunming Flying Tigers museum originally chose to build in an old building of Beijing Road. The building was built in Republic of China era. However the metro construction resulted in the wall cracking, KMFT museum moves to Kunming Museum temporally. After the old building is repaired, it will move back. KMFT museum opened its door in December 2012. There are not Flying Tigers memorial hall before in Kunming. The exhibit “Tigers in the Sky” has 6 parts telling the whole story. They are “Flying Tigers Spread Their Wings”, “Arduous Struggle”, “Embracing Victory”, “The Hump”, “Making Achievements with Joint Efforts”, and “General Chennault”. The exhibit presents a complete legendary story of the Flying Tigers via many a precious pictures and artifacts, and in order to commemorate Sino-US friendship. Kunming Flying Tigers Museum is at No.93 Tuodong Road. It opens from Monday to Sunday for free. 志願隊階段： 1940年10月，航空委員會副主任毛邦初和陳納德奉命前往美國購買飛機和招募飛行員，組成美國志願隊。 1941年4月1日，中國與美國柯蒂斯-賴特公司組成中央航空製造公司，購買100架P-40B型戰機。 1941年4月15日，羅斯福總統簽署專門命令，允許現役軍人以退役的方式，參加志工隊到中國參戰。 中國政府以中央航空製造公司出面，以招募「前線訓練部隊」名義開始到各航空基地招募志工。 1941年7月，共招募包括空勤、地勤、維修、行政、醫護人員在內的250名志願人員，其中飛行員110名。中央飛機製造公司與志工簽訂期限為一年的合約。 1941年8月1日，蔣介石發布命令，宣布美籍志願軍第一大隊成立，並任命陳納德為上校指揮官，此後俗稱為「美國志願隊」。 1941年7月-12月，飛行志工在東籲機場進行嚴格的飛行訓練。 1941年第三中隊於12月12日前往明加拉頓機場，加入保衛仰光的戰鬥，12月18日誌願隊的隊部和第一、第二中隊於進駐昆明巫家壩機場， 1941年12月20日上午9點45分，十架日本轟炸機在老街越過雲南邊境，正向北飛來。第一、二中隊前去截擊，當場擊落3架，其餘6架在途中墜毀，9：0大獲全勝。 1941年12月23日-1942年2月29日仰光保衛戰，歷時僅2個月7天。 1942年3月21日，志願隊馬圭基地遭到日機攻擊。 志願隊進駐雷允，取得0：:22的勝利，但終因中英緬北地面作戰的失利而撤回雲南。 5月7日-5月11日，志願隊攻擊架設浮橋的日軍，集中轟炸和攻擊怒江西岸和直至緬甸邊界的日軍，使日軍最後沒有能跨過怒江。 1942年7月4日志願隊解散。
You will receive the item as shown in the first photo. Other items in other pictures are available from my eBay Store. **IF YOU NEED ITEM OTHER THAN THE ONE IN THE 1ST PHOTO, PLEASE LET ME KNOW W/YOUR ORDER**. They will make a great addition to your SSI Shoulder Sleeve Insignia collection. You find only US Made items here, with the same LIFETIME warranty.
**eBay REQUIRES ORDER BE SENT WITH TRACKING, PLEASE SELECT USPS 1ST CLASS SERVICE w/TRACKING**

**eBay REQUIRES ORDER BE SENT WITH TRACKING, PLEASE SELECT USPS GROUND ADVANTAGE SERVICE w/TRACKING**

We’ll cover your purchase price plus shipping.
FREE 30-day No-Question return
ALL US-MADE PATCHES HAVE LIFETIME WARRANTY
We do not compete price with cheap import copies.
Watch out for cheap import copies with cut-throat price; 
We beat cheap copies with Original design, US-Made Quality and customer services.
Once a customer, a LIFETIME of services

USD : 97.69