American Volunteer Group WWII Graphic Tee

The American Volunteer Group, popularly known as the Flying Tigers, was a volunteer air unit organized by the United States government to aid the Nationalist government of China against Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War.

To aid the Nationalist government of China and to put pressure on Japan, President Franklin Roosevelt in April 1941 authorized the creation of a clandestine "Special Air Unit" consisting of three combat groups equipped with American aircraft and staffed by aviators and technicians to be recruited from the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps for service in China. 

The program was fleshed out in the winter of 1940–1941 by Claire Lee Chennault, and consisted of three fighter squadrons of around 30 aircraft each that trained in Burma before the American entry into World War II to defend the Republic of China against Japanese forces. 

The AVG's kill ratio was superior to that of contemporary Allied air groups in Malaya, the Philippines, and elsewhere in the Pacific theater. The AVG's success is all the more remarkable since they were outnumbered by Japanese fighters in almost all their engagements. Celebrate these brave pilots with this fantastic tee!