Anna Chennault
| Anna Chennault | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Native name | 陳香梅 |
| Born |
Chen Xiangmei June 23, 1925 Peking, China |
| Other names | Anna Chan Chenault Anna Chen Chenault |
| Occupation | Journalism |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Claire Lee Chennault (married 1947-1958, his death) |
| Children | Claire Anna and Cynthia Louise |
| Relatives | Liao Zhongkai (great uncle) |
Anna Chennault, born Chen Xiangmei (Chinese: 陳香梅; born June 23, 1925), also known as Anna Chan Chennault or Anna Chen Chennault, is the widow of World War II leader Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault, commander of American air operations in China and leader of the "Flying Tigers". She was a prominent Asian-American politician of the Republican Party.
On June 23, 1925, Chen was born in Beijing, China. In 1935, her father, a diplomat, was sent to be the Chinese consul in Mexicali, Mexico and he could not afford to take his large family to Mexico on his salary. Fearing war between Japan and China was brewing, he sent his wife and children to the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong to live with his mother. In 1938, Chen's mother died, and as an older sister she become a surrogate mother to her younger sisters. On the morning of 8 December 1941, Chen was attending class at St. Paul's high school when she was forced to take cover when the Japanese bombed the school. Chen witnessed first-hand the battle of Hong Kong as the invading Japanese fought British, Indian and Canadian troops, a battle that ended with the surrender of Hong Kong on Christmas Day; in the interim, Chen spent much time hiding to avoid the bombs and shells as Hong Kong went up in flames. After taking Hong Kong, the Japanese declared all Chinese women to be prostitutes who were to have sex for free for the next three days with their fellow Asians, the Japanese soldiers to thank them for "liberating" them from the rule of the British "white devils", which was merely an excuse for the Japanese to rape all Chinese women. Chen together with her five sisters all fled Hong Kong to escape the Japanese to Guilin in "free China". Chen attended Lingnan university, which was normally based in Hong Kong, but which had relocated to "free China". As refugees, Chen and her sisters all lived in poverty during the war years, often having to eat weevil-ridden rice to survive. Chen Xiangmei received a bachelor's degree in Chinese from Lingnan University in 1944. She was a war correspondent for the Central News Agency from 1944 to 1948 and wrote for the Hsin Ming Daily News in Shanghai, from 1944 to 1949. She is the younger sister of Cynthia Chan, who was a U.S. Army nurse in the Flying Tiger group under General Claire Chennault in Kunming. While visiting Cynthia Chan in Kunming, she met Chennault. While working as a journalist in 1944, the 19 year old Chen interviewed General Chennault, the dynamic and charismatic leader of the Flying Tigers, a man widely viewed in China as a war hero as his pilots had protected the Chinese people from the Japanese who bombed everything in China without mercy from 1937 on, killing hundreds of thousands. After the interview, Chen had tea with Chennault, whose gentlemanly behavior and Southern charm left her feeling "awed" as she later remembered.
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