Statue of Commerce-born WWII Gen. Claire Lee Chennault unveiled

Oct. 16—Without a doubt, World War II casts a long shadow across the world, but it also holds a very special place in the history of Hunt County.

For example, two of the American servicemen killed during the attacks on Pearl Harbor by Imperial Japanese air forces were Kenneth Moore of Campbell/Lone Oak and James Albert Horner of Prairie Hill/Celeste. Also, Majors Airport in Greenville is named after Truett Majors of Greenville, who died in a Japanese attack near Manila in the Philippines, and the 201st Fighter Squadron Mexican Expeditionary Air Force (popularly known as the Aztec Eagles) were trained in Greenville.

Most famously though, Audie Murphy of Kingston (near Celeste) enlisted in the Army in Greenville in 1942 and went on to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Silver Star and several other distinctions through his heroics and bravery in the war's European Theater.

However, in addition to these area connections to World War II, Commerce is also the birthplace of Lt. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault, who commanded a group of pilots in China during the war known as the Flying Tigers.

In this capacity, Chennault, along with volunteer squadrons from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Army trained Chinese pilots to protect many of their countrymen from mass killings, experimentation and imprisonment in Japanese war camps.

On Monday, downtown Commerce was the scene of a special recognition for Chennault, when a statue in his likeness was unveiled north of the city hall across Alamo Street.

In celebration of the occasion, a group of people from China, led by Li Tian, were in attendance, representing the 100-or-so donors who contributed to the creation of the statue and other memorials to Chennault.

"Quite a few years ago, Mr. Li came and spoke with us about the possibility of raising funds to create a memorial to be placed on a public property to memorialize the most significant individual ever born in Commerce," former mayor and advocate for Chennault's remembrance Wyman Williams said.

"He has added a teaching tool. He has added several teaching tools since 1968," Williams added. "The first state marker (in English) memorializing Gen. Chennault's birth here, and then in 2015, we added a Chinese (Mandarin) version of that same marker. We also had a highway you drive in through from Interstate 30 named after the Flying Tigers, but now we have a statue of the general that will create the question, 'Why is that here?' It's targeting people to understand the global significance of this individual."

Other guests of honor at the unveiling were Chennault's granddaughter Nell Calloway, a daughter-in-law of one of the Flying Tigers named Setara, and Commerce Public Library researcher Bettina Zvanut, who played a central role in bringing the plans for the statue into fruition.