William C McDonald III

William C. McDonald III, retired and then had a heart attack. While recuperating, he found his fathers collection of papers in old boxes, almost in ruin. He painstakingly dried and organized a treasure trove of information consisting of 30,000 documents, photos, letters and the beginning of an outline in his fathers handwriting. A stroke had prevented his father from writing his book but the roadmap was there for his son to finish. "The Shadow Tiger:Billy McDonald, Wingman to Chennault", is captain McDonalds first hand account, through letters written home every 2 weeks and photos as visuals, of events leading up to and during WW2. The Smithsonian saw the book and asked for the entire collection and they are being digitized and will be available on the internet.

The Shadow Tiger traces McDonald’s flying career from its beginning at Maxwell Airforce Base in Montgomery,Al, to his time as U.S. Army cadet and wingman in General Claire Chennault’s famed aerobatic flying group, Three Men on a Flying Trapeze. Much of the book focuses on McDonald’s time in China where he worked hand in hand with Chennault to lay the foundation for what would become the Flying Tigers, served as a combat pilot, trained the Chinese Airforce, and made hundreds of life saving flights through the Himalayas. Through McDonald’s own letters and photographs, readers will experience first-hand adventures including the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, a harrowing landing in the middle of the Yangtze River, and countless flights ferrying world-famous passengers and high-value cargo for the China National Aviation Corporation.

Website shadowtiger.org