Claire Chennault is known more for his efforts in the air than on the golf course. An American military aviator, Chennault was responsible for the formation of the American Volunteer Group and the famed ‘Flying Tigers,’ composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps, Navy and Marine Corps. During World War II, their Curtis P-40 aircraft were marked with Chinese colors and flew under American control for the defense of the Republic of China against Japanese attack. Chennault was a retired US Army captain when recruited by the Chinese to help them fight the Japanese in Burma and China. At the time, Japan’s airpower controlled China’s ports and transportation and had nearly cut off China’s government from the outside world. Shortages of fuel, parts and pilots forced Chennault and the unit to be resourceful against the far larger and better-equipped Japanese air force, and despite long odds, proved successful in flying supplies and providing air cover for the Burma Road supply route into China. These golf clubs were purchased by Don Bussart, of Dudley, Illinois, who flew under Chennault with the Civil Air Transport, later known as Air America. Bussart purchased the clubs directly fromChennault for $5, sometime in the late 1940s or early ‘50s.