Korean American Pioneer Aviators: The Willows Airmen

by Edward T. Chang, Woo Sung Han

Overview

Korean American Pioneer Aviators: The Willows Airmen is the untold story of the brave Korean men who took to the skies more than twenty years before the Tuskegee Airmen fought in World War II. The tale of the Willows Aviation School connects Korean, American, and Korean American aviation history. The book also correctly identifies the first Korean aviator and ties the origin of the Korean Air Force to the Korean American community who started the Willows Aviation School in 1920.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498502641
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	04/29/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	164
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Edward T. Chang is professor of ethnic studies and founding director of the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at the University of California at Riverside.

Woo Sung Han is advisor to the Republic of Korea Air Force Chief of Staff and board member of the Korea Center for United Nations Human Rights Policy.

Table of Contents

Preface: Koreans in America: from Farmers to Independence Activists
Introduction: Journey to Willows: Korean Independence, Nationalism, & Exile
Chapter 1: Establishing the Willows Aviation School: Battling Three Fronts
Chapter 2: Setting the Record Straight: the School and its Members
Chapter 3: Korean and American Aviation History
Chapter 4: Notable Korean American Pilots, Independence Activists, and Organizations
Chapter 5: Furled Wings: Carrying on the Mission
Epilogue: From Willows to Seoul: Last Flight of Park Hee-sung

Editorial Reviews

Chang and Han shed light on and bring new evidence to a little known, but fascinating dimension of Korean American history and experience.

David K. Yoo

[This book] examines the little-known history of the school that trained more than 30 combat pilots, its place in the fight to free Korea from Japanese rule (Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945), and its significance in Korean American history.

UCR Today

The saga of the Willows airmen is an interesting one that needed to be told, and in doing so, Chang and Han add significantly to our understanding of Korean American history and the Korean nationalist movement.

Korean Studies

Edward Chang and Woo Sung Han nicely piece together various historical documents to show how Korean immigrant leaders established and operated the Willows Korean Aviation School/Corps in 1920 to train fighter pilots in the independence movement against Japan. This book not only sheds much light on the pioneer Korean immigrants’ transnational independence movement, but also on their economic adaptation, racial experiences, community organizations, and military services in the U.S. during World War II.

Pyong Gap Min

In this superbly researched study, Edward T. Chang and Woo Sung Han provide valuable information about an oft-cited but little-known chapter in the histories of the early Korean American community and the Korean independence movement. Chang and Han ably bring together these two histories in this fascinating study of the Willows Korean Aviation School/Corps.

Richard S. Kim