A traveling exhibit of some 180 photographs recounting the history of the World War II airplane fighter squadrons known as the Flying Tigers opened this week in Washington D.C.

Largely based on Flying Tigers photos and memorabilia held by California collector Pedro Chan, the exhibit will tour military installations across the U.S. this year. For now, it occupies a hallowed place at the Capitol Hill Rayburn Foyer.

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Chan is adviser to the Pacific Aviation Museum, Pearl Harbor, and the Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles. He calls the exhibit Salute to WWII Flying Tigers in China.

"Since I started collecting Flying Tigers items, I have felt it was an obligation for me to keep their memory alive," he said at the exhibit opening.

The stuff of lore and acclaim, a collection of American aviators formed a squadron under the command of US Army Lt. Gen. Claire Chennault who fought with China against Japan from 1941-1942.

The Flying Tigers trained in Burma before the Pearl Harbor attack and were officially under Chinese military command as the Fourteenth Army Air Force. They were credited with 296 kills of Japanese aircraft.

The salute's collection includes photographs and materials traces the group's history from the secret Sept. 30, 1941 order of President Franklin Roosevelt authorizing delivery to China of 269 pursuit planes and 66 bombers.

Anna Chennault, the widow of Gen. Chennault was an honorary sponsor while U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (Rep-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sponsored the Capitol Hill display. Royce also planned to introduce a House resolution honoring the flying squadron whose last living member died in October at age 91.

The artifacts have been shown at the Pearl Harbor aviation museum, the National Library of China and the Zhijiang Museum in Hunan. Chan said the exhibit cost upwards of $10,000 for brochures alone, adding "It's worth it."

Chan, 68, was born in Macau and grew up hearing stories about the Flying Tigers. That made him eager to preserve and tell the tale so many years later.

TagsFlying Tigers, World War II, aircraft, chenault, flying tigers group, aviation