This history book celebrates a near-forgotten band of gallant American airmen, led by Claire Lee Chennault, who served in the midst of a strange land at a time of great turmoil. They arrived in China, not as conquerors, but as codefenders, appreciated by the most humble and grateful Chinese who would smile to them and in many cases utter the only mutually recognizable words of communication: "Ding Hao, " meaning "It is good.