Perilous Missions: Civil Air Transport and the CIA Covert Operations in Asia

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Summary: the airline before Air America
Review: The CIA's Air America became famous for its feats in Southeast Asia. This is the story of how Air America began, as a private-venture airline in China headed by Claire Chennault of the Flying Tigers. Leary tells the story of how CAT morphed into a para-military force, supporting Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist troops in their losing battle with the Communists, and eventually retreating with them to Taiwan. There it began to take on odd jobs for the U.S. military, and eventually the CIA bought a piece of it, so that CAT pilots were one day flying supplies to U.S. forces in Korea, again providing the same service for French troops in Vietnam, and between times dropping spies into China. It's a great yarn, though told with professorial precision. A reprint (no changes) of an earlier book from a university press.