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

[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

Edward Chang and Woo Sung Han nicely piece together various historical documents to show how Korean immigrant leaders established and operated the Willows Korean Aviation School/Corps in 1920 to train fighter pilots in the independence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, Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York

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, University of California, Davis

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, University of California, Los Angeles