By Emily Williams
After suffering from a heart attack and undergoing open-heart surgery, William C. McDonald III of Mountain Brook made a big life decision: he would finish the memoir his father started.
McDonald co-authored the book “The Shadow Tiger: Billy McDonald, Wingman to Chennault,” with editor Barbara L. Evenson. It tells the story of his father, Billy “Mac” McDonald, and his time spent as a pilot working with the Chinese Air Force during World War II.
McDonald decided to write the book after he found a photo of his father flying a plane. The image piqued his interest and he looked for the rest of his father’s old documents. He found about 30,000 documents in the basement of his sister’s house, but they were in boxes that had been soaked. McDonald took a hairdryer to each photo and paper, reading along the way stories that recounted his father’s time as a pilot. Among various official documents were letters that Billy McDonald had written during his time in China.
“His life was divided into three parts,” McDonald said. “The middle would have been The Flying Trapeze. This was the first Army Air Corps acrobatic team, much like the Thunderbirds. They performed in front of a million people in their existence.”
Later on, Billy McDonald was recruited to be an instructor for the Chinese Air Force and joined Chennault’s Hawk 75 Special Force to fight the Japanese in 1937. He flew in combat as the Chinese capital of Nanking was bombed for 66 days in a row and, according to McDonald, was secretly compensated by the Chinese government for each Japanese plane he shot down.
During his time in China, McDonald said, his father lived as a spy, considered by the U.S. Army to be in violation of the U.S. Neutrality Act.
After his six-year contract with the Chinese Air Force was over, Billy McDonald had a choice: re-enlist in the U.S. Army and be placed on front lines for his violations, or continue to work in China.
He ended up ferrying cargo and passengers over a highly dangerous part of the Himilayas known as “The Hump,” where 1,600 planes were lost from 1940-’45.
His ability to clear “The Hump” without losing any men earned him
recognition from the president of the United States. His impressive abilities earned him a ticket home and he made his way back to his home state of Alabama.
Billy McDonald kept a close relationship with Chennault for the rest of his life, as well as Madame Chiang Kai-shek, wife and translator for the leader of the Republic of China. Both serve as godfather and godmother to McDonald’s sister.
A true testament to how respect- ed his father was, McDonald said, was when Madame Chiang Kai-shek requested that Billy McDonald escort her at Chennault’s funeral.
“If anybody deserves a book, this man deserves it,” McDonald said. “He never got a single medal from the United States government, which is a sin.”
McDonald felt that there are too many good stories about his father that have been kept in the shadows due to his separation from the U.S. military, making “The Shadow Tiger” a book of untold stories.
“The Shadow Tiger” is available at Barton-Clay Fine Jewelers in Mountain Brook and on Amazon.
