Commander in the Sky

The "Hump" is a 525-mile sky road drawn across the eastern Himalayas and the forest of Burma by American blood and courage. During World War II the Allied troops flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and the units of the United States Army Air Forces based in China. The pilots that flew these missions were some of the bravest, most skilled pilots the world has ever known. From the perspective of history, Henry “Hank” A. Phillips Jr. shares his experiences as to what it took to become a commander of these elite pilots and the post-war career that followed.