Members of the Flying Tigers, the first American Volunteer Group, will visit the National Infantry Museum on Oct. 19.

The 1-2 p.m. event gives the public a chance to meet four of six surviving members of the group, get an autograph or have a picture taken.

Formed in 1941 with soldiers from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, the group was created to assist China from the invasion of the Japanese in 1941. The group was first engaged in combat on Dec. 20, 1941, less than two weeks after the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Ben Williams, president of the National Infantry Foundation in Columbus, said the museum is pleased to host the group known as the shark-faced fighter pilots. “For them to be able to and willing to share their own personal stories with our visitors really makes this museum come to life,” he said.

Approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the volunteer group was made up of 100 pilots and 200 ground personnel who were discharged from the service for the venture in April 1941, about eight months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.