The Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of black American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel. The Tuskegee airmen received praise for their excellent combat record earned while protecting white American bombers from enemy fighters. The group was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations.
All black military pilots who trained in the United States trained at Griel Field, Kennedy Field, Moton Field, Shorter Field, and the Tuskegee Army Air Fields. They were educated at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), located near Tuskegee, Alabama. Of the 922 pilots, five were Haitians from the Haitian Air Force and one pilot was from Trinidad. It also included a Hispanic or Latino airman born in the Dominican Republic.
The 99th Pursuit Squadron (later the 99th Fighter Squadron) was the first black flying squadron, and the first to deploy overseas (to North Africa in April 1943, and later to Sicily and other parts of Italy). The 332nd Fighter Group, which originally included the 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, was the first black flying group. It was deployed to Italy in early 1944. Although the 477th Bombardment Group trained with North American B-25 Mitchell bombers, they never served in combat. In June 1944, the 332nd Fighter Group began flying heavy bomber escort missions and, in July 1944, with the addition of the 99th Fighter Squadron, it had four fighter squadrons.
The 99th Fighter Squadron was initially equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter-bomber aircraft. The 332nd Fighter Group and its 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons were equipped for initial combat missions with Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944) and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly associated, the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944). When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47s red, the nickname “Red Tails” was coined. The red markings that distinguished the Tuskegee Airmen included red bands on the noses of P-51s as well as a red empennage; the P-51B, C, and D Mustangs flew with similar color schemes, with red propeller spinners, yellow wing bands, and all-red tail surfaces.
At the war’s end they had flown more than 15,000 missions and in the process destroyed more than 260 German aircraft in the air and on the ground. In addition, they destroyed some 950 railcars, trucks, and other vehicles. One of the TuskegeeAirmen could even lay claim to sinking a destroyer during one mission.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces. During World War II, black Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws[N 1], and the American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to discrimination, both within and outside of the army.
America’s black pilots would earn 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 744 Air Medals, 8 Purple Hearts, and 14 Bronze Stars. Sixty-six pilots gave their lives while another 32 became prisoners of war. As a result of the success of the Tuskegee Airmen, on July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order #9981 desegregating the American armed forces.
Legacy
On 29 March 2007, the Tuskegee Airmen were collectively awarded a Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. The medal is currently on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
The airfield where the airmen trained is now the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.
Thurgood Marshall, the future Supreme Court justice, got his start defending Tuskegee bomber trainees.
The 477th Bombardment Group was formed in 1944 to extend the so-called “Tuskegee experiment” by allowing black aviators to serve on bomber crews. The aim was to send pilots—many of them veterans of the original Tuskegee fighter group—back to the States for training on B-25 bombers. While in Indiana, some of the African-American officers were arrested and charged with mutiny after entering an all-white officers’ club. Marshall, then a young lawyer, represented the 100 black officers who had landed in jail as a result of the confrontation. The men were soon released (although one was later convicted of violent conduct and fined).
Robert W. Williams Jr., a navigator/bombardier in the 477th Bombardment Group, became a judge in the First Judicial District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In 1979, he was elected to the Commonwealth Court, an appellate court, and the first African American to serve on that court. In 1985, he resigned from the court to run for the District Attorney of Philadelphia County. He was the first African American to successfully become a city-wide candidate for that office.
On July 3, 2023, Williams reached the age of 100, making him one of the last Tuskegee Airmen alive.
Other members of the Tuskegee Airmen have made contributions in the world of business. Eugene Winslow founded Afro-Am Publishing in Chicago, Illinois, which published Great Negroes Past and Present in 1963.
Daniel “Chappie” James Jr. started his career in the early 1940s at Tuskegee, joining the Army Air Corps in July 1943. After the war ended, James stayed in what became the Air Force and flew missions in both Korea and Vietnam. In 1969, James was put in command of Wheelus Air Base outside of Tripoli.Four Tuskegee airmen went on to become generals. For keeping his cool in the face of Qaddafi’s troops, James was appointed a brigadier general by President Nixon. He was not the only Tuskegee graduate to make flag rank. James followed in the footsteps of Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the original commander of the 332nd Fighter Group and the first black general in the U.S. Air Force. Another Tuskegee aviator, Lucius Theus, retired a major general after dedicating most of his 36-year career in the Air Force to improving the military’s bureaucracy, helping to implement a direct deposit system for service members.[
In 2019, at 100 years old, Colonel Charles McGee was promoted to honorary Brigadier General.
Coleman Young served in the 477th Medium-Bomber Group of as a second lieutenant, bombardier, and navigator. As a lieutenant in the 477th, Young played a role in the Freeman Field Mutiny in 1945. Young later was elected mayor of Detroit, MI, and served from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit.
In 2006, California Congressman Adam Schiff and Missouri Congressman William Lacy Clay Jr., led the initiative to create a commemorative postage stamp to honor the Tuskegee Airmen.The 99th Flying Training Squadron flies T-1A Jayhawks and, in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, painted the tops of the tails of their aircraft red. On 1 August 2008, Camp Creek Parkway, a portion of State Route 6 in south Fulton County and in the City of East Point near Atlanta, Georgia, was officially renamed in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen. The road is a highway that serves as the main artery into Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh presented an award to several Western Pennsylvania Tuskegee veterans, as well as suburban Sewickley, Pennsylvania dedicated a memorial to the seven from that municipality.
An exhibit was established at Pittsburgh International Airport in Concourse A.[127]On 9 December 2008, the Tuskegee Airmen were invited to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama, the first African-American elected as president. Retired Lt. William Broadwater, 82, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, a Tuskegee Airman, summed up the feeling. “The culmination of our efforts and others was this great prize we were given on 4 Nov.. Now we feel like we’ve completed our mission.” More than 180 airmen attended the 20 January 2009 inauguration.
In July 2009, 15-year-old Kimberly Anyadike became the youngest female African-American pilot to complete a transcontinental flight across the United States. She cited the Tuskegee Airmen as one of her biggest inspirations, and was accompanied on her trip by 87-year-old former Tuskegee Airman Levi Thornhill.
]The Tuskegee Airmen Memorial was erected at Walterboro Army Airfield, South Carolina, in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, their instructors, and ground support personnel who trained at the Walterboro Army Airfield during World War II.
In the 2010 Rose Parade, the city of West Covina, California paid tribute to the “service and commitment of the Tuskegee Airmen” with a float, entitled “Tuskegee Airmen—A Cut Above”, which featured a large bald eagle, two replicas World War II “Redtail” fighter aircraft and historical images of some of the airmen who served. The float won the mayor’s trophy as the most outstanding city entry—national or international.[citation needed]In June 1998, the Ohio Army and Air National Guard opened a jointly operated dining hall. They dedicated the new dining facility called the “Red Tail Dining Facility” to the Tuskegee Airmen. The facility is operated at the Rickenbacker ANG base outside of Columbus Ohio.
In 2008, the Tuskegee Airmen were inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
In January 2012, MTA Regional Bus Operations officially changed the name of its 100th Street depot in New York City to the Tuskegee Airmen Depot.
In 2012, George Lucas produced Red Tails, a film based on the experiences of the Tuskegee Airmen.
In 2012, Aldine Independent School District in Harris County, Texas named Benjamin O. Davis High School in honor of Benjamin O. Davis Jr.
On 16 September 2019, the USAF officially named the winning T-X program aircraft the “T-7A Red Hawk” as a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, who painted their airplanes’ tails red, and to the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, one of the aircraft flown by the Tuskegee Airmen.
On 2 February 2020, McGee brought out the commemorative coin for the Super Bowl coin flip.
In 2021, the United States Mint issued an America the Beautiful quarter commemorating the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. The coin depicts a Tuskegee Airman suiting up with two P-51 Mustangs flying overhead and the motto “They fought two wars”.
On 25 April 2021, NASCAR Cup Series driver Erik Jones honored the Airmen with a paint scheme at Talladega Superspeedway similar to the design of the P-51 Mustang they flew in World War II. Jones led 7 laps in the race but crashed while running fourth on the final lap, and had to settle for a 27th-place finish. Tuskegee Airmen at the Aircraft Exchange ceremony July 26, 2023A commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the official desegregation of the US military during which several Tuskegee Airmen were present was held on July 26, 2023, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. During the event, a PT-17 Stearman was officially inducted into the National Museum of the Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. Most Tuskegee pilots were originally trained on the Stearman-class aircraft. Artistic depictions Red Tails Escorting the B17s, a watercolor by Kay Smith is in the collections of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library.
There is a mural depicting the Tuskegee Airmen and their contributions at 39th and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tuskegee Airmen, a watercolor mural by Andrew J. Woodstock has been displayed at the Air Zoo Aerospace and Aviation Museum in Portage, Michigan. Richmond, Kentucky’s seven Tuskegee Airmen who served during World War II are honored with an artist’s rendering of airman Frank D. Walker at the Madison County Public Library.