Soaring High ... Then And Now

Soaring High ...

... Then And Now

Story By Kendyl Hollingsworth Photos Contributed By Tuskegee Airman Inc.

This year marks 77 years since the end of World War II. After news spread of Japan’s surrender, the joy that ensued in streets across the United States marked an exuberant end to six harrowing years of battle and bloodshed, victories and defeats.

More than 16 million Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the war. Those who remained at home pitched in to aid the soldiers in any way they could, and after the war’s end, these veterans were still praised and supported as they reentered civilian life.

But this wasn’t so for most of the Tuskegee Airmen — the first all-Black group in the Army Air Corps.

While the group is one of the most decorated and celebrated units today, many faced racism, bigotry and segregation as soon as their ships docked in the U.S. back in 1945.

Still, those involved in the “Tuskegee Experiment” far exceeded expectations. Where many expected failure, the Tuskegee Airmen demonstrated success. In fact, some of the Tuskegee Airmen groups and squadrons boast some of the best combat records among Americans in World War II.

No, it isn’t true they never lost a bomber. But according to Daniel Haulman, one of the leading authorities on the group,

they still tout an impressive record.

“The total number of Tuskegee Airmen-escorted bombers shot down by enemy fighters, by my research, was 27, while the average number lost by each of the other six fighter escort groups in the Fifteenth Air Force was 46,” Haulman told the National WWII Museum. “The Tuskegee Airmen lost significantly fewer bombers to enemy aircraft than the average of the other groups.”

There aren’t many Tuskegee Airmen still living, but their legacy will continue to live on for generations to come.

HISTORY

The journey of the Tuskegee Airmen began in Tuskegee, Alabama, less than an hour’s drive west of Lee County. But it took some legislation for Black pilots to start gaining equal footing in the military with their white counterparts.

According to Haulman, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was running for his third term in office when he promised to allow Black pilots to train for the Army Air Corps.

That campaign promise would eventually lead the BurkeWadsworth Bill — the first peacetime draft in the history of the U.S. — to be signed into law in 1940. According to Tuskegee Airmen Inc. (TAI), the bill required all men ages 21 to 35 to register for the draft, and it contained two provisions that allowed people to volunteer for induction and be selected for training “regardless of race or color.”

Later that year, the U.S. Army and Civil Aeronautics Authority began development of “colored personnel” for aviation service. This paved the way for them to be trained as pilots and support.

According to Haulman, the 99th Pursuit Squadron — the first Black flying unit — was activated in March 1941 in Illinois, but there were no pilots yet.

Then, in July 1941, the first aviation class began. It started out with 13 cadets; those who were successful in the ground training — covering topics like instruments, navigation and meteorology — transferred to the segregated Tuskegee Army Air Field to finish their pilot training for the Army Air Corps.

Tuskegee Institute, now known as Tuskegee University, provided the space for aircrafts and personnel, and nearby Moton Field was the main flight facility for the pilots to train. Haulman said the location was chosen for two main reasons: The South had more days of good flying weather, and the institute was already successfully training Black civilian pilots. In fact, the president and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, had visited Tuskegee in late March 1941. Eleanor flew with a Black pilot at the civilian pilot training facility. “She supported her husband’s decision to train Black military pilots to serve in the Army, but, by the time of her flight, the first Black flying unit had already been formed, and the plans for Tuskegee flight training had already been developed,” Haulman noted. By that time next year, five of the original 13 cadets completed their Air Corps pilot training, earning their silver wings and becoming the first Black military pilots in the United States, according to TAI. Those men were Capt. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. and 2nd Lt. Lemuel R. Curtis, Charles DeBow, Mac Ross and George Spencer Roberts. Roberts became the first Black commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron (formerly the 99th Pursuit Squadron) “and, for that matter, of any black flying unit,” according to TAI. Davis would later become its most famous commander.

TAI said a total of 355 Tuskegee Airmen pilots served overseas with the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, which consisted of the 100th, 301st and 302nd fighter squadrons. The group was officially activated in October 1942 and went on to receive a Presidential Unit Citation for its bomber escort mission to Berlin, Germany, in March 1945. According to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, the “Red Tails” — so called for the distinctive red tails on their planes — became one of the first fighter units based in Italy to escort bombers to Berlin and back. The group is credited with shooting down three out of the eight German Me-262 jets destroyed that day.

The 477th Bombardment Group, which flew twin-engine B-25 Mitchell bombers, was activated with the 616th, 617th, 618th and 619th bombardment squadrons. According to TAI, however, Japan surrendered before the group was deployed overseas.

When the 99th Fighter Squadron was assigned to the 477th Bombardment Group in 1945, it became the 477th Composite Group, according to TAI. Coleman Young, a member of the group, went on to become the first Black mayor of Detroit, Michigan, Haulman said.

Of the 355 Tuskegee Airmen pilots deployed overseas, about 66 were killed in combat, and 32 were captured and became prisoners of war. At least a dozen more were killed in training or in noncombat missions.

In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, a bill that authorized then-President George W. Bush to award a gold medal to the Tuskegee Airmen in 2005 indicated that the pilots brought home 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars and Legions of Merit, as well as the Red Star of Yugoslavia.

The units of the Tuskegee Airmen were inactivated in the years after the war ended, as some were relocated to other bases and, later, either replaced or reactivated. Some went on to fly in other wars.

Many people believe the airmen’s excellent performances encouraged the War Department to reexamine military policies

on segregation. According to TAI, President Harry S. Truman enacted an executive order in 1948 that dealt with treatment and opportunity for all in the U.S. Armed Forces. This set the stage for full integration in the military, which began soon after.

From 1941 to 1946, nearly 1,000 Tuskegee Airmen pilots from all over the country trained at Tuskegee, but the total number of Tuskegee Airmen, including all ground personnel — navigators, instructors, mechanics, nurses, cooks and many more — was more than 14,000.

GEN. BENJAMIN O. DAVIS JR.

A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Davis (who also went by “B. O.”) was one of the first five cadets to graduate from the first class of the training program in 1942, finishing as a captain.

Davis was the son of the first Black general in the U.S. Army. He would make similar history himself; following his time as a commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron, Davis became the first Black general in the Air Force, which became independent from the Army in 1947.

He later served as the leader of the 477th Composite Group, assuming command in June 1945.

Davis retired from the military in 1970. He had been serving as the senior Black officer at the time. In 1998, then-President Bill Clinton awarded Davis his fourth star in a pinning ceremony, according to TAI.

He died in his hometown of Washington, D.C., in 2002 at 89 years old with a total of 10 different military decorations.

BRIG. GEN. CHARLES MCGEE

Ohio native Charles McGee had just turned 22 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He enlisted in the Army in October 1942.

Less than a year later, McGee became one of less than 1,000 Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots. He became part of the 332nd Fighter Group under Davis and flew in his first combat mission in 1944 in Italy. He had flown in more than 130 missions when he was promoted to captain, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine.

McGee later served as a major in the Korean War and a lieutenant colonel in the Vietnam War. He flew in more than 400 missions throughout his military career, retiring in 1973 as a colonel.

Less than two weeks after his 100th birthday, then-President Donald Trump signed a congressional measure promoting McGee to the rank of one-star brigadier general, according to the New York Times.

McGee died in January of this year at 102 years old.

“‘A life well lived’ is an understatement as applied to Brig. Gen. Charles McGee,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. wrote on social media following McGee’s death. “As a #TuskegeeAirman & combat aviator with 409 missions, his years in uniform were nothing shy of heroic, and his example of integrity, service and excellence endures.”

SGT. AMELIA R. JONES

According to the National Park Service, Sgt. Amelia Jones served as part of the support personnel for two years in the 99th Pursuit Squadron under Davis. A South Carolina native, Jones enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps at the Hunter Army Airfield in Kentucky in 1943.

She was presented with a Congressional Gold Medal in Savannah, Georgia, in April 2015.

Jones is one of several women who are counted in the Tuskegee Airmen group. Many served as nurses and administrative staff; others even helped rig parachutes and clear