Anniversary events may mark the last time to honor surviving members of heroic fighters

21st March 2016   ·   0 Comments

By Frederick H. Lowe
Contributing Writer

(Special from NorthStarNews Today) – The Tuskegee Airmen Foundation will host a celebration on March 22, marking the 75th anniversary of the inauguration of the U.S. Army Air Corps 99th Pursuit Squadron on March 22, 1941, in Tuskegee, Ala.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the African-American fighter pilots in World War II. They fought the Nazis in Europe during air combat missions. After they left the service, they fought white racists when they returned to the United States.

The Tuskegee Airmen Foundation is holding the event to honor pilots, nurses, mechanics, ground crew, air traffic controllers, meteorologists, stenographers, and other support personnel who saw activation of the first combat aviation unit at Tuskegee and other locations. The most famous members of the group were the pilots who flew Curtiss P-40 War Hawks with distinctive red tails. The planes were known as “Red Tails.” At least two feature films were made about the pilots’ exploits.

Foundation officials noted that this might be the last time to honor the remaining documented Tuskegee airmen who are still alive.

The event will also kickoff a $75 million 10-year fund-raising effort to make the Tuskegee Airmen Foundation a sustainable organization. The foundation, a non-profit 501©(3) corporation, supports youth programs that emphasize Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM).

On March 22, the Tuskegee Airmen Foundation will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, 1721 General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Drive in Tuskegee, Ala.

Davis, then a colonel, was commander of the 99th Pursuit Squadron during World War II. He fought successfully to prevent white officers, members of Congress and academics from disbanding the squadron based on their racist views.

Also on March 22, there will be a V.I.P. reception and black tie gala beginning at 6 p.m. at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa Convention Center, 201 Tallapoosa St., Montgomery, Ala.

Personnel received initial in-flight training at Tuskegee, Alabama, earning them the name the Tuskegee Airmen. During World War II, The Airmen, who were temporarily based in Casablanca, Morocco, participated in the North Africa campaign.

From Morocco, the pilots traveled by train to Oujda and then Tunis, a location where they operated against the Luftwaffe, Nazi German’s Air Force. The 99th later moved to Sicily, where it received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat performance.

On Friday, July 2, 1943, Lieutenant Charles B. Hall of Brazil, Ind., shot down the first enemy plane for the group.

At the same time, the 99th was fighting Nazis, Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. , the group’s commander, had to fight white officers who used a University of Texas report, claiming the unit should be disbanded because black men were incapable of handling complex situations like air combat.

The Tuskegee Airmen were part of the Army Air Force because the Air Force did not exist as a separate military unit until September 1947.

Last May, the United States Military Academy at West Point named cadet barracks under construction in honor of Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.

Davis, who retired as a four star general, was the fourth African American and the first in the 20th century to graduate from West Point. Gen. Davis died in 2002.

The Tuskegee Airmen also included Air Force Lt. Colonel Lee A. Archer, the only black pilot who was called an “Ace” during World War II. Lt. Colonel Archer shot down four enemy aircraft. He and another pilot shot down a fifth plane, which gave Lt. Colonel Archer the title of being called an “Ace.” He died in 2010.

This article originally published in the March 21, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.