Know Your History: Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II as the 332nd Fighter Group of the US Army Air Corps.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military aviators in the United States armed forces. During World War II, African Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to Jim Crow laws. The American military itself was racially segregated. The Tuskegee Airmen were subject to racial discrimination, both within and outside the Army. Despite these adversities, they flew with distinction. They were particularly successful in their missions as bomber escorts in Europe.

Prior to the Tuskegee Airmen, no U.S. military pilots had been African American. A series of legislative moves by the United States Congress in 1941 forced the Army Air Corps to form an all-black combat unit, despite the War Department’s reluctance. In an effort to eliminate the unit before it could begin, the War Department set up a system to accept only those with a level of flight experience or higher education that they expected would be hard to fill. This policy backfired when the Air Corps received an abundance of applications from men who qualified even under these restrictive specifications, many of whom had already participated in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, which the historically-black Tuskegee Institute had participated in since 1939.

On March 19, 1941, the 99th Pursuit Squadron (Pursuit being the pre-World War II descriptive for “Fighter”) was activated at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois. Over 250 enlisted men were trained at Chanute in aircraft ground support trades. This small number of enlisted men became the core of other black squadrons forming at Tuskegee and Maxwell Fields in Alabama.

In June 1941, the Tuskegee program officially began with formation of the 99th Fighter Squadron at the Tuskegee Institute. The unit consisted of an entire service arm, including ground crew. After basic training at Moton Field, they were moved to the nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field about 16 km (10 mi) to the west for conversion training onto operational types. The Airmen were placed under the command of Captain Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., then one of the few black West Point graduates.

The Tuskegee Airmen went on to conduct a series of successful operations in spite of hatred, discrimination, and other challenges mounted against them because of their race.

On March 29, 2007, about 350 Tuskegee Airmen and their widows received the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the US Capitol rotunda. The medal will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution; individual honorees will receive bronze replicas.

The airfield where the airmen trained is now the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.

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, they are in the process of painting the tops of the tails of their aircraft red.

On August 1, 2008, the City of Atlanta, Georgia officially renamed a portion of State Route 6, in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen. The road is a highway that serves as the main artery into Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

On December 9, 2008, the remaining Tuskegee Airmen were invited to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama, the first African-American elected President. Retired Lt. William Broadwater, 82, of Upper Marlboro, a Tuskegee Airman, summed up the feeling. “The culmination of our efforts and others’ was this great prize we were given on Nov. 4. Now we feel like we’ve completed our mission.” More than 180 airmen attended the January 20, 2009 inauguration.

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 the World War II.

In the 2010 Rose Parade, City of West Covina 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 replica World War II “Redtails” fighter planes and historical images of some of the airmen who served our country. The float won the Mayor’s trophy as the most outstanding city entry – national or international.