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THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN 
Until January 1941, no African-Anerican men were allowed to fly as part of the United States Air Force. However, pressure from the NAACP, the black press and other organizations led to the establishment of The 66th Air Force Flying School which was to be based at the segregated Tuskegee Army Air Field. The graduates of this flying school became known as The Tuskegee Airmen.
The training school was run entirely by white officers, who because they wanted the experiment to fail, would expel the trainees for the slightest reason, which resulted in a high drop-out rate. The first class to graduate in March 1942 became the 99th Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps, and they were put under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. who later went on to be the country's first black three-star general. They received further training in Morocco and had their first mission on June 2, 1943, an attack on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria. They went on to undertake many more missions throughout Italy and were the first step in the redefinition of African-Americans within the Air Force. Later that year, three more squadrons were activated, who along with the 99th Pursuit Squadron, constituted the 332nd Fighter Group. They had an extremely impressive record in action and were the only Army Air Force escort group that did not lose a bomber to enemy planes, despite flying 1578 missions and 15,552 sorties. The training program was extended in order to train pilots and crew to fly B-25 bombers, forming the 477th Bombardment Group, but the war ended before they could be deployed overseas. During the course of the war, almost a thousand pilots graduated from Tuskegee Airfield and another 1,000 graduated with support skills. They lost 66 men and were awarded in excess of 900 medals. On September 5, 1946, the Tuskegee air base was closed and the fighter units were disbanded. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed the order that would officially end segregation in the armed forces. Links To Other Tuskegee Airmen Internet Resources: National Park Service - The Tuskegee Airmen. Tuskegee University - The Legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen. Tuskegee Airmen Inc. Wikipedia - The Tuskegee Airmen. The African American Registry - Military initiates Tuskegee Airmen. SIGN UP TO OUR EMAIL NEWSLETTER If you would like us to keep you updated with changes and improvements to thatsalabama.com, please enter your email address here: If you would like to support thatsalabama.com with a donation via paypal, please click on this button: |
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