Tuskegee Airmen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group, "Tuskegee Airmen," the elite, all-African American 332nd Fighter Group at Ramitelli, Italy., from left to right, Lt. Dempsey W. Morgran, Lt. Carroll S. Woods, Lt. Robert H. Nelron, Jr., Capt. Andrew D. Turner, and Lt. Clarence P. Lester.

The Tuskegee Airmen was the popular name of a group of African American pilots who flew with distinction during World War II as the 332d Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

1 Beginnings
2 Combat
3 Postwar
4 Film and other media
5 Honors
6 Facts and Trivia
7 See also
8 Footnotes
9 Publications
10 External links

Beginnings

Prior to the Tuskegee Airmen, no U.S. military pilots had been African American. However, a series of legislative moves by the United States Congress in 1941 forced the Army Air Corps to form an all-black combat unit, much to the War Department's chagrin. 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 numerous applications from men who qualified even under these restrictions.

Major James A. Ellison returns the salute of Mac Ross of Dayton, Ohio, as he passes down the line during review of the first class of Tuskegee cadets; flight line at U.S. Army Air Corps basic and advanced flying school, Tuskegee, Alabama, 1941. Partial three-quarter left front view from low angle of Vultee BT-13 trainer at left.

The U.S. Army Air Corps had established the Psychological Research Unit 1 at Maxwell Army Air Field, Alabama, and other units around the country for aviation cadet training, which included the identification, selection, education, and training of pilots, navigators, and bombardiers. Psychologists employed in these research studies and training programs used some of the first standardized tests to quantify IQ, dexterity, and leadership qualities in order to select and train the right personnel for the right role (bombardier, pilot, navigator). The Air Corps determined that the same existing programs would be used for all units, including all-black units. At Tuskegee, this effort would continue with the selection and training of the Tuskegee Airmen.

On March 19, 1941, the 99th Pursuit Squadron (Pursuit being the pre-WWII 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 was to become the core of other black squadrons forming at Tuskegee and Maxwell fields in Alabama -- the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

In June 1941, the Tuskegee program officially began with formation of the 99th Fighter Squadron at the Tuskegee Institute, a highly regarded university founded by Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee, Alabama. The unit consisted of an entire service arm, including ground crew, and not just pilots. After basic training at Moton Field, they were moved to the nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field about 16 km (10 miles) to the west for conversion training onto operational types. The Airmen were placed under the command of Capt. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., one of the few African American West Point graduates.

At the time of its inception, the 99th Fighter Squadron was commanded by Capt. George "Spanky" Roberts. By 1942, however, it was Col. Frederick Kimble who oversaw operations at the Tuskegee airfield. Kimble proved to be highly unpopular with his subordinates, whom he treated with disdain and disrespect. Later that year, the Air Corps replaced Kimble with Maj. Noel Parrish. Parrish, though white, was fair and open-minded, and he petitioned Washington to allow the Tuskegee Airmen to serve in combat.

Combat

The 99th was ready for combat duty during some of the Allies' earliest actions in the North African campaign, and was transported to Casablanca, Morocco, on the USS Mariposa. From there, they travelled by train to Oujda near Fes, and made their way to Tunis to operate against the Luftwaffe. The flyers and ground crew were largely isolated by racial segregation practices, and left with little guidance from battle-experienced pilots. Operating directly under the Twelfth Air Force and the XII Air Support Command, the 99th FS and the Tuskegee Airmen were bounced around between three groups, the 33rd FG, 324th FG, and 79th FG. The 99th's first combat mission was to attack the small but strategic volcanic island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Tunisia, in preparation for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The 99th moved to Sicily while attached to the 33rd Fighter Group,^[1] whose commander, Col. William W. Momyer, fully involved the squadron, and the 99th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance in Sicily.

The Tuskegee Airmen were initially equipped with P-40 Warhawks, later with P-47 Thunderbolts, and finally with the airplane that they would become most identified with, the P-51 Mustang.

On January 27 and 28, 1944, German FW-190 fighter-bombers raided Anzio, where the Allies had conducted amphibious landings on January 22. Attached to the 79th Fighter Group, eleven of the 99th Fighter Squadron's pilots shot down enemy fighters, including Capt. Charles B. Hall, who shot down two, bringing his aerial victory total to three. The eight fighter squadrons defending Anzio together shot down a total of 32 German aircraft, and the 99th had the highest score among them with 13.^[2]

The squadron won its second Distinguished Unit Citation on May 12-14, 1944, while attached to the 324th Fighter Group, attacking German positions on Monastery Hill (Monte Cassino), attacking infantry massing on the hill for a counterattack, and bombing a nearby strongpoint to force the surrender of the German garrison to Moroccan Goumiers.

By this point, more graduates were ready for combat, and the all-black 332nd Fighter Group had been sent overseas with three fighter squadrons: the 100th, 301st and 302nd. Under the command of Col. Benjamin O. Davis, the squadrons were moved to mainland Italy, where the 99th FS, assigned to the group on May 1, joined them on June 6. The Airmen of the 332d Fighter Group escorted bombing raids into Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Germany.

Flying escort for heavy bombers, it racked up an impressive combat record, often entering combat against greater numbers of superior German aircraft, and coming out victorious. Reportedly, the Luftwaffe awarded the Airmen the nickname, "Schwarze Vogelmenschen," or Black Birdmen. The Allies called the Airmen "Redtails" or "Redtail Angels," because of the distinctive crimson paint on the vertical stabilizers of the unit's aircraft. Although bomber groups would request Redtail escort when possible, few bomber crew members knew at the time that the Redtails were black. It has been said that the Redtails were the only fighter group who never lost a bomber to enemy fighters ^[3]. This belief is now being reassessed, as Air Force records and eyewitness accounts, indicate that at least a few bombers were lost to enemy fire ^[4] ^[5]^[6], but nonetheless the record remains exceptionally distinguished.

A B-25 bomb group, the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium), was forming in the US but completed its training too late to see action. The 99th Fighter Squadron after its return to the United States became part of the 477th, redesignated the 477th Composite Group.

By the end of the war, the Tuskegee Airmen were credited with 109 Luftwaffe aircraft shot down,^[2] a patrol boat run aground by machine-gun fire, and destruction of numerous fuel dumps, trucks and trains. The squadrons of the 332nd FG flew more than 15,000 sorties on 1,500 missions. The unit received recognition through official channels and was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission flown March 24, 1945, escorting B-17s to bomb the Daimler-Benz tank factory at Berlin, Germany, an action in which its pilots destroyed three Me-262 jets in aerial combat. The 99th Fighter Squadron in addition received two DUC's, the second after its assignment to the 332nd FG.^[1] The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded several Silver Stars, 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 14 Bronze Stars, and 744 Air Medals.

In all, 992 pilots were trained in Tuskegee from 1940 to 1946. About 445 deployed overseas, and 150 Airmen lost their lives in training or combat. ^[7]

Postwar

Color poster of a Tuskegee Airman

Far from failing as originally expected, a combination of pre-war experience and the personal drive of those accepted for training had resulted in some of the best pilots in the US Army Air Corps. Nevertheless, the Tuskegee Airmen continued to have to fight racism. Their combat record did much to quiet those directly involved with the group (notably bomber crews who often requested them for escort), but other units were less than interested and continued to harass the Airmen.

All of these events appear to have simply stiffened the Airmen's resolve to fight for their own rights in the US. After the war, the Tuskegee Airmen once again found themselves isolated. In 1949 the 332nd entered the yearly gunnery competition and won. After segregation in the military was ended in 1948 by President Harry S. Truman with Executive Order 9981, the Tuskegee Airmen now found themselves in high demand throughout the newly formed United States Air Force.

Many of the surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen annually participate in the Tuskegee Airmen Convention, which is hosted by Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.

In 2005, four Tuskegee Airmen (Lt. Col. Lee Archer, Lt. Col. Robert Ashby, MSgt. James Sheppard, and TechSgt. George Watson) flew to Balad, Iraq, to speak to active duty airmen serving in the current incarnation of the 332nd, reactivated as first the 332d Air Expeditionary Group in 1998 and made part of the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing. "This group represents the linkage between the 'greatest generation' of airmen and the 'latest generation' of airmen," said Lt. Gen. Walter E. Buchanan III, commander of the Ninth Air Force and U.S. Central Command Air Forces, in an e-mail to the Associated Press.

In 2006, the Tuskegee Airmen were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their service and sacrifice to the United States during World War II. The official ceremony was held on March 29, 2007 in Washington D.C.^[8]

Film and other media

In 1945, the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Corps produced Wings for This Man, a propaganda short about the unit narrated by Ronald Reagan.

In 1996, HBO produced and aired The Tuskegee Airmen, starring Laurence Fishburn.

In the book Wild Blue, by Stephen Ambrose, the Tuskegee Airmen were mentioned, and honoured.

In 2006, it was reported that George Lucas was planning a film about the Tuskegee Airmen called Red Tails.

Honors

On March 29, 2007 about 350 Tuskee Airmen and their widows received the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol rotunda.^[9] ^[10] The medal will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution; individual honorees will receive bronze replicas.^[11]

Facts and Trivia

The Tuskegee Airmen are represented in the G.I. Joe action figure series. ^{[citations needed]}

The airfield where the airmen trained is now the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. ^{[citations needed]}

Fred Rogers' foster brother was an instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen and taught Rogers how to fly. ^[12]

Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. was the first black general in the US Army. His son, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. was part of the Tuskegee Airmen, and was the first black general in the U.S. Air Force.