Tuskeegee Airmen

[Timebuilder]

Tuskegee Airmen

On the history channel now.

 

[Gulfstreamlover]

We hold an airshow for them every year at my airport, had some of the greats there last year (figures I'd forget there names). Had about 4 original P51 pilots there. Hold it every July if any one in the NE is interest, had 45 airplanes there last year....

Edit: Free BBQ.

 

[Timebuilder]

Wait a minute.

P51's.

Original Tuskeegee Airmen.

BBQ.

Where is that airport? I want to set aside that weekend!!!

 

[Gulfstreamlover]

I knew the BBQ would catch some one's eye South Delaware if you're interested, I think we have a DC-3 and a P51 comming in this year.

 

[avbug]

What I wouldn't give for an hour or a day of their time...to listen to their experiences first hand. Much like meeting the men of the flying tigers, or so many other imporant parts of aviation history. I've been blessed to have worked with many old hands over the years who really were there and really did do this/that...and to have heard their wisdom before they passed on.

A few years ago I was at a small airshow. An older gentleman was invited to the microphone during a lull, and he began to talk about his experiences. He was in a B-17 in 1941, and arrived during the attack on Pearl Harbor. As he spoke of his various experiences, all extemporaneously and unexpectedly, there was a lot of emotion in his voice, and the show stopped to listen. I've had so many private audiences with men I've worked with over the years who shared things they would never tell publically, and I count those moments among the most priceless of things I "own."

My dad was a dyed in the wool bbq'r. Even barbequed the turkey on thanksgiving. Can't stand the stuff. But I'd come to hear them speak, and they wouldn't even need the P-51's to hedge the bet. What a great opportunity to touch history, and the very fabric of which we're made.

 

[low-n-slow]

In '94 I spent the summer working off of the Tuskeegee airport while on a boll weevil eradication program and had the opportunity to meet on several occasions Charles 'Chief' Anderson. He would come to the airport and visit from time to time and during one visit he came over to where my ag plane was parked and after taking a look at my airplane we started talking and eventually he was giving me a historical tour of the airport with his pointed finger while explaining what this and that building was used for and what planes where parked where. It was so awesome.

Just once I would have given anything to have my video camera with me, but I did get his autograph on a picture. He died in '96 at 89 from cancer.

 

[bobbysamd]

I believe that Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr. was a Tuskeegee airman and/or trained them. Gen. James became commander of NORAD in Colorado Springs in the mid '70s when I was a radio news reporter in that city. I recall covering a news conference with Gen. James. He retired after his tour as NORAD commander and died shortly thereafter.

 

[NoName]

does anyone sense reverse racism in the movie? the whole tragedy of the reality and the movie was the fact that black men as a group were not capable and not as good as pilot as the white men. at the end of the movie we learn that the black men were better then the white pilots...the movie just flips the role and still keeps races in their own bunch. racisim will continue until people are truly colorblind and judge people on their own and not as a group by their race. JMO

 

[avbug]

I don't think that was the case at all. The fact is that the 332nd war record reflects that they never lost a bomber to enemy action, and it's true that they were requested as escorts for that reason. No other unit could make that claim. That's not racisim; it's fact.

Considering that many of these men excelled after starting from such a disadvantaged position (and having been kept that way for much of their duty), their achievements are all the more remarkable.

Don't spit on their graves.

 

[LJDRVR]

I love nobody more than the American G.I., but there are some G.I.'s that are extra-special; the Tuskegee Airman.

For four years I was privileged to be a member of the USAF Presidential Honor Guard at Bolling AFB in DC. Although we performed higher-visibility ceremonies at the White House and Pentagon, our bread and butter were the hundreds of funerals a year we conducted at Arlington National Cemetary. I've buried a wide cross section of this nation's sons and daughters, but the ones that are etched most firmly in my mind's eye are the Tuskegee Airmen.

Everytime we rendered final military honors for one of these gentlemen, (And it didn't matter if he was a fighter pilot or a motor pool guy) there were always DOZENS of distinguished older black men, with gray and white hair, resplendent in their red blazers. These American MEN stood as ramrod straight as their aging spines allowed, to honor their departed comrades. Their consistant presence, military bearing, and obvious love and respect for their fellow servicemen was always head and shoulders above anything else I witnessed in the "garden". I would imagine their numbers are thinning now...what a shame. If anyone ever gets a chance to meet up with any Tuskegee Airman at an airshow, go and talk to them and thank them for their service. You'll walk away privileged to know you shook hands with a REAL man.

Low n Slow, Chief Anderson gave Eleanor Roosevlt a ride in an L-4 Cub once. Neat piece of history there.

Anybody interested in further reading, I HIGHLY recommend the Benjamin O. Davis autobiography: An American Life

 

[low-n-slow]

Low n Slow, Chief Anderson gave Eleanor Roosevlt a ride in an L-4 Cub once. Neat piece of history there.

LJ, check this picture out from that 19th day of April in '41. He didn't look much different in that picture than he did whenever I met him in '94. I have a ton of respect for all of those airmen, what a remarkable group.

Ditto your remark regarding the American G.I.

 

[flying4life]

Those Gentleman were the best and did it with one hand tied behind their back. They were true Americans with great spirit, heart, and drive. Tell them they can't do it, they'll do it and then some. I've come across many WWII Vets and I too wish they could stick around longer and teach us some old tricks. What an honor it must be to meet these guys. I need to head to Deleware, BBQ or not. Although I don't mind the perks!
As far as the movie goes, I wish the quality would have been better in the special effects department. It comes across more like a "B" movie and these guys deserve more than that. Either way I'm glad they're getting recognition!!

 

[Timebuilder]

The part that I find the most interesting about this is their state of mind; how they viewed themselves.

First, they had already made achievements in the face of adversity as second class citizens. They obviously had gone to school and studied hard. They got good grades, and they weren't the only ones that did, I'll bet. They treated their elders with respect, and they respected themselves. They were art historians, doctors, and economists. They knew they could do this, and they accomplished what they set out to do.

Why is this unusual?

The difference is this: they never once pitied themselves, or bought into a victim mentality. They never claimed that they deserved special treatment at any point, they only wanted the opportunity to prove that they were just as good as anyone else. The idea of being placed in fighter aircraft for any agenda other than their accomplishments was unknown to them. They never thought of being uneducated or unable to speak properly as being a defendable aspect of cultural diversity. They never asked for a handout or a guaranteed outcome.

All they wanted was the opportunity to excel. They did so with distinction. Without hate, without pity, without special legislation.


My. How times have changed.

 

[Andy Neill]

I wanted to add to this thread my experiences with the Tuskeegee Airmen. My first annual instrument checkride (after flight school and a tour in Vietnam) was with a Tuskeegee airman who was still on active duty as a ground assignment major in Germany. He needed to get somewhere and in the process of flying him to his destination, he renewed my instrument ticket. He had flown P-51's across the Alps during WWII.

I had the opportunity to attend a luncheon they held at the Air Force Academy and was the only white at the table. I asked them what qualified one for membership in their association. I was told that one would need to have gone through the "Tuskeegee experience." They did not accept that my having been a white instructor with all black students during an advisory assignment in Kenya was within the realm of the Tuskeegee experience.

When I was a troop commander, I entered a black poetry contest at Ft Carson (the only white to do so) and used the Tuskeegee Airmen as my theme in a laudatory piece. (Lost miserably).

On my next trip through training in Alabama, I drove up to Tuskeegee to see the old camp. I was surprised that the camp was not at the current Tuskeegee Airport but was several miles away. At that site, I could see the old block foundations of the barracks and such and felt the ghosts wandering through.

I appreciate their service to the nation and have a special gratitude for that service in light of the unheroic treatment of some of them off duty and as they returned to the civilian world.

 

[flyifrvfr]

It's sad that the Tuskeegee Airmen didn't get the recognition they deserved during WWII.It took some changing times for people to realize the impact that they had on america.As the numbers of these hero's continues to decline,we finally give the credit now which was so rightly deserved then.The group never lost a Bomber to enemy fire,and continued to fight for a country who would turn it's back on them and deminish the impact they made during the war.I for one am glad the Tuskeegee Airmen where there and the country now is a better place because of them.If I ever get the chance to meet a Tuskeegee Airmen,I would thank them for thier service to our country,and show the great admiration and appreciation for thier sacrifices.

 

[Gulfstreamlover]

You want to fly over here for the fly-in Victor? Just PM me if you want to, there's a front seat of a Stearman with your name on it.