Red Tails-The Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen have been written of many times. They have been portrayed in films. The current film is "Red Tails", though this is not a review of the movie. This page is written for Black History Month, and to bring awareness of the achievements of African Americans in forging a nation.

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of African American fighter pilots during world war two. The name is derived from the fact that these men trained in Tuskegee Alabama. These men were the first African American military aviators. The military was segregated during both world wars and while Black men fought alongside the French as equals, they were not afforded that opportunity in this country. This changed with men like those of the 332nd air corps. They would eventually prove segregationists wrong.

The men of the 332nd had to be of exceptional intelligence because of certain obstacles put in their way hoping to guarantee that these men fail at their task. This actually helped the airmen as they were so well educated and trained their success was assured.

The group flew several different types of aircraft but the one they are most associated with is the P-51 Mustang, shown in the photo above. The assignment they are identified with for the most part was bomber escort. They had almost one hundred percent success at protecting the flying fortresses. There were a few bombers lost, but so miniscule a number as their record shows that they never lost a bomber.

The airmen were the victims of racial discrimination, but they used the war department's policy of creating separate African American combat units in the past. This policy of segregation allowed the creation of The Tuskegee Airmen, as in the past it had allowed creation of separate combat units with Black Americans commanded by white officers. In 1941, Congress forced the Army Air Corp. to create a combat ready unit. The War Dept. was against this move, but it was now the law of the land.

The war department would set up a stringent set of qualifications so that the new Black pilots would have trouble with these rules. The Tuskegee Airmen would be one of the more successful combat units in the war. The qualifications designed to help Blacks to fail, would eventually be responsible for the success of that air corps combat unit.

The Army Air Corps. was of the opinion that if African American pilots were assigned as combat officers (pilots) then they would outrank white enlisted men and this would create problems. The Black officers would be in a situation that would create social problems, this was the Dept. Of War's way of thinking. It was a problem that could have been solved by the War Department backing any officer with regard to having troops follow orders. In other words, force these men to obey orders from ranking officers. They came to that conclusion on their own.

The program had been in effect 5 months and Eleanor Roosevelt, visited the field and flew for around 30 minutes with a Black instructor. The program got a lot of good publicity after the First Lady's flight and she arranged a loan through her being a trustee of the Julius Rosenwald fund to purchase land for a training field.

Despite the fact that the program required more of the Black pilots such as previous flight training and experience, the men were successful. They were excellent officers and pilots and gained recognition before some pilots knew that they were black, they were recognizable by the tail of their Mustangs that were painted red. Individual pilots won more than 1000 awards and decorations.

The airmen sank a destroyer and that was the first accomplishment of that kind until then. The airmen would at times have 900 hours flight time and still be considered trainees. These men were the first to do quite a few things that helped win the war, it would not be until the 1990s when some of them were recognized for their service by then President Bill Clinton.

Colonel Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. was the commanding officer of the 332nd fighter squad, he would go on to become a General. His efforts included going in front of Congress to ask for combat status for the Black men of the squad. He succeeded at this effort and eventually his men fought in the European theater, serving with distinction.

Their accomplishments included: Over 15,000 combat sorties, over 300 missions; 112 german aircraft destroyed in the air, another 150 destroyed on the ground; 950 railcars, trucks and other vehicles were destroyed; one destroyer sunk; out of hundreds of missions only 25 bombers lost to enemy action. This prestigious record was one reason that segregation was deemed pointless and the armed forces would be integrated after WWII.

Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group, "Tuskegee Airmen", 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. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Some of the Tuskegee Airmen, though elderly are still alive. They have been interviewed by some of today's top journalists. Over the years, I have read some of these interviews and in my own words I would like to give everyone an idea of what these legendary men think now and what they thought then. By the way, the interviews are not with the men shown in the photo above, the photo was taken around 1943 and the men are not available. I think you'll find this interesting and exciting. The men fought in WWII as well as the Korean War. The stories will surprise you showing as they do, the feeling that all shared in this crucial time in our country's history.

John Lyle is 91, and one of the original airmen. Mr. Lyle agreed with the notion that the airmen were given unbearable pressure and stress in order to 'wash them out' of the program. He knew that the only way to make it as a military aviator was to accept the pressure and stay in control of your nerves and emotions.

Beverly Dunhill is 84 and he flew as a young teenage boy instructed by a Captain of the Civil Air Patrol. He had been flying for two years before he went into the service. He said that he witnessed instructors telling the trainees that they should "go home and forget about being pilots". They would have marked that person as someone they would wash out any way possible. A test pilot as well as a combat pilot he had experienced many brushes with death. Like the other airmen, he knew he had to keep his emotions out of the equation.

La Verne Shelton is 90 and he was a qualified pilot and his work was Crew Chief for the airmen. He and nine or ten others kept the planes flying. His career was varied in wartime and was in several different posts in Europe. He knew that emotional stress could 'wash you out' in time, you had to keep 'neutral' emotions. He could not remember all of the pilots for whom he 'crewed'. He knew a great many did not make it until the end of the war. The main thought that he wanted to share that he shared with others was the desire to be a part of something like the airmen. They painted the tails on their aircraft red so they could see one another in combat situations with clarity.

The airmen have been honored by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and given various awards earned during WWII, which the war department refused to issue. Several medals of honor have been awarded (some posthumously) to the airmen for wartime heroics.

The men were all well educated considering the time, and very intelligent. They all had courage and dedication in common. No one expected them to succeed, but they knew they would.

This is dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen in this February 2012, Black History Month.

Photo shown is in the public domain because it is a work of the United States Government