The Black Birdmen from Tuskegee: Pt2
The list of some 930 blacks from the Tuskegee Airmen graduates from the Tuskegee Flight School starts with 2nd Lt. Adams, John H., Jr., from Kansas City, KS, and ends with Flt. Officer Young, William W., from Oberlin, OH. Graduates came from at least 40 states (and D.C.), from Alabama to Wyoming, though a number are listed as ‘unknown,’ which might mean lost records. Others came from Haiti, Virgin Islands, and Trinidad. Remarkably, there were 11 sets of brothers. Quite a diversity of home towns, too: Ahoskie (NC) and Allegan (MI). Belzoni (MS) and Brazil (TN). Cadiz (OH) and Cassopolis (MI). Demopolis (AL) and Dowagiac (MI). Heth (AZ) Holicong (PA) and Houma (LA). Lima (OH), London (WV) and Lovelady (TX). Tilar (AZ) and Toccoa (GA). Mars (PA), Mountain Top (also PA) and Muskogee (OK). Waukeesha (WI), Weeletka (OK), Wenatchee (WA), and Wetumpka (AL). Yeadon (PA) and Yukon (PA). Even Xenia (OH).
We contacted Col. Ed Monroe, President of the Claude B. Govan Tri-State Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen to start these articles. The list of surviving airmen is dwindling, but honors have continued to come their way. William Wheeler, now 85, and Roscoe Brown, 86, attended Obama’s Inauguration. Back in 2007 four men received Congressional Gold Medals: Reginald Brewster, Alton Burton, Otis Forman, and Frederick Lawrence.
In WWII, the first black fighter pilot downing of a German fighter came on July 2, 1943, when the 99th Fighter Squadron escorted B-25s attacking Castelvetrano, Italy. German FW-190s arose to intercept them. Lt. Charles B. Hall, in his P-40, scored his first victory. In a P-40, yet, against the then-best German fighter in production! It was just a beginning of what these pilots would in time do when given more advanced fighters. He would eventually rack up three, as also did 2nd Lt. Leonard M. Jackson, 2nd Lt. Roger Romine, and 1st Lt. Harry T. Stewart. In January, 1944, FW-190s attacked Anzio, where Allied troops had landed but couldn’t yet break out of the city. Luftwaffe planes attacked them and two hospital ships in the harbor. Tuskegee’s 99th Squadron met the challenge. This time, eleven of their pilots shot down enemy fighters over the two-day 27-28th period, Hall downing two. As of February 7, their total rose to 18 enemy planes. After being given P-51s, faster and more maneuverable, they racked up 36 kills in July, including 12 on July 18 alone. Escorting B-24s bombing marshalling yards in Nimes, France, 1st Lt. Harold E. Sawyer shot down an attacking FW-190. Another, Captain. Joseph D. Elsberry, shot down three, earning a DFC. (Later, 2nd Lt. Clarence D. Lester and Harry T. Stewart each had a three-plane day.) On July 26, Captain Edward L. Toppins downed his fourth, an ME-109, on an escort mission. On October 12, again escorting, 1st Lt. Lee A. Archer downed three ME-109s, bringing his total also to four. Kudos to 1st Lt. Roscoe C. Brown, Earl R. Lane and 2nd Lt. Charles V. Brantley, each getting an ME-262 on March 24, 1945. The last recorded kill by a Tuskegee Airman was that of 2nd Lt. Richard A. Simons, of an ME-109, on May 4, 1945. Finally, of note is that 73 fighter pilots are listed who shot down one or more enemy aircraft (all are listed on website).
By war’s end there were nine squadrons of these airmen, having flown P-40, P-39, P-51 fighters or B-25 and B-26 medium bombers. The fighter pilots were called by the Germans, who respected and feared them, “Schwartze Vogelmenshen” (Black Birdmen). White American bomber crews reverently referred to them as “The Black Redtail Angels” because of the identifying red paint on the aircraft tail assemblies and their reputation for not losing bombers to enemy fighters when providing fighter escort on missions over European targets. One unit, the 332nd, was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its longest bomber escort to Berlin on March 24, 1945, shooting down those ME-262 jets and damaging five others, despite the speed disparity between the faster jets and the fighters. Two of its P-47 Thunderbolts in 1944 destroyed a German destroyer in the harbor of Trieste, Italy. By war’s end, Tuskegee pilots had downed 111 German aircraft in the air and 150 on the ground, plus 950 railcars, trucks, and other vehicles.
The Tuskegee Airmen website recognized a big supporter, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, in the following quote: “First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was very interested in the work at the Tuskegee Institute, particularly in the aeronautical school. In 1941 she visited Tuskegee Army Air Field and asked to take a flight with one of the Tuskegee pilots. Although the Secret Service was anxious about the ride, flight instructor Charles A. Anderson piloted Mrs. Roosevelt over the skies of Alabama for over an hour. That flight proved for Mrs. Roosevelt that blacks could fly airplanes and she did everything in her power to help them in that endeavor. Mrs. Roosevelt marked the occasion with a photograph of herself and Mr. Anderson which she promptly brought back to her husband, the President of the United States, and successfully urged FDR to utilize the 99th Squadron in combat missions.”
The national website, a non-profit organization, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. (TAI), has 51 chapters nationwide.
Its three purposes, to:
1. Honor accomplishments and perpetuate the history of African-Americans participating in air crew, ground crew and operations support training in the WWII Army Air Corps.
2. Introduce young people across the nation to aviation and science through local and national programs such as Young Eagles and TAI youth programs.
3. Provide annual scholarships and awards to deserving individuals, groups (AF ROTC deserving cadets, i.e.) and corporations whose deeds support TAI’s goals.
Those interested will find much more online.The Tuskegee National Historic Site, run by the U.S. National Park Service, is at Moton Field, 1616 Chappie James Avenue, in Tuskegee, AL. Get directions to it by plane or car onlineFinally, one book (there are others), recommended reading: “Black Knights. The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen,” by L.M. Holman and T. Reilly.
By Herb Hil