The TUSKEGEE AIRMEN make their final flight

[Bluebear]

Well done and thank you from a grateful nation.



The Tuskegee Airmen were dedicated, determined young men who volunteered to become America’s first black military airmen. They came from every section of America, with large numbers coming from New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit. Each one possessed a strong personal desire to serve the United States of America proudly and to the best of his ability as an airman, even while many other Americans felt that black men lacked intelligence, skill, courage and patriotism.

======

At 84, his joints stiff with arthritis, Lt. Col. Hiram Mann had to be lifted gingerly into the cockpit of the World War II-era plane. But as the PT-17 Stearman flew into the hot Florida sky, Mann flashed a grin and a thumbs-up sign and went back to his days training in a plane like this at Tuskegee.

"The pilot asked me if I wanted to take the controls and fly the plane," Mann said afterward. "I joked that I didn't want to kill him or myself. So I just sat back and enjoyed the flight."

The Tuskegee Airmen pride themselves on never having lost a bomber they escorted in World War II. But the black aviators and support personnel, who overcame prejudice at home and German fighters abroad, are succumbing to old age and illness, with more than 50 members dying in the past year. Fewer than 200 of the 992 aviators remain.

So it was that the group declared that last week's annual convention would be its last. It will join with another, younger group of black pilots for future gatherings....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/20/AR2005082001242.html

[burrowowl]

1. Reminds me of my father's last

flight, bought some airtime and the pilot asked the same ....
May the Tushegee Airmen always have a tailwind!

[ls317]

2. Thank You

You stood tall spite the fact of dealing with all of the bullshit. And you lead by example and showed that you can make a difference..

[tnlefty]

3. Hats off to this fine group of men!

I thought they were supposed to get their own memorial in (Louisiana, maybe)? Was it ever completed?

[Bluebear]

4. PHOTO: Memorials and inscriptions

Alabama

South Carolina. Inscription:

THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN
OF
WORLD WAR II

IN HONOR OF THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN,
THEIR INSTRUCTORS AND GROUND SUPPORT
PERSONEL WHO PARTICIPATED IN PREPARING FOR
COMBAT TRAINING AT THE WALTERBORO ARMY
AIRFIELD DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

BECAUSE OF THEIR HEROIC ACTION
IN COMBAT THEY WERE CALLED
SCHWARTZE VOGELMENSCHEN
(BLACK BIRD MEN) BY THE GERMANS WHO
BOTH FEARED AND RESPECTED THEM. WHITE
AMERICAN BOMBER CREWS IN REVERENCE
REFERRED TO THEM AS THE "RED TAIL ANGELS"
BECAUSE THE IDENTIFYING RED PAINT
ON THEIR TAIL ASSEMBLIES AND BECAUSE OF
THEIR REPUTATION FOR NOT LOSING ANY
AIRCRAFT THEY PROTECTED (ESCORTED) TO
ENEMY FIGHTERS AS THEY PROVIDED FIGHTER
COVERAGE FOR MISSIONS OVER STRATEGIC
TARGETS IN EUROPE.

[tnlefty]

9. Dang, you're good!!! Thanks for posting this.

I need to do some research because I thought that I had read somewhere that they were supposed to have a memorial or museum dedicated to them in one location, and I thought it was in Louisiana.

[Bluebear]

10. They should have one in every state!

Trailblazers and heroes come in every color :)

[Spazito]

5. I knew nothing of the Tuskegee Airmen until a movie was made

about them. Since then I have been totally fascinated by anything that comes up about them. Thank you for posting this.

"The Tuskegee Airmen pride themselves on never having lost a bomber they escorted in World War II." And so they should be very proud, incredible record.

[ewagner]

6. An era has passed

but the story of the Tuskegee Airman will be told forever.

God Speed Airmen! :patriot:

[peacetalksforall]

7. Honorable men. Honorable fullfillment of their job.

Not honored enough.

[blondeatlast]

8. God bless 'em. Bravo, guys!

:thumbsup::thumbsup: