McClatchy: Six decades later, Tuskegee Airmen to be honored by U.S.

[Pirate Smile]

Six decades later, Tuskegee Airmen to be honored by U.S.

By William Douglas
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The Tuskegee Airmen weren't supposed to succeed.
A 1925 study by the Army War College titled "The Use of Negro Manpower in War" concluded that African-American "men were cowards and poor technicians and fighters, lacking initiative and resourcefulness." It also called them a "subspecies of the human population."


Former Tuskegee Airman Charles W. Dryden sits in his Atlanta, Georgia home. On March 29, the United States will honor the Tuskegee Airmen by awarding the group the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, the highest civilian award bestowed by the federal legislature.

So the Army Air Corps wasn't expecting much in 1941 when it began training a small group of African-American men to become pilots at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college.

What it got was one of the most successful flying squadrons in American military history. Shattering racist stereotypes, they flew more than 15,000 sorties over North Africa and Europe during World War II, destroyed more than 250 enemy aircraft on the ground and 150 in the air, and fiercely protected the American and Allied bombers they escorted on missions.

"We dared not fail," said retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charles W. Dryden, 86, who earned his wings at the Tuskegee program in 1942. "We dared not fail because the white folks could say, `See, we knew they couldn't do it.'"

On March 29, the United States will honor the Tuskegee Airmen by awarding the group the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, the highest civilian award bestowed by the federal legislature. About 300 airmen, out of the nearly 1,000 trained at Tuskegee, will attend the ceremony in the Capitol's rotunda, along with their families.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16911069.htm

:patriot::patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[babylonsister]

1. It only took 60 flippin' years! Joy! Rec'd for the Airmen! nt

[postulater]

2. I was honored

to shake the hand of one of the Tuskeegee Airmen when I saw him walk into a restaurant in Cleveland about ten years ago.

That was one incredible group of men.

[entanglement]

3. And not a day too soon...

:kick:

[maine_raptor]

4. One little know fact

The all-Black, 332nd Fighter Group did not lose a single bomber to enemy fighter attacks while flying more than 200 escort missions – a record unmatched by any other fighter group in the ETO.

They flew P-51D's that were distinctly painted:



Among on-line flyer's today, this paint scheme is one of the the most popularly used.

Of all the heroes of WWII, this group stands out.

This is an honor that is long overdue.

:patriot:

[Pirate Smile]

5. kick