Black History Month: Tuskegee Airmen and Red Tail

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Todd Ricketts, an owner of the Chicago Cubs, has committed to donate $500,000 to restore a P-51 Mustang, the aircraft used by pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen — and depicted in a Hollywood movie produced by George Lucas entitled, Red Tails.

The aircraft will be part of the New Orleans-based National WWII Museum.“The P-51 is the iconic aircraft of World War II, and the museum would not be complete without one,” said. Ricketts, who is a member of the museum’s board of directors.  “But beyond that, it's also important to recognize and honor the Tuskegee Airmen, who furthered the American war effort — and the civil rights for all Americans — by doing what they saw as their patriotic duty.”

The refurbished P-51 D, complete with authentic Red Tail markings, will hang in the museum's new Boeing Center, which is scheduled to open on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

The National World War II Museum, formerly known as the National D-Day Museum,  focuses on the contribution made by the United States  victory by the Allies in World War II, and the Battle of Normandy in particular. It was designated by the U.S. Congress as "America's National World War II Museum" in 2003. The museum maintains an affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution.

The museum opened its doors to the public on June 6, 2000, the 56th anniversary of D-Day. Rickett’s  efforts to refurbish the plan will help educate the public about the   story of the The Tuskegee Airmen ,a group of African-American pilots who fought in World War II.

They were the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces. During World War II, African-Americans in many U.S. states still were subject to the Jim Crow segregation laws. The American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subject to racial discrimination, both within and outside the army.

Despite these adversities, they trained and flew with distinction. Primarily made up of African-Americans, there were also five Tuskegee Airmen  of Haitian descent.

The Tuskegee 332nd Fighter Group was the only operational unit, first sent overseas as part of Operation Torch, then in action in Sicily and Italy. Before being deployed as bomber escorts in Europe, they were particularly successful in virtually all of  their missions.

When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-51's red, the nickname "Red Tails" was coined.

Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African-American had become a U.S. military pilot. In 1917, African-American men had tried to become aerial observers, but were rejected.  Eugene Bullard served as one of the members of the Franco-American Lafayette Escadrille. Nonetheless, he was denied the opportunity to transfer to American military units as a pilot when the other American pilots in the unit were offered the chance. Instead, Bullard returned to infantry duty with the French.

Finally, in 1939, Congress passed a bill  containing an amendment designating funds for training African-American pilots.  However, the War Department deflected  the monies into funding civilian flight schools willing to train black Americans.

In an effort to subvert the unit before it could commence operations, according to some experts,  the War Department set up a system to accept only those with a level of flight experience or higher education, criteria intended to exclude most applicants. The attempts to derail the unit by setting high standards of entry requirements,ensured that only the most able and intelligent were able to join, contributing to the ultimate success of the all-black combat flyers.

The budding flight program at Tuskegee received a publicity boost when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt inspected it in March 1941, and  flew with African-American chief civilian instructor C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson (pictured at left). Anderson, who had been flying since 1929, and was responsible for training thousands of  pilots, took his prestigious passenger on a half-hour flight in a Waco biplane. After landing, she cheerfully announced, "Well, you can fly all right."

Contact your local library to obtain these resources:

The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys who Flew the B-24s over Germany
Stephen Edward Ambrose, (2001).

"Noel F. Parrish." in They Served Here: Thirty-Three Maxwell Men
Jeffrey C. Benton, (1999).

Blue Skies, Black Wings: African American Pioneers of Aviation
Samuel L.Broadnax, (2007).

332nd Fighter Group – Tuskegee Airmen
Chris Bucholtz and Jim Laurier, (2007).

The Luftwaffe over Germany: Defense of the Reich
 Donald Caldwell and Richard Muller, (2007).

The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation
Charles E. Francis and Adolph Caso, (1997).

Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space Science
Betty Kaplan Gubert, Miriam Sawyer and Caroline M. Fannine, (2002).

Hill, Ezra M. Sr. The Black Red Tail Angels: A Story of the Tuskegee Airmen. Columbus, Ohio: SMF Haven of Hope. 2006.

Red Tail, Black Wings: The Men of America's Black Air Force
John B. Holway,(1997).

Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen
Lynn M. Homan, and Thomas Reilly, (2001).

High Honor: Recollections by Men and Women of World War II Aviation
 Stuart Leuthner and Olivier Jensen, (1989).

Eugene Bullard: Black Expatriate in Jazz-Age Paris
Craig Lloyd and Eugene Bullard, (2000).

Red Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II
Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L, (1996).

Freedom Flyers: The Tuskeegee Airmen of World War II
J. Todd Moye, (2010).

Lonely Eagles: The Story of America's Black Air Force in World War II
Robert A. Ross,(1980).

Segregated Skies: All-Black Combat Squadrons of WWII
Stanley Sandler, (1992).