60th Anniversary of the Tuskegee Airmen

[AKA2D '91]

Tuskegee Airmen Celebrate 60th Anniversary

2 hours, 2 minutes ago U.S. National - AP


By BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, S.C. - In the era of Jim Crow — when the Army brass didn't think blacks were capable of flying — a group of minority pilots changed the way the military looked at race.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...uskegee_airmen



** My 2nd cousin served as a TA, although not depicted in the film.**

[WenD08]

i wish my great-great uncle was here, he'd love to have been a part of the celebration. he was a Tuskegee Airman who flew commercially after he did his 20 yrs. of military service. for those who saw the Tuskegee Airman movie on HBO, when Laurence Fishburne and Malcolm Jamal Warner crash landed near those prisoners, Fishburne depicted my great-great uncle since that was his story, one of many during World War II.
i have the movie so i can show (hopefully) show my kids and grandkids this little piece of history

[SummerChild]

Originally posted by WenD08
i wish my great-great uncle was here, he'd love to have been a part of the celebration. he was a Tuskegee Airman who flew commercially after he did his 20 yrs. of military service. for those who saw the Tuskegee Airman movie on HBO, when Laurence Fishburne and Malcolm Jamal Warner crash landed near those prisoners, Fishburne depicted my great-great uncle since that was his story, one of many during World War II.
i have the movie so i can show (hopefully) show my kids and grandkids this little piece of history

Soror WenD08,
I have the greatest admiration for the Tuskegee Airmen. Do you know that my grandmother (who was around when they were flying their missions) said that Blacks (at least her and those in her community and with which she interacted) never even KNEW that the Tuskegee Airmen existed or that they were doing it like they were doing it? For our government to request that only THEY guard certain planes b/c of their outstanding record - and for the gov't not to inform the American people of this outstanding core of gentlemen is just ridiculous.

<Shaking my head> She said that they never knew.

Kudos to the outstanding never-fearing Tuskegee Airmen!

[Intense1920]

Man, I so wish I was back home to see this.

[Impressed SF]

It is wonderful to have been able to be apart of the Tuskegee Experience. I sang at the ceremony to honor Moton Field as a historical site and to pay homage to the Tuskegee Airmen when I was a freshman at Tuskegee. It really does make you feel good inside.

[AKA2D '91]

Tuskegee Airmen Receive Recognition Long Overdue

By Won Kim



The Tuskegee Airmen, comprised of all black pilots during World War II, will receive national recognition that is long overdue. Although the pilots have attained numerous awards and medals, they will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, which is the highest honor that Congress can bestow.



The struggle for their much-deserved recognition has been led by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and currently only 130 of the pilots that served as a Tuskegee Airmen still are alive out of the original 1,000. "The sad part of the story is when they came home, they were just black men who served their country and were subjected to the same discrimination that existed before their heroic acts," Rangel told CBS News.



Although the Tuskegee Airmen served during a time when racism was rampant, especially in the parts where the airmen trained—Tuskegee, Ala.—the 1,000 black pilots that made up the group was a group that defied all odds. Not only did they fly more than 16,000 times during the war, which led to 900 medals, but they have the unique achievement of never having a bomber they protected being shot down by the Germans.



Lt. Col. Herbert Carter, one of the surviving Tuskegee pilots, is glad to finally receive the recognition that was absent decades earlier. "It simply says the United States of America is saying, finally, a job well done," says Carter

[southernelle25]

It's about time. The triumphs of the Tuskegee Airmen should be part of any and every American history lesson plan.

Unfortunately, there are blacks today who don't anything about the service of African Americans in World War II, let alone the outstanding record of these great men.

[black_princess]

I remember meeting them in undergrad senior year . . I 've always heard of them and their accomplishments, but I never had the chance to meet them. It was wonderful, I even got the talk with them individually and take their picture with my picture phone. One of them was so cute when he asked . ."ok so now you got my picture on there . . how you gon get it off dat phone when it's time to frame it " I tried to explain it all to him, but I think I may have lost him at upload & e-mail

I'm just glad I got to see them . . they're living legends