Fly Boys: Western Pennsylvania's Tuskegee Airman

NOW THEY TAKE OFF TO AID GROUND FORCES ADVANCING ON URSONIA.

Man: I THOUGHT IT WAS A GLAMOROUS, DAREDEVIL TYPE OF OPERATION THAT YOU TOOK YOUR LIFE IN YOUR OWN HANDS DURING THE DAY, AND THEN YOU PARTIED AND DRANK ALL NIGHT AT NIGHT, AND RAN WITH THE WOMEN, AND THEN YOU WOULD GO BACK TO FLYING THE NEXT DAY.

Colin Powell: THE QUESTION IS BEGGED -- "WHY?"

WHY WOULD WE DO THIS FOR ALL OF THESE YEARS?

WHY WOULD WE SERVE A NATION THAT WOULD NOT SERVE US?

WHY WOULD WE SERVE A NATION, AND WHEN THAT SERVICE WAS NO LONGER NEEDED BECAUSE THE CONFLICT WAS OVER, WE WENT BACK TO THE SAME CONDITIONS OF OPPRESSION AND SERVITUDE -- WHY?

Man: NOBODY HAD TO DRAFT ME, I VOLUNTEERED.

MOST OF THE FELLAS THAT I SERVED WITH VOLUNTEERED.

THEY WERE NOT DRAFTEES.

SO, WE REALLY WANTED TO FLY, NUMBER ONE, AND NUMBER TWO, WE WANTED TO SERVICE -- SERVE OUR COUNTRY TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY.

THE 99th UNITED STATES FIGHTER SQUADRON ATTACHED TO THE 8th ARMY IS COMPOSED ENTIRELY OF NEGRO PILOTS.

VETERANS OF 236 MISSIONS IN AFRICA, THE MEDITERRANEAN, AND ITALY, MEN OF THE 99th HAVE A BRILLIANT RECORD FOR THE SIX MONTHS THEY'VE BEEN OPERATING OVERSEAS.

Man: AT THE TIME WHEN I WENT IN, THEY DIDN'T NEED ANY MORE PILOTS, AND THAT'S WHERE THE PILOTS WERE BEING TRAINED.

WHAT THEY NEEDED WAS PEOPLE TO WORK ON THOSE PLANES.

AND ACTUALLY, IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING -- THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN DIDN'T NEED YOU.

I'M GOING TO BE TRUTHFUL ABOUT IT.

IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING, THEY DIDN'T NEED YOU, I DON'T CARE HOW BLACK YOU WERE.

Man: WE GOT PEOPLE IN THE EARLY TUSKEGEE AIRMEN FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

I MEAN, THAT WAS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE.

WELL, IT WASN'T A SURPRISE TO US, BECAUSE WE KNEW THERE WERE SMART, EDUCATED PEOPLE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

GOOD ATHLETES, ETCETERA, AND ALL THAT.

WHY SO MANY CAME FROM PENNSYLVANIA, WE HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT YET.

THERE'S A BATTLE UP AHEAD FLY BOY FLY NO WAY YOU'LL WIN THAT'S WHAT TY SAID FLY BOY FLY THOUGH YOU WHIP MY FLESH MAY STING FLY BOY FLY I'LL BEAR IT ALL I'LL EARN MY WINGS FLY BOY FLY FLY BOY FLY Narrator: THIS IS TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY, FOUNDED BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON ON JULY 4, 1881.

MANY OF THESE BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS THAT ARE STILL IN USE TODAY WERE BUILT BY THE STUDENTS FROM NAILS AND BRICKS THAT THEY MADE.

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY WAS AWARDED THE U.S.

ARMY CONTRACT TO HELP TRAIN AMERICA'S FIRST BLACK MILITARY AVIATORS BECAUSE IT HAD ALREADY INVESTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN AIRFIELD, HAD A PROVEN CIVILIAN PILOT-TRAINING PROGRAM, AND ITS GRADUATES PERFORMED THE BEST ON FLIGHT APTITUDE EXAMS.

DR.

CHARLES THOMPSON IS A FORMER PROFESSOR AT TUSKEGEE WHO NOW HEADS THE TUSKEGEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Thompson: THE ONLY REASON THEY WERE HERE WAS BECAUSE OF HIS PHILOSOPHY.

BOOKER T. BELIEVED IN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITIES REGARDLESS OF THE CONDITIONS.

AND HE WAS A MAN THAT FIRMLY BELIEVED THAT, GIVEN THE CHANCE, WE COULD DO AND SUCCEED AT ANYTHING.

Narrator: IT IS STILL UNCLEAR WHY THEY ARE SO MANY TUSKEGEE AIRMEN WHO CALL WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HOME.

ACCORDING TO REGIS BOBONIS SR., A RETIRED JOURNALIST WHO IS COMPILING A HISTORY ON THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN FROM THIS AREA, AT LEAST 56 OF THE PILOTS AND CREWMEN WERE BORN AND RAISED IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

Bobonis: THREE PITTSBURGH PILOTS LOST THEIR LIVES IN COMBAT.

THEY WERE ELMORE TAYLOR FROM THE HILL DISTRICT, JAMES HAM WRIGHT FROM BELTZHOOVER, CARL WOODS FROM MARS, PA.

THEY WERE ALL SHOT DOWN IN DOGFIGHT BATTLES OVER EUROPE.

BUT THEN, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEIR RECORD, 15,000 SORTIES, 1,500 COMBAT MISSIONS, 400-AND-SOME PLANES DOWN, ONE OF THEIR NUMBER STRAFED A DESTROYER AND DESTROYED THAT, THEY HAD A BRILLIANT BATTLE RECORD THAT CERTAINLY DID BELIE THE FINDINGS OF THAT BOGUS REPORT OF 1925.

SO THERE'S NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT.

Man: NOW, THERE HAD BEEN A STAFF STUDY DONE AT MAXWELL ARMY AIR BASE WHICH SAID THAT BLACKS WERE INFERIOR.

THIS WAS DONE BY PSYCHOLOGISTS, AND THEY SAID THAT THE BRAINS OF BLACK PEOPLE WERE SMALLER THAN THE BRAINS OF WHITE PEOPLE.

AND BLACKS WERE NOT ABLE TO DO THE COGNITIVE TYPES OF THINGS.

THEY HAD TO HAVE A WHITE LEADER AT ALL TIMES, THEY COULD NOT HAVE A BLACK LEADER TO LEAD THEM INTO COMBAT.

THE PROBLEM WAS, THAT NEEDED TO BE PROVED-OUT, AND SO THEY FELT THAT THE TUSKEGEE CONCEPT COULD PROVE OR DISPROVE THAT PARTICULAR QUALIFICATION.

AND SO THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF TUSKEGEE WAS TO PROVE OR DISPROVE THAT THEORY.

Narrator: EDWARD HARRIS IS A TUSKEGEE AIRMAN AND A BOMBER PILOT WHO RETIRED FROM THE AIR FORCE AS A LT.

COLONEL.

Man: YANCEY WILLIAMS PUT A LAWSUIT IN AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT FOR NOT LETTING HIM BE ASSIGNED TO THE AVIATION CADETS, THE WHITE AIR FORCE AVIATION CADETS, AND HE WON THE CASE.

AND AS A RESULT OF THE NAACP, THE PITTSBURGH COURIER, AMSTERDAM NEWS, AND SOME OF THE OTHER MEDIAS, THERE WAS A BIG MEETING IN WASHINGTON WITH THIS YANCEY WILLIAMS THINGS.

AND SO ELEANOR TOLD HER HUSBAND, AS A RESULT OF THAT MEETING, THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO SET-UP A CORPS FOR THE BLACKS SO THAT THEY COULD HAVE A CHANCE TO AT LEAST FLY.

AS A RESULT, THAT'S WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT TUSKEGEE.

Man: BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WAS A FACTION THAT SAID, "WHY ARE YOU GOING TO BUILD A FIELD AT TUSKEGEE "TO TRAIN THESE PILOTS, "WHEN 30 MILES DOWN THE STREET "IN MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, YOU HAVE MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, YOU HAVE GUNTER?"

OUR GOVERNMENT SAID, "NIX, NAY, NO, CAN'T DO THAT.

"YOU'VE HEARD THE DOCTRINE, 'SEPARATE BUT EQUAL.'

"WE'RE GOING TO SPEND $1.5 MILLION, "AND BUILD THIS FIELD AT TUSKEGEE.

"IT WILL BE EQUAL TO ANY TRAINING BASE, BUT IT'S GOING TO BE SEPARATE."

Man: YOU'RE GETTING READY TO TRAIN BLACK MEN HOW TO FLY THE MOST SOPHISTICATED WEAPON OF WAR, AND YOU'RE BRINGING THEM TO A LITTLE, SMALL, SOUTHERN BLACK TOWN.

I MEAN, ALL HELL SHOULD HAVE BROKEN LOOSE, BUT IT DIDN'T.

AND THERE WERE EXPERIMENTS ALL OVER AMERICA.

THE GOLDEN 13, THE TRIPLE NICKELS, ALL THESE OTHER GUYS THAT -- WHO WERE IN THESE BLACK MILITARY EXPERIMENTS.

NONE OF THEM SUCCEEDED AT THE LEVEL THAT THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN DID.

AND I HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT THE GROUNDWORK WAS LAID BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON BY CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE BLACK EXCELLENCE COULD THRIVE AND SURVIVE.

Man: NOW, LET'S GET THIS STRAIGHT, IT WAS AN EXPERIMENT.

IT WAS AN EXPERIMENT.

THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE YOU COULD FLY.

THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE YOU WERE SMART ENOUGH TO HANDLE "COMPLICATED MACHINERY."

"WELL, WE JUST GOT BLACK GUYS UP THERE."

NOW WHO AM I SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE, THOSE PEOPLE, "THEY," OR AM I SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE "ME."

DON'T LISTEN TO WHAT "THEY" THINK, YOU DO WHAT YOU KNOW YOU CAN DO.

Man: MY LITTLE TOWN IN SEWICKLEY, WE PROBABLY HAD, PROPORTIONATE-WISE, THE GREATEST INVOLVEMENT AT TUSKEGEE.

MY BROTHER AND I, AND THERE WAS EIGHT OF US, ALL TOGETHER FROM THIS LITTLE TOWN OF, OH, MAYBE 400 OR 500 BLACK, OR LESS, OF BLACK PEOPLE.

AND EIGHT OF US AT TUSKEGEE -- AND OUT OF THE EIGHT OF US, ABOUT FIVE OF US, PILOTS.

Man: WE WERE TOLD, "YOU'RE THE BRIGHTEST, YOU'RE THE BEST."

THIS WAS ALWAYS DRILLED IN US.

"YOU'RE THE CREAM OF THE CROP," THEY USED TO TELL US.

AND WE CARRIED -- MOST OF US CARRIED OURSELVES THAT WAY.

Narrator: CARRYING YOURSELF A CERTAIN WAY DID NOT MEAN THAT THEY WERE IMMUNE TO THE SEGREGATION POLICY AT THE TIME.

THEIR TRIP TO TUSKEGEE WAS A POINT OF HUMILIATION FOR MANY OF THEM.

Man: SO I GOT ON A NORFOLK, A TRAIN WITH A NORFOLK AND WESTERN ENGINE, WE HEADED WEST INTO THE SUN, IT WAS THE AFTERNOON.

WE MADE A LEFT TURN AND WE DIDN'T STOP UNTIL WE GOT TO MISSI-DAMN-SSIPPI, I SWEAR.

IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE.

WE'RE ON THE TRAIN TOGETHER, WHITE AND BLACK RECRUITS ALL THROUGH THE TRAIN, SITTING NEXT TO EACH OTHER, SITTING ON -- WE GET TO THE CAPITAL OF OUR COUNTRY, WASHINGTON, D.C., AND THEY STOPPED THE TRAIN.

THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO STOP, THEY STOPPED THE TRAIN AND THEN THEY MADE ALL OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICANS, QUOTE, "COLORED FELLAS," GO TO THE FIRST TWO CARS AND THE WHITES STAYED IN THE BACK.

WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO FIGHT FOR A COUNTRY THAT TREATED YOU LIKE THAT?

Narrator: NO ONE KNEW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION BETTER THAN COLONEL B.O.

DAVIS, JR.

HE WAS A GRADUATE OF WEST POINT, WERE HE ENDURED THE SILENT TREATMENT.

NO WHITE CADET SPOKE TO HIM UNLESS NECESSARY FOR THE ENTIRE FOUR YEARS THAT HE WAS THERE.

THE SON OF B.O.

DAVIS, SR., THE FIRST BLACK GENERAL IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY, HE WAS WELL-SUITED TO LEAD THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN.

MEANWHILE, THE WAR DEPARTMENT WAS PRODUCING PROPAGANDA FILMS, HOPING TO CONVINCE NEGROES TO JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST NAZISM, USING HEAVY-WEIGHT FIGHTERS JOE LEWIS AND MAX SCHMELING AS SYMBOLS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

NOW, THOSE TWO MEN THAT WERE MATCHED IN THE RING THAT NIGHT ARE MATCHED AGAIN.

THIS TIME IN A FAR GREATER ARENA, AND FOR MUCH GREATER STAKES.

MAX SCHMELING, A PARATROOPER IN THE NAZI ARMY -- MEN TURNED INTO MACHINES, CHALLENGING THE WORLD.

JOE LEWIS TRAINING FOR THE FIGHT OF HIS LIFE.

Man: PICK IT UP!

PICK IT UP!

Narrator: WHAT THE FILM DIDN'T SHOW WAS THE KIND OF DISCRIMINATION THAT NEARLY POISONED EVERY STEP OF THE AIRMEN'S TRAINING.

Man: WE WENT OVER, ABOUT FIVE OR SIX OF US, OVER THERE, TO GET THIS EXAMINATION.

AND WE WENT IN THE DOOR TO SIT DOWN IN THE WAITING ROOM, YOU KNOW, AND SOMEBODY INTERCEPTED US AND SAID, "OH, NO, NO, YOU CAN'T DO -- GO BACK, GO BACK, YOU CAN'T --" AND WE -- THEY USHERED US OUTSIDE THE DOOR AND AROUND, BEHIND, BEHIND THE HOUSE, COME IN THROUGH THE BACK DOOR.

AND WE HADN'T SEEN ANY SIGNS OUT IN FRONT.

AND THEY SAID, "NO, COLORED HAS TO GO THIS WAY."

SO WE CAME IN, AND NOT A SEPARATE WAITING ROOM, IN THE SAME DAMN ROOM, BUT YOU COULDN'T COME IN THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR, AND WE ASKED WHAT WE HAD TO UNDERGO, AND WE WANTED OUR LICENSE, YOU KNOW, TO FLY, SO WE UNDERWENT THAT HUMILITY.

Man: IT WAS ROUGH, BECAUSE THERE WAS A FAKE-OUT IN PLAY, IN A SENSE, IN THAT THE EXAMINATIONS THEY TOOK AT HOME, WHICH THEY HAD TO PASS, WHICH WERE RIGOROUS.

THEN THEY WERE SENT TO MISSISSIPPI WHERE THEY TROTTED OUT A WHOLE 'NOTHER SET OF, UH, QUALIFYING PROGRAMS, AND MANY OF THEM HAD TO GO YET TO A THIRD FIELD.

SO YOU COULD SEE, THE CREAM DID RISE TO THE TOP, BECAUSE ONLY THOSE WHO PASSED THAT SECOND TEST WENT ON TO TUSKEGEE FOR TRAINING, AND NOT ALL OF THEM MADE IT, NOT ALL OF THEM MADE IT.

Man: THERE WERE THREE PHASES OF TRAINING FOR AVIATION CADETS -- WAS, PRIMARY, BASIC, AND ADVANCED.

AND THEY HAD TWO SECTIONS IN EACH ONE OF THOSE -- UPPER AND LOWER.

THE PRIMARY PHASE OF TRAINING WAS AT MOTON FIELD.

ALL THE INSTRUCTORS THERE WERE BLACK INSTRUCTORS, AND THE ACTUAL MILITARY FIELD WAS ABOUT 10 MILES AWAY, AND THAT WAS CALLED TUSKEGEE ARMY AIR FIELD.

AND THAT'S WHERE YOU LEARNED YOUR BASIC TRAINING AND YOUR ADVANCED TRAINING PRIOR TO GOING INTO A COMBAT UNIT.

YOU HAD TO DO YOUR STUDYING, YOU HAD TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS, ACADEMIC OR PRACTICAL OR WHATEVER, PERTAINING TO AVIATION THAT THEY MAY HAVE FOR YOU.

AND MOST OF ALL, YOU HAD TO BE SHARP.

YOU HAD TO LOOK SHARP.

YOUR UNIFORMS, YOUR FLYING SUIT, YOUR PERSONAL APPEARANCE.

YOU HAD TO BE A PART OF THE SYSTEM.

Man: AND THE TRAINING WAS ADOPTED FROM THE TRAINING THAT THEY GOT AT WEST POINT, AND ALSO AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

SO WE UNDERWENT THE SAME TYPE OF RIGOROUS TRAINING THAT WAS DONE IN THOSE TWO MILITARY INSTITUTIONS.

AND THEY WERE TRAINED TO RUN A TOUGH SHIP, WHICH THEY DID DO.

THE ARMY WAS PAINFULLY SLOW IN SETTING UP THE TUSKEGEE AIR BASE AND GIVING THEM ASSIGNMENT TO GO OVERSEAS.

AND THEREBY HANGS THAT PARTICULAR TALE.

THEY WERE TRAINED AND READY, AND THEY WERE SHIFTING THEM, OVER-TRAINING THEM, REALLY.

Man: NOW, "HURRY UP AND WAIT" BEGAN TO SET IN.

BECAUSE ONCE WE TRANSITIONED IN THE P-40 AND WENT DOWN TO FLORIDA, FILLED ALL THE SQUARES FOR TACTICAL TRAINING, PASSED THE OPERATIONAL READINESS INSPECTION, WE THOUGHT WE'D BE IN COMBAT BY THANKSGIVING OF 1942.

WE WERE STILL AT TUSKEGEE ARMY AIR FIELD.

CHRISTMAS, WE WERE BACK IN FLORIDA FOR THE THIRD TIME, GOING THROUGH THE SAME TACTICAL TRAINING IN TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, AT DALE MABRY FIELD.

WE DIDN'T GET INTO COMBAT UNTIL EASTER, APRIL OF 1943, SOME 10 MONTHS AFTER WE HAD QUALIFIED FOR OVERSEAS.

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?

NO COMMANDER FROM BURMA TO ENGLAND WANTED THIS ALL-BLACK FIGHTER SQUADRON IN THEIR COMMAND.

THEY SAID WE'LL CREATE PROBLEMS, THAT THE BLACK OFFICERS, SOCIALLY, WOULD WANT TO BE EQUAL TO THE WHITE OFFICERS, AND THEY WERE CONVINCED THAT NO WHITE NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER OR ENLISTED MAN WOULD TAKE AN ORDER FROM A BLACK.

SO THEY DIDN'T WANT THE 99th.

THEREFORE, EASTER SUNDAY MORNING OF 1943, THE 99th ARRIVED AT CASABLANCA, NORTH AFRICA, AND WE WERE ASSIGNED TO THE DESERT AIR FORCE.

Narrator: WHAT THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN WERE TRAINED AND KNOWN FOR WAS BEING PURSUIT PILOTS, ESCORTING BOMBER PLANES TO THEIR TARGETS.

BUT THEIR FIRST COMBAT ROLE IN NORTH AFRICA WAS AS AIR SUPPORT FOR COMBAT TROOPS.

OFTEN MORE DANGEROUS THAN DOG FIGHTS.

Man: WE THOUGHT WE'D BE LIKE BRITISH SPITFIRES AND AMERICAN P-38's AND THE OTHERS UP AT 8,000, 10,000 FEET, AS PURSUIT PILOTS, WHICH WE HAD TRAINED FOR, BUT OUR NEW MISSION, WE WERE TOLD, WOULD BE CLOSE TACTICAL GROUND SUPPORT.

THERE ON THE DESERT FLOOR.

GUN REPLACEMENTS, TANKS, FUEL DUMPS, AMMUNITION DUMPS, MOTOR TRANSPORTS ON THE HIGHWAY, LOCOMOTIVES ON THE RAILWAYS.

ANYTHING MOVING, KILL IT.

SUPPORT THE ALLIED ARMIES IN THEIR MOVE THROUGH FRENCH MOROCCO UP TOWARDS TUNISIA.

Man: THEY WERE CONSUMMATE RISK TAKERS.

ULTIMATELY, IT CAME DOWN TO HUMAN NATURE AND THEIR WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT THE DANGER RISK AND FOLLOWING THROUGH TO TRY TO MINIMIZE THE DANGER AND COMPLETE THE TASK.

EITHER YOU'RE STUPID OR YOU ENJOY IT.

AND MY VIEWPOINT WAS THAT I'M ARROGANT ENOUGH TO THINK THAT NO ONE WOULD BE ABLE TO SHOOT ME DOWN.

I GOT SHOT UP A NUMBER OF TIMES, BUT NOT SHOT DOWN.

Man: WE WERE ABOVE 500 FEET, WE WERE TOO HIGH TO FIND THOSE TARGETS ON THE DESERT FLOOR.

THEREFORE, WE WERE DOWN IN THE THICK OF VERY ACCURATE, INTENSE ANTI-AIR CRAFT FIRE.

[ ANTI-AIR CRAFT FIRE ] AND YOU SEE NOTHING BUT YOUR TARGET, AND YOU KEEP YOUR SIGHT ON THAT TARGET UNTIL YOU PULL THE TRIGGER, OR TILL YOU PULL THE HANDLE AND RELEASE THAT BOMB, AND PULL AWAY, AND THEN AS YOU GET OUT OF IT, LOOK BACK, AND SEE WHAT YOUR OTHER PARTS, YOUR FLIGHTS ARE GOING IN, YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE JUST COME THROUGH, AND HOW LUCKY YOU ARE THAT YOUR PLANE IS STILL AIRBORNE.

AND SOME OF IT, IF IT HIT YOU, IT DIDN'T HIT A VITAL SPOT.

AND YOU'D COME BACK SOMETIMES AND DO AN INSPECTION AND THERE ARE HOLES THAT YOU HAD NO IDEA WHEN YOU GOT HIT.

Man: THE FIRST DOG FIGHT, I HAD A FELLA I FLEW WING WITH, HIS NAME WAS WENDELL PRUITT.

AND PRUITT WAS FROM THE ST.

LOUIS AREA.

HE AND I WERE ACE BUDDIES, NO QUESTION ABOUT IT.

WE THOUGHT THE TWO OF US TOGETHER WERE THE GREATEST DUET IN THE HISTORY OF MAN, AND IN FACT WE GOT THE REPUTATION AS "THE GRUESOME TWOSOME," THAT THESE TWO IDIOTS LOVED COMBAT, THEY WENT LOOKING FOR IT.

WELL, WE ALL WENT LOOKING FOR IT.

HE AND I WERE MORE SUCCESSFUL IN FINDING IT.

YESTERDAY I FULFILLED ONE OF MY AMBITIONS AS A COMBAT PILOT.

I GOT ONE AIRPLANE.

Man: THEY HAD TO BE WILLING TO TAKE THEIR LIFE INTO THEIR OWN HANDS, BECAUSE THE LIFE OF A COMBAT PILOT OVER THERE IN THE -- DURING THE COURSE OF THE WAR WAS SOMETHING LIKE MINUTES.

YOUR TIME IN AN AIRPLANE WAS WORTH ABOUT A MINUTE AND A HALF.

THAT THE AVERAGE PILOT WAS KILLED IN THAT AMOUNT OF TIME OF FLYING WAS ONE -- ONE MINUTE AND A HALF OF A LIFE EXPECTANCY.

Man: ONCE THEY DECIDED THERE WOULD BE BLACK PILOTS, THEN THEY DECIDED, "WELL, OF COURSE WE HAVE TO GET "BLACK SUPPORT PEOPLE TO SERVICE THEM.

"BECAUSE NONE OF OUR MEN WOULD WANT TO TOUCH ANY PLANE FLOWN BY A BLACK MAN."

EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT THE PILOTS, THE PILOTS, THE PILOTS.

THE PILOTS ARE GREAT, BUT WITHOUT SOMEBODY TO MAINTAIN THE AIRPLANES, YOU DON'T FLY.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO PREPARED THE AIRPLANES TO FLY.

Narrator: WILLIAM HICKS GREW UP IN HOMEWOOD, AND SERVED AS A MECHANIC WITH THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN IN ITALY.

HE TAKES PRIDE IN HIS SERVICE IN THE U.S.

ARMY AIR CORPS, AND THE FACT THAT HE CAN STILL WEAR HIS UNIFORM.

Man: I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO MENTION THE PRIDE THAT THE GROUND CREW, THAT THEY HAD IN WORKING ON THEIR PLANES.

A LOT TIMES, WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME, "WERE YOU IN THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN GROUP?"

I SAID, "WELL, YES, I WAS IN THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN GROUP."

"WELL, WERE YOU A PILOT?"

I SAY "NO, I WAS NOT A PILOT.

"BUT I'LL TELL YOU THIS ABOUT THE PILOTS.

"THEY WILL BE THE FIRST TO TELL YOU "THAT WITHOUT THE MEN ON THAT GROUND CREW, THEY COULDN'T HAVE DONE THEIR JOBS."

Man: MANY OF THE MECHANICS WERE COLLEGE GRADUATES, BUT THEY WANTED TO BE A PART OF THE OPERATION, AND BEING PHYSICALLY -- MAY HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT ASTIGMATISM WHERE THEY COULDN'T PASS THE FLYING PHYSICAL.

BUT THEY WOULD SACRIFICE THAT AND GO TO CHANUTE FIELD, AND BECOME TOP-NOTCH MECHANICS, AND THAT'S WHY THE QUALITY WE HAD IN THOSE ORGANIZATIONS WAS SO PROFOUND.

Narrator: ELAINE EFFORT IS A DAUGHTER OF A TUSKEGEE AIRMEN MECHANIC.

SHE REMEMBERS THE PRIDE HER FATHER, VURNOL VINCENT LEAPHART HAD, WHEN HE WORKED ON THE PLANES.

Woman: I THINK THE PILOTS KNEW THAT THE FELLAS THAT WERE WORKING ON THE GROUND WERE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE ONES FLYING THE PLANES.

BECAUSE THOSE PLANES WERE KEPT IN EXCELLENT CONDITION, THEY WEREN'T GOING TO SPUTTER AND -- AND DIE OUT AND STALL UP IN THE AIR.

AND IMAGINE HAVING THAT LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE THAT, "THIS MACHINE THAT I'M GETTING IN, THIS PLANE, HAS BEEN WORKED ON BY THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST."

Man: THE P-40 WAS A USED PLANE.

THAT'S ALL WE GOT, WERE USED PLANES, HAND-ME-DOWNS, YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE A USED CAR.

AND WE TRIED TO RESTORE THOSE THINGS, AND I GIVE THE PILOTS A LOT OF CREDIT, THAT THEY GOT UP AND FLEW THOSE THINGS AFTER WE WORKED ON THEM.

YOU KNOW, THAT WAS AMAZING.

SO WE TRIED TO DO THE VERY BEST WE COULD SO THAT THEY WOULD BE PROTECTED.

I MEAN, WE DIDN'T WANT THEM TO GO DOWN IN A BAD SPOT, SO WE TRIED TO PROTECT THEM IN EVERY WAY.

WE TOOK, WE TOOK PRIDE IN THAT.

AND I TELL YOU, IT REALLY MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD TO SEE ONE OF THOSE PLANES GO OUT TO THE TARGET AND COME BACK, AND YOU KNOW, IT MADE IT ALL THE WAY.

BOY, THAT WAS, THAT WAS SOME DAMN THING.

Man: PERIODICALLY YOU WOULD THINK ABOUT THE MISSION YOU WERE GOING ON, AND WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS GOING TO BE VERY DANGEROUS, BUT YOU SIMPLY SAID, "WELL, IT'S MY MISSION," AND YOU BECOME SORT OF A FATALIST, AND IF IT'S TIME, IT'S TIME.

AND IF IT ISN'T, THEN I'LL BE BACK TOMORROW TO TRY IT AGAIN.

"WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO SEND THE MEN OUT AND WAIT UNTIL THEY COME BACK?"

I'LL TELL YOU THE TRUTH, SOMETIMES IT WAS KIND OF AGONIZING.

THAT WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE IF YOU HAD BECOME CLOSE TO ONE OF THE MEN.

YOU'D SIT THERE AND YOU'D WAIT, AND A THOUSAND THOUGHTS JUST GO THROUGH YOUR HEAD.

"I WONDER IF I DID THIS RIGHT.

BOY, WHAT IF HE DOESN'T COME BACK?"

AND YOU SIT THERE AND YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THAT ROARING COMING OVER THE HILL -- YOU KNOW THEY'RE BACK.

AND I'LL TELL YOU THE TRUTH, WHEN YOU'VE WORKED ON ONE, YOU'RE ONLY LOOKING FOR THAT ONE NUMBER.

YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE REST, BUT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THAT ONE NUMBER, "IS HE BACK, IS HE BACK?"

I'LL TELL YOU -- IT WAS REWARDING AND ALSO ANTAGONIZING TO FEEL AS THOUGH, "WELL, I JUST HOPE EVERYBODY MAKES IT BACK ALL RIGHT."

IT WAS A REALLY GOOD FEELING WHEN EVERYONE CAME BACK AND YOU SAID "OH, BOY, THAT'S GOOD, THAT'S GOOD.

WE MADE IT," YEP.

Narrator: IN 1936, B.O.

DAVIS, JR.

WANTED TO SERVE IN THE AIR CORPS, BUT THERE WERE NO BLACK UNITS, AND HE WAS TURNED DOWN.

Man: HE WAS A CAPTAIN THEN, CAPTAIN B.O.

DAVIS, JR.

THEY WOULD NOT TRAIN HIM TO BE A PILOT BECAUSE THEY HAD NO TRAINING FOR BLACKS, AND THEY WOULDN'T ACCEPT HIM WITH THE WHITE SITUATION.

SO, HE HAD TO WAIT UNTIL THIS TIME.

Narrator: BUT WHEN HIS TIME CAME, B.O.

DAVIS, JR.

KEPT A TIGHT REIN ON HIS GROUP.

Man: WE CALLED HIM THE OLD MAN.

HE WAS MAYBE THE ONLY ONE THAT WOULD EVER HAD BEEN ABLE TO HOLD OUR GROUP TOGETHER AND TO DISCIPLINE THOSE WILD GUYS OVER THERE IN EUROPE, WHICH REQUIRED THE STRICT DISCIPLINE OF A WEST POINTER OF THE CALIBER OF BENJAMIN O. DAVIS.

Man: WHAT A DAY IT WAS WHEN HE ASSEMBLED WITH THE FIRST 12 PILOTS OF THE 99th PURSUIT SQUADRON, WHICH WAS THE FIRST ONE, FIGHTER GROUP.

IMAGINE THIS, THAT HERE'S A YOUNG, HANDSOME GUY OUT OF WEST POINT.

BUILT TO THE ARMY TRADITION, DESPITE THE PREJUDICE, AND HE WAS THE CHOSEN ONE TO LEAD THIS CREW.

Man: YOUNG BENJAMIN DAVIS WAS A DIFFERENT KIND OF PERSON.

WE'VE NEVER RECOGNIZED JUST HOW IMPORTANT HE WAS TO THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN AND TO AMERICA.

HE WAS A TOUGH RIDER.

AND HE HAD A GREATER VISION THAN MOST OF US DID.

HE KNEW THAT IF WE FAILED, WE WOULD BE SAYING TO THOSE AMERICANS WHO HAD CONTEMPT AND BIAS AGAINST US, "SEE, WE TOLD YOU SO."

AND THERE WAS NO WAY THAT HE WAS GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN.

Man: HE WAS LIKE A FATHER TO US, AND A GOOD FATHER.

THE MEN, I THINK, LOVED HIM AND RESPECTED M. I NEVER HEARD HIM RAISE HIS VOICE.

I DON'T KNOW OF ANYONE THAT EVER SAID THAT HE WAS NASTY TO THEM.

I MEAN, NONE OF THE PILOTS, NONE OF THE OFFICERS, ANY OF THEM.

Narrator: INSPIRED BY DAVIS' LEADERSHIP, THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN MADE A NAME FOR THEMSELVES ESCORTING HEAVY BOMBERS TO THEIR TARGETS AND BACK.

Man: THE FIRST BREAK CAME IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY OF 1944 OVER ANZIO, WHEN WE WERE GIVEN THE MISSION OF PROTECTING THAT INVASION WHERE AMERICA AND THE ALLIED ARMIES WERE RE-INVADING ITALY.

AND WE HAD THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO COME IN DIRECT CONTACT AT ALTITUDE WITH THE GERMAN LUFTWAFFE, AND IN THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF OPERATION, WE SHOT DOWN 17 AIRCRAFT.

SO, NO -- NO MORE, NO LONGER COULD THEY SAY THAT THE BLACK MAN COULD NOT FLY AND FIGHT, BECAUSE WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED ITSELF AND WE COULD ENGAGE, WE DID AND WE WERE SUCCESSFUL.

Narrator: SHORTLY AFTER THAT ENGAGEMENT, THE 99th AND 332nd PURSUIT SQUADRONS WERE ASSIGNED TO BOMBER ESCORTS.

JAMES SHUSTER, ORIGINALLY FROM FREEPORT, PA, WAS A B-24 PILOT.

Man: WE GOT BOUNCED PRETTY BAD BY FIGHTERS AND THE SQUADRON, WHEN THEY SET UP THE GROUP, IT CONSISTS OF FOUR BOXES.

ABLE, BAKER, CHARLIE AND DOG BOX.

EACH BOX CONTAINS 10 AIRCRAFT.

SO WHEN THINGS LIKE THAT HAPPEN, YOU'RE BEING CUT TO PIECES.

[ GUNFIRE ] WE BEGAN TO ESCORT BOMBERS, AND AFTER SEVERAL, 50 OR SO MISSIONS, THE BOMBER CREWS WE HEARD BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT HOW THE 332nd WERE SO DIFFERENT IN THEIR ESCORT TECHNIQUES.

THEY WOULD STAY WITH THEM AND GET THEM TO THE TARGET, PROTECT THEM FROM THE INTERCEPTORS AND GET THEM BACK HOME.

SO, WE SAID, "WELL, WE'D BETTER GET A REAL IDENTIFICATION."

AND WE DECIDED TO PAINT THE TAILS OF ALL 72 OF THOSE P-51s RED.

AND WE BECAME KNOWN AS THE RED TAILS.

Narrator: CHESTER GILL REMEMBERS WHEN HIS BROTHER, EDWIN, WHO SERVED AS A FLIGHT ENGINEER, HAD TO JUMP INTO THE PILOT'S SEAT WHEN HIS BOMBER WAS HIT.

Man: HE SAID, AS THEY MADE THEIR TURN TO COME BACK, ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE WAS A BIG PIECE OF SHRAPNEL THAT CAME RIGHT THROUGH THE WINDOW, HIT HIS PILOT RIGHT IN THE HEAD, TOOK HALF OF HIS HEAD OFF.

HE SAID THAT THE CO-PILOT SAID, "GET HIM OUT OF THE CHAIR, I NEED YOU TO HELP ME."

SO, HE HAD TO LIFT HIM OUT, GET THE BLOOD OFF THEN SIT DOWN.

THE GERMANS CAME FLYING IN, AND THEY WERE TAKING POT-SHOTS AT THEM, AND THEN, ALL OF A SUDDEN, THEY HEARD, "WE ARE THE TUSKEGEE PILOTS, WE'RE OVER YOUR HEAD.

YOU KEEP GOING AND WE'LL TAKE CARE OF THE GERMANS."

AND HE SAID THEY JUST WENT, THEY KEPT ON GOING UNTIL THEY LANDED, AND WHEN THEY DID LAND, THE PEOPLE ON THE CREW, THE GROUND CREW, THOUGHT, "HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU EVER GET BACK WITH ALL THE HOLES IN THIS PLANE?"

BUT THEY MADE IT.

IF THE TUSKEGEE PILOTS WOULDN'T HAVE CAME, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT RIGHT DOWN.

Man: THAT'S WHAT THE GERMAN LUFTWAFFE DID.

THEY'D PICK OUT ONE SQUADRON AND SO ON AND MAKE A MESS OF IT.

FORTUNATELY, WE WERE ESCORTED A NUMBER OF TIMES BY THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN.

MY HAT WAS ALWAYS OFF TO THEM.

THEY WERE GOOD FLYERS AND THEY FLEW US CLOSE-COVER, THEY STAYED IN CLOSE, TOOK GOOD CARE OF US.

AND THEY WERE GOOD, THEY WERE REAL FLYERS.

Man: FLYING THROUGH ALL THIS FLAK, IT MAKES YOU SHUDDER.

BUT I ESCAPED IT.

I NEVER THOUGHT THAT I WOULD SURVIVE IT.

I HAD NO THOUGHTS OF EVER COMING HOME.

WE WERE ESCORTED BY THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN, WE CALLED THEM "THE RED-TAILS," AND THEY FLEW THE P-51s.

THAT WAS A COMFORT BLANKET, IT MADE YOU FEEL SAFER.

IF YOU GOT INTO TROUBLE, THERE WAS HELP.

OUR TECHNIQUE WAS SIMPLE, YOU STAYED WITH THE BOMBERS.

YOU DIDN'T ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE DECOYED OR DRAWN OFF WHERE YOU WOULD OPEN UP A WINDOW AND THE GERMAN INTERCEPTORS COULD COME IN AND HIT THE BOMBER TRAIN.

AND THEY'D COME DOWN ON THE FORMATION, WHAT WOULD THEY SEE FIRST BUT THOSE RED-TAILS, SITTING THERE LIKE A BUNCH OF MOTHER HENS OVER THOSE BOMBERS, AND THEY WOULD WARN THEM OFF AND GET THOSE BOMBERS SAFELY BACK ACROSS THE ALPS INTO ITALY AND GET THEM HOME.

Man: "THEY'RE SENDING BOMBERS INTO GERMANY EVERY DAY "AND HUNDREDS OF AMERICANS ARE BEING KILLED.

AND WE'VE GOT TO TRY SOMETHING."

"WELL, WE'VE GOT THESE BLACK PILOTS DOWN THERE "FLYING MOP-UP MISSIONS AND SO-FORTH, LET'S GIVE THEM A TRY."

WELL, NOW, ALL OF A SUDDEN, THESE GUYS START GOING INTO GERMANY, COMING OUT, AND EVERYBODY'S ALIVE.

GOING IN, COMING OUT, AND EVERYBODY'S ALIVE.

WELL, THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MILITARY CONFLICT THAT BLACK SOLDIERS WERE IN DAY-TO-DAY CONTACT WITH WHITE SOLDIERS IN LIFE-THREATENING SITUATIONS.

AND EVERY DAY, THEY EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS.

AFTER A FEW TIMES, NO MATTER HOW DEEP-DISH RACIST YOU ARE, AND HOW MUCH YOUR GRAND-DADDY TOLD YOU ABOUT, "THESE NEGROES CAN'T DO WHAT," YOU HAVE A CHANGE OF MIND, BECAUSE YOU ARE A PART OF THIS.

THESE GUYS ARE SAVING YOUR LIFE, AND THEN YOU HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART.

THAT'S A PLACE YOU CAN'T RETURN FROM.

I HEARD IT RUMORED THAT THE REASON THEY WERE HELD BACK WAS BECAUSE THEIR DEPTH PERCEPTION, AS A RACE, WASN'T AS GOOD AS WHITE PEOPLE.

ONCE THEY GOT INTO THE AIR, THEY HAD A NATURAL RHYTHM TO THEM THAT -- THEY HANDLED IT VERY NICELY, MY HAT WAS OFF TO THOSE FELLOWS.

Man: I REMEMBER, WE COULD TUNE IN ON THEIR RADIO, HAD A DIFFERENT CHANNEL THEN, AND OCCASIONALLY I WOULD TURN IN ON THEIR CHANNEL AND I WOULD HEAR THEM CHATTING AND IT WAS -- IT WAS FUNNY, THEY HAD SOME STORIES TO TELL.

Man: I HAVE TO TELL YOU THE STORY OF THE BLACK PILOTS.

THE P-51s PEELED OFF, HEADED TOWARD THEIR BASE, AND HE SAID, BEFORE THEY COULD SWITCH RADIO CHANNELS, HE HEARD THIS VOICE SAY, "BLACK ACE TO BLACK BASE, FIND ME SOME BLACK LANDING SPACE."

Narrator: NOT ALL OF THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN FACED COMBAT IN EUROPE.

MANY WERE ASSIGNED TO BECOME BOMBER PILOTS WITH THE ALL-BLACK 477th BOMBARDMENT WING.

THEIR GREATEST CONTRIBUTION WOULD NOT COME IN COMBAT, BUT IN THE FIELD OF CIVIL RIGHTS.

Man: I'VE OFTEN SAID THAT, LONG BEFORE MARTIN LUTHER KING'S EFFORT, THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SET A TONE AND A PACE THAT HAD MUCH TO DO WITH THAT FIRST THRUST AND MOVEMENT TOWARD AMERICA'S FACING UP TO THE FACT THAT A MAN IS A MAN, IS A MAN, AND YOU'VE GOT TO ACCEPT A MAN FOR HIS INDIVIDUAL CAPABILITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS, NOT THE PIGMENTATION OF HIS SKIN, HIS RACE, HIS CREED, OR HIS COLOR.

Man: THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA BEGAN WITH THE TUSKEGEE INCIDENT, OR TUSKEGEE UPRISING, OR TUSKEGEE MUTINY, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT, THAT OCCURRED AT FREEMAN FIELD, INDIANA, WHERE THE COLONEL OF THE BASE THERE DENIED BLACK OFFICERS THE PRIVILEGE OF ENTERING THE OFFICERS' CLUB.

Man: ONE, YOU HAVE TO REALIZE, FIRST OF ALL, THAT IT WAS ARMY REGULATION THAT PREDATED WORLD WAR II.

IT PROVIDED THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO DISCRIMINATION AMONG OFFICER PERSONNEL BY REASON OF RACE, CREED OR COLOR.

I FELT THAT IT WAS NOT RIGHT BECAUSE WE WERE OFFICERS, AND THAT WAS AN OFFICERS' CLUB.

THEY WANTED US TO GO TO WHAT WAS, AT THE TIME, THE NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS' CLUB.

AND WE WERE ALL COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, AND I THOUGHT WE WERE ENTITLED TO GO TO THE OFFICERS' CLUB.

WE WERE DETERMINED, OF COURSE, THAT WHEN WE GOT THERE, THAT WE WOULDN'T WOULDN'T ADHERE TO ANY SUCH POLICIES.

AND A GROUP OF GUYS WENT TO THE CLUB.

I WAS GREETED BY A WHITE MAJOR OR LIGHT COLONEL, I DON'T KNOW WHICH, HE SAID, "DON'T GO IN."

I SAID, "THANK YOU, SIR," AND WENT IN.

I GOT IN AND I SAT DOWN.

I DIDN'T GO INTO THE BAR OR ANY OTHER PART OF THE CLUB, I JUST SAT DOWN.

Man: THE COLONEL, THE BASE COMMANDER, ROBERT E. SELWAY, HE WAS A WHITE COMMANDER, HAD GOTTEN WIND OF THIS INTENTIONS.

SO THEY HAD WHAT THEY CALL MOLES WITHIN OUR GROUP THAT SOMEHOW OR ANOTHER GOT INFORMATION TO MR.

CHARLIE.

ON THAT NIGHT THERE WERE 69 OF US.

THREE OF THEM DESERVE MENTIONING.

BILL TERRY WAS CONVICTED.

CLINTON AND MARSHALL THOMPSON WERE ACQUITTED.

MY FRIEND BILL TERRY ACTUALLY HAD A PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH HIM, GOING THROUGH THE DOOR.

AND OF COURSE, AS YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD, HE WAS LATER CONVICTED IN A COURT MARTIAL PROCEEDINGS AFTER WE WERE ALL ARRESTED.

AFTER ABOUT A WEEK OR SO, WE WERE RELEASED FROM ARREST TO QUARTERS, ALL 69 OF US.

AND THE WHOLE GROUP WAS GATHERED IN A LARGE GYMNASIUM.

THIS BASE REGULATION WAS PUT BEFORE US, AND WE WERE ASKED TO SIGN THAT WE'D READ AND UNDERSTOOD IT.

BUT THERE WERE THOSE OF US WHO FELT THAT TO SIGN IT WAS TO GIVE IN.

Man: 101 OF US THEN REFUSED, EVEN IN THE FACE OF A THREATENED COURT MARTIAL, WHICH WAS THAT TIME -- DISOBEDIENCE OF A DIRECT ORDER WAS EVEN PUNISHABLE UP TO DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD.

SO WE GO BACK TO GODMAN FIELD.

AT GODMAN FIELD, WE, 101 OF US, THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST, NEGROES, ARE GREETED BY ARMED WHITE MPs.

Man: WE WERE ESCORTED BY BAYONETED SOLDIERS INTO THOSE VEHICLES AND TRANSPORTED BACK TO THE BARRACKS THAT WE HAD LEFT WITH ARMED GUARDS.

WE WEREN'T LOCKED UP IN ROOMS, BUT WE WEREN'T -- WE WERE CONFINED TO A CERTAIN AREA, AND NOT PERMITTED TO GO OUTSIDE THAT AREA.

WE COULD SEE THE GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR DOING THE YARD DUTY AND THEIR VARIOUS PHYSICAL DUTIES AS THEY HAD BEEN ASSIGNED.

BUT THEY HAD FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT ALL OVER THE BASE.

AND WE WERE CONFINED TO THIS ONE AREA, BUT WE COULD SEE THEM FROM OUR BARRACKS AND SEE JUST WHAT WAS GOING ON.

AFTER 30 DAYS OR SO WE WERE RELEASED FROM ARREST TO QUARTERS WITH AN ADMINISTRATIVE REPRIMAND.

WE TYPED 99 SEPARATE RESPONSES, IN WHICH WE OUTLINED OUR GRIEVANCES AND REFUTED THE IDEA THAT WE HAD FAILED OUR COUNTRY AND OUR COMMAND, WHICH WAS IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE REPRIMAND.

IT SHOWED BOTH COURAGE, PRINCIPLE, AND DISCIPLINE OF THOSE YOUNG OFFICERS THAT REFUSED ORDERS FROM SUPERIOR OFFICERS.

COLONEL SELWAY WAS A PART OF THAT DEBACLE THAT FORCED A SITUATION THAT WAS ILLEGAL IN THE FIRST PLACE.

AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY HE WAS RELIEVED.

HE WAS RELIEVED BECAUSE HE WANTED THE EXTREME SEGREGATION TO PERSIST ON THOSE AIR BASES, EVEN THOUGH THEY WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO.

Man: FROM WHAT I SAW OF HIM AND WHAT I SAW OF HIS PRACTICES, HE WAS A REDNECK S.O.B.

WE STOOD OUR GROUND.

THE COMMAND WAS OUSTED.

SELWAY WAS GONE.

THEY BROUGHT B.O.

DAVIS BACK FROM EUROPE.

Man: WHEN THE ALLIES WERE HAVING SO MUCH DIFFICULTY IN THE PACIFIC AFTER THE WAR IN EUROPE, AND GENERAL IRA C. ACRE WAS SECOND-IN-COMMAND OF THE ENTIRE AIR FORCES, HAP ARNOLD WAS THE SUPREME COMMANDER AND ACRE WAS THE SECOND-IN-COMMAND, AND HE ACTUALLY APPEARED IN KENTUCKY THERE WHEN DAVIS TOOK OVER FROM SELWAY.

I SHALL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY LATER TODAY TO TELL YOUR OFFICERS OF OUR IMMEDIATE PLANS FOR YOU.

AND THEY WILL COMMUNICATE THOSE PLANS TO YOU TODAY.

I'M HAPPY TO SAY THIS NOW, HOWEVER, OUR PLANS FOR THIS ORGANIZATION DEFINITELY INCLUDE THEIR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE WAR AGAINST THE JAPANESE.

Man: THAT WAS THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO US BECAUSE WE MOVED UP QUICKLY, WE WERE ABLE TO GET OURSELVES TOGETHER AND GO ON AND GET READY FOR COMBAT.

Narrator: BUT THE 477th NEVER MADE IT TO THE PACIFIC.

IN 1945, ATOMIC BOMBS WERE DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, ENDING WORLD WAR II.

THE UNIT WAS DISBANDED, BUT THE AMERICAN MILITARY WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME.

Man: NO LONGER IN OUR MILITARY WILL THERE BE SEGREGATED UNITS.

IT'S INEFFICIENT, INEFFECTIVE, DEHUMANIZING, AND NOT A PART OF THE MILITARY.

SO, SINCE 1949, WE HAVE HAD AN INTEGRATED MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT THAT STANDS TODAY AS THE MOST DIVERSIFIED GROUP OF WORKERS THAT YOU HAVE IN AMERICA IN ANY ORGANIZATION.

NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THE GENDER GAP WAS BROKEN.

SO IT DOESN'T MATTER, NOW, WHETHER YOU'RE GREEN, BROWN, OR YELLOW, OR WHAT YOUR GENDER.

IF YOU CAN QUALIFY TO DO YOUR JOB, YOU ARE ACCEPTED.

Narrator: PILOTS LIKE HERBERT CARTER COMPLETED DISTINGUISHED AIR FORCE CAREERS AND RETIRED.

HE WAS ALSO AWARDED THE FRENCH LEGION OF HONOR IN PARIS IN 2004.

EDWARD HARRIS ALSO HAD A DISTINGUISHED AIR CORPS CAREER SERVING IN INTEGRATED COMBAT UNITS IN KOREA.

Man: I WAS THE ONLY BLACK PILOT IN THE WHOLE GROUP.

AND EVERYBODY WAS EYEING ME BECAUSE THEY WERE WORRIED, "WELL, AM I GOING TO BE ASSIGNED TO THIS GUY, AND IS HE FOR REAL?"

SO THEY ASSIGNED ME MY CREW, AND AFTER WE HAD SOME CAMARADERIE AND WE FLEW TOGETHER FOR A WHILE, THEY GOT USED TO ME.

DESPITE THEIR DISTINGUISHED MILITARY FLYING CAREERS, ONCE THE AIRMEN RETIRED FROM THE SERVICE, THEY FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO LAND JOBS IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION.

ALL THE PILOTS WE HAD, MY GOD.

NOT ONE OF THEM GOT HIRED BY AN AIRLINE.

NOT ONE.

I WENT OUT TO ALLEGHENY AIRLINES AND SHOWED MY CREDENTIALS, AND HE LOOKED AND SCRATCHED HIS HEAD, HE SAYS, "WE DON'T HIRE BLACK PILOTS."

HE SAYS, "IN FACT, NONE OF THE AIRLINES HIRE BLACK PILOTS."

HE SAYS, "YOU CAN PROBABLY GET A JOB, I CAN REFER YOU "TO SOME OF OUR AFFILIATES UP THERE IN ALASKA IN THE BUSH."

OR, HE SAYS, "YOU COULD GO DOWN TO SOUTH AMERICA AND FLY, "THERE ARE SOME BLACK PILOTS FLYING THERE, "OUT OF BRAZIL AND THAT AREA.

"OR YOU COULD GO OVERSEAS IN AFRICA AND LOOK FOR SOMETHING OVER THERE."

THIS COUNTRY PUT A HURTING ON YOU, BOY.

MY BROTHER, FOR INSTANCE, HE COULDN'T GET A JOB AS AN AIRLINE PILOT.

HE WAS IN THE RESERVES, HE COULD GO OVER AND FLY THOSE AIRPLANES ALL IN THE MILITARY, BUT THEY WOULDN'T GIVE HIM A JOB.

NOW THEY COULDN'T SAY IT'S BECAUSE HE COULDN'T FLY, "YOU'RE NOT SMART ENOUGH TO FLY."

HE'S ALREADY A PILOT.

WHAT'S THE REASON?

"KEEP YOU IN YOUR PLACE," WHAT PLACE?

I NEVER REALLY THOUGHT OF RUNNING INTO A STONE WALL LIKE WE DID.

APPLICANTS, NOT ONLY MYSELF, BUT FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

IT WAS 20 YEARS LATER BEFORE BLACKS WERE GIVEN ANY INTEREST.

Narrator: MARTHA JOHNSTON WILKINS' BROTHER, BILL JOHNSTON, ONE OF THE SEWICKLEY EIGHT, WAS UPSET, BUT NOT BITTER, IN HIS ATTEMPTS TO GET AN AIRLINE JOB.

Woman: HE TRIED FOR AT LEAST EIGHT YEARS TO GET A JOB AS A PILOT WITH ANY OF THE CORPORATIONS, AND HE HAD THE QUALIFICATIONS, HE HAD, EVERYTHING WAS IN ORDER, THEY WOULD EVEN GO AS FAR AS TO FLY HIM TO THEIR OFFICES, BUT WHEN HE GOT THERE AND SAW THE COLOR OF HIS SKIN, THE DOOR WAS CLOSED.

SO, HE WOULD COME BACK HOME AND TRY AGAIN, AND HE HAD THAT PERSEVERANCE, HE WANTED TO REALLY BE A COMMERCIAL PILOT.

AFTER DISTINGUISHING OURSELVES IN COMBAT IN EUROPE, WE THOUGHT THAT THINGS WOULD BE RECTIFIED.

BUT THE FELLAS THAT RETURNED FROM COMBAT IN EUROPE RETURNED TO THE SAME-OLD, SAME-OLD PROBLEMS THAT THEY'D LEFT GETTING HERE.

Man: THEY WEREN'T WELCOMED HOME LIKE THE OTHER HEROES RETURNING FROM COMBAT.

THEY USED TO HAVE THE TICKER-TAPE PARADES IN NEW YORK CITY WITH THE BOATS LANDING AND ALL, AND THE BLACK RETURNED VETERANS WERE DIRECTED INTO SEGREGATED FACILITIES IMMEDIATELY AFTER GETTING OFF THE BOAT.

Narrator: IF A NATION WASN'T GRATEFUL, MANY FAMILY MEMBERS WERE.

RUSSELL WILLIAMS REMEMBERS HIS UNCLE CHARLES, WHO WAS A TUSKEGEE AIRMAN.

Man: I WISH HE WAS HERE, IF HE'S NOT IN SPIRIT.

BUT I WISH HE WAS HERE TO SEE IT.

HE'D BE REALLY PROUD THAT I PRESERVED THIS STUFF FOR HIM.

WHEN HE GOT OUT OF THE SERVICE, HE WAS A FRUSTRATED MAN, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE HE COULDN'T FLY COMMERCIAL.

HE WORKED IN THE MILL, HE WENT TO COLLEGE, HE'D SEE HIS COMRADES IN THE MILL, BLACK AND WHITE, AND HE USED TO TELL THEM HE WAS AN AIRMAN AT WORLD WAR II, BUT NO ONE BELIEVED HIM.

THAT WAS A VERY HIGH LEVEL, TO BE A FLYBOY.

AND WHEN HE'D COME HOME, HE'D TELL PEOPLE, "I WAS A FLYER IN WORLD WAR II," AND THEY'D SAY, "CHARLIE," YOU KNOW, "YOU'RE FULL OF IT, MAN, THERE WERE NO SUCH THINGS AS COLORED FLYERS BACK IN THEM DAYS."

I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY HE NEVER BROUGHT OUT HIS PICTURES.

HE KEPT THOSE WELL HIDDEN AND TUCKED AWAY.

Narrator: ALBERT JOHNSON GREW UP IN A TIGHT-KNIT FAMILY IN THE HILL DISTRICT.

HE IDOLIZED HIS OLDER BROTHER ROBERT, AND FOLLOWED HIM INTO THE MILITARY, WHERE ALBERT EVENTUALLY RETIRED AS A FULL COLONEL.

Man: HE WAS MY IDOL, NUMBER ONE, AND NUMBER TWO, TO HAVE A BROTHER THAT WAS A PILOT?

OH, MAN, THIS WAS, THIS WAS GOOD STUFF.

HE WAS A FANTASTIC PERSON.

YOU HAD TO KNOW HIM TO REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW REALLY GOOD HE WAS.

HE TOOK THE PATH OF CHALLENGE.

IF IT WAS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE DONE AND LOOKED LIKE IT WAS INTERESTING, HE WANTED TO DO IT.

HE SENT THESE TWO PICTURES, THEY ACTUALLY WERE IN A DOUBLE FRAME.

AND THE FRAME IS WORN OUT, IT'S BEEN USED SO MUCH.

AT THE END OF HIS LEAVE, HE WENT RIGHT INTO INDIVIDUAL COMBAT TRAINING, AND IT WASN'T TOO MUCH LONGER AFTER THAT THAT THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED.

IT WAS AN AIR-TO-AIR COLLISION.

THE BOMBERS WERE SCHEDULED TO RENDEZVOUS WITH THE FIGHTERS AT 11,000 FEET.

THEY CAME OUT OF THIS CLOUD BANK AND THE BOMBERS WERE SITTING RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM.

THERE WAS NOTHING THAT ROBERT COULD DO TO GET OUT OF THE WAY.

UNFORTUNATELY, ROBERT HIT THE TAIL SECTION.

TWELVE PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES, INCLUDING ROBERT.

IT WAS RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

AND, IT WAS A NICE DAY, I THINK IT WAS SUNNY OUTSIDE.

AND ONE OF MY SISTERS, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHETHER IT WAS EDITH OR RUTH, ANSWERED THE DOOR.

AND THE ESCORT OFFICER, A GUY BY THE NAME OF PETE ANDERS, CAME IN AND TOLD MOM.

HE HAD SPOKEN TO DAD DOWNSTAIRS.

DAD CAME UPSTAIRS BEHIND HIM.

AND HE TOLD MOM IN THE HALLWAY.

AND SHE SCREAMED -- AND STARTED CRYING AND WENT INTO THE LIVING ROOM, AND THAT'S WHERE WE LEARNED WHAT HAD HAPPENED.

IT WAS THE FATHER OF THE PILOT OF THE B-24 THAT WAS INVOLVED IN THE WRECK WHO WROTE A VERY DEROGATORY ARTICLE TO THE NEWSPAPER ABOUT ALLOWING BLACK PEOPLE TO FLY.

MY FATHER ANSWERED THAT WITH AN ARTICLE OF HIS OWN, AND BASICALLY TOLD THE MAN THAT IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE THAT HE COULD HAVE A SON SMART ENOUGH TO LEARN HOW TO FLY AND STILL BE AS BIGOTED AS HE WAS.

EVERY TIME I DO SOMETHING, I WONDER WHETHER I SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN IT OR DO I REALLY WANT TO DO IT.

I THINK ABOUT ROBERT, AND I KNOW WHAT HIS ANSWER WOULD BE.

"MAN, GO FOR IT."

BECAUSE THAT'S THE KIND OF PERSON HE WAS.

Narrator: THAT WAS THE KIND OF MEN THEY ALL WERE.

SO A FITTING AND LASTING MEMORIAL FOR THE AIRMEN IS BEING ESTABLISHED AT MOTON FIELD IN TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA.

DEANNA MITCHELL IS THE SITE MANAGER FOR THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

Woman: IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DOES WHAT EVER IT CAN DO TO PRESERVE THE LEGACY OF THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN AND MOTON FIELD.

THIS TIES DIRECTLY INTO WHAT THOSE AIRMEN WENT THROUGH AND WHAT THEY LIVED.

SO, BEING ABLE TO BE MANDATED BY CONGRESS TO RESTORE THIS AND TO PRESERVE THIS FOR GENERATIONS TO COME IS VERY, VERY SIGNIFICANT, BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY IN THIS COUNTRY HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT THE LECY OF THE AIRMEN, BECAUSE IT WAS NEVER REALLY TAUGHT IN SCHOOL.

PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE, BUT THERE WERE QUITE A FEW WOMEN INVOLVED IN THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN EXPERIENCE.

THERE WERE SOME WOMEN WHO WERE AIRCRAFT MECHANICS, AND THEY TRAINED SIDE-BY-SIDE.

THERE WAS ALSO FEMALES WHO WERE SUPPORTING THE STAFF OFFICES.

I KNOW FOR INSTANCE, MRS.

MILDRED CARTER, SHE WORKED FOR TUSKEGEE ARMY AIRFIELD.

Woman: I WAS A SECRETARY, AND I HAD A JOB AT TUSKEGEE ARMY AIRFIELD IN THE COMMANDANT OF CADETS OFFICE.

AND OF COURSE, HE WAS A CADET AT THE TIME.

WHEN THE COMMANDANT FOUND OUT THAT HE WAS MY BOYFRIEND, HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO COME TO HEADQUARTERS, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS THE CADET CAPTAIN.

SO, IT WAS A ROCKY ROMANCE.

WE MARRIED ON AUGUST 21st.

I THOUGHT IT WAS A LONTIME.

I'D BEEN WAITING ALL THAT TIME FOR HIM TO GET HIS COMMISSION.

I WASN'T GOING TO MARRY ANYBODY WHO DIDN'T GET THEIR WINGS AND SECOND LIEUTENANT.

Mitchell: I BELIEVE THAT THE LEGACY THAT THEY'VE LEFT HERE IS FREEDOM.

BECAUSE, NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT THINGS BECOME IN LIFE, IF YOU STICK THROUGH IT, AND IF YOU STAY WITH IT, JUST AS THEY DID, IT DOES BRING ABOUT CHANGE, AND FREEDOM IS CHANGE.

THEY GRABBED THAT OPPORTUNITY, AND THEY WERE READY.

THAT'S THE MESSAGE THAT I BELIEVE THAT THEY'VE LEFT FOR YOUNGSTERS COMING UP TODAY.

YOU'VE GOT TO BE READY FOR WHEN YOUR TUSKEGEE HAPPENS.

YOU'VE GOT TO BE READY TO SEIZE THAT FREEDOM.

Narrator: ON March 29, 2007, MORE THAN 60 YEARS AFTER THE START OF WORLD WAR II, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH ACKNOWLEDGED A DEBT THAT WAS LONG OVERDUE.

THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN HELPED WIN A WAR, AND YOU HELPED CHANGE OUR NATION FOR THE BETTER.

YOURS IS THE STORY OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT, AND IT ENDS LIKE ALL GREAT STORIES DO.

WITH WISDOM AND LESSONS AND HOPE FOR TOMORROW.

AND THE MEDAL THAT WE CONFER TODAY MEANS THAT WE'RE DOING A SMALL PART TO ENSURE THAT YOUR STORY WILL BE TOLD AND HONORED FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

[ APPLAUSE ] AND I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER A GESTURE TO HELP ATONE FOR ALL THE UNRETURNED SALUTES AND UNFORGIVABLE INDIGNITIES.

AND SO ON, BY THE HALF -- ON BEHALF OF THE OFFICE I HOLD, AND A COUNTRY THAT HONORS YOU, I SALUTE YOU FOR THE SERVICE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

[ APPLAUSE ] QUITE FREQUENTLY IN THE PAST, I'VE MET PEOPLE WHO HAVE SEEN ME IN UNIFORM OR NOTICE MY WINGS ON, OR SOMETHING, AND THEY SAID, "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY, WE CAN NEVER REPAY YOU."

AND I'VE ALWAYS SAID, "THANK YOU, AND ON BEHALF OF THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN, THANK YOU."

BUT TODAY IS VERY, VERY SPECIAL.

AT A TIME WHEN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SAY, "THANK YOU, WE CAN PAY YOU BACK AGAIN," MY COMMENT IS, "PAID IN FULL."

THANK YOU.

[ "I'LL FLY AWAY" PLAYS ] SOME BRIGHT MORNING WHEN THIS LIFE IS OVER I'LL FLY AWAY TO A HOME ON GOD'S CELESTIAL SHORE I'LL FLY AWAY FLY AWAY I'LL FLY AWAY OH, GLORY I'LL FLY AWAY WHEN I DIE HALLELUJAH, BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE I'LL FLY AWAY, YEAH JUST A FEW MORE WEARY DAYS AND THEN I'LL FLY AWAY TO A LAND WHERE