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Published Wednesday, February 08, 2012 in Local

Photo by Bob Fraley

The Northgate High School Air Force JROTC officially welcomes representatives of the Tuskegee Airmen, special guest speakers at the school’s Black History Month program on Tuesday.

Famed airmen visit Northgate; Students learn 'Red Tails' more than a movie

By Rebecca Leftwich

The Newnan Times-Herald

History walked and talked in the Northgate High School gym Tuesday morning, as Tuskegee Airmen who served and protected the United States in wartime and Tuskegee Airmen who honor and preserve their predecessors' legacy spoke at the school's Black History Month program.

Featured in the new film "Red Tails," the Tuskegee Airmen were America's first black military airmen during World War II -- a time when the color of their skin caused many of their countrymen to believe they lacked intelligence, skill, courage or patriotism. Tuskegee Airmen fought two wars -- one against enemy forces overseas and the other against racism at home and abroad.

"Everybody says we're heroes," Chief Master Sgt. Donald Summerlin, a Tuskegee Airmen flight engineer who grew up in south Georgia, said. "We was an experiment designed to make us ... black boys look bad. Now here's my answer: Wrong, we are somebody."

Some Tuskegee Airmen were shot and killed during World War II, but Summerlin said the "Red Tails" never lost a bomber they were protecting to enemy aircraft fire. Some question the historical accuracy of that claim, but few can dispute that the Tuskegee Airmen's efforts during World War II helped establish credibility for black servicemen and created a group of heroes whose legend lives on.

(To view or purchase photos from this event, visit http://photos.times-herald.com/mycapture and click on Events for this photo gallery.)

From 1941 through 1946, some 994 pilots received commissions and pilot wings at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Ala. Black navigators, bombardiers and gunnery crews were trained at U.S. military bases and mechanics were trained at Chanute Air Base in Rantoul, Illinois, until facilities were in place in 1942 at TAAF.

The original Tuskegee Airmen came from New York City, Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit. Some possessed college degrees. No standards were lowered for the pilots or any of the others who trained in operations, meteorology, intelligence, engineering, medicine or any of the other officer fields, despite the societal attitude of that time that black men were inferior. Enlisted members were trained to be aircraft and engine mechanics, armament specialists, radio repairmen, parachute riggers, control tower operators, policemen, administrative clerks and all of the other skills necessary to fully function as an Army Air Corps flying squadron or ground support unit.

The black airmen who became single-engine or multi-engine pilots were trained at TAAF. The first aviation cadet class began in July 1941 and completed training nine months later in March 1942. Five of the original 13 class members successfully completed the training. One was Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a West Point Academy graduate, and the other four were commissioned second lieutenants. All five received Army Air Corps silver pilot wings.

Four hundred and fifty of the pilots who were trained at TAAF served overseas in either the 99th Pursuit Squadron (later the 99th Fighter Squadron) or the 332nd Fighter Group. The 99th Fighter Squadron trained in and flew P-40 Warhawk aircraft in combat in North Africa, Sicily and Italy from April 1943 until July 1944 when they were transferred to the 332nd Fighter Group in the 15th Air Force.

Their legacy has had a profound effect on Ron Hutchison, Tuskegee Airmen torchbearer and recipient of the Charles E. Taylor Award for 50 Years of Dedicated Services in Aircraft Safety.

"It wasn't too long ago that I found out who the Airmen were," Hutchinson told Northgate students. "They opened the door for me, and they opened the door for you as well."

Airmen who did not go overseas and trained at Selfridge Field, Michigan, as bomber crew in the 477th Medium Bombardment Group were highly trained military officers but were treated as "trainees" and denied access to the base officers' club, an act contradictory to Army regulations.

Tensions mounted, and the group was transferred to Godman Field, Kentucky. Continued mistreatment and hostility sent the officers to Freeman Field, Indiana, in 1945. There, black officers tried to enter the Freeman Field Officers' Club against direct orders for them to stay out, and 103 were arrested, charged with insubordination and ordered to face court martial.

Court martial proceedings were quickly dropped against 100; charges were dropped against two others eventually. The last, Lt. Roger "Bill" Terry, was convicted. Fifty years later, at the Tuskegee Airmen National Convention in Atlanta, 15 of the original 103 officers received official notification that their military records had been purged of any reference to the Freeman Field incident. In addition, the group announced Lt. Terry's court martial conviction had been reversed and his military record cleared. The remaining officers received instructions for clearing their records.

After the war in Europe ended in 1945, black airmen returned to the United States but continued to face racism despite their outstanding war records. Tuskegee Army Air Field continued to train new airmen until 1946, with women entering the program in several support fields. Large numbers of black airmen elected to remain in the service but because of segregation, their assignments were limited to the 332nd Fighter Group or the 477th Composite Group, and later to the 332nd Fighter Wing at Lockbourne Air Base, Ohio.

Opportunities for advancement and promotion were limited, but black airmen continued to excel. In 1949, pilots from the 332nd Fighter Group took first place in the Air Force National Fighter Gunnery Meet at Las Vegas Air Force Base, Nevada.

W.O. Smith, the great-grandson of a slave and a Tuskegee Airman who spoke at Northgate, made it easy for the students to see how the Airmen had proved doubters wrong.

"Have you ever seen the movie 'Top Gun?'" he asked. "In 1949, Top Guns flew F16 Tomcats, and the first Top Guns were the Tuskegee Airmen. They told us, 'If you don't win, don't come back.'"

During this period, many white units were undermanned and needed qualified people but were unable to get the experienced black personnel because of the segregation policy. The newly formed U.S. Air Force initiated plans to integrate its units as early as 1947. In 1948, President Harry Truman enacted Executive Order Number 9981, which directed equality of treatment and opportunity in all of the United States Armed Forces. This order, in time, led to the end of racial segregation in the military forces.

This was also the first step toward racial integration in the United States of America. The positive experience, the outstanding record of accomplishment and the superb behavior of black airmen during World War II, and after, were important factors in the initiation of the historic social change to achieve racial equality in America, according to Capt. Don Chapman, a fighter pilot in Vietnam and Korea and a Newnan resident and civic worker.

"These men are trailblazers," Chapman, who is white, told the Northgate assembly. "The civil rights movement would not have happened if it weren't for these men, and I'm proud to carry on an amazing legacy. Hearing their stories gives me a whole new appreciation for being white.

"What's the difference between me and these guys?" Chapman asked, indicating his fellow Airmen. "They couldn't be Navy fighter pilots or Delta Airlines captains because of the color of their skin. But because of them, that doesn't apply to any of you in this room."

• • •

EDITOR'S NOTE – This story has been edited from its ORIGINAL VERSION to accurately attribute a statement to Chief Master Sgt. Donald Summerlin regarding the loss of bombers.

• • •

TUSKEGEE AIRMEN FAST FACTS

The combat record of the Tuskegee Airmen speaks for itself:

* More than 15,000 combat sorties (including 6,000-plus for the 99th prior to July 1944).

* 111 German airplanes destroyed in the air, another 150 on the ground.

* 950 railcars, trucks, and other motor vehicles destroyed.

* 1 destroyer sunk by P-47 machine gun fire (Lt. Pierson's flight).

* 66 pilots killed in action or accidents.

* 32 pilots downed and captured, POWs.

* 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses earned.

* 744 Air Medals.

* 8 Purple Hearts.

* 14 Bronze Stars.

Post World War II timeline:

* On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order #9981 desegregating the Armed Forces.

* During the Korean War, our first African-American naval aviator, Ens. Jesse Brown, was shot down.

* October 27, 1954: - Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. promoted to Brigadier General, the first Black American to wear one star in the USAF.

* September 1, 1975: - Daniel Chappie James promoted to General, the first Black American to wear four stars.

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