Tuskegee Airmen, aka 332nd Fighter Group, was among the first WWII African American military aviators. They shot down 112 enemy planes and destroyed 150 aircrafts, 600 railroad cars and 40 boats.
However, back when they enlisted, America was racially segregated … separate water fountains, separate barracks and Jim Crow laws. Whites considered blacks IQ-inferior and only good for menial tasks. In 1941, an “experiment” sought to see if they could learn to fly. Obviously, they excelled! But, for years, they were passed over for assignments. Gen. “Hap” Arnold said, “Negro pilots cannot be used in Air Corps units; it would result in Negro officers serving over white enlisted men, creating an impossible social situation.” The rest is history.
In 1949, the 332nd won the first Top Gun contest, a gunnery competition among pilots from across the Air Force. When their names were announced, there was no applause. If not for a photographer snapping a single photo, which was kept in storage for 55 years, no one would have known about their exceptional skills.
Finally! On Veterans Day 2021, the 332nd were honored 72 years after their extraordinary competition win. Lt. Col. James Harvey, III, the only living fighter pilot with the 332nd, said, “Our victory was swept under the rug. We weren’t supposed to be able to do anything other than sing and dance.”
