James C. Warren began his military career as one of the original Tuskegee
Airmen. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on Novenber 19, 1942 and
retired with the grade of Lieutenant Colonel, Thirty five years later,
on November 1, 1978. He served in WW II with the 477th Bombardment Group,
which never saw action during the war because of the controversial mutiny
charges leveled against Warren and fellow black officers.
Later, Warren flew over 173 combat missions in the Korean and Vietnam
Conflicts. A highly distinguished flying career of over 12,000 hours was
highlighted by being selected as the navigator of "Homecoming One", the
first C-141 to fly into North Vietnam and return American prisoners of
war to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
He flew the mission to recover the "Apollo 14" recovery team, flying
the Apollo crew from splashdown near Pago Pago, American Samoa to the Manned
Space Center at Houston, Texas .
