as I look down there was like a storm
all those bullets were coming after me I
felt the two thumbs and the cockpit
started filling with smoke and the
airplane it actually broke into and I
figured it was time for me to pull the
ripcord fire came upon the floor play
the funnel stick I remember the tail
going by I could see the rivets I pulled
up in the blind spot
put the sight on
just follow your phone
[Music]
[Applause]
on December 7th 1941
Japan launched a surprise attack on
Pearl Harbor sweeping the United States
in Toowoomba
1941 a date which will live in infamy
[Music]
by mid 1942 Japan had conquered most of
Southeast Asia and the Pacific Nazi
Germany had overrun most of Europe
Hitler invaded Russia hammered Britain
and pushed into North Africa
his regime began the systematic
slaughter of millions of people
attempting to create a master race but
America wrestled with its own principles
despite the statement in the Declaration
of Independence that all men are created
equal the United States had long
permitted human beings to own other
human beings slavery had been abolished
for 75 years but even in the 1940s
racial violence against African
Americans was still a brutal fact of
life segregation was prevalent
throughout and especially in the south
we knew our place we knew that we had to
abide by the laws despite pioneering
african-american pilots like Bessie
Coleman and Eugene Bullard in 1940 the
number of African American aviators in
the US Armed Forces was still zero the
Air Corps was not accepting any type of
application their attitude was that the
Negro had neither the physiological or
psychological capabilities to operate
complicated equipment like a
clean but 1940 was an election year to
keep the african-american vote President
Franklin D Roosevelt promised that
African American soldiers would be
trained as military pilots on July 19
1941 13 young men reported for training
in Tuskegee Alabama their goal to become
the first African American pilots in the
United States Armed Forces fighter
pilots
tuskegee had been a logical place to
train the pilots it was a secluded
location with good weather year-round
Tuskegee Institute's civilian pilot
training program had some of the highest
scores in the nation but the surrounding
area was racially hostile the Ku Klux
Klan was very powerful in the Tuskegee
area and the sheriff was a very very
bigoted individual who worked very hard
to arrest the blacks for any infraction
whatsoever anything happened you were
always wrong and there was no place to
turn so you had to be pretty careful
where he went how you went and how you
acted to be told you can't go here you
can't live there you can't go and to the
five-and-dime and get a coke it was hard
for me it was a shock to realize how
deep it went are you looking at faces of
some of those southern whites in your
eyes just to see the hatred that some of
them had for us
in Tuskegee two airfields were hurried
to completion
Moulton field for primary flight
training and Tuskegee Army Airfield for
basic and advanced flight training the
new airfields were almost entirely
african-american but the base officers
were almost all white Frederick von
Kimball commanding officer at Tuskegee
Army Airfield wrote Negroes do not have
the necessary temperament for leadership
to fit them for superior positions
on March 7th 1942 the first class
completed their basic and advanced pilot
training becoming the first
african-american pilots in the US
military
but only five of thirteen advanced
in December 1942 Tuskegee Army Airfield
got a new commanding officer we were
fortunate enough to have a white colonel
in normal parish who was open-minded and
was willing to make the program he was
put in charge of work colonel Parris it
was a somewhat of an enlightened
Kentuckian who was familiar with the
race situation and understood it so he's
more sensitive and he treated the
everyone basically as individuals yep
Colonels orders well what do you know
things are changing around here well
it's about time if you're asking me
right gentlemen I know the town of
Tuskegee is not one where you can feel
particularly welcome but I hope to at
least make conditions better on base
I've had them tell me how they feel
about Noah and I'm almost in tears one
of the fellows said there are two men in
my life who have made my life what it is
and directed me in the right eret
one was my father the other was Noel
Parrish and don't be surprised if I go
up for a check right in the spring of
1943 the first group of African American
pilots the 99th Fighter Squadron
deployed to North Africa the commanding
officer
tenant Colonel Benjamin o Davis Jude the
son of an army general Benjamin o Davis
jr. had been the only african-american
in his class at West Point and they put
on him what they call a silent treatment
we talk to you in a classroom setting
but the moment you walk out of that door
nobody would speak to you what he
suffered there and I experienced it
there the kind of discipline that he had
this guy was like iron Benjamin o Davis
a commander of the man Alliance and
later at the 3:30 Chatham he was a man
of high standards and get very human and
being able to understand the human
weaknesses when the Allies invaded
Sicily in July 1943 the 99th provided
critical air support earning a
distinguished Unit Citation but another
enemy was gathering forces against the
Tuskegee Airmen a white colonel named
William spikes mobile claimed that the
99th Fighter Squadron showed a lack of
aggressive spirit 90 days after they got
into combat after the 99th guard into
combat
he recommended that it be taken out of
context Spike mo Myers recommendation
was ratified all the way up the chain of
command to the commanding general of the
Army Air Forces half-hour High Command
was recommending that no more African
American pilots be sent overseas double
victory was a campaign to defeat the
Germans and Japanese in World War two
and if we were successful in doing that
it would also be
that we would defeat prejudice in the
United States to win a double victory
the airman first had to win the right to
fight their defense fell to their
commanding officer Colonel Benjamin o
Davis jr. in Washington Colonel Davis
pointed out that the squadron met enemy
fighters on 80% of their missions and
that his men often flew three to six
missions a day our squadron is comprised
of 26 pilots this is your typical 30 to
35 pilots per squadron Benjamin Davis
jr. got a chance to testify before that
board and every fact that mo Maya put up
to take the unit out of combat he
refuted if I may add very frankly if all
the effort invested in the 99th squadron
has produced only a mediocre outfit then
there's no hope but the 99th is not
mediocre
well thank you lieutenant colonel Davis
that's very succinct and I appreciate
your candor the matter was dropped the
Tuskegee Airmen would be in the war for
the duration in January 1944 a massive
German strike force hit the Allied
position at Anzio
the 99th fighter squadron raced to the
defense
Clarence Jameson then a formation of 16
fighters missile Troy called me an array
here faster there we are
Frances two bogeys at photography
I've never ride down his tail but my
guns you having this tough time but the
rest of my guys were perfect positions
over there seven planes and that one
that was a best day we and as time
passed and was trodden in two days of
vicious fighting over NZ ninety-ninth
racked up the most aerial victories of
any squad shooting down 13
enemy aircraft
[Music]
no more no longer that myths that the
black man could not find fight they can
do extra methane's
and they say did they're on the beaches
are in you men of the 99th have a
brilliant record now they take off to
meet ground forces advancing by June
1944 the 99th had been in combat for a
full year they'd flown
five hundred missions downed 18 enemy
planes and lost just four men of their
own incumbent
a magnificent show said the head of the
Mediterranean Allied air force that July
the three new African American fighter
squadrons joined the 99th in Italy and
were gathered into a single unit the
332nd Fighter Group the commander for
the group was Colonel Benjamin o Davis
jr.
but combat was often fierce there was
glory and there was loss
you think down on herself Ford and my
good friend Dean Calhoun was flying with
us and he was so anxious to get the
angle to shoot the plane on the ground
flew in the ground that was the first
major loss that I experienced first I
killed and Sicily early uh the injured
for them and he crashed landed so I'm
doing pretty well and I felt pretty fast
by because I felt I should be there to
protect him
my brother lost his life on his third
mission over Austria and we really
didn't get any closure on that because
we really don't know what happened to
him
[Music]
the Flyers of the 332nd Fighter Group
were based at ramitelli Air Field in
Italy and they were not alone
for every Tuskegee Airmen in the air
there were ten maintenance personnel on
the ground supporting it we had to have
those planes ready to go on the mission
in the morning with the guns or bombs at
their work and bombs fueled up to the
hilt so he could fly for 3-4 hours
guaranteed bed
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
by the summer of 1944 the Tuskegee
Airmen were flying a brand-new fighter
plane
we got p-51 Mustangs ask an old fighter
pilot what's your favorite aircraft it's
going to be the p-51 Mustang the p51 was
a one of the most honest aircraft that
we flew it was a stable airplane at most
beats
the Tuskegee Airmen quickly made their
p-51s distinctive it was discovered that
we have a lot of red paint so they
decided to paint the 332nd fighter
groups aircraft in retail we agree when
we start getting the team are with the
docile paint that tell your head we
would paint them and not honor that but
we would take the names a red tail the
red tails of the Colonel Davis were a
disciplined group you got up at five
o'clock went in for the briefing after
you briefing standing at the door with
Bo Davis told ramrod looking you dead in
the eye as you went out to chew on your
back gentlemen stay with the bombers he
said unquestionably our mission is to
protect the boss not to see how many
interceptors we can shoot down and we
are to do whatever is necessary to see
to those bombers get safely to their
target and back on and if it meant your
sacrifice of your life that's what two
of their four
his area over Germany and flight
engineer hit me on the shoulder about my
cloud and I looked out the window and
there was a p-51 and he was flying
extremely close
he was wearing an oxygen mask which
covered almost all of the face but I
could tell it under that oxygen mask the
face was black and I knew right away
that this Mustang was being flown by the
old Negro 330 second fighter group look
back his tails sure enough the table was
painted red
[Music]
and I say to him we were okay
[Music]
is extremely comforting to know what
they were doing they were telling me
picking down see if I was okay and they
were telling me we're here
you laughed for a few minutes they left
they went back up to altitude but some
of them were assigned to us to watch us
as we went back up until that time I had
never spoken to a black more than a few
words that was the beginning of a
relationship where I understood that
they weren't that much different
you leave were not those people we were
all doing the same thing those guys were
fine fighter airplanes risking their
lives just protect our lives
[Music]
but even as the fighters did well in
combat over Europe african-american
proves ran into problems back home James
Warren was a navigator Bombardier in the
477th bombardment group finally they
moved the group up to Freeman field
Indiana but when we got up there we were
confronted again with very
discriminatory segregated position by
the command by 1944 the War Department
prohibited segregation of military
facilities but group commander Colonel
Robert Selway created two officers clubs
at Freeman field one for
african-american trainees and one for
whites
on April 5th 1945 an organized group of
african-american officers deliberately
attempted to enter the forbidden club
you can't come in
what belong to the trainees and the
trainees can't come in I'm a member of
the base what
well niggers can't come in one of their
leaders
Roger Terry shoulder decide an officer
who blocked his way there were 61
officers who were put on their arrest
for entering or attempting to enter the
officer's club they arrested the first
group under letter R and they arrest is
61 of us in two days
thousand first group arrests Selway soon
released most of the officers but he
prepared a statement spelling out which
personnel could use which club and
ordered everyone at Freeman field to
sign it base regulation 85 - -
identifies the assignments of facilities
for all base personnel to me he said I
agree to be segregated and discriminated
against no way was I gone cyanus there
was a hundred one who refused the order
to segregate yourself I'm one of those
hundred and one to refuse that direct
order of a commanding officer time of
all was a violation of article war 64
maximum punishment was death
this is a direct order sign the
regulation
[Music]
the arrests at Freeman field triggered a
strong public reaction congressmen and
Senators complained to the War
Department for nearly two weeks the 101
officers were held under arrest it was
like a Nazi prison camp one man said
finally the case reached the top General
George Marshall ordered Selway to
release all but three of the men
Roger Terry the only man convicted
suffered a fine loss of rank and a
dishonorable discharge as for celery he
was relieved of his command because he
violated army regulation the war ended
before the 477th bombardment group could
see action but at Freeman field these
Airmen too had scored a crucial triumph
at home
double victory is for the Freeman field
mutiny that'sthat's it so that's what
that's about victory at home victory
abroad and Freeman field is the victory
at home
[Music]
in May 1945 Germany surrendered ending
the war in Europe
in three years tusky he had trained
almost a thousand pilots and some 15,000
support personnel they've flown 1500
missions overseas 84 Tuskegee Airmen
lost their lives during the war but
they'd created an astounding record of
success in October 1945 the 332nd
Fighter Group came home at last to the
nation they'd risked their lives for we
got no ticket a parade
we got no welcome we got off the boat
and you went and got on the same train
and you rode it home for your 30 days
leave when the World War ended with all
the experience over we had powers and
mechanics we thought that we just go
downtown assigned up with the airlines
they told me you know you fit the bill
but we're not hiring any colored
mechanics coming back home you talking
about feeling downhearted you derrin
right but this was what was going on in
the United States of America
in 1945 missing all kinds of segregation
do you impart to the exemplary
performance of the Tuskegee Airmen on
July 26th 1948
President Harry Truman signed executive
order 99-81 ending segregation in the
armed forces in the country at large
segregation was still the law of the
land but the Tuskegee Airmen had given
their people something more than hope my
experience as a Tuskegee Airmen gave me
enough strength to get out and join
Martin Luther King and walk 53 miles
with freedom Tuskegee Airmen came home
and became involved in the struggle at
home and as a result they changed the
condition
the dusky Arabic were men with gold
determination and desire to overcome the
odds of life to succeed and be
recognized as citizens not so much for
the Gloria that it might bring for
themselves but it was the love of this
country in spite of her imperfections
[Music]
dreams come true the dream to end
segregation to dream to be an aviator
the dream to be a college professor the
dream to be a leader in the community
those are great things happen but the
other part of us is challenged that
remains
[Music]
take advantage of that opportunity you
don't let it don't pass it up that's
what the Tuskegee Airmen did when that
door opened they walked to it with their
qualifications and their ability to
perform
[Music]
you don't have to pay your dues sneaking
off easy laughter worked at it but you
have the opportunity and the sky's the
limit
[Music]
[Laughter]