All Blood Runs Red The Tuskegee Airmen

All Blood Runs RedThe Tuskegee Airmen Presentation by Robert L. Martinez Primary Content Source: American Greats, edited by R. Wilson & S. Marcus. Images as cited.

The Germans called them “Schwartze Vogelmenshen,” Black Birdmen. http://www.africanamericans.com/images2/TuskegeeAirmen1.jpg

The all-white American bomber crews whom they escorted with courage and distinction during WWII referred to them as the Black Redtail Angels after their P-51s stabilizers, which were painted bright red. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kensaviation/124973655/

http://www.dailyaviator.com/images/2007-02/p-51-c-tuskegee.jpghttp://www.dailyaviator.com/images/2007-02/p-51-c-tuskegee.jpg

History has come to know these black pilots as the Tuskegee Airmen, 926 men who earned their wings at Tuskegee Army Airfield from March 1942 through June 1946. http://www.flickr.com/photos/donniesdreams/2217158318/

They flew more than two hundred bomber escort missions without losing a single bomber to the enemy. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/USPics34/1944tuskegee-p51.jpg

Sixty-six Tuskegee Airmen were killed in action, another thirty-two shot down. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/tuskegee2.html

Theirs is the story of black men fighting for the right to fly in a segregated military, for a country still reluctant to grant them certain freedoms, especially freedom of opportunity. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/tuskegee2.html

“We were fighting two battles… I flew for my parents, for my race, for our battle, for first-class citizenship and for my country….” http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/USPics34/1944tuskegee-p51.jpg

“We were fighting for the 14 million black Americans back home. We were there to break down barriers, open a few doors, and do a job.” – Maj. Joseph P. Gomer, USAF (ret) and member of the Tuskegee Airmen Maj. Joseph Gomer http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/tuskegee2.html

African Americans had shown their ability to fly before WWII. During WWI, Georgia-born ace Eugene Jacques Bullard flew for France. Known as the “Black Swallow of Death.” http://forum.valka.cz/galerie/albums/userpics/10490/normal_Eugene_Jacques_Bullard.jpg

Bullard earned the highest French medals for valor. http://www.allenscreations.com/images/dsabrrth.jpg

Following WWI, black citizens had earned pilots’ licenses, owned planes, and made record-breaking cross-country flights. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/USPics34/1944tuskegee-p51.jpg

Yet, in 1939, when President Roosevelt started the Civilian Pilot Training Program to train 20,000 college students a year for private flight-level licenses, not a single black was allowed to participate. http://www.nasm.si.edu/museum/pubs/pubDetail.cfm?pubID=102 http://www.historicaldocuments.com/FranklinRoosevelt_FiresideChats.gif

It took the efforts of America’s most prominent African-American leaders and a little-known senator from Missouri (Harry S. Truman) to persuade the Congress to accept and train black pilots. Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/97-2081.jpg

The Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a black vocational college founded by Booker T. Washington, was selected as one of the training sites. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/tuskegee2.html

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the institute and flew with Tuskegee’s black flying instructor Charles “Chief” Anderson. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/tuskegee2.html

What she saw and that flight convinced her that the school deserved the governments full support. http://www.flickr.com/photos/scmammy/3143371572/

http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/tuskegee2.html

President Roosevelt declared Tuskegee an official training site for African-American pilots and the 99th Pursuit Squadron was established. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/USPics34/1944tuskegee-p51.jpg

Barracks inspection at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/tuskegee2.html

In March 1942, the Tuskegee Airmen began flying combat missions. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/tuskegee2.html

Four hundred and fifty of the 926 pilots who earned wings at Tuskegee would participate in the battles to control the sky during WWII. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/USPics34/1944tuskegee-p51.jpg

On July 26, 1948, Truman, by then president, desegregated the military. The Tuskegee Airmen’s performance helped accelerate the decision. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/tuskegee2.html

“It was a wondrous sight to see those escort fighter planes coming up to take care of us…They were flown by men with enormous skill and coordination and competence.” – WWII Veteran, Former Senator, and presidential candidate George McGovern http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/USPics34/1944tuskegee-p51.jpg

All Blood Runs Red The Tuskegee Airmen