Congress to Honor Tuskegee Airmen

Mar 29, 03:03 AM

Current Headlines: By Christina M. Woods, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

Mar. 29--Black pilots who powered through a program designed to fail, proved black people's capabilities and ultimately caused the military's integration will be honored by Congress on Thursday.

The Tuskegee Airmen, the nation's first all-black military combat-trained pilots who served during World War II, will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, D.C.

Wichitans George Boyd and Donald Jackson will be there. Both went through the pilot training program, though they didn't fly in combat as Airmen.

"They were fighting two wars at the same time: discrimination at home and the enemy overseas," said Boyd, who attended Tuskegee's Officer Training School starting in 1944. "That's a big job, and they did it in a program that was designed to fail, but they didn't let it."

Overall, nearly 1,000 black pilots graduated from the Tuskegee Army Air Field's training program in Alabama, and 450 served in combat.

The combat pilots flew more than 1,500 missions over North Africa and Europe. As an escort fighter wing, they never lost a bomber to enemy fighters.

President Harry Truman signed orders in 1948 to desegregate the armed forces, in part because of the Tuskegee Airmen.

"It was the beginning of the recognition of the American public that black people were both human and capable, and they were patriotic," said Jackson, who attended in 1945.

Other African-American pilots in Wichita hold the recognition dear as well.

George Johnson, a Vietnam veteran who earned a Distinguished Flying Cross, said the airmen's influence went beyond the skies.

"They showed that African-Americans could serve in the military in areas other than service-type duties," he said.

Johnson said the airmen inspired him when he was the only African-American undergoing flight training in Alabama in 1956.

"People such as the Tuskegee Airmen opened doors to me to compete, to be a part," Johnson said. "I had to do it. There was no excuse. The groundwork was laid."

U.L. "Rip" Gooch, a pilot who recently released his autobiography, "Black Horizons: One Aviator's Experience in the Post-Tuskegee Era," said military service prevented him from undergoing training at Tuskegee, although he applied.

Gooch said the idea to recognize the airmen is wonderful, but comes "so late."

"A greater number of people that's supposed to be recognized on that day are already gone on," he said. "They will never know that someone showed recognition for something they've done."

But the award will be available for future generations to view at the Smithsonian and other venues that honor the airmen.

Reach Christina M. Woods at 316-269-6791 or cwoods@wichitaeagle.com [mailto:cwoods@wichitaeagle.com].

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