Nonprofit raising funds for mural dedicated to local Tuskegee airmen

Feb. 23—Lt. Col. Bennett Hardy.

Lt. John McClure.

Maj. John Cunningham.

Andrew Dunigan Jr.

Gordon Morgan.

Those men might not be household names, but there's a good chance you've heard of their military unit — the Tuskegee Airmen.

According to military.com, the Tuskegee Airmen — also referred to as "Red Tails" because of the crimson marking on the tail area of their aircraft — were a group of Black pilots who fought in World War II.

The title also referred to the mechanics who worked on the military aircraft, as well as navigators, instructors, nurses, cooks and other support personnel.

And while it was known that there were some Kokomo ties to the Tuskegee Airmen, local artist and author Robin Williams said she was shocked when she learned how much connection there really was.

"I knew about two of them initially," she told the Tribune. "We did a Black History Month thing a couple of years ago at the Artworks Gallery, and I knew about two of the airmen. But I didn't know there were five. So for us to have that kind of historical footprint here in Kokomo was really amazing to me, and I think it should be a great sense of pride for our community."

Over the coming months, Williams and the Howard County Memorial Corporation — of which she is vice president — hope to honor the valor of those five men in a more permanent fashion by creating a mural of them on the south side of the Dechert Law Office on North Main Street near downtown Kokomo.

The Howard County Memorial Corporation is raising funds for the mural project, and Williams said several businesses and organizations have already reached out to be a part of it.

That list includes United Auto Workers Local 685, who, along with fundraising amongst its members, is also selling T-shirts and posters in honor of the five men.

Tammy Mohr is the head of UAW Local 685's women's committee, and she's also on the board of the Howard County Memorial Corporation.

"This is a part of history that's hidden," she said. "It's one of those parts of history that no one really hears about anymore. But everybody needs to know about it. ... So Robin started talking about this (the mural project), and I thought, 'Wow, our UAW Veterans Committee would really love to be involved in something like this.'"

So Mohr reached out to Trenton Willis, co-chair of the committee.

He instantly said yes.

"I definitely feel excited about it," he said. "I was very honored when Tammy reached out to me and wanted me to be a part of this. ... Kokomo's my second home. When Robin found the five guys that were here from Kokomo, I think it was really intriguing. It's historic, and I feel like our community needs to know how big a part Kokomo was for the Tuskegee Airmen."

Mohr said she even sent word to UAW President Shawn Fain, a Kokomo native.

"It's hard to tell what's going to happen with it all, but they get excited about it like us," Mohr said, her voice trailing off as a smile stretched across her face.

Others can donate to the cause, too, the women pointed out.

If interested, make checks payable to the Howard County Memorial Corporation, a tax-deductible 501 ©(3) organization. Those checks can then be sent to 1414 S. Washington St., Kokomo, IN, 46902.

All proceeds will go directly toward the mural project.

The public is also invited to attend a free screening of the movie "Red Tails" on Monday evening at Indiana University Kokomo's Kresge Auditorium.

The event will be held in partnership between the Howard County Memorial Corporation and IUK's Black Student Center.

Along with the movie, which starts at 6:30 p.m., Zellie Orr, a national historian and consultant for the movie, will deliver a presentation on the Tuskegee Airmen at 5:30 p.m.

Orr and Williams first worked together in 2015 at the Museum of Aviation in Atlanta, where they created and curated an exhibition about the Tuskegee Airmen called "Nest of Eagles."

"Nest of Eagles" was on display at the museum for seven years, and Williams said it's now set to become a traveling exhibition.

This Memorial Day, Grissom Air Museum in Bunker Hill will be the exhibit's first stop, where it will remain on display for a year.

Hardy, McClure, Cunningham, Dunigan Jr. and Gordon will be a part of that exhibit, too, Williams said.

And though Williams said she's excited about that, she's also equally as excited about how the five men will be honored locally.

"I want little kids with their mamas and daddies to go up and look at that wall someday and say, 'Wow, I can be a pilot, too,'" she said. "'I can be a pilot. I can build an aircraft. I can be an engineer.' I want them to see and have that vision of, 'This is what came before me, and I can do that too.'

"There were so many that came together back then," Williams added. "There were women. There were Black folks. There were white folks. There were Haitian folks. They came from all over and were a part of the Tuskegee experiment. And that experiment became a reality. And that reality was extremely successful."