Officials honor legacy of Tuskegee Airmen

Mar. 24—Owensboro city officials commemorated the history of the Tuskegee Airmen on Thursday morning.

Mayor Tom Watson proclaimed the day in honor of the all-Black fighter squadron during a commemoration ceremony in the terminal at Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport.

Owensboro has a connection to the Tuskegee Airman, through Milton T. Hall. In 1942, Hall left Owensboro to become an Army pilot at Tuskegee.

The Black pilots who trained at Tuskegee were organized into the 332nd Fighter Group, the first group of Black pilots to serve in the U.S. military.

Glenn Ball, a professor and former military and commercial pilot who served in Vietnam, said when Black soldiers were first called to train to be pilots at the Tuskegee, Alabama, airfield, government officials believed the trainees would not be up to the task.

"One of the reasons they were so good is because they were expected to not be good," Ball told the audience. "They were expected to fail."

Instead, 992 Black pilots were trained at Tuskegee. When the 332nd Fighter Group was sent overseas, they flew more than 15,000 combat missions over North Africa and Europe.

The Tuskegee Airmen proved to the nation that "African Americans had equal skill, courage and patriotism," Watson said.

During their tour of wartime duty, the unit shot down 120 Axis powers aircraft, including three Nazi jet bombers, which entered service late in the war. The 332nd were also frequently requested for bomber escorts because of their dedication in protecting bombers on missions, Ball said.

"They were the first Black squadron, and the first to deploy overseas," Ball said.

Ball, whose uncle was a Tuskegee Airman, said the 332nd Fighter Group was known for the red tails on their fighters, and bomber crews called the group "our red-tailed angels."

The group earned three Distinguished Unit Citations and 14 Bronze Stars.

Richard Brown Sr. told the audience the Tuskegee Airmen came together in an era when Blacks in America were systematically segregated and faced a distinct "lack of opportunities." That extended to the military, where Black officers were not allowed to patronize officer clubs open to whites, Brown said.

The pilots of the Tuskegee Airmen "were dedicated, determined young men," Brown said. "They proved to the world that American Blacks loved this country and were willing to pay the ultimate price."

The Tuskegee Airmen "created a pathway" for Black Americans "who deserved the opportunity to obtain their goals," Brown said.