They came from all parts of America - New York City, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit. Most of these brave African-American men were college educated, or in college at the time, and also met the strict physical requirements required by the U.S. military to become an aviation cadet. No standard was lowered for these patriotic men who were determined to prove themselves as competent fighter pilots. Known as the "Tuskegee Experiment," the Army Air Corps program was developed to train African Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors, and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air.
The first aviation cadet class began in July 1941 and completed training nine months later in March 1942 at the Tuskegee Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama. Only five of the thirteen cadets in the first class completed the rigorous Army Air Corps pilot training program. One of the five men was Captain Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., a West Point Academy graduate. The other four were commissioned second lieutenants.
The Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They proved conclusively that African Americans could fly and maintain sophisticated combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen's achievements, together with the men and women who supported them, paved the way for full integration of the U.S. military.
C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson earned his pilot's license in 1929 and became the first African - American to receive a commercial pilot's certificate in 1932, and, subsequently, to make a transcontinental flight.
Anderson is also well known as the pilot who flew Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, convincing her to encourage her husband to authorize military flight training at Tuskegee.
One of the more accomplished pilots in the squadron was Robert M. Glass, who signed up at Tuskegee Army Air Field on January 28, 1943, and attended cadet school at Tuskegee. Glass had an engineering degree from the Carnegie Institute of Technology. "Chief" Anderson was one of his instructors at Tuskegee.
Glass served in World War II and during the Korean conflict. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, EAME Campaign medal, American Campaign Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation and the National Defense Service medal. His last duty station was at Wright Air Development Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. At the time of his death, Captain Glass was at the Air Command Staff School, Maxwell Air Force Base.
Between 1940-1946, some 1,000 Black pilots were trained at Tuskegee Air Field, now known as the Tuskegee Institute. The 332nd Fighter Group consisted originally of four fighter squadrons, the 99th, the 100th, the 301st and the 302nd. All of the members were African-Americans. The Tuskegee Airmen's most well known success during World War II was not losing a single bomber to enemy fire in more than 200 combat missions. This is a record unmatched by any other fighter group.
Sources:
Dryden, Charles W. A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman. Chicago, IL: The University of Alabama Press. 2003.
Francis, Charles E. The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation. Wellesley, MA: Branden Publishing Company.
Harris, Jacqueline L. The Tuskegee Airmen: Black Heroes of World War II. Parsippany, NJ: Dillon Press. 1996.
Warren, James C. The Freeman Field Mutiny: A Tuskegee Airman Story. Vacaville, CA: Conyers Publishing Co., 1995.
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