Some of the finest airmen flew in this bomber group. They were one of the best ever.
SALUTE!!!
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/OPINION02/704070316
An overdue salute
THEY fought not only the enemy but their own superiors, whose bigotry led them to believe that they could never be effective military pilots. They won that battle, even if they never got the thanks they deserved at the time.
So March 30 was a proud day in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington for some aging black veterans of the U.S. Army Air Corps as the Tuskegee Airmen finally got the recognition that was long overdue for their service during World War II.
Despite the prejudice of their own countrymen, the famed unit's pilots and crew members waged heroic battles against enemies abroad.
Today, their ranks have thinned. Only about 300 pilots, widows, and relatives made it to the nation's capital to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
Among those recognized were Toledoan Herb Glenn and former Toledoan Shelby Westbook, who now lives in Chicago. The medal is the highest civilian honor this country can bestow.
President Bush observed that the award could not sufficiently atone for the "unforgivable indignities" and unreturned salutes from white servicemen, so his long-overdue salute to them was especially heart-warming. And it was equally moving when the airmen, including those in wheelchairs and leaning on canes, stood to return the salute.
It was a far different world back in 1941, when Army Air Force officials openly announced that they had no faith in some 1,000 black pilots who had earned their wings at Alabama's noted Tuskegee University. However, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered them trained for combat.
They proved they were capable - and then some. Tuskegee airmen flew more than 15,000 sorties in the European theater and destroyed hundreds of enemy aircraft.
In time, bomber squadrons came to ask for them as escorts, so proficient were they at protecting American and allied aircraft. And despite Secret Service nervousness, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited Tuskegee and flew with a self-taught black pilot there.
At the recent ceremony, the plaudits were capped by a retired public official whose military career was in some respects prefaced by the skill and courage of these remarkable men.
"You caused America to look into the mirror of its soul, and you showed America that there was nothing a black person couldn't do," said Colin Powell, who worked his way up to America's highest military post, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and later became Secretary of State.
As history has recorded, Mr. Powell is only one among many for whom the Tuskegee Airmen led the way.
SALUTE!!!
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/OPINION02/704070316
An overdue salute
THEY fought not only the enemy but their own superiors, whose bigotry led them to believe that they could never be effective military pilots. They won that battle, even if they never got the thanks they deserved at the time.
So March 30 was a proud day in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington for some aging black veterans of the U.S. Army Air Corps as the Tuskegee Airmen finally got the recognition that was long overdue for their service during World War II.
Despite the prejudice of their own countrymen, the famed unit's pilots and crew members waged heroic battles against enemies abroad.
Today, their ranks have thinned. Only about 300 pilots, widows, and relatives made it to the nation's capital to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
Among those recognized were Toledoan Herb Glenn and former Toledoan Shelby Westbook, who now lives in Chicago. The medal is the highest civilian honor this country can bestow.
President Bush observed that the award could not sufficiently atone for the "unforgivable indignities" and unreturned salutes from white servicemen, so his long-overdue salute to them was especially heart-warming. And it was equally moving when the airmen, including those in wheelchairs and leaning on canes, stood to return the salute.
It was a far different world back in 1941, when Army Air Force officials openly announced that they had no faith in some 1,000 black pilots who had earned their wings at Alabama's noted Tuskegee University. However, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered them trained for combat.
They proved they were capable - and then some. Tuskegee airmen flew more than 15,000 sorties in the European theater and destroyed hundreds of enemy aircraft.
In time, bomber squadrons came to ask for them as escorts, so proficient were they at protecting American and allied aircraft. And despite Secret Service nervousness, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited Tuskegee and flew with a self-taught black pilot there.
At the recent ceremony, the plaudits were capped by a retired public official whose military career was in some respects prefaced by the skill and courage of these remarkable men.
"You caused America to look into the mirror of its soul, and you showed America that there was nothing a black person couldn't do," said Colin Powell, who worked his way up to America's highest military post, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and later became Secretary of State.
As history has recorded, Mr. Powell is only one among many for whom the Tuskegee Airmen led the way.
