[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 52 (Monday, April 22, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S3790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  TRIBUTE TO ``CHIEF'' CHARLES ALFRED ANDERSON, FATHER OF BLACK 
AVIATION
  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, one of the great pioneers of aviation 
passed away on Saturday, April 13, at the age of 89 at his home in 
Tuskegee, AL. Charles Alfred Anderson, who as a young boy dreamed of 
soaring through the skies as a pilot, leaves a legacy of breaking down 
racial barriers in the field of aviation. He did this by training a 
famed unit of black fighter pilots during World War II, known since as 
the Tuskegee Airmen.
  Among the members of Chief Anderson's unit were Coleman Young, who 
later became the mayor of Detroit; Gen. Daniel ``Chappie'' James, the 
Nation's first four-star black general; and William Coleman, 
Transportation Secretary under former President Ford. The inspirational 
story of the 332d Fighter Group was told in a 1995 movie, ``The 
Tuskegee Airmen.''
  In 1939, a decade after obtaining his own flying license, Charles 
Anderson began a civilian pilot training program at Alabama's Tuskegee 
Institute, now Tuskegee University. In 1940, First Lady Eleanor 
Roosevelt visited the campus and decided to take a plane ride. At that 
time, an erroneously-held view was that blacks could not fly planes. 
Mrs. Roosevelt brushed aside the nervous warnings of her Secret Service 
detail and went on a long ride with Anderson, landing safely nearly an 
hour later.
  Soon after, Tuskegee Institute was chosen for an experimental Army 
Air Corps Program designed to determine whether black men could be 
successful pilots. The participants, many of whom came from small towns 
all across America, passed rigorous tests to join what became the 332d 
Fighter Group. Anderson was the chief flight instructor, thus earning 
him the nickname ``Chief,'' by which he was widely known throughout the 
rest of his life.
  The Tuskegee Airmen overcame extreme prejudice to win combat status, 
allegedly only after Mrs. Roosevelt pressed their case with her 
husband. The unit escorted American bombers over Europe and North 
Africa, providing a virtually impenetrable shield while downing 
hundreds of German fighters. After the war, Anderson managed an 
aircraft-sales business and continued to give flight instruction at 
Tuskegee. By this time, he had earned the title of ``Father of Black 
Aviation.''
  Chief Anderson borrowed $2,500 from friends and relatives and bought 
a used airplane when he was only 22. He learned to fly by reading books 
and getting tips from the white pilots who were willing to be 
cooperative. He eventually became the first black pilot to hold an air 
transport license. He flew a round trip transcontinental flight in 1933 
and is believed to have flown the first land plane to the Bahamas in 
1934. He flew up until a few years ago, still willing to teach anyone 
who wanted to learn.
  Chief Charles Anderson was a great American and an outstanding, 
committed teacher who will forever be remembered as someone who 
overcame unfair barriers and prejudice to change the course of history. 
I extend my sincerest condolences to his family in the wake of this 
tremendous loss and share their enormous pride in all that he 
accomplished.

                          ____________________