[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 56 (Friday, March 30, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E709-E710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JULIA CARSON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 29, 2007

  Ms. CARSON. Madam Speaker, the Tuskegee Airmen were dedicated, 
determined young men who volunteered to become America's first Black 
military airmen.
  Those who possessed the physical and mental qualifications and were 
accepted for aviation cadet training were trained initially to be 
pilots, and later to be either pilots, navigators, or bombardiers.
  Tuskegee University was awarded the U.S. Army Air Corps contract to 
help train America's first Black military aviators because it had 
already invested in the development of an airfield, had a proven 
civilian pilot training program and its graduates had performed highest 
on flight aptitude exams. Of the 994 aviators who trained at Tuskegee 
Institute, beginning in 1942, only about 385 are still alive. I am 
proud that one of those living heroes is my constituent, Walter Palmer.
  Walter Palmer volunteered for the unit because he yearned to fly and 
because--``we knew the country was at war, and we felt that we had to 
put in our time, just like everybody else.'' Mr. Palmer went on to fly 
158 missions during World War II throughout Europe.
  Today, Walter Palmer--85 years old--will come to our Nation's Capitol 
to receive the highest civilian honor given by Congress, the 
Congressional Gold Medal. He and his Tuskegee colleagues not only 
volunteered to fight a war, they were the best at what they did and 
they helped win a war.

[[Page E710]]

  Collectively, the Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 15,000 missions over 
North Africa and Europe during World War II, destroying more than 250 
enemy aircraft on the ground and 150 in the air. By historic accounts, 
the aviators never lost a bomber to enemy aircraft fire during their 
escort missions. Proudly, Walter Palmer personally helped to set that 
very high standard of excellence.

                          ____________________