[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 9 (Monday, January 23, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E54]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 23, 2012

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask the House of Representatives 
to join me in recognizing the Tuskegee Airmen for their excellence in 
aviation, their courage, and their role as trailblazers for equality. 
On January 20, 2012, the movie ``Red Tails,'' which depicts the story 
of the Tuskegee Airmen, debuted nationwide.
  The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, as they would become known as, 
begins long before they fought in World War II. Their first fight began 
at home, against racial discrimination. Prior to WW II, the U.S. Army 
Air Corps prohibited African Americans from serving as pilots, because 
the U.S. government believed that African Americans were incapable of 
flying an airplane. In October 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt ended 
the ban on African Americans serving as pilots in the Air Corps. 
However, it was not until January 1941, in response to pressure from 
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the 
Chicago Defender and other African American newspapers, and only one 
day after Howard University student Yancey Williams threatened to sue 
the Secretary of War because the Air Corps still had not accepted any 
African Americans pilots, that the War Department created an all-black 
squadron in Tuskegee, Alabama, the U.S. Military was racially 
segregated at the time. Soon thereafter, the Airmen received a visit 
from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. During the visit, she asked Charles 
``Chief'' Anderson, the head of the program, ``Can Negros really fly 
airplanes?'' Chief Anderson replied: ``Certainly we can; as a matter of 
fact, would you like to take an airplane ride?'' Mrs. Roosevelt 
accepted and upon landing, she turned to Chief Anderson and said, ``I 
guess Negros can fly.''
  By the spring of 1941, the training of the first group of Tuskegee 
Airmen, the 99th Fighter Squadron, commenced. The squadron consisted of 
13 African American men, all of whom were college graduates and had 
earned their pilot licenses prior to serving in the Air Corps. The 
Airmen trained under difficult conditions, from overcrowded classrooms 
and airstrips to racist officers. In 1943, the Airmen were sent to 
North Africa, and Europe to fight. In their first mission, they managed 
to shoot down six German aircraft.
  The Tuskegee Airmen were known as the ``Red Tailed Angels'' because 
of the red paint on the propeller and tail of their planes. In all, 
approximately 990 men graduated from Tuskegee's pilot training program 
but only 450 of them were sent overseas for combat assignments. These 
heroes managed to destroy over 409 German airplanes and 950 railcars, 
trucks, and other vehicles. The Airmen flew, 1,578 missions over Europe 
and North Africa, escorted more than 200 bombing missions, and were the 
first to sink a battleship using only machine guns, remarkable 
accomplishments for a group of men whom the military thought could not 
fly. In total, the Red Tails were awarded 150 Distinguished Flying 
Crosses, 744 Air Medals, 8 Purple Hearts, and 14 Bronze Stars. The 
accomplishments of these brave soldiers helped pave the way for 
President Harry Truman's decision to integrate the military in 1948. In 
2007, several decades after they completed their last mission, 
President George W. Bush presented the Congressional Medal of Honor to 
the Tuskegee Airmen, a well-deserved recognition for a group of men who 
had to fight two battles, one at home and another abroad.
  Not surprisingly, there are currently 31 Airmen living in the D.C. 
Area. Residents from the District of Columbia, particularly students 
from Dunbar High School, the-then segregated public high school for 
black students here, were selected in a disproportionate number as 
Tuskegee Airmen.
  I ask the House to join me in honoring the accomplishments of the 
Tuskegee Airmen and in thanking them for their service.

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