[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13594]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN FROM WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KEITH J. ROTHFUS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 12, 2013

  Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, we rise to pay special tribute to the 
Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American servicemembers who served 
our nation honorably and with distinction in World War II. In 
recognition of their service and sacrifice, the Tuskegee Airmen were 
awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on March 29, 2007. Although the 
Airmen are now well known for their wartime accomplishments, their 
feats of heroism went unheralded for decades.
  Western Pennsylvania produced more Tuskegee Airmen than any other 
region in the United States. Hailing from cities and towns across 
Western Pennsylvania, including places like Erie, Aliquippa, 
Washington, Pittsburgh and Johnstown, ninety-five men and one woman 
served as flight instructors, pilots, bombardiers, navigators, and 
flight-line personnel.
  They and their fellow Airmen served in the 332nd Fighter Group, which 
was based at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama.
  By the end of the war, the Airmen flew more than 1,500 missions and 
15,500 sorties in North Africa, continental Europe, and Sicily. The 
Fighter Group shot down 112 enemy aircraft, destroyed 150 planes on the 
ground, and boasted one of the most successful escort records in the 
military.
  Western Pennsylvanians contributed honorably to this legacy.
  Lieutenant Robert Johnson, an honors graduate of Schenley High School 
in Pittsburgh, was the youngest Tuskegee pilot commissioned in the Army 
Air Corps.
  Lieutenants Elmer Taylor and James Wright of Pittsburgh and Carl 
Woods of Mars were killed in action.
  Lieutenant Cornelius Gould, a graduate of Westinghouse High School in 
Pittsburgh, was shot down, captured, and held as a prisoner of war.
  Lieutenant Calvin Smith of Aliquippa stood against discrimination 
when a group of African American officers were denied entry into an 
officers' club at Freeman Field.
  Rosa Alford, the lone female from Western Pennsylvania, returned 
after serving honorably during the war to give back to her community, 
as a counselor at New Brighton High School in Beaver County.
  On September 15, 2013, the country's largest outdoor memorial for the 
Tuskegee Airmen will be dedicated in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. This 
memorial will serve as fitting tribute to these individuals and all 
Tuskegee Airmen who served the United States with bravery, honor and 
distinction. They exemplify the very best our Commonwealth and nation 
have to offer. Amidst hardship and discrimination, the Airmen rose to 
the challenge and answered the call to service.
  We are proud of these Western Pennsylvanians and honored to recognize 
them today.

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