Posted on 03/29/2007 7:57:29 AM PDT by RDTF
When Charles E. McGee slid his P-51 fighter, "Kitten," onto the tail of the fleeing German FW-190 in the skies over Austria in 1944, he fired his six big machine guns and struck a blow for civil rights back home.
Walter L. McCreary did the same a few months later, when his P-51 was hit by flak on a strafing run over Hungary and the cockpit floor began to slosh with what he thought was leaking gasoline.
And so did Woodrow W. Crockett's ground crews a few months after that, when they stopped a supply train and commandeered special gas tanks so their pilots could fly without running out of fuel.
Today, members of the famed black World War II aviation cadre now called the Tuskegee Airmen will be honored in the Capitol Rotunda for their history-making feats.
In a ceremony at 1 p.m., the airmen, including McGee, McCreary and Crockett, will receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor that Congress can give to civilians. President Bush is scheduled to speak, along with Colin L. Powell, former secretary of state, who received the medal in 1991.
The achievement of men such as McGee, McCreary and Crockett was simple: They were bold in battle and capable in command -- at a time when many in the military thought blacks could be neither.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
"Never lost a bomber when they were flying escort. Never. This story was an HBO movie back in the mid-90's and it was very, very good"
They probably did a fine job, but I have never been convinced that they were superior to other American pilots which seems to be the point of everything that I have ever read about them.
As post 10 mentions their main claim to fame is simply not true.
Here is another link to a rewriting of history, it is about an award winning documentary that was revealed to be simply made up.
"It took a months-long campaign by veterans of the genuine liberator units to get PBS to disavow the 1992 documentary,"Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II," which falsely credited the 761st Tank and another African-American battalion (183rd Combat Engineers) with liberating Buchenwald and Dachau, the two largest camps freed by Americans."
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b125b384e8f.htm
Like I said the Tuskegee unit was a fine unit, but I have never seen the evidence that shows them as so vastly superior to our other units.
Congratulations & Thanks to the Tuskegee Airmen! They well deserve this honor!
My father-in-law, JC Goodwin, flew B26s in Europe in WWII, ending with 48 missions. He said the only fighter excorts the B26s could count on to stay with their mission of bomber protection and not go off hunting kills, were the Polish guys and the Tuskegee Airmen. He, even though being from Mississippi, praised the "Red Tails" as the best fighter escorts and pilots in the USAAF. He, an engineer in civilian life, believed in giving praise where praise was due.
Three of these gentlemen live in the Albuquerque area. All went on to considerable success and achievements, in both the personal and civic arenas after the war.
Heroes all life long.
I totally agree.
I understand and I agree that these gentlemen deserve the honor and the respect. I am just getting fed up with hyphenated Americans.
Thanks for the correction. Must remember: read before shooting off mouth.
I knew time was limited and pleaded with my Dad (Battle of the Bulge and other tales) to come out from California to see the Memorial. My badgering paid off and Dad flew here a couple Septembers ago. It was a joy to see him respond to the inscriptions and enjoy a bit of small talk with others of his generation. He's still around but slowing down. All ye who have WW2 vet relatives who haven't seen it and are capable of traveling to DC, please get them to make the trip. You won't be sorry.
I think most people take the wrong lesson from the Tuskegee airman. It wasn't a matter of black or whites being better pilots. It was the training. The Tuskegee airman weren't sent to Europe for a long time so they had more time to train and fly their planes, I'm guessing more than a year, before they got into combat. While the American pilot trained for a much shorter time before they were shipped overseas, I wouldn't be surprised if were talking a few months.
If you went into combat, would you want a soldier who went to the range and fired his weapon every day for a year or some guy out of basic training. They have both met the minimum training and are qualified but the one first one you would consider an expert with equipment and not just familiar.
Sometimes you say to yourself, I wish I could be a “fly on the wall”. I’ve been fortunate to have been a few times. One of them was in 1977 as a student at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, AL. We had many guest speakers and there were luncheons for them. I was selected to attend a luncheon and found myself sitting between General William Momyer and General Ira Eaker. The whole time my head was like at a tennis match as they spoke warmly and freely about a number of AF subjects. One of the subjects was the Tuskegee Airmen. General Eaker was disappointed in a book that referred to him in a poor light and insinuated he was a racist because he didn’t immediately commit the Tuskegee Airmen the battle upon their arrival in theater. His point to General Momyer was that all of the units had a period of familiarization upon arrival and in his mind it wasn’t either longer or shorter than any other fighter units.
Sometimes you say to yourself, I wish I could be a “fly on the wall”. I’ve been fortunate to have been a few times. One of them was in 1977 as a student at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, AL. We had many guest speakers and there were luncheons for them. I was selected to attend a luncheon and found myself sitting between General William Momyer and General Ira Eaker. The whole time my head was like at a tennis match as they spoke warmly and freely about a number of AF subjects. One of the subjects was the Tuskegee Airmen. General Eaker was disappointed in a book that referred to him in a poor light and insinuated he was a racist because he didn’t immediately commit the Tuskegee Airmen the battle upon their arrival in theater. His point to General Momyer was that all of the units had a period of familiarization upon arrival and in his mind it wasn’t either longer or shorter than any other fighter units.
"I think most people take the wrong lesson from the Tuskegee airman. It wasn't a matter of black or whites being better pilots. It was the training. The Tuskegee airman weren't sent to Europe for a long time so they had more time to train and fly their planes, I'm guessing more than a year, before they got into combat. While the American pilot trained for a much shorter time before they were shipped overseas, I wouldn't be surprised if were talking a few months."
I'm just saying that I have always considered the Tuskegee story to be inflated, and now we have proof.
I think they were a good, competent unit, that is all.
WWII HEROES to be Honored!
Sorry for the repeat posts.
My internet connection just went whacky.
I actually resisted the urge to try a few more times, and decided to check first.
oops!
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