This report reflects poorly on writers of the last 60 years rather than on the the airmen themselves.
I agree. They were still heroes.
Not in the greater scheme of things. At the time, had any deaths been reported with these men held responsible, there was enough pressure at the time to end the Tuskegee program, and keep Blacks from becoming military pilots.
There was actually a time in History, when the media cooperated with the Military to achieve its goals.
The only problem I have with it, is that nobody in their right mind would believe such a record anyway, but it is still quoted as fact whenever the Airmen are mentioned. Time to put it to bed, but with understanding of why the myth was created. Black pilots might even have been lynched in the states for allowing a White airman to die in combat.