Miss. man to fly Tuskegee airmen to inauguration

SUN HERALD ^ | Jan 17, 2009 | AP

[Islander7]

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Three World War II veterans, all members of the Tuskegee Airmen, will be guest of a Hattiesburg doctor at Tuesday's inauguration of Barack Obama.

Dr. Robert Higginbotham, Reginald Ballard and Robert J. Searcy, all of Los Angeles, didn't have transportation to the historic event.


Stanley Saulny, M.D.


Dr. Lynn McMahan

[Islander7]

"I pondered for a few days on how to get these airmen to D.C.," said Saulny, a Los Angeles-based opthamologist who works one day a week in Hattiesburg at McMahan's Southern Eye Center.

Saulny said he thought of McMahan because he knew he owned a jet.

"Within one minute, he said, 'Great, I'll do it,'" Saulny said of McMahan's response. "There was no hesitation in agreeing to do this."

[autumnraine]

I despise Obama.

But I think this is really kinda cool!

[Psycho_Bunny]

Good lord, I’m going to choke on my own vomit before the 21st.

[billorites]

Hmmm...

Flashy dressers.

[SerafinQ]

back in the 80’s, I think they called it tri-colors....the fresh prince used to wear outfits like that..and also that chick on cosby!

[billorites]

"I’m going to choke on my own vomit before the 21st."

This is the most cloying, maudlin, saccharine-sweet spasm of mass hysteria that I've witnessed in my lifetime.

[linn37]

Scrubs and surgery caps.

[Islander7]

I agree. I once had a Tuskegee airman as a home patient. He was a true gentleman, educated, refined and classy. GMAs Robins Roberts’ father was a Tuskegee airman. I don’t like her political views, but she comes from a well respected family.

The old folks are nothing like the young Turks. 0bama can not hold a candle to any of these fine men.

[Carley]

The airmen were invited by O and then told to find their own way to D.C. and make their own arrangements to get around.

These are old men treated with total disrespect by the O team.

[autumnraine]

“The old folks are nothing like the young Turks. 0bama can not hold a candle to any of these fine men.”

Amen.

I am proud that they are going to have the opportunity to salute a black man as Commander in Chief, I can see the honor and sentiment for them in that. But by God, I wish it was another black man standing up there. You know?

Politics aside, this is a proud time for these brave men and I am proud of this fleet of military men and what they did for us. Different cut of the tree, that’s for sure.

[Volunteer]

I admire the airmen, who served and returned to a nation that did not give them the rights they had just protected.

But I have to ask, will they only be staying for 1/2 the ceremony? I mean, 0 is half white.

[This_far]

“But I think this is really kinda cool!”

Yeah, me too.
I did some cross country traveling and saw where they were barracked and trained.

For their accomplishments alone, they should be recognized.

(they did more than the current P-E)

[sionnsar]

Something smacks to me of racism here... but if it's the Tuskegee Airmen, what the heck! If they were invited -- by whomever, whenever, wherever -- they should be able to go.

I keep hoping for the day when it's the content of one's character and not the color of one's skin that matters. But this is a two-way street that needs to be clear in bother directions; that day seems still to be a long way off.

[Pelham]

“Not only is McMahan agreeing to fly the airmen to Washington, but he also is paying their airfare from California to New Orleans on Sunday. And they will stay at his Hattiesburg home until they leave for Washington on Monday morning.
“I’m glad that I survived this long to be able to witness the inauguration,” said Higginbotham, 82, a retired orthopedic surgeon.”

[Arkinsaw]

The Tuskeegee airmen are awesome. If they want to go, transport should be provided. I would suggest using a tiny, tiny, portion of the TARP monopoly money to actually do something useful, like take these guys wherever they want to go.

[Dianna]

“I’m glad that I survived this long to be able to witness the inauguration,” said Higginbotham, 82, a retired orthopedic surgeon.”

I don't feel the same way about Obama and the inauguration as they do, but I'm glad that they are going to be able to go. I think it's good for people to be inspired and uplifted.

[Volunteer]

Thanks for the news flash... and for missing the point completely.

[VOA]

bump

[SuziQ]

I despise Obama.
But I think this is really kinda cool!

I agree, but especially, because I'm an H'burg native! Haven't lived there since 1976, when hubby and I left for him to do PhD work, then paying work, but we're moving back to MS as soon as we can get our house ready to sell, then sold, in MA.

I'll have to ask my cousins who live there, if they know Dr. McMahan. The name sounds very familiar, and he doesn't look much older than I. A couple of my cousins work for doctors in town, so they probably do know him, or know of him.

I just think it's an awesome thing, and just another way to show folks above the Mason-Dixon line that not all Southerners are knuckle-dragging bigots.