[tomkow6]

In honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, their instructors and ground support personnel who participated in preparing for combat training at the Walterboro Army Airfield during the Second World War.

Because of their heroic action in combat they were called Schwartze Vogelmenschen (black bird men) by the Germans who both feared and respected them. White American bomber crews in reverence referred to them as the "Red Tail Angels" because of the identifying red paint on their tail assemblies and because of their reputation for not losing any aircraft they protected to enemy fighters as they provided fighter coverage for missions over strategic targets in Europe.

[tomkow6]

Tuskegee Airmen facts:

Tuskegee Army Air Field, located at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, was the training center for all black fighter pilots during World War II.

There were 996 original Airmen. These included pilots, bombardiers, and navigators.

More than 10,000 black men and women served as their vital support personnel.

450 served in combat overseas in the European Theater of Operations, North Africa, and the Mediterranean.

66 of the Tuskegee aviators died in combat.

33 Tuskegee Airmen became prisoners of war.

None of the bombers they escorted was lost to enemy fighters.

They flew 15,533 sorties between May, 1943 and June 9, 1945.

They destroyed 251 enemy aircraft.

They sank a German destroyer using only their machine guns.

They disabled more than 600 box cars, locomotives and rolling stock.

They won more than 850 medals, including 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, eight Purple Hearts, 14 Bronze Stars, 744 Air Medals and clusters, and three distinguished unit citations.

For every pilot, there were at least 10 black men and women on the ground in support roles including mechanics, medical technicians, administrative support and cooks. They were trained at Chanute Field, Illinois.

White American pilots were not allowed to fly more than 52 missions, but black American pilots often flew up to 100 missions due to lack of replacements.

The all-black 477th bomber group was activated and scheduled to
fight in the Pacific, but the war ended before their deployment.

Planes flown by black aviators in WWII: the P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-39, and the PT-13D Trainer.