Benjamin O. Davis – Part 2
In July 1941, Davis entered aviation cadet training with the Tuskegee Airmen’s first class of aviation cadets, Class 42-C-SE. On March 6, 1942, Davis graduated from aviation cadet training with Captain George S. Roberts, 2nd Lt. Charles DeBow Jr., 2nd Lt. Mac Ross, and 2nd Lt. Lemuel R. Custis. Davis and his four classmates became […]
Benjamin O. Davis – Part 1
In the summer of 1926, at the age of 13, Benjamin Davis went for a flight with a barnstorming pilot at Bolling Field in Washington, D.C. This proved to be a life-changing experience. Now he was determined to become a pilot himself. In 1929, amid the Great Depression, Davis graduated from Central High School in […]
Charles Hall
Tuskegee Airman Charles Hall made history for himself and his fellow 99th Fighter Squadron pilots. After three years of college, Charles enlisted in the US Army as an aviation cadet. He was a member of Tuskegee Class 42-F-SE. On completion of training, Charles B. Hall was commissioned as a second lieutenant of the U.S. […]
Robert Ashby
Bob Ashby enlisted in the Army Air Corps at age 17 as a candidate for the Aviation Cadet program. He was called to active duty in August 1944. Bob was assigned to Keesler Field, Mississippi, for basic training and testing for entry into the Aviation Cadet Program. In December 1944, Ashby was sent to Tuskegee, Alabama, to begin cadet […]
Capt. Freddie E. Hutchins
Freddie Hutchins of Donaldsonville, GA, graduated from flight training on April 29, 1943, at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama. In December, he deployed to Italy with the 302nd Fighter Squadron, part of the 332nd Fighter Group. The 302nd Fighter Squadron flew its first combat mission on February 5, 1944. Hutchins scored his first aerial […]
Paul Lehman
Paul David Lehman, Jr. was born on October 4, 1922. He enlisted in the United States Army in Los Angeles, California in November of 1942. He opted for aviation cadet training and quickly found himself on a train heading to Tuskegee, Alabama. Moton Field and Tuskegee Army Airfield were the focal points for the training […]
Charles Alfred Anderson, Part 2
In 1941, the Tuskegee Institute Board of Directors decided to construct an improved airfield to enable more students to train for and obtain their pilot’s licenses. To do this, $200,000 would be needed to build the runway and facilities. One of the entities contacted as a possible source for funding was the Julius Rosenwald […]
Charles Alfred Anderson, Part 1
As a young boy, Charles Alfred Anderson was fascinated by airplanes and knew he just had to fly. By the time he was 20, he had saved enough money for flying lessons; however, no one would teach a young black man to fly. Not deterred, Anderson attended aviation ground school, where he learned airplane mechanics, […]
Roscoe J. Brown, Pt. 2
The Messerschmitt 262 Jet Kill On March 24, 1945, the Tuskegee Airmen flew their longest mission of the war, escorting heavy bombers to Berlin (which was farther from their base in Italy than from American airfields in England). Over the German capital, they encountered Messerschmitt Me 262 jets. To confront the bombers and fighters, the […]
Roscoe J. Brown Jr., Pt 1.
Roscoe C. Brown Jr. was squadron commander of the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group. During combat, he served as a flight leader and operations officer. He had graduated from the Tuskegee Flight School on March 12, 1944, as a member of class 44-C-SE. The 100th Fighter Squadron deployed to the war […]