CAFcentexwingmuseum: CAF- Centex Wing Museum display on Tuskegee Airmen used P-39 and B-25

CAF- Centex Air Wing Museum hosts display about Tuskegee Airmen who trained in B-25s and used P-39 in combat while fighting North Africa - 1942 campaign.

The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African-American pilots who fought in World War II. Formally, they formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Corps (United States Army Air Forces after 20 June 1941).

WWII era symbol and The new redesigned Tuskegee Airmen Depot sticker.

On July 19, 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps began training pilots of African-American decent. The 926 members of the famed Tuskegee Airmen (comprised initially of the 99th Pursuit Squadron and later the 332nd Fighter Group) were trained for combat in World War II at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Ronald Regan narrates this great 10 minute vintage WWII film "Wings For This Man" (1945)

Music always plays an important part of our memories of the past. One of the great musicians representing this era is the very talented Lena Horne. She entertained all of the troops regardless of color. In this film clip, she delivers a sizzling performance of her signature song - Stormy Weather (1943) - 5 minutes.

This facility is worthy of mention on its own right. Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States, founded by African-American educator Booker T. Washington. The campus has been designated as the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark. Out of more than 85,000 places on the National Register of Historic Places only about 2,430 are NHLs. Tuskegee University's campus is the only historically black college or university to hold this distinction.

Photo of first class - 1941

Major James A. Ellison returns the salute of Mac Ross, as he reviews the first class of Tuskegee cadets; flight line at U.S. Army Air Corps basic and advanced flying school, with Vultee BT-13 trainers in the background, Tuskegee, Alabama, 1941.

This important effort succeeded in an era of great contention. During World War II, African Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws.[N 1] The American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to racial discrimination, both within and outside the army. Despite these adversities, they trained and flew with distinction. All black military pilots who trained in the United States trained at Tuskegee, including five Haitians served with great distinction.

The First Lady's flight

The budding flight program at Tuskegee received a publicity boost when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt inspected it in March 1941, and flew with African-American chief civilian instructor C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson. Anderson, who had been flying since 1929, and was responsible for training thousands of rookie pilots, took his prestigious passenger on a half-hour flight in a Waco biplane. After landing, she cheerfully announced, "Well, you can fly all right."

The subsequent brouhaha over the First Lady's flight had such an impact it is often mistakenly cited as the start of the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) at Tuskegee, even though the program was already five months old. Eleanor Roosevelt used her position as a trustee of the Julius Rosenwald Fund to arrange a loan of $175,000 to help finance the building of Moton Field.

Restored P-51 Mustang associated with the Tuskegee Airmen, now flown by Red Tail Project as described in Red Tail Reborn.

The Tuskegee program began officially in June 1941 with the 99th Pursuit Squadron at the Tuskegee Institute.] The unit consisted of 47 officers and 429 enlisted men,[ and was backed by an entire service arm. After primary training at Moton Field, they were moved to the nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field, about 10 miles (16 km) to the west for conversion training onto operational types. Consequently, Tuskegee Army Air Field became the only Army installation performing three phases of pilot training (basic, advanced, and transition) at a single location. Initial planning called for 500 personnel in residence at a time. By mid-1942, over six times that many were stationed at Tuskegee, even though only two squadrons were training there.

WWII war bonds poster and Airman Col Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr.

Although the 477th Bombardment Group trained with North American B-25 Mitchell bombers, they never served in combat. The 99th Pursuit Squadron (later, 99th Fighter Squadron) was the first black flying squadron, and the first to deploy overseas (to North Africa in April 1943, and later to Sicily and Italy). The 332nd Fighter Group, which originally included the 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, was the first flying group. The group deployed to Italy in early 1944. In June 1944, the 332nd Fighter Group began flying bomber escort missions, and in July 1944, the 99th Fighter Squadron was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group, which then had four fighter squadrons.

The 99th Fighter Squadron was initially equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks fighter-bomber aircraft. The 332nd Fighter Group and its 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons were equipped for initial combat missions with Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944), and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly associated, the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944). When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47s and later, P-51s, red, the nickname "Red Tails" was coined. Bomber crews applied a more effusive "Red-Tail Angels" sobriquet.[

The "Red-Tailed Angels' in P-51 Mustang fighters, never lost an escorted plane to the enemy during the course of World War II, during which they carried out hundreds of escort missions.

Men of the 332nd Fighter Group attend a briefing in Italy in 1945

War Accomplishments

In all, 992 pilots were trained in Tuskegee from 1941 to 1946. 450 were deployed overseas, and 150 lost their lives in accidents or combat. The toll included 66 pilots killed in action or accidents, 84 killed in training and non-combat missions[55] and 32 captured as prisoners of war. The Tuskegee Airmen were credited by higher commands with the following accomplishments:

1378 combat missions, 1067 for the Twelfth Air Force; 311 for the Fifteenth Air Force

179 bomber escort missions,with a good record of protection, losing only 25 bombers

112 enemy aircraft destroyed in the air, another 150 on the ground and 148 damaged

950 rail cars, trucks and other motor vehicles destroyed (over 600 rail cars.)

One destroyer put out of action. The ship concerned had been classified as a destroyer (Giuseppe Missori) by the Italian Navy, before being reclassified by the Germans as a torpedo boat, TA 22. It was attacked on 25 June 1944. The German Navy decommissioned it on 8 November 1944, and finally scuttled it on 5 February 1945.

40 boats and barges destroyed

Three Distinguished Unit Citations

99th Pursuit Squadron: 30 May–11 June 1943 for actions over Sicily

99th Fighter Squadron: 12–14 May 1944: for successful air strikes against Monte Cassino, Italy

332d Fighter Group (and its 99th, 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons): 24 March 1945: for a bomber escort mission to Berlin, during which it shot down 3 enemy jets