Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
The name Tuskegee Airmen has become synonymous with Victory. Victory in war abroad. Victory against racism in America. They fought two wars and came off victorious in both. The Tuskegee Airmen challenged America's claim, that "All men are created equal," while she openly practiced gross racial prejudice. She treated her own sons as enemies, and enemies as sons.
The Tuskegee Airmen sprang from an experiment conducted by the US Army Air Corps (Army Air Forces) to see if Negroes (primarily African-Americans) had the mental and physical capabilities to lead, fly military aircraft, and the courage to fight in war.
The Airmen were not limited to pilots, they included technicians, radio operators, supply personnel, medical personnel, parachute riggers, mechanics, bombardiers, navigators, meteorologists, control tower operators/dispatchers, cooks, and much, much, more. Included also were the Caucasian military personnel who oversaw base operations, as well as native-Americans, Caribbean islanders, Latinos, and people of mixed racial heritage.
The women of the Tuskegee Experience worked side-by-side with their male counterparts as mechanics, gate guards, control tower operators, did aircraft body work, secretaries, and clerks. There were three permanent female parachute riggers whose responsibility was to train the hundreds of cadets that filed through the program on the appropriate way to pack and maintain parachutes. Gertrude Anderson served as Assistant to G.L. Washington at Kennedy Field, where Tuskegee's Civilian Pilot Training Program was held. She assumed responsibility for continued operation of the airfield when Washington was transferred to Tuskegee Army Air Field.
The Tuskegee Airmen shared an experience unique to its time. The experiences of these pioneers opened doors that led to corridors of opportunities for others to enter, eventually leading to the Presidency of the United States.
The Tuskegee Airmen and the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site are significant for several reasons:
(1) The struggle of African Americans for greater roles in North American military conflicts spans four centuries. Opportunities for African American participation in the U.S. military were always very limited and controversial. Quotas, exclusion, and racial discrimination were based on the prevailing attitude in the United States, particularly on the part of the U.S. military, that African Americans did not possess the intellectual capacity, aptitude, and skills to be successful fighters. Political pressure exerted by the black press, civil rights groups, historically black colleges and universities, and others, resulted in the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen, making them an excellent example of the struggle by African Americans to serve in the United States military.
(2) In the early 1940s, key leaders within the United States Army Air Corps (Army Air Forces) did not believe that African Americans had the intellectual capacity to become successful military pilots. After succumbing to the pressure exerted by civil rights groups and black leaders, the army decided to train a small number of African American pilot cadets under special conditions. Although prejudice and discrimination against African Americans occurred throughout the nation, it was more intense in the South where it had hardened into rigidly enforced patterns of segregation. Such was the environment that the military chose to locate the training of the Tuskegee Airmen.
(3) The military selected Tuskegee Institute (Tuskegee University) as a civilian contractor for a variety of reasons. These included the school's existing facilities, engineering and technical instructors, and a climate with ideal flying conditions year round; and the racial climate of central Alabama. Tuskegee Institute's strong interest in providing aeronautical training for African American youth was also an important factor, Tuskegee's students and faculty had designed and constructed Moton Field as a site for its military pilot training program and named it for the school's second president Robert Russa Moton.
(4) In 1941, the Army Air Corps (Army Air Forces) awarded a contract to Tuskegee Institute to operate a primary flight school at Moton Field. Consequently, Tuskegee Institute was one of a very few American institutions - and the only African American institution - to own, develop, and control facilities for military flight instruction.
(5) Moton Field was the only primary flight training facility for African American pilot candidates in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Thus, the facility symbolizes the entrance of African American pilots into the Army Air Corps and the singular role of Tuskegee Institute in providing economic and educational resources to make that entry possible, although on a segregated basis.
(6) The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American soldiers to successfully complete their training and enter the Army Air Corps. Almost 1000 aviators were produced as America's first African American military pilots. In addition, more than 10,000 military and civilian African American men and women served in a variety of support roles.
(7) Although military leaders were hesitant to use the Tuskegee Airmen in combat, the airmen eventually saw considerable action in North Africa and Europe. Acceptance from Army Air Forces units came slowly, but their courageous and, in many cases, heroic performance earned them increased combat opportunities and respect.
(8) The success of the Tuskegee Airmen proved to the American public that African Americans, when given the opportunity, could become effective military leaders and pilots. Modeled on the professionalism of Chief Alfred Anderson, Benjamin O. Davis, and Daniel "Chappie" James, their performance helped pave the way for desegregation of the military, beginning with President Harry S Truman's Executive Order 9981 in 1948. It also helped set the stage for civil rights advocates to continue the struggle to end racial discrimination during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Consequently, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen constitutes a powerful and seminal metaphor for the struggle of black freedom in America.
(9) The Tuskegee Airmen reflect the struggle of African Americans to achieve equal rights, not only through legal attacks on the system of segregation, but also through the techniques of nonviolent direct action aimed at segregation in the military. The members of the 477th Bombardment Group, who staged a nonviolent demonstration to desegregate the officers' club at Freeman Field, Indiana, helped set the pattern for direct action protests popularized by civil rights activists in later decades.
What is the Freeman Field Mutiny? How can you have a mutiny on dry land?
In 1945 the Army Air Corps (Air Forces) formed the all-Negro (African American/Black) 477th Bombardment Group were assigned first to Selfridge Field, outside of Detroit, Michigan. There a Negro officer applied to membership at the base Officer's Club. The response from Gen. Frank O Hunter, Commander of the 1st Air Force was that as long as he was commander of the 1st Air Force, no bases under his command would have racial mixing.
Congress reacted by appropriating $75,000 to build an all-black officer's club. However, the 477th were transferred to Godman Field, near Ft. Knox, Kentucky before this became a reality. Later, the 477th were again transferred to Freeman Field, in Seymour, Indiana, not far from Ft. Knox.
At Freeman Field, segregation was practiced and enforced staunchly at this base under the command of Col. Robert Selway. In order to maintain a certain base protocol, the 400 Negro officers were listed as "trainees", whereas, their 250 White counterparts were listed as "instructors". This base protocol became the focus of one the first of its kind non-violent protest in America to challenge the racist practices of the Army Air Corps.
The base protocol assigned "trainees" to Officer's Club #1, an old dilapidated building badly in need of repairs. Whereas, white "instructors" were assigned to the new, comfortable, and fully functioning Officer's Club #2.
Observing the separate, but unequal facilities, the African American pilots decided to take action. Organized by former labor leader, Lt. Coleman Young, on the evening of April 5, 1945 a group of black officers requested entry into Club #2. They were denied. About one-half hour later another group requested entry into Club #2. When they were denied entry, Lt. Marsden Thompson brushed past the officer on duty and the others followed without incident. Later, other black officers followed.
The next evening, saw the arrest of over 60 black officers for entering or attempting to enter Club #2. This prompted a base order, called Regulation 85-2, to be issued from Gen. Hunter and Col. Selway officially assigning officers to club by race and specifying strict segregation of housing , dining halls, and officer's clubs. It also stated that any violation would result in confinement.
Selway called all the black officers assigned at Freeman Field together and ordered them to sign a statement that they had read and agreed with Regulation 85-2. This was done despite US Army Regulation 210-10 which strictly forbade segregation of public facilities on military installations, thereby requiring officer's clubs to be open to all, regardless of race.
One hundred and one black officers refused to sign the statement. This refusal to obey a direct order from a superior officer in time of war, could have ultimately been punishable by death. Word of the arrests spread and the arrested officers were transferred back to Godman Field and placed under arrest with armed guard and guard dogs. By contrast, the German prisoners of war being held their had complete freedom of movement on the premises. In fact, they mocked the black officers for the treatment they were receiving at the hands of their own country.
As the news spread via the black press, labor unions, and Congress, pressure was put on the War Department to drop the charges against the officers. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall issued orders to release the officers on April 23, 1941. One hundred and one officers were released with General Hunter placing a letter of reprimand in each of their files.
Three of the officers were held over for trial. Two were fined and released. One, Lt. Roger Terry,was court martialed, fined, suffered loss of rand, and dishonorably discharged from the Army for "jostling". As a result of this incident, Col. Selway was relieved of his command, and was replaced with Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Two of the 477th bomb squadrons was inactivated, and the 99th fighter squadron was added to the 477th becoming the 477th Composite Group. In 1946 it was reassigned to Lockbourne Air Force Base in Ohio, and deactivated in 1947.
In 1995 under President William H. Clinton, the reprimands were removed from the permanent files of 15 of the officers, and the the Army agreed to remove the others upon request. Terry' received a full pardon, restoration of rank, and fine repaid.
Contact the Park›
Mailing Address:
1616 Chappie James Ave.
Tuskegee, AL 36083
Phone: (334) 724-0922
(Link: https://www.nps.gov/tuai/learn/historyculture/index.htm)