The Tuskegee Airmen: Their extraordinary combat record shattered stereotypes and challenged the prevailing notion that African American Soldiers were inferior in battle.
Between 1941 and 1946, roughly 1,000 Black pilots were trained at a segregated air base in Tuskegee, Ala. The famous Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group became part of the 15th Air Force, escorting American bombers as they flew over Italy. As escorts, flying P-47s and later P-51s, they protected larger bombers from German fighter planes.
The Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 15,000 sorties between May 1943 and June 1945. Bomber crews often requested to be escorted by these 鈥淩ed Tails,鈥� a nicknamed acquired from the painted tails of Tuskegee fighter planes, which were a distinctive deep red. Sixty-six Tuskegee Airmen died in combat. They had one of the lowest loss records of any escort fighter group. Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African American had ever been a U.S. military pilot.
鈥� The Tuskegee Airmen flew hundreds of patrol and attack missions for the Twelfth Air Force, flying P-40 and P-39 airplanes, before they were reassigned to the 15th Air Force to escort B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers, using P-47 and P-51 airplanes.
鈥� The Tuskegee Airmen achieved a number of successes during World War II. The 332nd Fighter Group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for their actions on March 24, 1945. On their way to Berlin, Germany, the Red Tails destroyed three German ME-262鈥檚. In all, the Tuskegee Airmen earned eight Purple Hearts, 14 Bronze Stars, three Distinguished Unit Citations, and 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses.
鈥� Although the U.S. Armed Forces were officially segregated until 1948, WWII laid the foundation for post-war integration of the military. In 1941 fewer than 4,000 African Americans were serving in the military, and only 12 had become officers.
鈥� By 1945, more than 1.2 million African Americans would be serving in uniform on the 久久精品福利资源 Front, in Europe, and the Pacific 鈥� including thousands of African American women in the Women鈥檚 auxiliaries.
