The Heroic Airmen

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The Tuskegee Airmen Known Throughout the World

Major James A. Ellison is returning the salute of Mac Ross while he reviews the first class of Tuskegee cadets. The flight line at U.S. Army Air Corps includes the basic and advanced flying school in Tuskegee, AL circa 1941. You can see the Vultee BT-13 trainers in the background.

Tuskegee Airmen in Alabama, 1942

Members of the First Pilot Class at the Advanced Flying School at Tuskegee, AL

Tuskegee Airmen at a US Base After a Mediterranean Theater Mission

In February of 1944, pilots of a US Army Air Forces fighter squadron who shot down eight of the 28 German planes destroyed in dog-fights over the new Allied beachheads south of Rome on Jan. 27th, talk at a US base in the Mediterranean theater. African-American members of this squadron along with veterans of the North African and Sicilian campaigns, were formerly classmates at a university in the southern US.

The 332nd Fighter Group Being Briefed in Italy in 1945

From left to right: Robert W. Williams, Ottumwa, IA, Class 44-E; (leather cap) William H. Holloman, III, St. Louis, Mo., Class 44-?; (cloth cap) Ronald W. Reeves, Washington, D.C., Class 44-G; (leather cap) Christopher W. Newman, St. Louis, MO, Class 43-I; (flight cap) Walter M. Downs, New Orleans, LA, Class 43-B. (Source: Photographer's notes and Tuskegee Airmen 332nd Fighter Group pilots.)

Tuskegee Airmen at Ramitelli, Italy - March 1945

Front row, left to right: unidentified airman; Jimmie D. Wheeler (with goggles); Emile G. Clifton (cloth cap) San Francisco, CA, Class 44-B. Standing left to right: Ronald W. Reeves (cloth cap) Washington, DC, Class 44-G; Hiram Mann (leather cap); Joseph L. "Joe" Chineworth (wheel cap) Memphis, TN, Class 44-E; Elwood T. Driver? Los Angeles, CA, Class 44-A; Edward "Ed" Thomas (partial view); Woodrow W. Crockett (wheel cap); at Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945. (Source: Tuskegee Airmen 332nd Fighter Group pilots.)

Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group at Ramitelli Airfield, Italy

Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group, "Tuskegee Airmen," the elite, all-African American 332nd Fighter Group at Ramitelli, Italy., from left to right, Lt. Dempsey W. Morgan, Lt. Carroll S. Woods, Lt. Robert H. Nelson, Jr., Capt. Andrew D. Turner, and Lt. Clarence P. Lester. (U.S. Air Force photo)Front row, left to right: unidentified airman; Jimmie D. Wheeler (with goggles); Emile G. Clifton (cloth cap) San Francisco, CA, Class 44-B. Standing left to right: Ronald W. Reeves (cloth cap) Washington, DC, Class 44-G; Hiram Mann (leather cap); Joseph L. "Joe" Chineworth (wheel cap) Memphis, TN, Class 44-E; Elwood T. Driver? Los Angeles, CA, Class 44-A; Edward "Ed" Thomas (partial view); Woodrow W. Crockett (wheel cap); at Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945. (Source: Tuskegee Airmen 332nd Fighter Group pilots.)

Tuskegee Airmen in Front of a P-40 Fighter Aircraft

"Keep us flying. Buy War Bonds" poster of a Tuskegee Airman (possibly Lt. Robert W. Diezin) by an unidentified artist 1943.

Tuskegee Airman Instructor General Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr., United States Air Force

Portrait of Tuskegee Airman Edward M. Thomas March 1945

Four-Star General Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

The photo on your left is Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., commander of the Tuskegee Airmen 332nd Fighter Group, in front of his P-47 Thunderbolt in Sicily.

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Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (December 18, 1912 – July 4, 2002)

This was the first African-American general officer in the United States Air Force. He was made a four-star general by President Bill Clinton on December 9, 1998. Davis was commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group in WWII. This squadron escorted bombers on air combat missions over Europe. Davis flew 60 missions in P-39, Curtiss P-40, P-47, and P-51 Mustang fighters, and he also followed in his father's footsteps in breaking racial barriers since Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was the first African-American general in the United States Army.