Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Tuskegee Airmen

Episode Date: February 24, 2024

During the Second World War, one of the most distinguished American aviation units was one that no one thought would even have existed when the war began.  It was a unit of African American aviators who were trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabam.  Over a thousand airmen were trained and served in the European theater of the war and were some of the most decorated pilots of the conflict.  Learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen and their incredible story on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp Visit BetterHelp.com/everywhere today to get 10% off your first month ButcherBox Sign up today at butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily to choose your free steak for a year and get $20 off."  Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Peter Bennett & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the Second World War, one of the most distinguished American aviation units was one that nobody thought would even have existed when the war began. It was a unit of African American aviators who were trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Over a thousand airmen were trained and served in the European Theater of War, and some of them were the most decorated pilots of the conflict. Learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen and their incredible story on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now.

Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. The story of the Tuskegee Airmen really begins in the 19th century. If you remember back to my previous episode on the Buffalo soldiers, African Americans have fought with distinction ever since the Civil War. Despite initial reluctance by military leaders such as Ulysses S. Grant, they changed their minds after seeing how well black troops were formed in battle. As General Grant himself noted after the Battle of Vicksburg, quote, the Negro troops are easier to preserve discipline among than our white troops, and I doubt not will prove equally good for garrison duty. All that have been tried have fought bravely. end quote. Black soldiers in the Civil War were awarded 18 congressional medals of honor.

After the war, African American soldiers continued to serve with distinction for decades. However, despite their service, they were not given equal treatment. Black soldiers were segregated and could not serve in integrated units. They were placed into all black units with white officers. The soldiers in these units became known as Buffalo soldiers, a name given to them by Native Americans. By the time of the First World War, the term Buffalo soldier had gone out of fashion, but the army was still segregated by race. Much of this was on the insistence of President Woodrow Wilson over the objection of his top general Black Jack Pershing, who had commanded a unit of Buffalo soldiers himself. World War I was the first conflict in which airplanes were used. While air

combat was still very primitive, it was considered a very noble form of combat. Pilots were required to have a college education and were often members. of the aristocracy in many of the European forces, such as pilots like the Red Baron. In the U.S. Army, aviation was completely closed to all black soldiers. Despite many qualified volunteers, the army refused to allow black pilots. Even black volunteers who offered to be just aerial observers were turned down. While the Americans didn't allow black pilots, it wasn't to say that there were no black pilots during the First World War.

Eugene Ballard was an African-American. from Georgia who flew in the French Air Service, and William Robinson Clark was a Jamaican who flew for the British Royal Flying Corps. The complete rejection of black pilots led to efforts over the next several decades by African American leaders to allow black pilots to fly in the military. They encountered prejudiced attitudes from military and civilian officials who believed that African Americans couldn't learn to fly. Of course, there was ample evidence to the contrary. Bessie Coleman became one of the first African American female pilots. Unable to get a pilot's license in the United States, she had learned to fly in France.

James Banning became one of the first licensed black pilots in the United States and made a cross-country trip from Los Angeles to Long Island in 1932. Cornelius Cofi established one of the first independent flight schools, along with Willa Brown, the first black woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States. So the idea that there couldn't be black aviators was obviously wrong, and the lobbying efforts of groups like the NAACP eventually paid off, in 1939. Congress passed a bill allowing for the funding of black pilots as part of a wider program known as the civilian pilot training program. In 1940, the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama

was chosen as the location for the training of black pilots. In particular, the Tuskegee Army Airfield was to be built in close proximity to the Institute. And here I should briefly describe the importance and significance of the Tuskegee Institute. The Tuskegee Institute was founded in 1881 under the direction of Booker T. Washington. Washington was an African-American educator, author, order, civil rights activist, and advisor to several U.S. presidents. Under Washington's leadership, the Tuskegee Institute focused on providing African-American students with practical skills and trades to help them gain self-sufficiency and economic independence. Washington believed in education as a means for uplifting black Americans

and emphasized the importance of vocational training alongside academic education. By the start of the Second World War, the Tuskegee Institute had established itself as a premier center for the education of African Americans, and it was a natural location for the location of an air training program. In early 1941, the U.S. Army created the 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first black aviation unit in American history, but it didn't yet have any actual pilots. While the creation of this unit was a significant step, it didn't change the fundamental reality that the U.S. military at this time was still segregated.

The black flying units were still kept separate from other units in the Army and were led by white officers. When the program was created, it was created with very high standards. It required a college education or previous flight training. And it was assumed that there wouldn't be very many people interested. In 1940, for example, the census only recorded 124 African-American pilots in the country. However, once again, expectations were wrong. They were inundated with qualified applicants, many of whom already had some flight training. Former Detroit mayor Coleman Young, a Tuskegee airman himself, noted that these standards were what made them so great.

He noted, quote, they made the standards so high we actually became an elite group. We were screened and super-screened. We were unquestionably the brightest and most physically fit young blacks in the country. We were super better because of the irrational laws of Jim Crow. You can't bring that many intelligent young people together and train them as fighting men and expect them to supinely roll over. End quote. On March 29, 1941, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Tuskegee Institute to inspect the program.

She was taken on a flight with C. Alfred Chief Anderson. who was known as the father of black aviation and the chief instructor of the Tuskegee Airmen. The photos taken of the First Lady at the event helped popularize the program. In June 1941, the 99th Squadron was formerly moved to Tuskegee. Tuskegee was unlike any other air training facility in the U.S. Army. Because of the army segregation policies, Tuskegee had beginning, intermediate, and advanced flight training, as well as training facilities for mechanics, navigators, bombardiers, and flight surgeons,

all at one facility. When the war broke out, the airmen trained at Tuskegee weren't brought into combat immediately. Training continued and more men were brought into the facility throughout 1942. The 99th finally was in North Africa in April 1943 and flew its first combat mission on June 2nd. Their first mission was part of Operation Corkscrew, which was a prelude to the Allied invasion.

of Sicily. Their efforts resulted in the surrender of the garrison on the island of Pantilaria with a force of over 11,000. The forces on Pantilaria surrendered before Allied forces even landed due to the heavy bombardment that they had received. On July 4th, the 332nd Fighter Group was formed. A fighter group consists of multiple squadrons, and the 332nd was an all-black fighter group consisting of the 100th, 301st, and 302nd, who were all still training in Tuskegee. The group became operational in October, and they finally wanted to combat in Italy in early 1944. Throughout the rest of the war, the African-American aviators who became known as the Tuskegee Airmen, because they were all trained at the Tuskegee facility, established an exemplary combat record.

The 332nd fighter group were known as the Red Tails for the distinctive red paint on the tails of their aircraft. They were all fighter pilots. There were trained bomber crews, but they never ended up seeing combat before, the end of the war. The Tuskegee Airmen flew over 15,000 individual sorties. They performed almost every sort of mission possible during the war. They flew combat missions to intercept enemy fighters. They flew bomber escort missions, a role at which they excelled. They flew ground attack missions against enemy infrastructure targets, such as railroads, as well as against enemy ground units. And they were also involved in attacks on naval targets. The Tuskegee Airmen were

collectively awarded three distinguished unit citations, and individually, they were awarded 96 distinguished flying crosses, 14 bronze stars, 744 air metals, 60 Purple Hearts, and one Silver Star. They are credited with downing 112 enemy fighters in the air and another 150 on the ground. And three of the planes that they downed were three advanced Mecher Schmidt, M.E. 262, jet fighters. They're credited with 179 bomber escort missions, losing only 27 bombers in seven missions, compared to an average of 46. Despite all of the accomplishments of the 132nd, they still had the deal with an incredible amount of racism in the army. For starters, the Tuskegee Airmen had to fly far more missions than white pilots did before being rotated out. White pilots were off and out after 50 missions, whereas some of the airmen reportedly flew in the airmen,

as many as 136. They were subject to racial slurs, and they were denied promotions and advancements that white pilots received. They were also denied access to facilities that other soldiers were. In 1945, an incident known as the Freeman Field mutiny occurred when African-American officers attempted to enter the whites-only officer club at Freeman Field, Indiana. The event led to the arrest of over 100 African-American officers for challenging segregation policies, highlighted the institutional racism within the military. The men were defended by a young future Supreme Court Justice named Thurgood Marshall. Despite everything, the Tuskegee Airmen had a lasting impact on the military.

Many of the white bomber crews developed a deep respect for the men who protected them in the sky. The idea that African Americans couldn't fly had been demonstrably shattered. After the war in 1949, the 32nd took part in the annual U.S. Continental Gunnarrow. meet in Las Vegas. It was a contest where air crews would demonstrate their skills in shooting aerial targets, ground targets, and dropping bombs. The 332nd took first place amongst all Air Force units with a perfect score. In 1948, President Harry Truman issued executive order 9981, which desegregated the United States military. The decision was made in no small part due to the actions and valor of the Tuskegee Airmen, who disproved all of the stereotypes and prejudices that were

held against them. The accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen didn't end with the war. Many of them went on to have distinguished careers in many fields. As I mentioned before, Coleman Young went on to become the mayor of Detroit from 1974 to 1994. Four Tuskegee Airmen went on to become generals, including Benjamin O. Davis, the first black general in the United States Air Force, and Daniel James Jr., who became the first African American to reach the rank of four-star general in 1976. Charles McGee remained a pilot, flying a total of 409 missions between World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Other men went on to become judges and business leaders. In 2007, the Tuskegee Airmen were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

The legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen has consisted of postage stamps, multiple movies, plays, and television shows. The original airfields where the Tuskegee Airmen were trained are now the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service. As of the recording of this episode, there are believed to be less than 10 surviving Tuskegee Airmen, all of whom are in their late 90s or are over 100. The Tuskegee Airmen's achievements were remarkable, considering, the discrimination and segregation that they faced both within and outside the military. Their success and professionalism under adverse conditions contributed significantly to the eventual desegregation of the U.S. armed forces, making an important milestone in the fight for racial equality in the United States. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel.

The associate producers are Peter Bennett and Cameron Kiefer. I'd like to make a correction which many of you caught in my episode on Pearls. I say, that the gigapurl was 27.65 kilometers when I obviously meant to say kilograms as I was talking about mass. So for the record, the gigapurl was 27.65 kilograms. But, you know, why stop with a correction? Why not make this a teachable moment? What if there was a pearl that was 27.65 kilometers across? costs. Well, for starters, as impressive as a pearl that size would be, the clam or oyster that produced it would be even more impressive. The average diameter of a pearl is about 8mm, with a lot of variance in that. The average oyster is about 5 inches in length, and I know I'm mixing my units here.

So by my back of the envelope calculations, an oyster would be about 15 times the diameter of a pearl it would create on average. And that would make the oyster that produced a 27.6 5-kilometer Pearl, about 438 kilometers in diameter. That is further than the distance from Los Angeles to Las Vegas or from New York to Boston. Clearly, an oyster of that size would have to be a space oyster. It would be the size of several of the larger asteroids in the asteroid belt or smaller moons in the solar system. If somehow that space oyster let loose at Space Pearl, it would become an extinction-level threat

to the planet. it would be significantly larger than the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. So if there were a 27.65 kilometer long pearl, it could end life on Earth. However, if it did so, it would be the most luxurious extinction event in history. Remember that if you leave a review or send me a boostogram, you two can have it read on the show.