Essay, Research Paper: Tuskegee Airmen

War, war is a term meaning; a concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something considered injurious. In the dictionaries there aren’t any words of neither segregation, nor does it include that one race is inferior to others in times of war. Yet the United States government, a government that fought against racism in World War II, would not allow their armed forced to become integrated because they considered blacks, lazy, and unable to comprehend the strategic plans during wartime. Many black men, and women, traveled oversees to join the French Army where they learned hand to hand combat and received pilot licenses. Eugene Bullard and Bessie Coleman were the pioneers of black pilots, and the inspiration of the Tuskegee Airfield.
Booker T. Washington, graduate of Hampton Institute arrived at Tuskegee to organize a normal school for the training of black teachers in 1881. According to Robert Jakeman, author of Divided Skies, he stated “this aviation idea was only a fantastic dream in 1881 to Booker T. Washington”. Booker T. Washington died in 1915, the trustees decided to make Robert Russa Moton President of Tuskegee Institute. Between 1915 and 1927 Moton applied new school training courses such as education, agriculture, and home economics, and in 1927 a collegiate level was organized.
On May 22, 1934 the first airplane landed on the grounds of Tuskegee Institute. John C. Robinson, an aspiring Chicago aviator, had chosen the occasion of his 10-year class reunion to make a dramatic aerial return to his alma mater. This marked the beginning of Tuskegee’s first attempt to enter the air age. Moton was fascinated by aeronautics, and also knew there were 100 black pilots that have been trained and licensed oversees. In September 1934 Moton and administration supported plans for two black aviators to do a Pan-American tour. Tuskegee receives support from several black newspapers, and one white. 1934 marks a memorable year for aviation at Tuskegee, this is the year that they become linked with a major aviation venture publicly. In 1936 Robinson returned from duty with the Ethiopian Air Force, serving as an instructor. Robinson offered his services to Moton and became Director of the School of Agriculture until an aviation program was implemented.
May 1939, 20 black pilots formed the National Airmen’s Association of America (NAAA). The goal of the NAAA was to change policies that limited their options as pilots by gaining attention with daredevil tricks, and quick maneuvers. With the help of the Chicago Defender, a black newspaper, they sponsored Chauncey Spencer and Dale White, two black pilots, on a 10-city tour. While in Washington the pilots met Harry S. Truman a senator from Missouri. They explained their efforts, and Truman helped put through legislation that permitted black pilots to serve in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. The US government implemented a Civilian Pilot Training Program headed by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) in September 1939. This was brought on because of the fear of the war spreading across the Atlantic waters. The CAA certified 220 US colleges & universities for participation. . The goal was to produce 20,000 private pilots a year. The government had a budget of $5,675,000 available to share for schooling 11,000 new fliers. Although Truman helped the legislation push towards allowing blacks participate in the CPT program, it took a lawsuit from a black student at Howard University to get the program started at several predominantly black schools.
US Congress enacted legislation to expand the Air Corps and train thousands in flying. On April 3, 1939, it was approved as Public Law 18, “the primary legislative authorization for the Air Corps expansion program.” Public Law 18 authorized a maximum Air Corps strength of 6,000 airplanes, a significant increase considering that the total air strength came to only 1,401 in mid-1938. The law also authorized the army to expand its pilot training program by permitting the use of facilities at civilian flying schools for portions of the Air Corp flight-training curriculum. John C. Robinson proposed that the CPT program for African Americans be brought to Tuskegee. They already had a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program in place, which is officered, the first African American first lieutenant, who is a graduate of West Point. They also have a mechanical school at Tuskegee, which is headed by engineer G.L. Washington. John C. Robinson wrote many proposals to Congress explaining why Tuskegee would be the site to have the CPT military training program implemented at the Institute. He included in his letters information of the results of his three-year effort to establish the school. Robinson also assembled $19,000 of aviation equipment and had registered the school with the CAA. On October 15, 1939 Robert H. Hinckley, Chairman of the CAA, notified President Frederick D. Patterson, who succeeded Moton when he retired in 1935, that Tuskegee had been approved for participation in the CPT program. The reasons that were given was that, Tuskegee had the facilities, engineering and technical instructor, as well as a climate for year-round flying.

By the spring of 1940, thanks to the CPT program, Tuskegee had the beginnings of an aviation program. After a very shaky start, G.L. Washington’s efficient and enthusiastic work as Tuskegee’s CPT coordinator, together with the creditable performance of his students, had won the confidence of the CAA officials in Atlanta and Washington. By April, after its success was assured, G.L. Washington turned his full attention to the larger, more difficult problem of establishing a permanent flight training program at Tuskegee, one that did not rely on subleased airfields, flight training contracts with private operators, and borrowed ground instructors. Washington contacted the Alabama Aviation Commission’s director of airfield development, Asa Roundtree, Jr., and asked him to visit Tuskegee and confer with institute officials and representatives of the city regarding the establishment of an airport. Washington thought that the “City of Tuskegee might be interested in joining with Tuskegee Institute in the development of a municipal airport at a suitable location in the town of Tuskegee.” He told Roundtree that he was “certain that Tuskegee Institute would place at the disposal of the project any land that it has available” and pleaded with him to allow time on his visit to examine Tuskegee’s land as well as possible locations in the town of Tuskegee. Roundtree and his engineer, Owen Draper, examined the institute’s property and concluded that it was suitable and that the Aviation Commission would provide cost estimates on grading and construction. In order to qualify for federal funding under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Roundtree suggested that the land be deeded to the Aviation Commission “for the fear of future possible difficulties if deeded to the city of Tuskegee.” By the end of 1940 Tuskegee Institute owned a small fleet of airplanes, had hired a cadre of flight and ground school instructors, and offered a wide variety of flight training courses.
Many African Americans were attending college at the time of World War II, an once the aviation training program was admitted in civilian schools, black took the courses in hopes of one day becoming a pilot. By early October 1940, ten secondary student’s ground and training had been completed. Campaigns by Congress, Tuskegee Institute, and NAACP continue, to allow blacks into Army Air Corp. On December 18th, 1940, the United States Air Corps sends plans for training and establishment of the black pursuit squadron at Tuskegee. By January 6th, 1941, General Hap Arnold tells the Assistant Secretary of War for Air “blacks could only be trained at Tuskegee.” January 9th, 1941 there are plans for formal approval of the ‘Tuskegee Experiment,’ by the Secretary of war, he stated, “the era of all-white air force had ended, and the day of the segregated air force had arrived.”

The Army Air Corps had in mind to form only one African American fighter unit, the 99th fighter squadron, so they only needed 33 pilots. The idea was that it was “quota”; they only wanted to train so many pilots. So, with thousands of volunteers, “the selectivity and attrition rate was very high,” quoted Lt. Col. Herbert “Gene” Carter, one of the original 28 pilots to graduate from the Tuskegee program. The total of approximately 100 men would be trained annually, and also had 271 enlisted men already in training at Chanute Field, Il, as ground crews for the 99th Squadron. These men were to be sent to Tuskegee upon completion of their training bringing the total to 278. On March 21st, 1941 the 99th Pursuit Squadron was activated when the first black recruits arrived at Chanute Field, Il. They were to begin training for ground and technical crew only. There was one person that perhaps pushed the activation of the Aviation Cadet Training at Tuskegee Army Flying School that was the April 19th, 1941 visit from Eleanor Roosevelt. Although her secret service men told her it wasn’t a good idea to fly with a ‘Negro’ she was determined to see if blacks were able to fly. She asked the would-be director of the program “Can Negroes really fly airplanes?” His rely was “Certainly we can; as a matter of fact, would you like to take a ride in an airplane?” Mrs. Roosevelt sat in the back seat of a Piper J-2 Cub; Chief Anderson took off and gave her a 30-minute tour of the campus and surrounding areas. Upon landing, Mrs. Roosevelt turned to the Chief and replied, “I guess Negroes really can fly.” She returned to Washington and it announced a short time after that Tuskegee Institute would be the site at which the first Black Air Corps pilots would be trained.
The first class (42C) of black pilot trainees began Aviation Cadet Training at Tuskegee Army Flying School on July 19th, 1941. The Tuskegee Army Airfield (TAAF) was officially established on July 23rd, 1941. The Squadron received much criticism from politicians that did not believe black pilots would be efficient in the war. There were many reprimands for simple infractions, they never passed inspection, and commission was handed out ‘sometimes.’ Some cadets fell victim to the hazing, and dropped out of the program, others stayed for their pride would not let them quit. The Tuskegee airmen represented more than just black pilots they were making history daily. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., became the first black American to solo an aircraft as an officer in the US Army Air Corps on September 2nd, 1941. Out of the original 13 cadets only five graduated from the program, they were Benjamin O. Davis Jr., Lemuel R. Custis, Charles DeBrow, George S. Roberts, and Mac Ross (from Dayton, Ohio). They graduated SE-42-C on March 6th, 1942.

Although they graduated and received their wings in 1942, they were not able to participate in air combat. They were ‘iced’ for more than nine months. While they continued their training new cadets were arrived and a new Squadron was formed, the 332nd. Although they had proved that they had knowledge of the planes in which they flew and a strong background in the mechanical structure of the planes, the Secretary of War and other Congress members felt as if they would not be significant in combat. There were ‘studies’ done that suggested that black pilots blacked out at high altitudes, their blood level was low and unable to travel long distances. The officers that were in charge of the TAAF training fought for the 99th, and 332nd to be allowed in combat. It wasn’t until June 1943, when the Squadron arrived in Africa that they saw any action. Their duties consisted of bombing stable targets such as trains transporting weapons, artillery, etc., Army Fields, and Army Bases. On January 11th, 1943 was the first time in history that air power won the surrender of a ground target, and this was due to the strike from the 99th Squadron. At this time in 1943, the black Army pilots still have not earned respect from many of their white counterparts and much of the American nation. By the end of 1945, the 99th, 332nd, and 100th, and 301st, had a total of 423 targets destroyed, and 823 damaged targets making them very successful. They had more individual missions than there white counterparts, whom were sent home after 50 missions, some black pilots flew over 60. The airmen became known as the ‘Red Wings’ because they painted their wings and nose the color bright red. This was to distinguish themselves from other American fighter units. They began to become escorts for bomber planes, and were considered ‘angels’ by the bomber pilots. Not once did they loose a bomber plane during the time they escorted them.
Once the war ended, after the surrender of Germany and Japan, the 99th, 100th, and 301st Squadrons returned home. Many of the white officers that returned home were greeted in the street with cheers, hugs, and kisses from beautiful women. The scene was different when the black pilots and crewmen returned to the home front; America still did not recognize them as ‘sufficient’ combat pilots. Although many of the pilots received purple hearts, legion of merit, silver star, solider metal, flying cross, bronze star, and air metal and clusters. By the end of the war there were 992 pilots that graduated from Tuskegee.

The Tuskegee airmen not only opened the doors for black Americans, but they also told the nation that ‘we aren’t going to be looked down upon any more.’ These men and women stood proud and strong through all of the hatred, and riots that ensued because of their participation in the American Armed Forces. Not only did they change history for America they changed history for the World; we must remember that they protected our bomber planes that had targets to be destroyed. They were able to take out ground targets that prevented thousands of weapons to be deployed to the enemy. These men looked prejudice and hatred in the eye and stepped on it. They proved to the America that blacks are not inferior, we are equal.
Men of the 99th Fighter Squadron and of the 332nd Fighter Group, these were brave black men who had to endure the rigors of pilot training and go on and win their wings against the forces of home-grown bigotry. It wasn’t until November 6th, 1998 that Tuskegee was honored as an historic site by the United States government. President Clinton approved Public Law 105-355, which established the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, to commemorate and interpret the heroic actions of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. These men served their country proud and with open arms, yet they were not accepted the same way. Many still do not know the story of our Tuskegee Airmen, the lesson is not taught in school on any level, and there aren’t any national holidays. Our lonely eagles, how long will they continue to be forgotten?
FYI: Total Killed in Action: 66
Total Mission: 1578
Total Sorties: 15533
Total Pilots sent oversees: 450




Bibliography


1. Divided Skies, The: Establishing Segregated Flight Training at Tuskegee, Alabama, 1934-1942, by Robert J. Jakeman. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1992
2. Tuskegee Airmen, The: the Men Who Changed a Nation, by Charles E. Francis. Boston, MA: Branden Publishing Co., 1988 3rd ed., rec., up-dated and enlarged, Boston: Branden Publishing Co., 1993
3. Double V: the Civil Rights Struggle of the Tuskegee Airmen, by Lawrence P. Scott, William M. Womack, Sr. East Lansing: Michigan State press, 1994
4. Lonely Eagles: the Story of America’s Black Air Force in World War II, by Robert A. Rose. Los Angeles: Tuskegee Airmen, Western Region, 1976
5. Segregated Skies: All-Black Combat Squadrons of WWII, by Stanley Sandler. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992
6. Booker T. Washington: the Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901-1915, by Louis R. Harlan. New York, Oxford University Press, 1972


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I'm the son of Mr. Chauncey E. Spencer Sr.
I would like to say that your essay is very well put together, I would just like to add that Mr. Cornelius Coffey also flew to Tuskegee the same time that Mr. John C. Robinson did, and they lost a plane during that flight.

NATIONAL AIRMEN ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

....before the Tuskegee Airmen

by Bennie J. McRae, Jr.
Copyright 1995. LWF Publications. Reprinted from "Lest We Forget," Volume 3, Number 3 - July 1995.


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During the mid 1930’s and prior to World War II a group of foresighted, concerned, and dedicated individuals came together in the Chicago area to form an organization that actively pursued and set the stage for the participation of African-Americans in the realms of aviation and aeronautics.

Under the leadership of Cornelius R. Coffey, Willa B, Brown, and Enoc P. Waters, the National Negro Airmen Association of American was formed with the express purpose.......to further stimulate interest in aviation, and to bring about a better understanding in the field of aeronautics. Shortly thereafter Claude Barnett, director of the Association of Negro Press (ANP), with strong backing from Chauncey Spencer and Dale White, suggested that the word Negro be dropped and the organization renamed the National Airmen Association of America. The proposal was adopted maintaining the original objectives.

On August 16, 1939 application for Certificate of Incorporation was filed in Cook County with the Illinois Secretary of State listing as Directors the following: Cornelius R. Coffey, Dale L. White, Harold Hurd, Willa B. Brown, Marie St. Clair, Charles Johnson, Chauncey E. Spencer, Grover C. Nash, Edward H. Johnson, Janet Waterford, George Williams, and Enoch P. Waters.

Many of the charter members had come to Chicago to further their interest in aviation at the Coffey School of Aviation, one of the few flight training programs in the United States where Blacks could take flying lessons. Chauncey Spencer was encouraged to come to Chicago in 1934 by Oscar DePriest, Congressional Representative, after being told by the Airport Operator in his hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia that “They didn’t teach colored to fly because they didn’t have the intelligence.”

A few months prior to the incorporation, the organization had undertaken a most profound and optimistic mission. With borrowed funds and donations, two members were chosen to take a goodwill tour to stimulate interest in the “first national Negro airshow to be held in Chicago,” and stop in Washington to communicate with lawmakers regarding inclusion of African-Americans in the government sponsored flight training and other aviation related programs. Enoch P. Waters, Jr., a member of the organization and city editor of the Chicago Defender, also suggested that the tour include a stop in Washington, D.C. to urge Congressional representatives to push for inclusion of the Negro in the Army Air Corps.

One thousand dollars was donated by the Jones Brothers, Ed and George, of Chicago who controlled the “policy,” a form of the numbers game, and also owned the Ben Franklin Department store on 47th Street. With five hundred dollars that Chauncey Spencer had saved, the organization was able to rent a Lincoln-Paige bi-plane from Art LaToure. Donations were sought from other organizations that refused, many stated that the proposed “mission was foolhardly and foolish.”

Dale White, a pioneer flyer and the holder of an aircraft engine mechanic’s certificate, and Chauncey Spencer had met a few years earlier and had become close friends. The two were chosen to undertake the history making mission.

Dale White and Chauncey Spencer departed Chicago’s Harlem Airport on May 9, 1939 enroute eastward, and approximately three and one-half hours later were forced to land in a farmer’s field near Sherwood, Ohio due to a damaged crankshaft. Sherwood is located 15 miles west of Defiance and approximately 15 miles east of the Indiana-Ohio border. Repairs were made after a new crankshaft was delivered by Cornelius Coffey, a licensed aircraft mechanic, and Clyde Howard, also an avid aviator.

After a two and one-half day delay at Sherwood, the two departed for Morgantown, West Virginia where they were allowed to refuel the aircraft, but was refused hangar rental space. As night was approaching, they departed Morgantown enroute to the Pittsburgh area with no lights on the aircraft. The beacon at Allegheny County Airport was spotted and they followed a Pennsylvania-Central Airlines transport to a safe landing.

The Civil Aeronautics Inspectors were very upset and temporarily grounded the daring flyers for flying too close and endangering the lives on a commercial airline. Robert L. Vann, Publisher of the Pittsburgh Courier, appeared on their behalf the next morning at a hearing where they were cleared. Mr. Vann then donated five hundred dollars to their cause along with letters to influential representatives.

Spencer and White departed Pittsburgh and flew directly to Washington where they were met by Edgar Brown, National Airmen’s Association lobbyist, and also the president of the Negro Federal Workers Employees Union. While accompanying Mr. Brown to the Capitol and Congressional offices, they happen to come in contact with Senator Harry S. Truman, Democrat from Missouri, who was intercepted and introduced to White and Spencer along with an explanation of their mission to Washington.

Senator Truman asked, “What do you do?” They explained that both worked for the WPA. “So what are you doing here? Why aren’t you working today?” They explained that they had taken time off because they felt a need to dramatize the need for the inclusion of the Negro in the Army Air Corps. Truman seemed surprised and asked, “Why aren’t you in the Air Corps? Can’t you get in?” Edgar Brown explained that Negroes were not accepted.

“Have you tried?” asked Truman. The reply, “No sir, but others have tried and have been embarrassed. They have been turned away without regard for their training or ability. Only the color of their skin mattered.” “Well, I think you should try,” Truman stated. Dale White replied, “We’d like to try but we’d also like for you to help us open the door. We haven’t been able to break down the barriers ourselves. Mr. Truman, you don’t know what it means to be embarrassed. I’ve tried these things before. There’s just no use.” “I’ve been embarrassed before,” stated Truman. The reply, “Not like this, Mr. Truman. Not like we are.”

Senator Truman had spoken in his normal blunt way and wanted to see the aircraft. Later that afternoon he arranged to visit the airport and climbed up on the wing in order to look in the cockpit. He asked, “How much gas can this carry? How much did it cost to rent? Do you have insurance?” He was enthusiastic, however, he did not want to go for a ride. He stated that, “If they had guts enough to fly this thing to Washington, he’d have enough guts to back them.” Shortly afterwards, he helped put through legislation in the Senate insuring that Blacks would be trained along with whites under the Civilian Pilot Training Program.

Another key figure that White and Spencer met and talked with was Congressional Everett Dirksen, Republican for Illinois who later introduced the amendment to the Civil Aeronautics bill in the House of Representatives prohibiting discrimination in the administration of the benefits of the Act. Three years later a bill was passed including Blacks in the Army Air Corps.

The Civilian Pilot Training Act was passed on June 27, 1939 and by August funds had been appropriated. Through the persistent effort of Charles Alfred Anderson and James C. Evans, Tuskegee Institute submitted an application in which receipt was acknowledged by the Civil Aeronautics Administration on September 25, 1939. Two other Black institutions, West Virginia State College and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, had already been approved. James C. Evans of West Virginia State College whose brother-in-law was G. L. Washington, the Director of the Department of Mechanical Industries, had already spoken to the Civil Aeronautical Administration officials on behalf of Tuskegee Institute.

Following some operational and bureaucratic procedures, the program was instituted at Tuskegee in late 1939. Two instructors from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn University), Robert G. Pitts and Bloomfield M. Cornell, agreed to conduct the ground school portion of the training until the Tuskegee instructors were trained. They taught the four principle units of instruction, amounting to sixty of the seventy-two hours. The flight training initially was conducted by the Alabama Air Service, owned and operated by Joseph W. Allen out of the municipal airport in Montgomery, who stated that he had no reservations about teaching blacks to fly.

March 25, 1940 should be remembered and embedded in the minds of everyone. On that date George A. Wiggs arrived in Tuskegee to administer the standard written examination required of all Civilian Pilot Training students. After administering and grading the exams, he revealed that the Tuskegee students had passed every subject. They had become the only southern school with a 100 percent pass rated, but had done so by a wide margin in comparison to Georgia Tech., Auburn, and North Carolina. Prior to that time in the seven southern states, no college had a record of 100% passing on the first examination.

The average score was 88 percent. One third of the students scored above 90 percent. The lowest score was 78 percent and the highest scores were recorded by Charles R. Foxx, who averaged 97 percent, Alexander S. Anderson with 96 percent, and Elvatus C. Morris with 95 percent.

The students almost equaled the 100 percent pass rate on the flight evaluations, By the end of May 1940, when the flight phase was completed all but one of the students had passed the flight examination administered by the Civil Aeronautics Administration inspectors and received their private pilot license.

Charles Foxx became one of the seven students in the southeastern region to compete for the Shell Intercollegiate Aviation Scholarship, and was one of only forty-nine students in the nation to vie for the $1,500 scholarship. He had been selected not only for his near-perfect score on the written examination, but also because he was a superb pilot with superior flying skills. C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson recalled many years later that in his fifty years of flying he had “never seen a person as slick a pilot as Charlie Foxx. He was a natural born pilot.”

As we go through the revelry over the dedication and record of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, let us also remember the foresightedness, advocacy, fortitude, and courageous efforts by members of the National Airmen Association of America, especially Chauncey Spencer and Dale White; strong supporters, such as, Enoch Waters of the Chicago Defender, Robert Vann of the Pittsburgh Courier, the Jones Brothers, Walter White and James Weldon Johnson of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Lester Granger of the National Urban League; Senator Harry S. Truman, Congressman Everett Dirksen and other lawmaker who believed in and supported the effort; the students in the first CPT class at Tuskegee who proved that they could compete and excel along side their white counterpart; ground school instructors Robert Pitts, Bloomfield Cornell, and flight instructor Joseph W. Allen.

Finally, let us never forget the men and women who organized and became charter members of the National Airmen Association of America; the organization's staunch supporters; the students of the first Civilian Pilot Training class at Tuskegee; Lewis Jackson, Chief Administrative Officer; C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson, Chief Flight Instructor; the civilian flight instructors; support personnel of the 66th Army Air Corps Flight Training Detachment; and others, through their dedication and competency, who contributed by proving that people of African descent could excel in the field of aviation and soar among the best of them despite existing prejudices, apprehensions and intimidations.

The record speaks for itself.

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REFERENCES:

Jakeman, Robert J. THE DIVIDED SKIES: Establishing Segregated Flight Training at Tuskegee, Alabama, 1934-1942. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1992.

Nalty, Bernard C. STRENGTH FOR THE FIGHT: A History of Black Americans in the Military. New York: The Free Press (A Division of Macmillan, Inc.),1986.

Spencer, Chauncey. WHO IS CHAUNCEY SPENCER? Detroit: Broadside Press, 1975.

Spencer, Chauncey. Interview, October 15, 1994, Lynchburg, Virginia.



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