Tuskegee Airmen Research Paper Outline

Prior to WWII, the U.S. Air Force did not employ African Americans in any role. However in 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Air Corps to build an all Negro flying unit. The presidential order caused the Army to create the 99th Pursuit Squadron(Tuskegee Airmen 2). To develop the Negro pilots needed for the new squadron, the Air Corps opened a new training base in central Alabama, at the Tuskegee Institute(Tuskegee Experiment 1).

The real turning point for Davis and his black combat airmen came when the 332nd was assigned escort duty for strategic bombers. The Red Tails never lost a bomber to enemy fighters and shot down three of the first jet fighters employed by the Germans. Their truly unique achievement was sinking an enemy destroyer. During the war Davis flew 60 missions and was awarded the Sliver Star, the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross for mission leadership.

Many have heard of the Tuskegee Airmen and their accomplishments. They were a group of African American fighter pilots. They proved to be quite vital to the success of World War II. What many people may not know is the Tuskegee Airmen had several squadrons which fought throughout Europe during the war. The most famous squadron was the 332nd fighter squadron, they were commonly known as the Red Tails. Charles McGee was among those men apart of the Red Tail squadron. Charles McGee is one of most notable men in the Red Tails due to his accomplishments throughout the war. I will be explaining his life and all of his accomplishments throughout this paper on famous individuals in aviation.

When the African-American fighter groups finally graduated from Tuskegee University, with great pride and courage, they proved that African-Americans are capable of doing anything other can do. The Tuskegee Airmen graduated from Tuskegee University and formed 4 all-black squadrons which would merge to become the 332nd squadron in Spring of 1943. When they were given their first mission to strafe the island of Pantelleria, they did not fail. In jaded, old P-39 and P-40 aircrafts, documented by the national museum of the United States Air Force, it is recorded at that same day, that the Allies, “secured the Italian island of Pantelleria.”(“Davis leads the 99th into Combat”). It continues, stating,” The unit scored its first aerial victory against the Luftwaffe on July 2 when Lt. Charles B. Hall shot down a Focke Wulf Fw 190 on his eighth

During this mission, the Tuskegee Airmen (then known as the 'Red Tails') destroyed three German ME-262 jet fighters and damaged five additional jet fighters. C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson earned his pilot's license in 1929 and became the first Black American to receive a commercial pilot's certificate in 1932, and, subsequently, to make a transcontinental flight.On March 24, 1944, a fleet of P-51 Mustangs led by Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, commander of the Tuskegee airmen, set out on the longest escort mission their crews would fly during World War II. They also had the oppurtonaty to get brand new planes. Service in the U.S. Army Air Corps had been limited to white personnel from its inception as part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1907 until near the end of the

Oppression against various ethnic groups could have been a point for other struggling ethnicities to be an extent and something they were trying to prevent of making worse, but on the other hand, World War II made it possible for African Americans to start participating in the

These men began their flight training, just like anything new, it was hard and extremely dangerous. Men committed suicide while flying the plane because it was too stressful and others crashed while flying and died. Some airmen even did a wash out, where the wing of the plane was stalling causing the plane to be uneven so it fell down. The First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, visits Tuskegee and decided to help the airmen out to show others how far they have come in

In World War II, all different races served in the military branches all over the world. There was a lot of racism going on throughout this period, with any race, but especially at this time it was happening with African Americans. African Americans struggled to be able to fight for their rights just to be able to protect their country. There are a lot of significant things concerning race that happened during WWII. Even though, the WWII did have a higher rate of blacks who had enlisted into the military. They still had segregated the troops not even just that it was their social life, church services, different functions; they were all segregated from each other. Earlier in the war, black soldiers

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black military pilots in the armed forces during World War 2. The Tuskegee airmen were the first African American people to be trained the United States Army to be certified pilots. There was 932 Tuskegee airmen who graduated from the pilot program sadly only 355 would ever serve in active duty. Since only the pilots were trained in Tuskegee, Alabama hints the name Tuskegee Airmen. The first Tuskegee airmen men consist of Willie Rogers, Lt. Colonel Washington Ross, Lt.Colonel Alexander Jefferson, Lt. Colonel Harry Stewart and Colonel Charles McGee. There first mission was with the 99th pursuit squadron and the 332rd fighter group in North Africa (The lonely Eagles) which was a success. After that the Tuskegee

Military until after WWII) was primarily composed of southerners, in which the ideas of slavery and segregation resonated throughout the ranks because of the old ideas of the confederates that occupied the south during the Civil War. This made it nearly impossible for black men to join the Airforce. In fact, in 1925 the Army War College conducted a study of black troops in World War I that concluded black men were mentally inferior compared to Whiteman and not capable of following orders and achieving victories in combat. However, in 1939 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attacked the military’s segregationist policies. In 1941 the NAACP turned to the court system to help fight the racist policy.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first all African American Airmen. Based in Tuskegee Alabama the term Tuskegee Airmen refers to all involved in the Tuskegee Experience. That included pilots, navigators, all the personnel who kept that planes in the air, and all the support staff instructors. Tuskegee Airmen were not commonly known until the late 1950’s early 1960’s during the Civil Rights movement. Many of the most famous Fighter Groups were the 99th, the 100th, the 301st, and the 302nd. The Airmen flew P-51 Mustangs and escorted American B-17’s and B-24’s. They struggled in the beginning of their careers because of the racial tension in America. Many Officers were incarcerated because they resisted segregation. Most of the times they were

The Tuskegee Airmen were very good pilots and became famous for doing excellent work. One of their jobs was keeping enemy fighter planes away from heavy bombers. All the men who flew in the bombers were white. But the Tuskegee Airmen were so good at protecting bombers that bomber crews started asking for the Red Tails to fly with them.

Throughout American history, African Americans have had to decide whether they belonged in the United States or if they should go elsewhere. Slavery no doubtfully had a great impact upon their decisions. However, despite their troubles African Americans made a grand contribution and a great impact on both armed forces of the Colonies and British. "The American Negro was a participant as well as a symbol."; (Quarles 7) African Americans were active on and off the battlefield, they personified the goal freedom, the reason for the war being fought by the Colonies and British. The African Americans were stuck in the middle of a war between white people. Their loyalty was not to one side or another, but to a principle, the principle of liberty.

December 7, 1941 was, "A day that will live in infamy." Said president FRD as the Japaneese bombed a naval base in Hawaiin called Pearl Harbor. This attack sent us flying into the war both figuratively and literally. One of the most memorable parts of the United States war effort was the construction of the Tuskegee Program. At this point in United States history, in many states the Jim Crow Laws were in place. Much like the Nuremburg Laws, the Jim Crow Laws restricted blacks from using many public utilities such as water fountains. The Tuskegee Institute was tasked with teaching black piolets how to fly as an expirement. At this time blacks were thought of as mentally and physically inferior to whites and the Tuskegee project was supposed to fail. The Tuskegee Airmen or "Red Tails" as they came to be called exceded expectations and did as good, if not better than the white piolets as they never lost a bomber.

During both WWI and WWII many African Americans were murdered as a result of fighting for the same rights and freedom that the white American population upheld. During World War I 51,822 African Americans were killed, this number almost doubled during World War II totaling to 104,625 deaths. During both WWI and WWII African Americans were treated very poorly. A majority of the population tried to move North away from the Jim Crow South but conditions were not better. Although there was racism during the World Wars, African Americans still showed their support by enlisting to fight for the United States. African Americans thought that their participation in fighting for this country would grant them rights as first class citizens and give them the same respect as the white population. The Jim Crow South was much more prejudice than the North but the Northern States lacked opportunity and success for the African American population. The book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a profound example of showing racism after World War I. It shows the struggle African Americans went through; an example is with Tom Robinson who is a black man falsely accused of raping a white women. Robinson was sentenced to death with little to no evidence that he committed such crime. This book shows how racism in the South contributed to the injustice of courts and lack of hope for African Americans.