General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.

Chapter San Diego

San Diego, CA.

Editor: Oscar D. Teel President: George E. Watson March 2011

Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.

Herbert L. Blackman, Jr 1927-2011

It is with deep re-gret that we report the passing of one of the Chapter’s hard-est working mem-bers. Herb passed away on January 23. Herb was born in At-lantic City, New Jer-sey and spent his early years there and in Lexington, Ky. Herb received a Bachelor’s degree

from Howard University and a Master’s Degree from Purdue University. He retired from the Air Force after a career in Civil Engineering. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Lolitta, who is also a Chapter member. Herb took care of all of our equipment, books, posters, furniture etc., and many, many times he hauled our equipment to street fairs and retrieved them to put them back in storage. He was on the Scholarship Committee and always wanted the best for our youth. Herb also held the office of Correspond-ing Secretary. Herb often accompanied Chap-ter speakers to events to give them support.. At our major events He took care of all of the fa-cilities and interfacing with the proper authorities for buses to bring the children. You seldom knew he was there because he remained in the background. Herb was never an angry man; he always smiled, he spoke softly. He was a joy to work with. He exhibited these traits always and we, should try to emulate him. We offer our sincere condolences to the Blackman family.

THE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Greetings Fellow Chapter Members

Here we are well into a new year and it looks like it’s going to be another busy one. In 2010 we lost two of our Chapter members, Bob Maxwell and Herb Blackman and a former chap-ter member, John

Smith. Let us continue our prayers for their families as they forge ahead without their loved ones. You read about Bob in our previous newsletter and you’ll read more about Herb in this one. John Smith was a military veteran’s man. If a veteran was involved, John was in-volved and doing all he could to help. In December, we had election/reelection of offi-cers. Thank you for re-electing me as your president. Jeff Woodson will remain as our VP, Arlys Erickson as Treasurer, and Bill McNeil as Recording secretary. Congratulations to Paulette Mello as our corresponding secretary. More about Paulette later. Also, at our end of the year meeting we emphasized the impor-tance of our youth program and activities. Mary Snear-McNeil will be our chair person. It’s look-ing real good as Mary Snear-McNeil, Arlys Erickson and Paulette Mello are doing a fantas-tic job organizing an event for late April. Paulette Mello: What can we say about her? Perhaps not enough. She, along with her fam-ily, Joe and Cheyenne (Cheyenne, a youth The President’s Message continues on page 4

George Watson Chapter President

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The following correspondence was received from Zellie Rainey Orr. It is a very important piece of history and you should consider it when giving presentations about the Tuskegee Airmen. It is a tes-timony to the character of the Tuskegee Airmen that even in times of extreme stress, they were able to practice civility and be excellent hosts. Ed.

TODAY IN TUSKEGEE AIRMEN HISTORY: By Zellie Rainey Orr December 29, 1944, the weather was notorious and unyielding. Encountering zero visibility, some eighteen B-24 bomber crews were returning from a mission, flying in the wrong direction. Running low on fuel and headed towards the Adriatic, they were in imminent danger. However, the alert re-sponse by the on-duty control tower operator at Ramitelli, in recognizing the sound of the engines. ...aided in effecting a safe landing.

In juggling a forced landing of the big "heavies" (bombers) at Ramitelli on its short airstrip built for fighters. ..and the "red-tail" (fighter) pilots returning from their mission...the lives of some 180 bomb crewmen were saved. The unrelenting weather stranded the white visitors for several days at the Negro base, forging a historical milestone--blacks and whites. ..living, eating, and sleeping together.

My research would divulge, seventeen of the eighteen bomb crews were from the 485th Bombard-ment Group (and one from the 455th). Thus, I would begin filling in the missing pieces via my con-tact with Jerry Whiting and Dan Haulman. Jerry is the Historian of the 485th BG, and son of Wayne Whiting, a tail gunner with the 485th that was temporarily "housed" at Ramitelli. Dan is Chief of the Organizational History Division (Air Force Historical Research Agency) at Maxwell.

Prior to the departure of the B-24's, the 332nd Fighter Group Public Relations Officer, Eugene Weaver, placed a letter in each plane. Below is a copy of that letter (from Jerry). Also, a copy of the Letter of Appreciation from the Commanding Officer of the 485t BG, Col. Jack Tomhave, to the 366th Air Service Squadron of the 332nd FG (from Dan)

TO THE VISITING PILOTS AND CREWS:

YOU HAVE BEEN THE GUESTS OF THE 332ND ALL NEGRO FLIGHTER GROUP. WE HOPE THAT OUR FACILITIES, SUCH AS THEY ARE, WERE SUITABLE AND ADEQUATE ENOUGH TO HAVE MADE YOUR STAY HERE A PLEASANT ONE. ON BEHALF OF COLONEL DAVIS AND THE COMMAND, I EXTEND TO YOU OUR MOST HEARTY WISHES FOR A HAPPY NEW YEAR AND MANY HAPPIER LANDINGS. YOU ARE WELCOME TO RETURN HERE AT ANY TIME AND I AM SURE THAT WE CAN MAKE YOUR STAY AN ENJOYABLE ONE. THE PILOTS OF THIS COMMAND HAVE EXPRESSED THEIR DESIRES TO HAVE IT MADE CLEAR THAT IT IS A PLEASURE TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT YOU AND LOOK AFTER YOUR WELL-BEING BOTH IN THE AIR AND HERE ON THE GROUND. REMEMBER, WHEN YOU ARE UP THERE AND SEE THE RED TAILED MUSTANGS IN THE SKY, THEY ARE YOUR FRIENDS OF THE 332ND FIGHTER GROUP. HERE IS HOPING FOR A QUICK ENDING OF THE WAR AND A BETTER AND MORE PEACEFUL WORLD.

MANY HAPPY LANDINGS,

/s/ Eugene D. Weaver EUGENE D. WEAVER

Capt., Air Corps, Public Relations O.

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Headquarters 485th Bombardment Group (H)

APO 529 US ARMY

6 January 1945

Major E. Jones, Jr. 366th Air Service Squadron APO 520, US Army Dear Major Jones,

On behalf of the Officers and Enlisted Men of 485th Bombardment Group, I want to personally thank you for the courtesy and assistance which you and the personnel of the 366th Air Service Squadron so splendidly offered to our crews which landed at your base on 29 December 1944. I fully realize what an inconvenience this forced landing must have made on your facilities, and the remarkable manner in which you people of the 15th Fighter Command rose to the situation is all the more com-mendable. The very able assistance which your Service Squadron has given to the 332nd Fighter Group is well known, and now you have proven yourselves just as capable in servicing our heavy bombers.

Sincerely yours,

/s/Jack P. Tomhave JACK P. TOMHAVE Colonel, Air Corps Commanding

DO YOU REMEMBER

...when The City of Lancaster, Cali-fornia, honored the Tuskegee Airmen?

A number of the Los Angeles and San Diego Chapter mem-bers were in at-tendance. February 28, 1999

President Column, continued from Page 1 chapter member) were very instrumental in get-ting us a space and setting up a booth at North Island for the Centennial of Naval Aviation. Thanks guys! Also, thanks to the Rowe family (Claude our Documented Original Tuskegee Air-man who attended) and the McNeil’s for braving the traffic. Me? I didn’t have a traffic problem because I was in the air flying in the T-34 forma-tion…really exciting. Never thought I’d being do-ing that. Again, a big thank you to everyone. Welcome to our new members, Mrs Winnie Rowe, Dorothy Rowe, Mrs. Hilda Teel, Mrs. Mary Snear-McNeil, and youth member, Cheyene Mello. We had an exciting weekend in Palms Springs on the 18th and 19th of March—T34 Fly-in at the Palms Springs Air Museum. Oscar Teel came by and was my GIB (guy in the backseat) for one flight on Saturday. We had fun…didn’t we Oscar? But man it was windy (bumpy ride). I very briefly checked my rear view mirror and Oscar appeared to be enjoying it. Me? I wanted to get out. I’ll have an auto biography in the next newsletter for the whole world to see. May we always have a tail wind and keep the shiny side up.

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SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

They never lost a bomber chronicle - Below is the statement recommended by the TAI Harry A. Sheppard Research Committee, and agreed upon by the Board of Directors, as the best way to end the controversy. Your National Board is recommending that TAI Chapter Presidents inform their members ac-cordingly and adhere to below language or the essence of the statements contained therein. "The results of the extensive research investiga-tions by several independent investigators in reviewing the records of the 332nd Fighter Group and all other fighter groups of 15th Air Force, 15th AF Bomber Wings and Groups and Missing Air Crew (MAC) Reports at the Air Force Historical Research Agency and the Na-tional Archives, revealed that some bombers were lost to enemy aircraft while being escorted by the 332nd Fighter Group during the period June 1, 1944 to the end of the war. Regardless of these latest findings, the 332nd FG still had an outstanding combat record (that) inspired revolutionary reform in the United States Armed Forces." It is requested that all Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen and other Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., members discontinue making any state-ment that implies that 332nd FG "Never lost a bomber to enemy aircraft" and further it is rec-ommended that for good public relations that they correct others who have been misinformed or who are making inaccurate or incorrect state-ments. The above article, used with permission, is reprinted from the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Newsletter, Winter Edition-January 2011

VISIT OUR WEBSITE Tuskegeeaisd.org

COMMENTS OR INPUTS FOR FUTURE NEWSLETTERS

odteel@hotmail.com

If you fly in the back seat with George piloting, he looks like this..

CHECK THESE OUT! In our area, less than 100 miles away, we have three fine air museums with Tuskegee Airmen displays: San Diego Air and Space Museum, March Reserve Air Base Museum and the Palm Springs Air Museum.

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2011 TUSKEGEE AIRMEN NATIONAL CONVENTION

SAVE THE DATE

The East Coast Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. (ECCTAI) is honored to host the 40th Annual Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. National Convention, Au-gust 2-7, 2011, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, MD, just outside Washington, DC. The theme for the event is “70 Years of Aviation Excellence: Then, Now, the FUTURE.” We will honor the 70th Anniversary and the start of the “Tuskegee Airmen Experience when in 1941 Afri-can-Americans and other disadvantaged ethnic groups began their exploits to serve their country in an honorable manner in the military. As you know, the “Airmen” laid the foundation proving that all citizens, given the opportunity, could perform in an exceptional manner and with distinction. This significant milestone should be the largest gathering of Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen in recent history. Registration for the convention will open March 1, 2011and close May 31, 2011. Late registration will be allowed through June 30, 2011 at an in-creased registration fee. You may reserve your room at the Gaylord, at the convention rate of $129.00 per night, by visiting www.tuskegeeairmen.org or www.ecctai.org and clicking on “convention” or calling (301)965-4000. The convention rate is good three days prior to and after the convention. A pre-convention event hosted by the East Coast Chapter will be the “Benjamin O. Davis Golf Tournament” on August 1, 2011 at Joint Base Andrews, MD. Visit www.ecctai.org for more information.

COME EARLY AND ENJOY THE FUN!

SEE YOU IN D.C. The above article is reprinted from the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Newsletter, Winter Edition-January 2011

Red Tails - The Movie

Red Tails, the movie is coming to local theaters in the very near future The expected release date is late 2011. The movie is a fictional story inspired by the his-toric and heroic exploits of America's first all black aerial combat units, who overcame racism to become the Tuskegee Airmen, a distinguished group of individuals who broke the color barrier forming several first all-black aviation units in US history. The film's title comes from the distinctive red painted tails on the Airmen's planes. The movie is produced by George Lucas and di-rected by Anthony Hemingway. His credits in-cluded The Wire, Battlestar Galactica and CSl New York, and will showcase the skill of the Tus-kegee pilots Quoted in a release George Lucas said, "I've been wanting to do " Red Tails" for 20 years, and we've finally got the means to showcase the skill of the Tuskegee pilots. We're working on tech-niques which will give us the first true look at the aerial dog fighting of the era. And our top notch cast will really make this story special" The movie boasts an ‘a’ list of actors, including Cuba Gooding Jr, Bryan Cranstoll, Daniela Rush, Terrence Howard, Gerald McRaney, Tristan Wilds, Robert Kazinsky, Michael B Jordan, Lee Tergesen, Andre Royo and Cliff Smith (aka Method Man) to name a few. The above article is reprinted from the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Newsletter, Winter Edition-January 2011

WE NEED YOUR HELP

We have some activities coming up and we need your help. A tour of the Lindbergh tower is scheduled, the Young Eagles will show up on April 23 and we will participate for two days in Wings over Gillespie in late May. Contact President Watson and hold up your right hand. You’ll be glad you did. Wouldn’t you like to head the Scholarship Committee?

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Centennial of Naval Aviation Celebrating 100 years of Naval Aviation

1911-2011

Thanks to the Mello family, Paulette, Joe and Cheyenne, our Chapter was well represented to assist the Navy in its Centennial celebration. Paulette, ably assisted by her husband and daughter, arrived early to set up the tables and displays. If you did not arrived early, perhaps you got to see the fly-bys from the Coronado Bridge. Other members stuck in the traffic in-cluded Capt. Claude Rowe and the McNeil fam-ily, Bill and Mary. The Chapter president, George Watson, was the lucky one. He piloted a T-34 and his three-plane formation was one of the first to pass in review.

Paulette, Cheyenne and Joe Mello

Tuskegee Airmen Capt. Claude Rowe and Paulette Mello

Paulette Mello setting up the displays

Over 190 airplanes were involved in the fly-by which was opened and closed by the Blue An-gels. Seventy-eight aircraft of all types were dis-played on the ground including one of the oldest a JN-4H Jenny and one of the newest, the un-manned Global Hawk..

CHARLES C. SHOCKLEY AUTHOR

Charles Shockley, former president of this Chapter, with time on his hands, has written two books. Shockley had an exciting career as an Army officer during the era when civil rights were introduced to the South. He was in uni-form and he was on the front line. We high-lighted his experiences in an early article which we will reprint at a later date. In the meantime, consider obtaining his books. One book is : Conflict in Black & White, Memories of a Civil Rights Soldier 1960 and 1962. The second book is titled Flying into History, the story of an Afri-can American aviator during the Vietnam War, Cold War, and as the first black executive pilot for a fortune 500 Corporation. These books may be ordered through the publishers website: “By Books on the Web”.com(BBOTW.COM). Just search under Shockley as the author. They can also be purchased through Amazon.com. There is a wonderful display of Shockley at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. Please go see it and the Tuskegee Airmen display.

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My life at Keesler Keesler Field, Mississippi, that is

By Oscar D. Teel

I spend a lot of time

working on the geneal-ogy of my family. I wanted to know from whence I came. There are over 400 names in my files. I am also en-couraged to write about my experiences in the military. Do your chil-dren, grandchildren, etc., know what you did? I did nothing truly exciting but they still ask. One day yours will wonder, too. I suggest you start writing today. This is the beginning of

my experiences. For my family, I intend to write about my military experience and my life after retir-ing, which to me was just as exciting. My military career started at Ft. Hancock, New Jersey, November 1945, where I had a physical, and a few tests. The second day in the Army, after hav-ing been issued uniforms and a warm overcoat, I was put on guard duty, at night, walking on top of a wall overlooking the dark Atlantic Ocean. Three days later I was on a troop train heading for Keesler Field, Mississippi. There I met 13 other guys and we were told we were going to Tuskegee. We did not have assigned duties because we were waiting for orders to Tuskegee. Yes, we did have details like KP and guard duty. I hooked up with guys on the flight line. There, the black guys took care of the AT-6s. They taught me how to run them up and we got to fly any day our plane flew. We later got some P-51s and they taught me how to run them up also. In later years I was qualified to run-up F-106s. One day, at Keesler, some of the squadron pilots were flying a C-47 to Willow Grove in Pennsylvania. I went with them. We were there overnight. We all slept together in the same room. When we returned to Keesler we went back to our segregated routine. I also got to fly in a B-25. I climbed through a little square hole to get up to the nose for a wonderful view. I see B-25s today but can no longer get through that little hole. This idyllic setting changed when the first ser-geant called the 14 of us together and told us

Tuskegee had closed and we would remain at Keesler. We were all made clerks. There were two black squadrons, F-1 and F-2, (both with the desig-nation ‘Aviation’) and we were split up, half to each squadron. When I told the first sergeant, M/Sgt. Cleophas H. Taylor, that I knew nothing about typ-ing, he replied “You’ll learn, boy.” After the military was integrated I was able to get into radar. A few weeks later, guys were arriving from Tus-kegee since it had closed. The only one I remember meeting was one named Claude Platt. We were told that he had been an instructor pilot at Tuskegee. I think he later flew for United Airlines. Mississippi was segregated and not a very pleas-ant place unless you stayed on the base, which was also segregated. We had our own hobby shop, PX, Service Club, Gym and Movie Theatre. We had one black officer, 2d Lt Caldwell, and he was billeted in a large building of probably 20 rooms all by himself. As a clerk typist I did general typing and the Morning Report. A few months before I was due to be discharged, I was assigned as a clerk in a white squadron. Everyone else had desks in the front of the big orderly room and mine was way in the back. But, I did get a letter of commendation from that squadron commander. A few months ago I attempted to find some of the 13 other guys who were in the class with me waiting to go to Tuskegee and also S/Sgt Herman Brandon who was in charge of us on the flight line. The note I got back from the Air Force on five guys I asked about just said ‘deceased’ by their names. Interestingly, I had forgotten about my almost be-coming a Tuskegee Airmen. While on a trip to North Carolina I took a chance to call a guy, Henry F. Ed-wards, who had been one of the chief clerks and was sort of a mentor to me. He left the military in 1946 and earned a PhD in Education. After about 30 years he was still living in the same town and was in the phone directory. He knew we were sup-posed to go to Tuskegee and asked me if I ever got there. My answer was in the negative. We were young, energetic, somewhat intelligent, slim, really slim, and just so full of life. It is terrible to realize that these guys who I knew so well who were so vibrant and with such great expectations are no longer with us. But, that is our destiny. I look at my few photos of them and it brings back good memo-ries. And good memories are pleasant to have.

I regret that I never stayed in contact with any of the other guys. We had a lot in common. But, we had the unfortunate luck of arriving after the war ended and just missed going to Tuskegee.

CMSgt Oscar D. Teel A few days before retiring

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The family of long time members of our Chapter, Ted and Margo Leim-bach. “These are just my grandchil-dren”, according to Ted. Ted was treasurer of the Chapter for many years.

DO YOU REMEMBER? On 14 January 1999, 8 members from our chapter and two from the Inland Empire Chapter were invited to visit the aircraft carrier, CV-64, USS Constellation, that was somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean. The visit was ar-ranged by chapter member Jerry Moore, Jr. Pictured above on deck are George Mitchell, Nelson Robinson, uni-dentified crewmember, Sailor of the Year CPO Jerry Moore, Jr., Louis Murray (now deceased) and Chapter Vice President Danny Allen. Others on the visit not pictured are Eugene Cheatham, Jr. (now deceased), William B. Ellis, Alphonso L. Harris, Thurman Pirtle, Oscar Teel, and Buford Johnson. The group left North Island NAS on a C-2 type aircraft and 45 minutes later were ‘trapped’ on the carrier. The next day after giving presentations to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday, they were catapulted off and returned home.

PAULETTE MELLO A Dynamo in our Chapter

I was a

teenager when I first saw the Blue Angels flying their A-4F aircraft at an air show at NAS Moffett Field in Mountain View, CA. That is when my inter-est in aviation and aerospace literally took off. When I started attending a

community college in the Silicon Valley area, I coincidently landed a job at NASA Ames Re-search Center. I initially started working in HR but found myself spending my lunch time walking by the flight line and wind tunnels. Eventually, I net-worked my way and was able to transfer to the Aircraft Worthiness department as an office clerk and also assisted engineers with AutoCAD draw-ings. It was amazing to work around such re-search aircraft like the U-2, T-38, C-130 and UH-60 helo. It fueled my interest to one day have a career in aviation. Many years later and after a traumatic life event in which I had to put school and my future plans on hold, I am now actively pursuing that goal again. I have been attending Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and I am not going to lie, it has been a challenge returning back to school after all these years. But when I look at the previ-ous women in aviation history like Bessie Cole-man, who have had to endure much to break bar-riers and paved the path for me, my grumbling stops. Bessie Coleman broke barriers of both ra-cial and gender stereotypes with her passion and desire to learn how to fly. Her success, even though short-lived, provided a stepping stone for other Blacks to enter the realm of aviation. I do not necessarily want to learn how to fly (sorry George), but the field itself fascinates me. Being an African woman and having the

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interest in aviation, I am literally in a minority category as there are not a whole lot of women of color out there in the aviation field. Being a part of our Tuskegee Airmen chapter in addition to being the outreach co-chair for the San Diego Women in Aviation chapter, have been a blessing for me to be a part of, especially at this juncture in my life as I look toward future endeavors. A priority goal that we have discussed in our chapter is reaching out toward the youth. Coming from someone who did not have that support and men-torship in my career selection, this goal is very important to me. As we have embarked on a new year, I look forward to working and contributing my part towards this objective. (A much thinner me with the UH-60 used in the Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) Program at NASA Ames)

TUSKEGEE AIRMEN CHRONOLOGY

We have copies of the Tuskegee Airmen

Chronology that depicts in fine detail activities of the Tuskegee Airmen from activation of the Ci-vilian Pilot Training Act of 1939 up to the inacti-vation of the 332nd Fighter Group on 1 July 1949. This report is the work of Dr. David L. Haulman, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency. This is an expanded edition dated 4 January 2011. This Chronology is a must if you are inter-ested in the history and day-to-day activities of the Tuskegee Airmen, including each mission they flew, from the beginning to the end. We have made a few copies of this 70 page document and will loan copies to our Chapter members or whoever would like to read it.

BILL McNEIL By Bill (Big Dog) McNeil

I have always had an interest in airplanes: I recalled as a little boy asking my mother why were the flood-lights shinning in the sky. My mother in-formed me that was the way they searched for loss air-crafts. I later found out neither was true, it wasn’t floodlights and a search was not taken place: it actually

was the rotating beacon reflecting off the clouds. I continued this interest in High School, I would take the EL, short for Elevated Train, to the last stop or the end of the line to the Northeast Phila-delphia Airport to watch airplanes take-off and land at the small airport. I would visit so often the air controllers invited me to visit the control tower to observe a closer look at the operation. Iit was fascinating my first exposure to air traffic control. Note: Many years later this was the first facility I was assigned to by the FAA as an Air Traffic Manager, more on my FAA career later. After graduating from High School I worked for a couple years in private industry. My career was going nowhere so I thought it was time for change. I decided to join the Navy. Initially I was assigned to UDT, Under Water Demolition Team precursor to the SEALS. Due to an injury I was forced to go into a different direction. That’s when I choose to be an Air Controller in the Navy. I was sent to Class A school in Georgia. Upon gradua-tion I was assigned to NAS Cecil Field in Jack-sonville, FL first major jet port in the Navy. I then was assigned the USS Enterprise first nuclear power aircraft carrier in the Navy. I served two nine months tours of duty in Viet Nam for total of 18 months. While in Viet Nam I was detailed to a South Korean ROK Tiger Group, in which every-one had a Tenth degree black belt. The Korean’s took no prisoners of war!

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After leaving the Navy I held several jobs before settling in with the FAA. I had a fun career with the FAA. I was first employed at the New York Common IFR Room which housed the radar room for Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Air-ports. Later on I transferred to Kennedy Tower because I wanted to visually see the airplanes. From Kennedy Tower I transferred to Philadel-phia International Tower until we had a nation wide strike, in which I chose not to participate. I was then asked to return to New York as a Su-pervisor to help the agency recover from this job action. Once the recovery settled down I trans-ferred to the Regional Office as an Air Traffic expert in the Operation Branch. After leaving the Regional Office,, I became the Air Traffic Man-ager of the Northeast Tower in Philadelphia and for a short period of time I was the Air Traffic Manager for Northeast Tower and Trenton Tower at the same time. I also should mention that the Northeast Tower was awarded Facility of Year under my leadership. I was then transferred to Newark Tower, as the Deputy Air Traffic Manager. Later on I became the Acting Air Traffic Manager. I then transferred back to the Regional Office as a Section Super-visor in Airspace, Procedures and Traffic Man-agement Branch. I then transferred to San Diego TRACON as the Training and Quality As-surance Manager. The Southern California TRACON absorbed San Diego, Los Angeles, Burbank, Coast and Ontario TRACONS all un-der one roof for which I was the Training Man-ager. I held several other positions before retir-ing in 2002. I now work part-time in the Pro-Shop at Welk Resort in Escondido. What I won’t do for free golf! Note: Bill is Chapter Recording Secretary

WELL, I DO DECLARE! I’ll bet this never happened on Bill’s watch. Did you read about the air traffic controller who fell asleep and the pilots landed safely anyway? How about the one who took a potty break and locked himself out of the tower? Flying is safer than ever…….

WE RECOMMEND Books and Places

The March 2000 edition of By Request pro-vided a list of recommended books and articles on Black flyers and issues of segregation. One of our long time members suggested we revisit that subject and she, Christine Epstein, not only of-fered books but places to visit. Please join us in expanding our list. Chris recommended Views From the Back of the Bus During WWII by Dempsey J. Travis, published in 1995. Travis was a self-made millionaire, who sold real estate in Chicago. He was the author of several books and passed away in 2009.

For those of you who travel, Chris also sug-gests listing places which have Tuskegee Airman information on display. She recently read Jimmy Stewart's biography and learned the 8th Air Force Museum is in Pooler, a little town just outside of Savannah, Georgia. It has exhibits dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen. Next time she is in the area, this is a place she would visit. In Los An-geles, near the airport, is the Proud Bird restau-rant with a splendid display of the Tuskegee Air-men with a P-51, red tail in all, on display. Hilda and I took a vacation to Branson, Missouri, and saw a very nice display of Tuskegee Airmen at the museum. A visit to the Palm Springs Air Mu-seum is a must to see the very large Tuskegee Airmen Mural. We have also been to Moton Field, but before the Park Service renovated it. You must go there. Right here at home we have the San Diego Air and Space Museum with a P-51 painted in the colors of Tuskegee Airmen Roscoe Brown’s P-51, and a spotlight on one of our past chapter presidents, Charles Shockley.If you are in Louisville, Kentucky, visit the Tuske-gee Airmen Exhibit at the Muhammad Ali Center.

Bucholtz, Chris, 332nd Fighter Group—Tuskegee Airmen , Osprey Publishing

Moye, J. Todd, Freedom Flyers, New York: Ox-ford University Press

Maurer, M., Combat Squadron of the Air Force, World War II Homan, Lynn M. and Thomas Reilly, Black Knights, The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen, Pelican Publishing Co.

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Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Mrs. Carter’s obtaining her private

pilots’ license, from Tuskegee’s Civilian Pilot Training Program on

February 1, 2011 Mildred Hemmons

Carter was born on Sept 14, 1921 in Ben-son, Alabama. After spending her early childhood in Alabama, she moved with her parents to North Caro-lina. She graduated from high school at an early age of 15, and immediately began her college career at Tus-kegee Institute, Ala-bama. At the age of 19, she graduated with a degree in Business.

She was always interested in flying and applied to join the CPTP (Civilian Pilot Training Program). Due to her young age, was denied entrance to join this program. But, she applied again, and was accepted the second time and received her Private Pilot's li-cense in 1941. She then applied for the Advanced Program, but was denied on the basis that female pilots were not accepted in the Advanced Program. A few years later when the US Army began its re-cruiting of women pilots through the Women's Air Service Program (WASP), and while she was more than qualified, she was informed she was ineligible because they did not accept Negro Women. But, she has continued to be a private pilot and her inter-est in Aviation through the years by training young pilots. For many years, she has also been actively involved in many community programs as a volun-teer. In August 1942, she married Col. Herbert E. Carter, who is one of the famed and honored Tuske-gee Airmen. They have three children, five grand children and recently became great-grandparents of two grandsons. Mildred Carter might not think of herself as a liv-ing legend, but her accomplishments at a time and place when her race and gender were roadblocks, identify her as such.

The above article, used with permission, is reprinted from the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Central Region Newsletter, “The Central Line”, Jan-Feb 2011

Battle, Roy, Easier Said. Annapolis: Annapolis Publication, 1995.

Cooper, Ann and Charlie Cooper, Tuskegee’s Heroes. Osceola Motorbooks International pub-lishers, 1996.

Craven, Wesley and James L. Cates. The Army Air Force in World War II. Washington, DC: Of-fice of Air Force History, 1983.

Davis, Benjamin O., Jr. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. American, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Insti-tute Press, 1991.

Dryden, Charles W. A—Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1997.

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Page 12 By Request

By Request Page 13

From our April 1999 issue of By Request

CAPTAIN JAMES WALKER BAILED OUT OVER BELGRADE

Alfonso Harris sent in a clipping of Capt James Walker, now Lt. Col. Walker, retired. Capt. Walker was east of Belgrade when he bailed out of his crippled fighter plane during WWII. After landing he saw a teenager with a pistol in his belt. The teenager hid Capt. Walker and led him to partisans. The partisans hid him with the help of Serbs for 39 days until he was taken to a clearing and with some other Americans left in a U.S. C-46. (See an earlier edition of By Request when this subject was discussed. The 332nd flew cover for the C-46s when a lot of downed airmen were rescued from Yugoslavia.) Capt. Walker said he was treated better by the partisans in their homes than he was treated in the United States at that time. In 1971 Walker met the teenager who had emigrated to the US.

BLACK WOMAN TO LEAD COMBAT SHIP FOR FIRST TIME

Commander Michelle Howard has become the first black woman in history to command a combat vessel. Comdr. Howard commands the Rushmore and its crew of 19 officers and 250 enlisted men and women. The ship carries hundreds of Marines, landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles. The next in command is also a woman.

SEARCHING FOR LT. WIGGINS

Bea Wiggins-Ruffin is searching for information on her uncle a Tuskegee Airmen who was lost over Italy. She is interested in knowing which awards he received so that he may be honored during their family reunion in July. (Contact bruffin105@aol.com)

AL HARRIS SPEAKS AT EVA DAWSON COMMUNITY HALL

On February 3, 1999, Al Harris spoke to a gathering of children and adults on the accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen. The meeting was held in the Vista Library where Al also showed two films on the Tuskegee Airmen.

THE COAST GUARD CATCHES UP

Just in time for Black History month, thanks to Paulette Mello, we learn that Lt. JG La Shanda Holmes is the first black female helicopter pilot in U.S. Coast Guard history.

LEARN ON THE FLY The Tuskegee Airmen flew different type planes in combat starting with the P-39, P-40, P-47 and then the P-51. Sometimes when an organization got new airplanes, there wasn’t time to stop the war and transition the pilots from one type plane to another. When the famed 4th Fighter Group converted from P-47s to P-51s in February 1944, there was no time to stand down for an orderly transition. The Group commander, Col. Donald Blakeslee, said, "You can learn to fly `51s on the way to the target”. The Tuske-gee Airmen had the same training program.

MOTON FIELD Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, awarded the 2010 National Trust/ACHP

Award

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Site Restoration Project at Moton Field was one of 23 award winners in the 2010 National Trust Advi-sory Council on Historic Preservation Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation.. The National Trust celebrates the best of preservation by bestowing the awards upon indi-viduals, nonprofit organizations, public agencies and corporations whose contributions represent singular success in preserving, rehabilitating, or interpreting America’s architectural and cultural heritage.

The award was presented during the National Presentation Awards Presentation Ceremony Oct 29, 2010 at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas. During the awards ceremony that evening, Stephanie Meeks, President of the National Trust for Historical Preservation, said “From the Empire State Building to the airfield where the Tuskegee Airmen learned to fly, our 23 innovative, collabo-rative award winners reflect our country’s deep commitment to preserving the places that matter.” The above article, used with permission, is reprinted from the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Newsletter, Winter Edition-January 2011

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