[MilCom] Fighting a Two-Front War (The Virginian-Pilot - HamptonRoads.com-PilotO

[GrayGhost]

 http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=114055&ran=166438&tref=de

By PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 9, 2006

Their numbers dwindle with each year. But their legacy continues to grow.

The Tuskegee Airmen "were the Jackie Robinsons of the Air Force," said
Thurman Spriggs of Virginia Beach.

Spriggs, 85, was one of nearly 1,000 blacks during World War II to be chosen
by the Army Air Corps, as the Air Force was then called, to be trained to
fly and to maintain combat aircraft. The "Tuskegee Experiment" was based at
Tuskegee Airfield in Tuskegee, Ala.

Until then, blacks were prohibited from flying for the military. The
airmen's enormous success helped in the war effort and led to the
desegregation of the military in 1948.

In addition to Spriggs, there are at least six Tuskegee Airmen who live in
the Hampton Roads area. Almost all are members of the Tidewater Chapter of
the Tuskegee Airmen Inc., a national group that honors the military veterans
and helps educate the public about their accomplishments.

The Tidewater chapter has 79 members. You don't need to be black, male or a
former airman to join the group, said Yolanda Hinton, the chapter's
secretary.

The key membership requirement is an interest in preserving and perpetuating
the history of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Ron Brewington, spokesman for the national Tuskegee Airmen Inc., said a
"legacy," or original, Tuskegee Airmen is any man or woman, black or white,
who served, between 1941 and 1949 at Tuskegee Airfield, or in any of the
other programs stemming from the Tuskegee experiment.

In addition to the pilots, 15,000 to 18,000 men and women served as
navigators, mechanics, flight engineers or support personnel at Tuskegee.

There are 384 original Tuskegee Airmen, including 134 pilots, Brewington
said, among the 3,000 members of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc.


Reflecting the country's divided society in the 1940s, the Tuskegee Airmen
lived, trained and flew in segregated groups.

In spite of persistent skepticism about both their physical ability and
mental fitness, the airmen compiled a commendable service record, carving
their own niche in aviation history.

Half of the airmen - 450 pilots - served in Europe, flying in the 332nd
Fighter Group or the 99th Fighter Squadron, escorting and protecting the
heavy bombers, the B-17s and the B-24s.

Proud of their success rate, the black airmen distinguished their planes by
coloring the tail assemblies with the brightest red paint they could find.

Grant S. Williams Sr. reels off the achievements of the "Redtails," as they
were dubbed, as though they were his own name, rank and serial number.

Williams, 86, is a "legacy," or original Tuskegee Airman. He lives in
Hampton but is originally from Clover, Va., and retired from the Air Force.

Drafted in 1942, he was assigned to clerical duties at Tuskegee Army Air
Field.

He moved up the ranks. earning the Bronze Star for meritorious service in
Italy in 1944 and 1945.

Discharged from the Tuskegee Airmen in 1945, he enlisted in the Reserves the
same day and was called to active duty five years later.

For the next 24 years he served in administrative posts, including stints in
Japan, Turkey and Vietnam until he retired in 1975.

Now, Williams wears the red blazer of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc.


Emmett Taylor Hayes, of Hampton, was a teenager when he was trained as a
B-25 bomber pilot, flight engineer and gunner.

His oldest brother was also a Tuskegee Airmen but, Hayes said, while they
could fly in the same squadron, as brothers they were not allowed to fly in
the same plane.

The war was over before Hayes' squadron left for the Pacific and he was sent
to Japan on occupation duty.

He stayed in the Air Force and retired in 1968.

When he makes public appearances on behalf of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc.,
Hayes often fields questions about why so many of the airmen volunteered for
a military that ignored their civil rights.

"It was from a sense of duty - not patriotism," he said.

"I felt that I was serving to save my family, my farm and my friends."

He remembers flying in to Biloxi, Miss., where segregation was so pervasive
he described it as "like going into the jaws of Hell."

He slept in the airplane many nights, he said, rather than stay in the
quarters designated for blacks because they were so bad.

At Biloxi, he remembered, and at other bases, the credentials of even the
top-ranked Tuskegee Airmen such as Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James and Gen.
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. were often questioned.

He also remembers being stationed at Godman Airfield, near Fort Knox, Ky.,
and hearing of townspeople treating German and Italian prisoners of war with
more respect than they gave the Tuskegee Airmen.

But there were good memories, too, such as when his crew flew into Tuskegee
airfield and the cadets still in training there greeted them as heroes.

"It made us feel really big," he said.


As does Hayes, Thurman Spriggs of Virginia Beach remembers blatant
discrimination.

Spriggs, and a retired educator and university administrator, joined the
Tuskegee airmen in 1944, and learned to fly single-engine fighter planes.

He remembers a trip from Biloxi to Tuskegee when he and other airmen were
crammed into an overfilled "blacks only" train car while the 'white" car
carried only a single passenger.

Declining health prevents Spriggs from attending the chapter meetings.

But he applauds their mission of preserving the heritage of the Tuskegee
Airmen.

Rarely mentioned, he said, is how the success of the Tuskegee experiment
affected the military, opening new opportunities for blacks, including his
own younger brother who became a National Guard pilot.

One of the more recent chapter members, Dr. Robert M. Selden Jr., is a
dentist who practices in Norfolk and lives in Virginia Beach.

He joined the chapter out of concern that the history of the Tuskegee Airmen
"stay true."

His uncle, Wylie W. Selden Jr., who lives in Washington D.C., was a Tuskegee
Airmen pilot from Norfolk who flew a P-51 in Italy.

"We all knew he was a pilot, but he never talked about it," Selden said. "I
felt the family name should stay with the organization."


Charlie Fox, 88, of Norfolk, knew and remembers many of the original cadets.

He learned to fly in 1939 when he was a student at Tuskegee Institute (now
Tuskegee University).

In 1941, Fox, a civilian, became one of the first three flight instructors
to teach the original airmen to fly.

As more cadets came to Tuskegee, he oversaw their training until he left the
program in 1945.

Fox came to Norfolk and worked as a linotype operator for the Norfolk
Journal and Guide newspaper.

Years ago, he said, when he was physically able, he attended some of the
chapter meetings.

"They acquaint younger folks who are coming up as to what is possible," he
said.


Francis L. Horne Sr., a retired lieutenant colonel, of Hampton, became part
of the Tuskegee "experiment" when he was 20.

He was seeking adventure and was eager to leave his West Palm Beach, Fla.,
home.

He trained at Tuskegee as an aircraft mechanic's helper and a radio
repairman.

Although he reached the rank of sergeant, he never flew a plane.

Horne was bitter after the war because of the bigotry he experience in the
military. He went home, he said, and threw away his uniform.

But he couldn't readjust to civilian life, so he enrolled at Hampton
Institute (now Hampton University), and joined the ROTC program.

"They paid $19 a month," he said. "And after two years, in 1948, I got a
commission."

During the Korean War, Horne was called to active duty.

President Harry Truman had ordered the Armed Forces to integrate in 1948.

However, units reluctant to integrate would squeak by the order with a
single "necessary Negro," as Horne remembered the token blacks, including
him, were called.

The only black man in his outfit at Fort Bliss, Texas, Horne's vindication
was simple.

"Instead of being a token, a museum piece, I became better at my job than
most of the others," he said.

He was 35 when he was sent to Korea.

At one of the many military receptions he attended, Horne met a Korean
officer who changed his life.

"He referred to me as an American - not a darky, Negro, boy or colored - but
American," Horne said.

"I was 7,000 miles from home, and for the first time I had been called an
American. It was a turning point for me."


Reach Phyllis Speidell at (757) 222-5556 or e-mail phyllis.speidell@
pilotonline.com.