Ashley Andrez

8 August 2016
History 153 & 132935
Tuskegee Airman
The Tuskegee Airman were African American men that were the first African American
men to be a part of the military and to fly planes. These men were not allowed to really do any
thing after the slave trade since people still would judge them because of the color of their skin.
African American men were able to join the military but really could not be a part of the
military and fight on the line at first. After awhile they were moving up to where they were
actually able to serve along side of the other men that are a part of the military. With these men
slowly showing that they can do things they were able to start flying planes. The name Tuskegee
Airman came from an all African- American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in
1941.1 The Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most
highly respected fighter groups of World War II.2
There were many pilots, ground personnel that served with the African American units. Though
subject to racial discrimination both at home and abroad, the 996 pilots and more than 15,000
ground personnel who served with the all black units would be credited with some 15,500
combat sorties and earn over 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses for their achievements.3 These

1 http://tuskegeeairmen.org/explore-tai/a-brief-history/

2 http://tuskegeeairmen.org/explore-tai/a-brief-history/

3 http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/tuskegee-airmen

men not only put their lives on the line along with all of the other men but they were dedicated,
determined young men who volunteered to become Americas first black military airmen.4
There were many people who thought that black men lacked intelligence, skill, courage and
patriotism.5 People may have believed this but once these men were actually apart of the
military and slowly when they were working their way up was when some people started to
realize are not all African Americans lacked intelligence. Those who possessed the physical and
mental qualifications were accepted as aviation cadets to be trained initially as single-engine
pilots and later to be either twin-engine pilots, navigators or bombardiers.6 It may have been this
easy at the time but the years before there was a lot more to wanting to become apart of the
military. After the years african americans were able to be apart of the military and be apart of
the military and to make a change. Many applied to U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) flight
training program, but all were initially rejected because of the color of their skin.7 This goes
back to what I was just saying earlier to the fact that people would judge them because of the
color of their skin.

4 http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/tuskegee-airmen &
http://www.tuskegeemuseum.org/who-were-they/

5 http://www.tuskegeemuseum.org/who-were-they/

6 http://www.tuskegeemuseum.org/who-were-they/

7 http://www.redtail.org/the-tuskegee-airmen/

Works Cited
Tuskegee Airman. history.com. Web. 8 August 2016.
Tuskegee Airman Facts. Tuskegee University. Web. 8 August 2016.
Who Were They?. The Tuskegee Airman National Historical Museum. 2015. Web. 8 August
2016.
The Tuskegee Airman. Caf red tail squadron. Web. 8 August 2016.
Overcoming Adversity. Tuskegee Airmen History. Web. 8 August 2016.