July 19, 1941
The Tuskegee Airmen, the nation’s first black military aviators, began training at the Tuskegee Institute’s Moton Field. Fighting America’s enemies abroad and racial injustice at home, nearly 1,000 pilots received training in Tuskegee. The airmen officially formed the 477th Bombardment Group and the 332nd Fighter Group, which flew 1,491 combat missions during World War II. They were awarded a combined 744 Air Medals, 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 14 Bronze Stars, one Silver Star and three Distinguished Unit Citations. In 2007, President George W. Bush presented a Congressional Gold Medal collectively to the Tuskegee Airmen.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, Tuskegee, Alabama. (Erin Harney, Alabama NewsCenter)
Hangar 1, original to Moton Field, contains the Visitor Center and a museum that focuses on cadet arrival and basic training. (Erin Harney, Alabama NewsCenter)
Restored Stearman PT-17 biplane on display in Hangar 1. (Erin Harney, Alabama NewsCenter)
Parachutes on display in Hangar 1. Alice Dungey Gray was Moton Field’s only permanent parachute rigger. (Erin Harney, Alabama NewsCenter)
Several Tuskegee airmen attending a briefing in Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945. (Photograph by Toni Frissell, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
Tuskegee airmen exiting the parachute room, Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945. (Photograph by Toni Frissell, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
“Fliers of a P-51 Mustang Group of the 15th Air Force in Italy `shoot the breeze’ in the shadow of one of the Mustangs they fly.” Left to right: Lt. Dempsey W. Morgan Jr.; Lt. Carroll S. Woods; Lt. Robert H. Nelson Jr.; Capt. Andrew D. Turner; and Lt. Clarence P. Lester. Photograph is estimated to have been taken in August 1944. (National Archives and Records Administration, U.S. Army)
Replica of a Red Tail-painted P-51 in Hangar 2. (Erin Harney, Alabama NewsCenter)
Museum display in Hangar 2. (Erin Harney, Alabama NewsCenter)
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
