One of World War II's Tuskegee Airmen will lead the township's 55th Annual Memorial Day Parade this year.
Charles Nolley, a 99-year-old Edison N.J. resident, has been named the Grand Marshall in the upcoming parade, Mayor Thomas Lankey announced Friday.
Nolley was drafted into the second World War in 1943 and served as one of the first black aviators in the history of the U.S. armed forces.
He trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama to become part of the Army Air Corps' four squadrons of all all-black servicemen. Nolley flew combat mission over Europe for three years with the 99th Pursuit Squadron.
"Not only is Mr. Nolley a witness to history, he is living history. His story is one of perseverance, dedication, service and success," Lankey said in release. "We are privileged to have Charles and his wife Martha as neighbors, and we are honored to have him as our parade Grand Marshal."
We have lost another one, another hero, another example of excellence, we have lost another Tuskegee Airmen. God bless his soul.
Willie N. Rogers was an American hero, and at age 101, he was a living example of the nation's history.
He was a member of the "Greatest Generation," which defeated the Axis powers in World War II, doing his part as a master sergeant in the all-black Tuskegee Airmen during the era of racial segregation in the U.S. military.
The longtime St. Petersburg resident died Friday, 11/18/2016 from complications of a stroke.
He was the oldest surviving member of that original legendary 100th Fighter Squadron, The Tuskegee Airmen.
Mr. Rogers received his Congressional Gold Medal in November 2013.
Also in recent years, he was presented with the keys to the cities of Lakeland and St. Petersburg. His portrait hangs in the St. Petersburg Museum of History.
Those who drive on Interstate 65 through Jackson County (Indiana) will be reminded that America’s first African-American aviators and their support staff prepared for war here, while fighting for equality at home.
Beginning Friday, highway signs designated the stretch of the interstate from Seymour to the Bartholomew County/Johnson County line as the Tuskegee Airmen Highway in honor of the aviators, some who trained during World War II at Freeman Field in Seymour and Atterbury Air Force Base in Columbus.
Milton Pitts Crenchaw, of the original Tuskegee Airmen, was one of the first African Americans in the country and the first from Arkansas to be trained by the federal government as a civilian licensed pilot. He trained hundreds of cadet pilots while at Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute in the 1940s and was the catalyst in starting the first successful flight program at Philander Smith College in Little Rock (Pulaski County) from 1947 to 1953. His combined service record extends for over forty years of federal service from 1941 to 1983 with the U.S. Army (in the Army Air Corps) and eventually the U.S. Air Force.
Crenchaw received partial training and physical examinations at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, before returning to Tuskegee for another phase of primary instruction and advance courses in aviation piloting. He graduated with his civilian pilot license and then commercial pilot certificate on August 11, 1941. Crenchaw became a primary civilian flight instructor and eventually one of the two original supervising squadron commanders under Chief Pilot Charles A. Anderson. He and Charles Foxx were the first instructors for the first group of student pilot trainees between 1941 and 1946.
A Portland native who belonged to a groundbreaking World War II fighter squadron that helped lead the way toward desegregation of the U.S. military has died.
Eugene B. Jackson, 92, of North Marshfield, Massachusetts, died Sept. 20, according to his close friend and attorney, Paul Kaufman.
Jackson, who was born in Portland and graduated from Portland High School in 1941, served with the Tuskegee Air Squadron during World War II.
Jackson, who maintained the radio and communication equipment on the aircraft flown by the African-American pilots, received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007 along with other Tuskegee Airmen.
Calvin Spann, a New Jersey native and one of the original Tuskegee airmen, died Sunday at his home in Texas. He was 90.
Spann, who was born Nov. 28, 1924, and grew up in Rutherford, volunteered for the Army Air Corps and was sent to Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1943 to start aviation cadet training. He was sent to Italy as a replacement combat pilot after completing his training.
Lt. Spann flew 26 combat missions over Nazi Germany.
As a fighter pilot, he participated in the longest bomber escort mission in 15th Air Force history: a 1,600-mile, round-trip mission, from Ramitelli, Italy, to Berlin.
If you are like me you have a great respect for the Tuskegee Airmen. You can make the argument that without them there is no Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, they broke down barriers and showed the true strength and courage of black men. They valiantly fought for a country that they knew would treat them as second class citizens once the war was over, but they did it knowing what it would mean for the Black Community. Their military record and the commendations speak to the heroes that they were. But they are not the only black military heroes we should know of.
There were others such as The Harlem Hellfighters, The Montford Point Marines, Benjamin O. Davis, and The Golden 13. Learn a little more about them through test and video and get links to books about them below.
The Harlem Hellfighters
The Harlem Hellfighters were an African-American infantry unit in WWI who spent more time in combat than any other American unit. Despite their courage, sacrifice and dedication to their country, they returned home to face racism and segregation from their fellow countrymen.
With the beginning of World War II African Americans would get their chance to be in “the toughest outfit going,” the previously all-white Marine Corps. The first recruits reported to Montford Point, a small section of land on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on August 26, 1942. By October only 600 recruits had begun training although the call was for 1,000 for combat in the 51st and 52nd Composite Defense Battalions.
The men of the 51st soon distinguished themselves as the finest artillery gunners in the Marine Corps, breaking almost every accuracy record in training. Unfortunately, discrimination towards African American fighting abilities still existed and when shipped to the Pacific, the 51st and 52nd were posted to outlying islands away from the primary action. The only Montford Marines to see action, and record casualties, were the Ammunition and Depot Companies in Saipan, Guam, and Peleliu. Private Kenneth Tibbs was the first black Marine to lose his life on June 15, 1944.
Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. was an American United States Air Force general and commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen. He was the first African-American general officer in the United States Air Force.
In January 1944 sixteen black enlisted men gathered at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois to begin a cram course that would turn them into the U.S. Navy's first African-American officers on active duty. The men believed they could set back the course of racial justice if they failed and banded together so all would succeed. Despite the demanding pace, all sixteen passed the course. Twelve were commissioned as ensigns and a thirteenth was made a warrant officer. Years later these pioneers came to be known as the Golden Thirteen, but at the outset they were treated more as pariahs than pioneers. Often denied the privileges and respect routinely accorded white naval officers, they were given menial assignments unworthy of their abilities and training. Yet despite this discrimination, these inspirational young men broke new ground and opened the door for generations to come.
