The Tuskegee Airmen was a group of American military pilots (fighter and bomber pilots) who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477 Bombardment Group in the U. S. Army Air Force. Trained at Tuskegee Army airfield near Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and they were the first Black American military aviators in the armed forces.
During World War II, African-Americans in the Southern states were still subject to Jim Crow laws. Many white Southerners, maybe even a majority, thought that Black Americans should not become pilots. They were wrong.
On March 29, 1942, Eleanor Roosevelt, often reviled by white conservatives, visited Tuskegee Air Base. There, Alfred “Chief” Anderson took Mrs. Roosevelt for a 30-minute ride in a Piper J.P. Cub, which he piloted. After they landed, Mrs. Roosevelt cheerfully said, “Well, he certainly can fly alright.” Anderson, who had been flying since 1919, trained many of the Tuskegee Airmen to fly.
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, the only Black flying unit in the country, shipped out of Tuskegee in April 1943 bound for North Africa, where it joined the 332nd Fighter Group. The 99th flew its first combat mission to attack the small volcanic island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean to clear the sea lanes for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The 99th then moved to Sicily where it received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its stellar performance in combat.
The 99th next moved to Italy on the Adriatic coast where, as part of the 332nd Fighter Group in the 15th Air Force, flew strategic bombing raids over Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Germany. Flying escort for heavy bombers, the 332nd earned an impressive combat record. Allies called these airmen “Red Tails” or “Red Tailed Angels” because of the distinctive crimson unit identifications on the tail section of their planes. Once, fighters of the 99th unit set a record for destroying four enemy aircraft in under four minutes.
Three members of the “Red Tailed Angels” lived in Williamson County. Robert Murdic grew up on 11th Avenue in Franklin between Main and Natchez streets. Thomas Patton was the son of John T. Patton, who founded Patton Brothers Funeral Home, the oldest African-American Funeral Home in Middle Tennessee. He attended Fisk University before becoming a Tuskegee airman. A third Tuskegee airman, Dr. Geoge White, lived in Williamson County after the war.
In Franklin, Merrell Osborne hopes to raise the money to erect a Tennessee Historical Commission marker to honor these pioneer Black airmen. If you would like to help him, his email address is mojo13@comcast.net.