Black WWII Pilots
Honored by Congress
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, March 30, 2007
WASHINGTON -- President Bush
and Congress awarded the Tuskegee Airmen one of the nation's highest honors
Thursday for fighting to defend their country even as they faced bigotry at
home.
''For all the unreturned salutes and unforgivable indignities ... I salute you
for your service to the United States of America,'' Bush told the legendary
black aviators, standing in salute as some 300 of them stood to return the
gesture.
At a ceremony in the sun-filled Capitol Rotunda, Bush then joined congressional
leaders and other dignitaries in awarding the veterans -- most of them in their
80s -- the Congressional Gold Medal.
''We are so overjoyed,'' said Ret. Capt. Roscoe Brown Jr., after he and five
other airmen accepted the medal on behalf of the group. ''We are so proud
today, and I think America is proud today.''
Nearly 1,000 fighter pilots trained as a segregated Army Air Corps unit at the
Tuskegee, Ala., air base. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had overruled
his top generals and ordered that such a program be created.
Even after the black airmen were admitted, many commanders continued to believe
they didn't have the intelligence, courage and patriotism to do what was being
asked of them.
Not allowed to practice or fight with their white counterparts, the Tuskegee
Airmen distinguished themselves by painting the tails of their airplanes red,
which led to them becoming known as the ''Red Tails.''
Hundreds saw combat throughout Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa,
escorting bomber aircraft on missions and protecting them from the enemy.
Dozens died in the fighting; others were held prisoners of war.
''You caused America to look in the mirror of its soul and you showed America
that there was nothing a black person couldn't do,'' said Colin Powell, a
retired Army general and Bush's former secretary of state. Powell, who is
black, thanked the airmen for paving the way for his career.
Charles ''A-Train'' Dryden, 86, a retired lieutenant colonel from Atlanta,
expressed mixed feelings that the honor came so long after the war and that many
of his colleagues had died without knowing that Americans appreciated their
service.
Just a couple of days ago, he said, a fellow pilot was hospitalized in Atlanta
and couldn't attend the ceremony.
''So many of the guys have passed on,'' he said.
Dryden recalled his pride in returning from Africa and Europe after serving in
Tuskegee's original 99th Fighter Squadron, only to be stationed in Walterboro,
S.C., where he saw German prisoners of war get privileges in theaters and
cafeterias that were denied to black soldiers.
''That was the low point of my career,'' said Dryden, who uses a wheelchair.
Thursday's medal has helped convince him that the country recognizes the
airmen's contributions.
''It's really something,'' he said at a breakfast before the ceremony.
Congress has awarded gold medals to more than 300 individuals and groups since
giving the first one to George Washington in 1776. Originally, they went
only to military leaders, but Congress broadened the scope to include authors,
entertainers, notables in science and medicine, athletes, humanitarians, public
servants and foreign officials.
The medal for the airmen, made possible through legislation by Rep. Charles
Rangel, D-N.Y., and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and signed last year by Bush, will
go to the Smithsonian Institution for display. Individual airmen will
receive bronze replicas.
''It means a lot to a lot of people,'' said Ret. Maj. George M. Boyd, 80, of
Wichita, Kan., a Tuskegee pilot and adjutant who served 28 years in the
military, including in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. ''There
was so much resting on our success or failure.''
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