WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:01.934 --> 00:00:03.501 -...recorded, which is good, 00:00:03.501 --> 00:00:05.434 so that means any teachers out there, 00:00:05.434 --> 00:00:07.701 if you want to show this to multiple sections 00:00:07.701 --> 00:00:09.367 of your class, obviously, 00:00:09.367 --> 00:00:12.200 we know only a certain amount of students can watch with us live, 00:00:12.200 --> 00:00:13.667 and that's A-okay. 00:00:13.667 --> 00:00:16.200 I will be sending you this recording after the program 00:00:16.200 --> 00:00:19.467 so you can watch at your convenience, 00:00:19.467 --> 00:00:22.000 and then just to make sure everything is playing 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:23.634 A-okay now live, 00:00:23.634 --> 00:00:25.834 follow those important setup instructions 00:00:25.834 --> 00:00:28.534 that you see underneath the image 00:00:28.534 --> 00:00:31.667 of our current special exhibit, Fighting For The Right To Fight. 00:00:31.667 --> 00:00:32.901 So first off, as you can see there, 00:00:32.901 --> 00:00:35.634 close out all open programs on your computer, 00:00:35.634 --> 00:00:38.834 especially any programs that are using Internet on here. 00:00:38.834 --> 00:00:41.834 Adobe Connect is very bandwidth intensive, 00:00:41.834 --> 00:00:43.167 and so that will help out with that 00:00:43.167 --> 00:00:45.467 so things don't slow down or lag. 00:00:45.467 --> 00:00:46.934 Anything ever freezes or stalls, 00:00:46.934 --> 00:00:50.100 just kind of refresh and join in with us again. 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:52.400 If you couldn't hear the music or if you can't hear me, 00:00:52.400 --> 00:00:54.234 I'll try to speak up as loud as I can, 00:00:54.234 --> 00:00:55.634 but just kind of give us a shout. 00:00:55.634 --> 00:00:58.534 Let us know if you can't hear us very well, 00:00:58.534 --> 00:01:01.167 and we'll try to adjust from there, 00:01:01.167 --> 00:01:05.234 but make sure your volume is up to the max on your computer, 00:01:05.234 --> 00:01:07.501 and I think that's pretty much it, 00:01:07.501 --> 00:01:10.901 and so, as I said, it's me, Chrissy, here. 00:01:10.901 --> 00:01:14.133 Also with us from the museum is Shelby Johnson. 00:01:14.133 --> 00:01:16.667 She will be monitoring your questions coming in, 00:01:16.667 --> 00:01:19.267 so you'll see how we'll open up the floor 00:01:19.267 --> 00:01:21.067 for questions in just one second, 00:01:21.067 --> 00:01:24.133 and you'll sometimes see her typing in, as well, 00:01:24.133 --> 00:01:26.834 so she's kind of behind the scenes, helping us out here, 00:01:26.834 --> 00:01:28.701 providing me with some of your students' questions 00:01:28.701 --> 00:01:31.167 so make sure we can ask these wonderful gentlemen 00:01:31.167 --> 00:01:33.000 as many as we possibly can, 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:36.501 so you may be hearing her in the background. 00:01:36.501 --> 00:01:39.467 So let's actually transition, 00:01:39.467 --> 00:01:41.868 and let me show you kind of this new area 00:01:41.868 --> 00:01:44.033 that we'll be moving into. 00:01:44.033 --> 00:01:48.234 First off, if you look underneath the PowerPoint, 00:01:48.234 --> 00:01:50.133 you'll see that Q&A area. 00:01:50.133 --> 00:01:53.467 Now, different from the chat section, that will work -- 00:01:53.467 --> 00:01:55.901 You know, no one else will see the questions that you send in 00:01:55.901 --> 00:01:59.534 except for me and except for Shelby, 00:01:59.534 --> 00:02:01.534 and Shelby will be recording some of those. 00:02:01.534 --> 00:02:03.400 Of course, we won't be able to answer all of them 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:04.868 or discuss all of them today, 00:02:04.868 --> 00:02:08.100 but please type them in there at any point, 00:02:08.100 --> 00:02:11.167 and we'll try to see how many we get to. 00:02:11.167 --> 00:02:12.934 Now, I'm going to start my webcam 00:02:12.934 --> 00:02:15.200 so you can actually see all of us. 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:18.300 Let's see if we can --Oh, let me fix this really quick. 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:19.334 Uh-oh. 00:02:19.334 --> 00:02:20.601 You can only see the tops of our heads. 00:02:20.601 --> 00:02:22.601 We don't want that. 00:02:22.601 --> 00:02:24.033 Let's try that again. 00:02:24.033 --> 00:02:26.000 All right. Okay. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:27.601 Now, they can see. 00:02:27.601 --> 00:02:30.067 We can see each other, and they can see all of us. 00:02:30.067 --> 00:02:31.467 You can wave out to the world. 00:02:31.467 --> 00:02:33.400 There's thousands of students watching us right now. 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:35.167 I know you can't tell that, but there are. 00:02:35.167 --> 00:02:38.400 I promise. -Welcome. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.434 -I'm so overjoyed and ecstatic today. 00:02:41.434 --> 00:02:44.434 I've been looking forward, actually, to this webinar 00:02:44.434 --> 00:02:48.000 since we, like, knew you guys were coming here to New Orleans, 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.334 so I've been kind of having a little countdown 00:02:51.334 --> 00:02:54.601 since, you know, to this really exciting event, 00:02:54.601 --> 00:02:56.667 and I know the students are looking forward to it, too. 00:02:56.667 --> 00:02:57.701 -Thank you. -Good. 00:02:57.701 --> 00:02:59.667 -I wanted to introduce you all first, 00:02:59.667 --> 00:03:01.701 and I brought up some of your old pictures. 00:03:01.701 --> 00:03:04.234 You guys can see in the corner there. 00:03:04.234 --> 00:03:07.234 Next to me is Colonel Charles McGee 00:03:07.234 --> 00:03:08.801 in the red, as you can see, in the middle, 00:03:08.801 --> 00:03:11.133 and on his other side to his right 00:03:11.133 --> 00:03:13.300 is Lieutenant Colonel George Hardy. 00:03:13.300 --> 00:03:17.501 As you all know already, they are Tuskegee airmen. 00:03:17.501 --> 00:03:19.467 I'm going to turn it over to your questions 00:03:19.467 --> 00:03:20.868 in just one second, 00:03:20.868 --> 00:03:22.901 but I thought I would just kind of give a brief overview, 00:03:22.901 --> 00:03:24.834 especially for those of you who aren't studying 00:03:24.834 --> 00:03:26.267 World War II yet, 00:03:26.267 --> 00:03:28.267 just to give you a sense of why we're here 00:03:28.267 --> 00:03:30.234 and what we're talking about. 00:03:30.234 --> 00:03:33.200 So actually to bring it before the war, 00:03:33.200 --> 00:03:37.734 in spite of adversity and limited opportunities, 00:03:37.734 --> 00:03:40.434 African-Americans have played a significant role 00:03:40.434 --> 00:03:43.234 in all of U.S. Military history. 00:03:43.234 --> 00:03:47.200 However, being denied military leadership roles 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:49.901 and skilled training because many believed 00:03:49.901 --> 00:03:53.300 they lacked qualifications in combat duty, 00:03:53.300 --> 00:03:57.434 before 1940, African-Americans were barred completely 00:03:57.434 --> 00:04:00.567 from flying in the U.S. military. 00:04:00.567 --> 00:04:03.634 These men next to me and the Tuskegee airmen 00:04:03.634 --> 00:04:06.634 that they were flying with silenced doubters 00:04:06.634 --> 00:04:09.501 and proved their skill and expertise in the air 00:04:09.501 --> 00:04:10.934 during World War II. 00:04:10.934 --> 00:04:13.267 They are the first African-American pilots. 00:04:13.267 --> 00:04:17.067 They will tell you about flying these kind of dangerous mission 00:04:17.067 --> 00:04:19.501 all over the skies of Europe and North Africa during the war 00:04:19.501 --> 00:04:22.767 and actually after World War II, as well. 00:04:22.767 --> 00:04:25.567 So what we're going to do today is, 00:04:25.567 --> 00:04:28.601 we're going to kind of break it up into four main sections, 00:04:28.601 --> 00:04:33.234 and I will also be, in addition to you typing in your questions, 00:04:33.234 --> 00:04:35.100 I'll be asking you all some questions, too, 00:04:35.100 --> 00:04:37.601 so that actually brings me to our first poll question 00:04:37.601 --> 00:04:39.667 of the day that I'm going to bring up here, 00:04:39.667 --> 00:04:42.267 and then we'll actually be able to see how they respond. 00:04:42.267 --> 00:04:43.734 So what I didn't tell you all, though, 00:04:43.734 --> 00:04:45.534 is that the military at this time 00:04:45.534 --> 00:04:47.868 is totally and completely segregated, 00:04:47.868 --> 00:04:50.000 and I just want to make sure everything knew 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.701 what that definition meant before we move forward, 00:04:52.701 --> 00:04:54.133 so I'm asking you all, 00:04:54.133 --> 00:04:56.334 and I'm asking you to vote on it, what is segregation? 00:04:56.334 --> 00:05:01.501 And I'll post the results in just one second, so is it -- 00:05:01.501 --> 00:05:04.067 Let's see, here -- A, unfairly treating a person 00:05:04.067 --> 00:05:07.033 or a group of people differently from other people, 00:05:07.033 --> 00:05:11.234 B, an unfavorable opinion not based on reason or knowledge, 00:05:11.234 --> 00:05:14.567 C, the action of setting someone apart from other people 00:05:14.567 --> 00:05:20.667 or D, an oversimplified image of a person or group. 00:05:20.667 --> 00:05:22.033 I'm going to let you all vote. I see -- 00:05:22.033 --> 00:05:23.234 Don't you see it changing, there? 00:05:23.234 --> 00:05:24.167 People are voting. 00:05:24.167 --> 00:05:25.701 They're changing their answer. 00:05:25.701 --> 00:05:27.234 So I know. 00:05:27.234 --> 00:05:29.400 This is tricky, actually, so we'll see what you guys think. 00:05:29.400 --> 00:05:32.100 I'll give it another second before I reveal. 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:34.834 -You guys know... 00:05:34.834 --> 00:05:36.300 -All right. 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:38.367 So I'm going to broadcast results. 00:05:38.367 --> 00:05:40.834 It's looks like we're relatively evenly split. 00:05:40.834 --> 00:05:43.167 It's looks like A has a little bit of a lead, 00:05:43.167 --> 00:05:44.534 but those of you who actually voted, 00:05:44.534 --> 00:05:46.000 "C, the action of setting 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.801 someone apart from other people," 00:05:48.801 --> 00:05:50.534 that technically is segregation. 00:05:50.534 --> 00:05:52.200 So as I told you, the military 00:05:52.200 --> 00:05:54.901 is completely segregated at this time. All right. 00:05:54.901 --> 00:05:57.133 You'll have more opportunities for polls in just one second. 00:05:57.133 --> 00:05:59.567 I'm going to hide this, make this go away. 00:05:59.567 --> 00:06:02.067 All right, and so, gentlemen, if you don't mind, 00:06:02.067 --> 00:06:03.934 I'd love to kind of start with you and chat 00:06:03.934 --> 00:06:05.501 about your early life, your childhood. 00:06:05.501 --> 00:06:09.000 Can you tell us first, both of you, where you grew up, 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:11.934 and kind of our first questions from students, too, 00:06:11.934 --> 00:06:14.868 is why did you, then, eventually decide to join the armed forces? 00:06:14.868 --> 00:06:17.501 And that's from Mrs. Taylor's class from Lawrence 00:06:17.501 --> 00:06:19.734 Middle School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. 00:06:19.734 --> 00:06:22.000 That's a lot in the first question, but -- 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.000 -Well, I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.968 but left there in third grade. 00:06:25.968 --> 00:06:29.734 Keep growing up through Illinois and Iowa. 00:06:29.734 --> 00:06:31.234 Had parents and grandparents said, 00:06:31.234 --> 00:06:32.834 "Go to high school. Go to college," 00:06:32.834 --> 00:06:37.000 so I was in college when I entered the service, 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:39.467 had finished 2 years of college, 00:06:39.467 --> 00:06:42.267 but essentially, I got into it 00:06:42.267 --> 00:06:45.200 because I was avoiding the draft. 00:06:45.200 --> 00:06:49.601 Had a draft card, learned in ROTC how to handle a rifle, 00:06:49.601 --> 00:06:52.200 and that kind of met them on the ground, 00:06:52.200 --> 00:06:54.734 heard about aviation, 00:06:54.734 --> 00:06:57.200 passed the exams for pilot training, 00:06:57.200 --> 00:06:58.300 but after my first flight, 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:00.467 I knew I'd made the right decision 00:07:00.467 --> 00:07:02.968 because I fell in love with aviation. 00:07:02.968 --> 00:07:04.634 -Great. Thank you. 00:07:04.634 --> 00:07:05.934 -I'm George Hardy. 00:07:05.934 --> 00:07:08.634 I grew up in South Philadelphia, went to school there, 00:07:08.634 --> 00:07:11.901 but when you talk about race separation, 00:07:11.901 --> 00:07:15.901 I walked to school to the west, went to an all-black school, 00:07:15.901 --> 00:07:19.767 the teachers, the principal and all the students. 00:07:19.767 --> 00:07:21.100 But that was through the sixth grade. 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:23.334 In the seventh grade, I walked to the east, 00:07:23.334 --> 00:07:24.968 where the school was predominantly white, 00:07:24.968 --> 00:07:27.033 predominantly Italian and Jewish, 00:07:27.033 --> 00:07:29.234 and that was seventh and eighth and ninth grade. 00:07:29.234 --> 00:07:31.100 Then, I went to South Philadelphia High School, 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:34.334 farther south for me, predominantly Italian area, 00:07:34.334 --> 00:07:37.267 and of 281 in my graduating class, 00:07:37.267 --> 00:07:39.400 only four were Afro-Americans, 00:07:39.400 --> 00:07:42.400 so it shows you the change in my going to school, 00:07:42.400 --> 00:07:46.300 but I graduated in June of 1942. 00:07:46.300 --> 00:07:49.601 I turned 17 that same month, but the war was going on, 00:07:49.601 --> 00:07:52.601 6 months before the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, 00:07:52.601 --> 00:07:54.968 and my brother went in the service in '41. 00:07:54.968 --> 00:07:56.467 I wanted to go in the service, 00:07:56.467 --> 00:08:00.467 but my father wouldn't sign the certificate to go in at 17 00:08:00.467 --> 00:08:03.000 because I wanted to go into the Navy at that time. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:04.367 -Mm-hmm. -But he wouldn't sign, 00:08:04.367 --> 00:08:08.067 so I had to wait until 18, but in the spring of 1943, 00:08:08.067 --> 00:08:11.534 I got the chance to take the aviation cadet exam, 00:08:11.534 --> 00:08:13.968 and they gave it to people who were 17 00:08:13.968 --> 00:08:15.400 if you were a high school graduate. 00:08:15.400 --> 00:08:17.901 I took it and passed it, and I was sworn 00:08:17.901 --> 00:08:21.234 in as a private in the Reserve, which meant when I turned 18, 00:08:21.234 --> 00:08:23.234 I didn't have to register for the draft. 00:08:23.234 --> 00:08:26.367 They reserved me for aviation cadet training at Tuskegee, 00:08:26.367 --> 00:08:30.801 and I turned 18 in June of '43 and later that month, 00:08:30.801 --> 00:08:33.367 I received orders, active duty. 00:08:33.367 --> 00:08:36.133 I went to Keesler Field for basic training, 00:08:36.133 --> 00:08:39.701 then to Tuskegee College Training Detachment 00:08:39.701 --> 00:08:43.367 and entered aviation cadet training in December '43, 00:08:43.367 --> 00:08:45.701 graduated in September '44 00:08:45.701 --> 00:08:50.033 and ended up going overseas in the early part of 1945 00:08:50.033 --> 00:08:54.467 and flying over the skies of Europe in a P-51 in March 00:08:54.467 --> 00:08:56.000 and April 1945. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.734 I was 19 years old then. -Wow. 00:08:58.734 --> 00:09:03.234 Thank you both, and actually, we will see that P-51 just shortly, 00:09:03.234 --> 00:09:06.067 the one that you all saw yesterday. 00:09:06.067 --> 00:09:09.334 Everybody, just to kind of fill you in and clue you in, 00:09:09.334 --> 00:09:14.734 we are actually going to be dedicating a P-51 Mustang 00:09:14.734 --> 00:09:17.567 that is very much in the likeness of planes 00:09:17.567 --> 00:09:20.667 that both of these gentlemen flew later this evening. 00:09:20.667 --> 00:09:22.133 I'll give you all the details, and I'll show you 00:09:22.133 --> 00:09:23.801 some really cool pictures of them 00:09:23.801 --> 00:09:26.434 building that plane in just one second. 00:09:26.434 --> 00:09:27.834 So what we're going to move to now, 00:09:27.834 --> 00:09:30.834 and I've got, actually, a lot of questions on this 00:09:30.834 --> 00:09:32.434 that I'll get to in just one second, 00:09:32.434 --> 00:09:36.133 but it's training, and before I -- 00:09:36.133 --> 00:09:38.200 As I said, before we kind of talk a little bit more, 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:40.667 I have one more poll question for the students 00:09:40.667 --> 00:09:42.834 because, actually, I got this question for you all. 00:09:42.834 --> 00:09:44.467 A lot of people were asking me this, 00:09:44.467 --> 00:09:48.133 but I was going to turn around and ask the students instead. 00:09:48.133 --> 00:09:49.834 A few students asked me, 00:09:49.834 --> 00:09:53.534 "Well, why is this group called the Tuskegee airmen?" 00:09:53.534 --> 00:09:56.200 So we're going to let them respond and see what they think, 00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:57.334 so is it, 00:09:57.334 --> 00:09:58.934 A, Tuskegee was the code name 00:09:58.934 --> 00:10:01.000 for the first overseas mission, 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:04.567 B, they trained at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, 00:10:04.567 --> 00:10:07.167 C, many men lived near Tuskegee, Alabama -- 00:10:07.167 --> 00:10:08.400 No, as we know, 00:10:08.400 --> 00:10:09.868 these two gentlemen did not grew up there -- 00:10:09.868 --> 00:10:13.601 or D, Tuskegee was the nickname of the trainer planes they flew. 00:10:13.601 --> 00:10:16.300 All right. It looks like they know. 00:10:16.300 --> 00:10:18.968 We've got a smart group that we're talking to, here, 00:10:18.968 --> 00:10:21.501 so I'm going to broadcast the results. 00:10:21.501 --> 00:10:24.901 Yes, oh, it keeps changing. 00:10:24.901 --> 00:10:27.534 82% of you, as I was just looking right now, are -- 00:10:27.534 --> 00:10:31.067 Yes, B, training at Tuskegee Institute, 00:10:31.067 --> 00:10:34.367 and I thought in addition to the questions 00:10:34.367 --> 00:10:35.434 that you all will be answering, 00:10:35.434 --> 00:10:37.267 I actually have a really neat video clip 00:10:37.267 --> 00:10:38.834 that I want to show the students 00:10:38.834 --> 00:10:41.033 of some of the training in Tuskegee. 00:10:41.033 --> 00:10:42.968 So what I'm going to do, actually, for us here, 00:10:42.968 --> 00:10:45.400 I'm going to pause our video and audio. 00:10:53.300 --> 00:10:58.734 ♪♪ 00:10:58.734 --> 00:11:01.367 -Deep inside Alabama is a famous school 00:11:01.367 --> 00:11:03.868 called the Tuskegee Institute. 00:11:03.868 --> 00:11:07.534 It was founded on July 4th of 1881, 00:11:07.534 --> 00:11:10.067 and since that Independence Day, 00:11:10.067 --> 00:11:13.200 it has graduated many thousands into agriculture, 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:16.567 into science, into industry. 00:11:16.567 --> 00:11:19.300 This school was the first of its kind, 00:11:19.300 --> 00:11:22.267 and its founder, Booker T. Washington, 00:11:22.267 --> 00:11:25.801 was a pioneer who broke open a road for others to follow. 00:11:25.801 --> 00:11:27.133 You can't make a fighter squadron 00:11:27.133 --> 00:11:30.868 out of concrete and aluminum and a can of paint. 00:11:30.868 --> 00:11:32.400 It takes men. 00:11:32.400 --> 00:11:35.234 A chemistry student, a welder, 00:11:35.234 --> 00:11:38.300 a shoe salesman must learn how to fly. 00:11:38.300 --> 00:11:41.234 A group of average Americans must become a team 00:11:41.234 --> 00:11:44.267 of fighting men with wings. 00:11:44.267 --> 00:11:49.901 ♪♪ 00:11:49.901 --> 00:11:52.067 There's a new world up here. 00:11:52.067 --> 00:11:56.067 A man has to learn his way around. 00:11:56.067 --> 00:12:00.234 It takes many weeks of learning to make a fighter pilot, 00:12:00.234 --> 00:12:03.734 and a lot of that learning is done in a hard, wooden chair 00:12:03.734 --> 00:12:07.501 because a fighter pilot is a combination of a mathematician 00:12:07.501 --> 00:12:09.501 and an athlete, 00:12:09.501 --> 00:12:13.501 a scientist and a sharpshooter. 00:12:13.501 --> 00:12:16.701 He's got to know what goes on inside his plane. 00:12:16.701 --> 00:12:19.367 The heart of his fighter is steel and copper. 00:12:19.367 --> 00:12:22.234 Its bloodstream is gas and oil, 00:12:22.234 --> 00:12:26.334 but its brain is the man who flies it. 00:12:26.334 --> 00:12:28.734 Squadron after squadron out of Tuskegee 00:12:28.734 --> 00:12:32.000 flying P-40s first, tough little planes, 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.234 then striking with Thunderbolts, P-47s, 00:12:35.234 --> 00:12:39.067 then riding the Mustangs, P-51s. 00:12:39.067 --> 00:12:42.534 No, it was never easy for these men. 00:12:42.534 --> 00:12:46.701 They were pioneers, and no pioneer has it easy. 00:12:46.701 --> 00:12:47.968 They fought lies. 00:12:47.968 --> 00:12:51.567 They fought heartbreak, and they won. 00:12:51.567 --> 00:12:56.934 Now, they fight the enemy on his own soil. 00:12:56.934 --> 00:13:01.567 [ Gunfire ] 00:13:01.567 --> 00:13:07.901 ♪♪ 00:13:07.901 --> 00:13:11.367 They fought the enemy, and not without loss. 00:13:11.367 --> 00:13:14.667 Out of the first class to graduate almost 3 years ago, 00:13:14.667 --> 00:13:16.968 only a handful are left alive 00:13:16.968 --> 00:13:19.734 so that liberty might not perish from the Earth. 00:13:19.734 --> 00:13:23.000 ♪♪ 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:24.167 Three years have passed 00:13:24.167 --> 00:13:26.868 since the founding of Tuskegee Airfield. 00:13:26.868 --> 00:13:29.934 750 pilots have been trained. 00:13:29.934 --> 00:13:33.868 50% of them have been in combat, and this is... 00:13:45.100 --> 00:13:48.133 -So we're going to go back live here so you can actually see us, 00:13:48.133 --> 00:13:50.534 and we'll be moving again here shortly. 00:13:50.534 --> 00:13:54.367 So you all saw a little bit about the training at Tuskegee. 00:13:54.367 --> 00:13:57.133 Now, we've gotten a lot of questions already, 00:13:57.133 --> 00:13:59.534 and one common one that Shelby keeps telling me 00:13:59.534 --> 00:14:02.400 that's popping us is how old you gentlemen are. 00:14:02.400 --> 00:14:04.934 Would you mind telling everybody how old you are? 00:14:04.934 --> 00:14:06.400 I know that's a funny question. 00:14:06.400 --> 00:14:08.434 -Well, I think George already mentioned -- 00:14:08.434 --> 00:14:11.834 Only, I was all of 22 when I went into the service, 00:14:11.834 --> 00:14:15.334 but I'm glad to tell you, as of last December 7th, 00:14:15.334 --> 00:14:17.467 I reached 96 years. 00:14:17.467 --> 00:14:19.200 -96, wow. -George? 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:22.701 -Well, June of last year, I turned 90, so. 00:14:22.701 --> 00:14:23.934 -90. Wow. 00:14:23.934 --> 00:14:26.400 -I have another birthday coming up this June. 00:14:26.400 --> 00:14:27.534 -Awesome. 00:14:27.534 --> 00:14:28.968 Well, isn't that amazing, everybody? 00:14:28.968 --> 00:14:32.167 And they traveled here to New Orleans just, as I said, 00:14:32.167 --> 00:14:35.968 to do this whole big day, so they're not done. 00:14:35.968 --> 00:14:38.467 -Nope. -That's for sure. 00:14:38.467 --> 00:14:41.033 So I want to start off with a couple more student questions 00:14:41.033 --> 00:14:42.934 that we've had typed in. 00:14:42.934 --> 00:14:44.767 The first one about -- We're going to be talking 00:14:44.767 --> 00:14:47.100 a little bit more about your training. 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:48.567 This comes from Madison. 00:14:48.567 --> 00:14:52.868 She attends Velma Jackson High School in Camden, Mississippi. 00:14:52.868 --> 00:14:55.634 She was asking, "What obstacles and challenges did you have 00:14:55.634 --> 00:14:58.701 to go through in order to become an airman?" 00:14:58.701 --> 00:15:02.400 -Well, I think an obstacle, really, was acceptance 00:15:02.400 --> 00:15:06.901 because from the 1925 Army War College, 00:15:06.901 --> 00:15:10.300 it determined that we were physically qualified 00:15:10.300 --> 00:15:11.534 to do service work, 00:15:11.534 --> 00:15:14.200 but not mentally and morally qualified 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:15.767 to do anything technical, 00:15:15.767 --> 00:15:23.000 which eliminated us from being considered, 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:27.868 getting into flying an airplane, so the opportunity came, 00:15:27.868 --> 00:15:31.834 and, of course, we can talk about the results of it later. 00:15:31.834 --> 00:15:34.300 -Sure. -Of course, 00:15:34.300 --> 00:15:37.767 I think the biggest thing was the racism we ran into. 00:15:37.767 --> 00:15:39.234 You know, growing up in Philadelphia, 00:15:39.234 --> 00:15:42.534 there was racism there, but not the way it was in the South, 00:15:42.534 --> 00:15:47.934 and three of us scheduled to go to Tuskegee in 1943 00:15:47.934 --> 00:15:50.501 had to go to Keesler Field first for basic training. 00:15:50.501 --> 00:15:53.100 They gave us Pullman tickets, the three of us, 00:15:53.100 --> 00:15:55.968 and the rest of the car was all white. 00:15:55.968 --> 00:15:57.934 We went to Cincinnati and everything was fine. 00:15:57.934 --> 00:16:01.567 We ate in the dining car, but out of Cincinnati, 00:16:01.567 --> 00:16:02.734 the dining car -- 00:16:02.734 --> 00:16:05.267 We still had our Pullman tickets. 00:16:05.267 --> 00:16:07.667 The dining car was originally segregated, 00:16:07.667 --> 00:16:09.334 and that's when we hit it for the first time 00:16:09.334 --> 00:16:12.067 when we went to the dining car. 00:16:12.067 --> 00:16:14.901 Most of the dining car was tables for whites, 00:16:14.901 --> 00:16:18.767 but they had a heavy curtain across a few tables at the end, 00:16:18.767 --> 00:16:21.701 and all the colored people had to eat behind that curtain, 00:16:21.701 --> 00:16:23.234 and the curtain was weighted 00:16:23.234 --> 00:16:24.968 so that when you went through the curtain, 00:16:24.968 --> 00:16:27.834 it would always close so that the white people 00:16:27.834 --> 00:16:30.634 wouldn't see the black people sitting behind a curtain, 00:16:30.634 --> 00:16:32.267 and that was our real introduction 00:16:32.267 --> 00:16:34.667 to racial segregation in the South, 00:16:34.667 --> 00:16:37.601 and that, to me, was the biggest obstacle. 00:16:37.601 --> 00:16:38.934 -Because both of you gentlemen 00:16:38.934 --> 00:16:40.667 originally came from the north, right? 00:16:40.667 --> 00:16:42.467 So was it kind of, as you said, 00:16:42.467 --> 00:16:45.300 shocking when you came down here? 00:16:45.300 --> 00:16:46.734 Yeah? 00:16:46.734 --> 00:16:49.634 -You know what, right when you cross the Mason-Dixon line 00:16:49.634 --> 00:16:54.467 and have to change your seat in the railroad car, 00:16:54.467 --> 00:16:55.801 and as George mentioned, 00:16:55.801 --> 00:17:01.634 the dining setup was a big change for me, as well. 00:17:01.634 --> 00:17:03.000 -Well, the thing is, in Philadelphia, 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:04.534 you still had racism and whatnot, 00:17:04.534 --> 00:17:06.834 but once you got below the -- 00:17:06.834 --> 00:17:11.167 into the South, it was legislated by law. 00:17:11.167 --> 00:17:13.601 -And backed by law. -And backed by law, 00:17:13.601 --> 00:17:18.934 so if you didn't comply with it, you could be arrested. 00:17:18.934 --> 00:17:22.367 -Another question we have about your time during training, 00:17:22.367 --> 00:17:25.868 "What feeling did you have when you flew an aircraft 00:17:25.868 --> 00:17:27.634 for the very first time?" 00:17:27.634 --> 00:17:29.501 Do you remember how that made you feel? 00:17:29.501 --> 00:17:33.000 -Well, for me, it was a real, real joy to be able to loop, 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:34.601 roll, and spin, 00:17:34.601 --> 00:17:37.767 see the sky above, come back, put your feet on the ground. 00:17:37.767 --> 00:17:39.067 Well, I'd put this this way. 00:17:39.067 --> 00:17:42.767 I fell in love with flying. -Right away? 00:17:42.767 --> 00:17:44.434 -Right away. 00:17:44.434 --> 00:17:46.567 -Yes, I fell in love with flying right away. 00:17:46.567 --> 00:17:49.300 Geez, I loved it. It was great. 00:17:49.300 --> 00:17:51.968 I went through pilot training, graduated, 00:17:51.968 --> 00:17:54.033 and started flying the P-40 for training 00:17:54.033 --> 00:17:57.300 and then the P-47 combat training for overseas. 00:17:57.300 --> 00:18:02.767 It was then that I drove an automobile for the first time, 00:18:02.767 --> 00:18:05.234 drove it one time before I went overseas, 00:18:05.234 --> 00:18:07.968 and I learned to drive overseas on Jeeps 00:18:07.968 --> 00:18:11.133 and pickup trucks over there. 00:18:11.133 --> 00:18:14.634 -Okay, so, Shelby, any more kind of about training 00:18:14.634 --> 00:18:16.501 that you feel like we want to bring up now? 00:18:16.501 --> 00:18:18.868 Or we can also -- Just so everybody knows, too, 00:18:18.868 --> 00:18:22.868 we'll have a general kind of open Q&A after, 00:18:22.868 --> 00:18:24.801 so we'll talk about each of these individual segments. 00:18:24.801 --> 00:18:25.934 Then we'll really -- 00:18:25.934 --> 00:18:27.167 -Can I still say something about... 00:18:27.167 --> 00:18:28.300 -Oh, yes. I'm so sorry. Yes. 00:18:28.300 --> 00:18:30.300 -...the way Tuskegee airmen, the way... 00:18:30.300 --> 00:18:31.434 -Please do, Lieutenant Colonel Hardy. 00:18:31.434 --> 00:18:34.834 -After the war, we trained in Tuskegee, 00:18:34.834 --> 00:18:36.767 but we didn't consider ourselves -- 00:18:36.767 --> 00:18:39.534 We never referred to ourselves as Tuskegee airmen, 00:18:39.534 --> 00:18:40.901 but in the 1970s, 00:18:40.901 --> 00:18:43.033 we formed as a national group, the Tuskegee Airmen -- 00:18:43.033 --> 00:18:46.868 -1972. -Yeah, and we adopted the name, 00:18:46.868 --> 00:18:48.334 the Tuskegee Airmen. 00:18:48.334 --> 00:18:51.100 I think a lot of that came from the fact that in the 1950s, 00:18:51.100 --> 00:18:53.868 a fellow named Charles Francis wrote a book. 00:18:53.868 --> 00:18:55.300 The title was 00:18:55.300 --> 00:18:57.801 "The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation," 00:18:57.801 --> 00:19:01.567 and that book, I think, was one of the main reasons 00:19:01.567 --> 00:19:04.601 why I wanted to name the name to be Tuskegee Airmen, 00:19:04.601 --> 00:19:06.467 and so we're Tuskegee Airmen, Incorporated. 00:19:06.467 --> 00:19:08.300 -So was it something that you voted on? 00:19:08.300 --> 00:19:09.400 Was it a name -- Yeah. Oh, interesting. 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:11.267 -At a convention. 00:19:11.267 --> 00:19:13.767 -Yeah, we adopted it at a convention, Detroit, 00:19:13.767 --> 00:19:17.868 Washington, D.C. and L.A., and in those first 3 years, 00:19:17.868 --> 00:19:20.834 established a national organization 00:19:20.834 --> 00:19:23.400 called Tuskegee Airmen, Incorporated. 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:27.934 We did change from being a military organization 00:19:27.934 --> 00:19:29.834 to education and charitable 00:19:29.834 --> 00:19:32.801 so that our legacy could be passed on 00:19:32.801 --> 00:19:34.400 to the young people of today, 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:38.601 and we now have 50 chapters around the country. 00:19:38.601 --> 00:19:39.934 -That's really amazing. -The organization 00:19:39.934 --> 00:19:41.133 still continues. 00:19:41.133 --> 00:19:43.100 The people running it were not at Tuskegee. 00:19:43.100 --> 00:19:44.701 They're too young for that, 00:19:44.701 --> 00:19:46.934 so the older people passed the torch to them 00:19:46.934 --> 00:19:49.934 because we do have a scholarship fund 00:19:49.934 --> 00:19:52.734 and other things that should be maintained, 00:19:52.734 --> 00:19:55.501 and so this continuing organization of Tuskegee 00:19:55.501 --> 00:19:57.801 Airmen will carry that on. 00:19:57.801 --> 00:20:00.400 -So we're documented Tuskegee airmen, 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:02.968 as they say, making us official, 00:20:02.968 --> 00:20:08.534 but we have other members of the organization. 00:20:08.534 --> 00:20:10.400 -Well, thank you. Actually, I didn't know that. 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:13.100 See, I learn -- Always when I do these webinars, 00:20:13.100 --> 00:20:15.834 I learn way more, too, which is great, 00:20:15.834 --> 00:20:18.834 so I'm learning a lot with the students, as well. 00:20:18.834 --> 00:20:23.534 So I actually want to kind of move on to combat, and -- 00:20:23.534 --> 00:20:25.901 We actually saw our wings for this man. 00:20:25.901 --> 00:20:28.567 But before I really, as I said, 00:20:28.567 --> 00:20:30.534 ask you guys some more questions about combat, 00:20:30.534 --> 00:20:33.234 I actually wanted to show you all a little bit more 00:20:33.234 --> 00:20:36.334 about this P-51 that the museum has restored. 00:20:36.334 --> 00:20:39.467 So this restoration, as you can see in kind of the top 00:20:39.467 --> 00:20:42.300 left-hand slide of the PowerPoint area there, 00:20:42.300 --> 00:20:44.634 was actually not restored here on site. 00:20:44.634 --> 00:20:49.400 It was restored at Flyboys Aeroworks in California 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:53.267 for nearly 2 years, so this particular P-51 -- 00:20:53.267 --> 00:20:54.767 Let me actually show you a couple more pictures. 00:20:54.767 --> 00:20:56.868 So this is what it looked like in California 00:20:56.868 --> 00:20:59.767 before it was shipped over here, 00:20:59.767 --> 00:21:02.767 and here, you can see now, all loaded up and ready to go 00:21:02.767 --> 00:21:06.501 and make that cross-country trip from California to New Orleans, 00:21:06.501 --> 00:21:08.901 and then after that, this was, I think, 00:21:08.901 --> 00:21:10.901 maybe day 1 or day 2 of them 00:21:10.901 --> 00:21:14.467 assembling this plane inside of the building, 00:21:14.467 --> 00:21:16.300 and then the last picture I want to show everybody. 00:21:16.300 --> 00:21:18.334 This is actually a picture I took yesterday 00:21:18.334 --> 00:21:21.501 when I went over across the street with Colonel McGee 00:21:21.501 --> 00:21:22.801 and Lieutenant Colonel Hardy 00:21:22.801 --> 00:21:25.901 to the the plane for the first time. 00:21:25.901 --> 00:21:27.400 Newly restored, and it was painted 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:31.200 in the likeness of the plane that Roscoe Brown flew, 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:33.200 one of your good friends, right? 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:34.701 -Yes. -Yeah. 00:21:34.701 --> 00:21:37.934 So tell me, this is my personal question, so sorry, students. 00:21:37.934 --> 00:21:39.467 I'm going to ask one, and that's it. 00:21:39.467 --> 00:21:41.767 Tell me how it felt when you saw that aircraft 00:21:41.767 --> 00:21:45.734 on the ground there, in a museum for the first time. 00:21:45.734 --> 00:21:48.934 -Well, to see the plane that we had learned to love 00:21:48.934 --> 00:21:52.033 and the plane that gave us altitude, 00:21:52.033 --> 00:21:54.033 range, and speed capability 00:21:54.033 --> 00:21:56.901 beyond anything else prior to that, 00:21:56.901 --> 00:21:59.767 it really allowed us to do a creditable job. 00:21:59.767 --> 00:22:01.300 It was a real joy, 00:22:01.300 --> 00:22:04.367 and to see it in the colors of the 100th squadron, 00:22:04.367 --> 00:22:07.734 and know our friend, with the name Bunny on it. 00:22:07.734 --> 00:22:09.968 -Yeah. -Both of us knew Roscoe Brown. 00:22:09.968 --> 00:22:11.501 Sorry he isn't here. 00:22:11.501 --> 00:22:15.167 He's not very well these days, but it was a real pleasure, 00:22:15.167 --> 00:22:18.734 and to know that it'll be a part of the future history 00:22:18.734 --> 00:22:22.868 of the Air Force experience is really great. 00:22:22.868 --> 00:22:25.033 -So, yeah, we were documenting this moment 00:22:25.033 --> 00:22:26.634 when you guys saw it for the first time. 00:22:26.634 --> 00:22:28.501 -Well, it's good to see that airplane. 00:22:28.501 --> 00:22:32.067 Just looking at the airplane, you see the red tail back there 00:22:32.067 --> 00:22:34.033 and the red spinner, 00:22:34.033 --> 00:22:36.667 that was the colors designated by the 15th Air Force, 00:22:36.667 --> 00:22:39.767 but right behind the prop, there's red also. 00:22:39.767 --> 00:22:43.400 That designates the 100th fighter squadron. 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:45.734 The three other squadrons had different coloring 00:22:45.734 --> 00:22:47.033 right behind the prop. 00:22:47.033 --> 00:22:48.267 -Behind the spinner. 00:22:48.267 --> 00:22:50.334 -Behind the spinner, on the prop, 00:22:50.334 --> 00:22:51.767 designating their -- 00:22:51.767 --> 00:22:56.567 And that designated us 99th, 301st, or 302nd, 00:22:56.567 --> 00:23:00.300 but the red right behind, that spinner red, 100th. 00:23:00.300 --> 00:23:03.601 -But, you know, to speak of the other aircraft that we flew, 00:23:03.601 --> 00:23:06.801 all of us, we trained on the P-40, 00:23:06.801 --> 00:23:10.968 and only the 99th fighter squadron flew the P-40 00:23:10.968 --> 00:23:13.667 in combat, in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, 00:23:13.667 --> 00:23:17.334 and the other three single-engine fighter squadron 00:23:17.334 --> 00:23:18.667 went directly to Italy, 00:23:18.667 --> 00:23:22.868 and we switched over and flew the P-39 Bell Airacobra, 00:23:22.868 --> 00:23:27.367 doing harbor and coastal patrol out of Naples for a period. 00:23:27.367 --> 00:23:29.701 Then the group was picked to move 00:23:29.701 --> 00:23:32.300 from the tactical work to strategic, 00:23:32.300 --> 00:23:34.400 and that is escorting our bombers 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:38.634 to prevent the heavy losses by the German Air Force, 00:23:38.634 --> 00:23:41.701 and we switched to P-47 Thunderbolts for a period, 00:23:41.701 --> 00:23:45.167 and then finally the P-51 Mustang that you're picturing. 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:49.501 -Incidentally, I might mention, 00:23:49.501 --> 00:23:51.767 we talk about the pilots and all of these things, 00:23:51.767 --> 00:23:55.467 but the maintenance people aren't necessarily mentioned 00:23:55.467 --> 00:23:56.701 all the time, 00:23:56.701 --> 00:23:59.834 and you realize that when the 332nd went overseas, 00:23:59.834 --> 00:24:02.300 they were flying P-39. 00:24:02.300 --> 00:24:05.200 That was an airplane with the engine behind the pilot, 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:09.234 and they flew that up until the spring of '44. 00:24:09.234 --> 00:24:12.968 Then they switched to the P-47, which is a single-engine plane, 00:24:12.968 --> 00:24:14.067 heavy airplane. 00:24:14.067 --> 00:24:16.634 They flew that in combat for only a month, 00:24:16.634 --> 00:24:19.334 and then in July, they switched to P-51. 00:24:19.334 --> 00:24:21.100 That meant that the maintenance people had to work 00:24:21.100 --> 00:24:23.834 from the 39 to the 47 to the 51, 00:24:23.834 --> 00:24:25.601 so they had to adjust to maintain 00:24:25.601 --> 00:24:28.801 those three different types of airplanes. 00:24:28.801 --> 00:24:30.300 -That's difficult. -Hey, Chrissy? 00:24:30.300 --> 00:24:31.767 -Yeah. -Before we move on, 00:24:31.767 --> 00:24:35.334 we have a really good question from Lee Woodward, 00:24:35.334 --> 00:24:36.934 and Lee would like to know 00:24:36.934 --> 00:24:39.667 why there are swastikas on the plane? 00:24:39.667 --> 00:24:41.734 -Oh, very good. Lee would like to know -- 00:24:41.734 --> 00:24:44.267 I don't know if everybody heard what Shelby said. 00:24:44.267 --> 00:24:46.400 We can see there is a couple swastikas 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:48.701 on Roscoe Brown's plane. 00:24:48.701 --> 00:24:49.834 Why was that? 00:24:49.834 --> 00:24:51.934 -That means that he had two victories 00:24:51.934 --> 00:24:56.400 against the German fighters that we were -- 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:59.667 Our main purpose was to prevent those fighters 00:24:59.667 --> 00:25:01.167 from destroying a bomber 00:25:01.167 --> 00:25:04.934 and not allowing the bombers to do their mission because, 00:25:04.934 --> 00:25:09.167 you know, every bomber lost, that was 10 American lives. 00:25:09.167 --> 00:25:10.868 -Right. -And that was our purpose, 00:25:10.868 --> 00:25:15.501 to save American lives and allow the bombers to do their job. 00:25:15.501 --> 00:25:16.767 He had two victories. 00:25:16.767 --> 00:25:18.767 I was fortunate enough to have one victory, 00:25:18.767 --> 00:25:22.267 so I don't know that I ever got it painted on my aircraft, 00:25:22.267 --> 00:25:25.400 but the swastika meant that he shot down two. 00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:26.868 -Yeah. -And he was there. 00:25:26.868 --> 00:25:30.167 In fact, George mentioned that because I had come home 00:25:30.167 --> 00:25:32.667 before that mission to Berlin 00:25:32.667 --> 00:25:37.400 where Roscoe scored his victories. 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:38.400 You could -- -Yeah. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:39.801 He was on a mission to Berlin, 00:25:39.801 --> 00:25:43.367 which was the longest mission of the 15th Air Force. 00:25:43.367 --> 00:25:48.767 The 332nd shot down three of the German 262 jet airplanes. 00:25:48.767 --> 00:25:50.701 They were much faster than we were, 00:25:50.701 --> 00:25:52.934 but our planes were more maneuverable, 00:25:52.934 --> 00:25:54.734 and our pilots were able to double back 00:25:54.734 --> 00:25:58.334 and get on their tail and shoot them down, three of them. 00:25:58.334 --> 00:25:59.901 -Yeah. -Pretty amazing. 00:25:59.901 --> 00:26:01.167 Yeah. 00:26:01.167 --> 00:26:02.801 Those German jets, couldn't they fly -- 00:26:02.801 --> 00:26:05.067 What was it? A hundred miles per hour faster 00:26:05.067 --> 00:26:06.868 or something like that then the P-51... 00:26:06.868 --> 00:26:08.033 -A hundred miles per hour faster, yeah. 00:26:08.033 --> 00:26:09.267 -...and you were able to shoot them down. 00:26:09.267 --> 00:26:10.467 -Well, you know, the jet was new at that time. 00:26:10.467 --> 00:26:12.000 Somebody said, "Oh, 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.000 Somehow they're going pretty fast and smoking from behind." 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:18.968 But they were the first jets introduced into combat. 00:26:18.968 --> 00:26:20.267 -Yeah. -Right. 00:26:20.267 --> 00:26:22.834 Now, again, let me know if I have statistic right. 00:26:22.834 --> 00:26:24.667 You all can correct me. 00:26:24.667 --> 00:26:28.067 The Tuskegee airmen flew over 15,000 sorties, 00:26:28.067 --> 00:26:32.133 1,500 missions destroying more than 260 enemy aircraft. 00:26:32.133 --> 00:26:34.767 I found that stat on the website, so. 00:26:34.767 --> 00:26:37.968 -That's the history of the 99th flying 00:26:37.968 --> 00:26:42.400 North Africa, Sicily, into Italy and joining the 332nd, 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:45.067 and actually, our total work, though, 00:26:45.067 --> 00:26:47.133 even when we weren't escorting bombers, 00:26:47.133 --> 00:26:49.868 we had fighter sweeps 00:26:49.868 --> 00:26:55.100 destroying the chemical and the oil factories. 00:26:55.100 --> 00:26:58.667 We destroyed as many German aircraft on the ground 00:26:58.667 --> 00:27:02.200 on fighter sweeps as we did in the air, though, 00:27:02.200 --> 00:27:05.834 so it was key to destroying Germany's war-making potential, 00:27:05.834 --> 00:27:09.000 is what it was all about. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:10.200 -All right. 00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:12.167 I'm going to turn it to the students now, 00:27:12.167 --> 00:27:14.868 and I've got a lot of great questions here. 00:27:14.868 --> 00:27:16.567 The first one comes from Aniya, 00:27:16.567 --> 00:27:17.968 who goes to Westdale Middle School, 00:27:17.968 --> 00:27:20.801 which is just, you know, down the road in Baton Rouge. 00:27:20.801 --> 00:27:22.567 She wants to know, "Can you describe 00:27:22.567 --> 00:27:24.033 what the conditions were like 00:27:24.033 --> 00:27:27.434 when you're flying in that plane during, like, air combat?" 00:27:27.434 --> 00:27:29.701 That might be a tough thing to do, but... 00:27:29.701 --> 00:27:32.934 -Well, it's a good question, and the way to know 00:27:32.934 --> 00:27:34.367 that the young people know 00:27:34.367 --> 00:27:37.634 that technology has changed that picture. 00:27:37.634 --> 00:27:42.000 We didn't have that type of pressurizations 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.300 and powerful engines and so on, 00:27:45.300 --> 00:27:48.267 so it was, I'd say, rather rustic, 00:27:48.267 --> 00:27:50.000 but we had to wear clothing 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.267 that kept us warm at that high altitude 00:27:52.267 --> 00:27:55.033 where the temperatures are quite cold, 00:27:55.033 --> 00:27:59.434 and we had to be prepared to wear oxygen above -- 00:27:59.434 --> 00:28:04.901 breathe oxygen as we went to altitude. 00:28:04.901 --> 00:28:06.701 It was quite different. 00:28:06.701 --> 00:28:11.868 Technology has really advanced in a way 00:28:11.868 --> 00:28:14.801 that the young people need to be aware of, 00:28:14.801 --> 00:28:19.300 where it's taken us today over the early piston-engine drivers 00:28:19.300 --> 00:28:21.133 and as we moved into the jet age. 00:28:21.133 --> 00:28:27.534 -Of course, I often feel funny when I look 00:28:27.534 --> 00:28:29.367 at these pictures of people 00:28:29.367 --> 00:28:33.367 flying in airplanes like a P-51 over Europe and whatnot. 00:28:33.367 --> 00:28:36.434 You see them with the oxygen mask hanging down. 00:28:36.434 --> 00:28:37.801 That couldn't be because one, 00:28:37.801 --> 00:28:39.968 you needed oxygen at that altitude. 00:28:39.968 --> 00:28:45.067 Second, your mike was in your oxygen mask, 00:28:45.067 --> 00:28:48.534 and you just pushed a button on your throttle to talk. 00:28:48.534 --> 00:28:50.834 If you didn't have your mask fastened on, 00:28:50.834 --> 00:28:52.834 you'd have to put it up before you could talk, 00:28:52.834 --> 00:28:55.901 so Hollywood can have people flying around 00:28:55.901 --> 00:28:57.634 with their mask hanging down, 00:28:57.634 --> 00:29:01.200 but in actual fact, once you took off, it stayed on. 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:02.734 -Yeah. 00:29:02.734 --> 00:29:06.734 The other was that you didn't talk because that would be -- 00:29:06.734 --> 00:29:11.033 It was the only -- The leader did the talking. 00:29:11.033 --> 00:29:14.634 Everybody else had to keep quiet, or you were in trouble. 00:29:14.634 --> 00:29:15.968 -Yeah. -Yeah, right. 00:29:15.968 --> 00:29:19.934 I was a second lieutenant. I didn't talk at all. 00:29:19.934 --> 00:29:23.000 I just listened. -Well, we'll talk about -- 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:24.634 I saw a couple questions pass by 00:29:24.634 --> 00:29:26.167 about what you think of the Hollywood 00:29:26.167 --> 00:29:27.667 take on some of the things you've done. 00:29:27.667 --> 00:29:30.634 Maybe we'll open up the floor to that a little bit later. 00:29:30.634 --> 00:29:32.767 I want to ask another question, actually. 00:29:32.767 --> 00:29:35.167 This is from Velma Jackson High School 00:29:35.167 --> 00:29:37.767 in Mississippi, again, but they were wondering, 00:29:37.767 --> 00:29:39.100 I thought this was a good one, 00:29:39.100 --> 00:29:41.968 "How did the war affect your lives physically, 00:29:41.968 --> 00:29:43.534 mentally, emotionally, 00:29:43.534 --> 00:29:45.033 you know, throughout the course of the war?" 00:29:45.033 --> 00:29:48.334 I'm sure your emotions changed throughout something like that. 00:29:48.334 --> 00:29:52.300 -Well, looking back on it, 00:29:52.300 --> 00:29:55.868 the country really was coming out of 10 years of Depression, 00:29:55.868 --> 00:30:01.334 and when America decided to help our allies in Europe 00:30:01.334 --> 00:30:05.501 against Hitlerism and later against the Japanese, 00:30:05.501 --> 00:30:08.968 the whole country was really behind the effort. 00:30:08.968 --> 00:30:12.133 The jobs that became available in the war buildup, 00:30:12.133 --> 00:30:15.767 and then, of course, being drafted or entering the service 00:30:15.767 --> 00:30:20.200 to participate in helping win the war, 00:30:20.200 --> 00:30:22.567 there was kind of a different atmosphere 00:30:22.567 --> 00:30:26.801 at that time over what we did in World War II. 00:30:26.801 --> 00:30:28.701 -Yeah, that was the thing I would say is, 00:30:28.701 --> 00:30:30.801 World War II brought people together 00:30:30.801 --> 00:30:34.501 because over 16 million people 00:30:34.501 --> 00:30:36.868 went into the service during that period, 00:30:36.868 --> 00:30:41.934 and back home, people worked, too, metal drives, 00:30:41.934 --> 00:30:44.567 things like that, blood drives, 00:30:44.567 --> 00:30:46.667 supporting the troops over seas. 00:30:46.667 --> 00:30:47.868 Taxes were high. 00:30:47.868 --> 00:30:50.133 People gladly paid their taxes, 00:30:50.133 --> 00:30:52.400 everything to support their troops overseas. 00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:54.000 And particularly, the troops in the field 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:59.734 came from all levels of society, from the poor to the wealthy. 00:30:59.734 --> 00:31:04.601 The Hollywood actors and whatnot and actresses, everybody, 00:31:04.601 --> 00:31:06.334 so many people were in the service, 00:31:06.334 --> 00:31:09.067 and the country really worked together during the war. 00:31:09.067 --> 00:31:13.467 -I'm sure they've seen the Rosie the Riveter posters. 00:31:13.467 --> 00:31:16.200 -Mm-hmm. -Everybody was involved. 00:31:16.200 --> 00:31:20.167 It turns out, although we were able to get into aviation 00:31:20.167 --> 00:31:22.534 in the segregated way, 00:31:22.534 --> 00:31:24.834 women were used for a couple of years 00:31:24.834 --> 00:31:27.400 and then sent home, had to pay their way home. 00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:30.968 In fact, the Women Airforce Service Pilots, 00:31:30.968 --> 00:31:33.000 it was a wide group, 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:35.234 but they weren't officially recognized. 00:31:35.234 --> 00:31:40.200 Their service wasn't officially recognized until 1976. 00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:41.334 -And I think that was a period 00:31:41.334 --> 00:31:43.834 when women really entered the workforce 00:31:43.834 --> 00:31:46.200 because so many men went away. 00:31:46.200 --> 00:31:49.133 Women were riveters, anything you name, 00:31:49.133 --> 00:31:52.868 they did during the war to support the war effort. 00:31:52.868 --> 00:31:54.200 -And I think that's one of the, you know, 00:31:54.200 --> 00:31:56.067 biggest lessons we teach about World War II 00:31:56.067 --> 00:31:58.634 is this idea of teamwork and togetherness, 00:31:58.634 --> 00:31:59.701 you know, here in the country 00:31:59.701 --> 00:32:01.467 and how it did bond people together, 00:32:01.467 --> 00:32:04.968 you know, in those different activities. 00:32:04.968 --> 00:32:07.534 Now, you've probably, I'm thinking, 00:32:07.534 --> 00:32:09.100 answered a question like this a lot, 00:32:09.100 --> 00:32:11.000 and I'm thinking we're getting this question 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:13.667 multiple times in the Q&A. 00:32:13.667 --> 00:32:15.100 How did you deal with being -- 00:32:15.100 --> 00:32:16.968 Were you scared while flying in a plane, 00:32:16.968 --> 00:32:19.334 scared in combat ever, or did that -- 00:32:19.334 --> 00:32:20.367 You couldn't be scared. 00:32:20.367 --> 00:32:21.567 You just had to focus on your mission. 00:32:21.567 --> 00:32:23.601 -Well, that's the way I'd put it. 00:32:23.601 --> 00:32:26.601 If you were scared, you were in the wrong business. 00:32:26.601 --> 00:32:31.067 But training prepared us for the tasks that we had to do 00:32:31.067 --> 00:32:32.934 and what we might face, 00:32:32.934 --> 00:32:34.901 and, yes, there were some occasions 00:32:34.901 --> 00:32:36.901 where they called it combat fatigue 00:32:36.901 --> 00:32:38.968 and that they had to take somebody 00:32:38.968 --> 00:32:41.133 out of the active combat. 00:32:41.133 --> 00:32:44.267 But by and large, as I say, training prepared us 00:32:44.267 --> 00:32:47.868 for the many variations that we might face, 00:32:47.868 --> 00:32:49.033 and training was good. 00:32:49.033 --> 00:32:50.968 They didn't change the standard for us, 00:32:50.968 --> 00:32:56.367 and we were able to meet it and perform successfully. 00:32:56.367 --> 00:32:59.000 -Well, I would say that during the war, 00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:01.234 although we were a segregated unit, 00:33:01.234 --> 00:33:04.000 most of our instructors at basic and advanced 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:08.868 and preparing to go overseas, most of them were white pilots, 00:33:08.868 --> 00:33:11.701 but they really, I thought, did a good job of training us 00:33:11.701 --> 00:33:13.734 where everything was almost second nature to you. 00:33:13.734 --> 00:33:16.868 And you get overseas, I don't remember ever being scared, 00:33:16.868 --> 00:33:18.734 but that's the reason they want people 18, 00:33:18.734 --> 00:33:20.634 19 years old, 00:33:20.634 --> 00:33:23.300 you know, to go in, and they can just react, 00:33:23.300 --> 00:33:26.968 you know, to the situation and not let fear take over. 00:33:26.968 --> 00:33:29.467 -Yeah. -Yeah. With the training we see. 00:33:29.467 --> 00:33:33.601 -So the next question, 00:33:33.601 --> 00:33:36.534 this one is kind of interesting I thought, 00:33:36.534 --> 00:33:40.200 from Shaniya from Island Middle School in Louisville, 00:33:40.200 --> 00:33:43.400 Mississippi, she was asking, did you have to -- 00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:45.133 So, I'm sure your planes got damaged 00:33:45.133 --> 00:33:46.367 in all the different missions. 00:33:46.367 --> 00:33:50.434 Do you have to pay for that, she was wondering? 00:33:50.434 --> 00:33:52.701 -Well, fortunately, we had the government 00:33:52.701 --> 00:33:56.934 to provide the facilities, 00:33:56.934 --> 00:33:58.767 but somebody was paying taxes, 00:33:58.767 --> 00:34:02.167 so we actually were paying for it certainly. 00:34:02.167 --> 00:34:06.100 But the war buildup, and of course, 00:34:06.100 --> 00:34:07.501 but when the war was over, 00:34:07.501 --> 00:34:14.334 a lot of surplus they put around the world practically. 00:34:14.334 --> 00:34:16.367 But that's an interesting question, 00:34:16.367 --> 00:34:22.634 one that effects how we operate and perform today. 00:34:22.634 --> 00:34:24.133 -Yeah. 00:34:24.133 --> 00:34:26.334 All the pilots and people flying didn't have to pay for anything. 00:34:26.334 --> 00:34:28.734 If their plane was damaged in combat, 00:34:28.734 --> 00:34:30.033 they just brought it back, 00:34:30.033 --> 00:34:32.467 and a crew chief then took care of everything, so. 00:34:32.467 --> 00:34:36.567 -Something not right, they fix it and get it back into service. 00:34:36.567 --> 00:34:39.701 And sometimes it had to be pushed into the bone yard. 00:34:39.701 --> 00:34:41.434 -Do you have any sense of how many planes -- 00:34:41.434 --> 00:34:43.267 Do you know all the planes that you flew 00:34:43.267 --> 00:34:45.701 during the course of the war? 00:34:45.701 --> 00:34:48.300 I mean, excluding, not including training. 00:34:48.300 --> 00:34:49.567 So, like, in the -- 00:34:49.567 --> 00:34:52.400 Did you have a new plane every time, or did you have your 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:54.067 plane, like Bunny, for example, like, 00:34:54.067 --> 00:34:56.200 you knew Bunny was your plane, you know, that kind of thing? 00:34:56.200 --> 00:34:59.634 -Pretty much in the unit, we were assigned a plane 00:34:59.634 --> 00:35:02.033 and had a crew chief, 00:35:02.033 --> 00:35:05.367 but sometimes an aircraft is out for certain maintenance 00:35:05.367 --> 00:35:09.067 because after certain hours it had to be inspected and so on. 00:35:09.067 --> 00:35:15.267 In some cases, some minor damage maybe from flack, 00:35:15.267 --> 00:35:17.067 anti-aircraft gunfire, 00:35:17.067 --> 00:35:18.734 or there was damage to the aircraft, 00:35:18.734 --> 00:35:21.501 so you'd fly whatever was available 00:35:21.501 --> 00:35:25.701 based on the number of missions the squadron was asked 00:35:25.701 --> 00:35:29.534 to perform on a particular day and time. 00:35:29.534 --> 00:35:32.734 -Well, you know, a lot of people have the idea 00:35:32.734 --> 00:35:36.400 that every fighter pilot has his own plane with his name on it, 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:38.067 but that's not true. 00:35:38.067 --> 00:35:42.200 The squadron has a number more pilots than airplanes, 00:35:42.200 --> 00:35:45.234 and I came in as a new guy, and I had no airplane. 00:35:45.234 --> 00:35:49.033 Airplanes belong to the people who are senior in the squadron, 00:35:49.033 --> 00:35:52.267 and when they flew, that plane went by their name. 00:35:52.267 --> 00:35:53.634 Myself, I had no airplane. 00:35:53.634 --> 00:35:56.334 When I flew, I took what was left over. 00:35:56.334 --> 00:35:59.467 So one day, I'll fly a C-model and the next day a D-model. 00:35:59.467 --> 00:36:02.934 It wasn't toward the end when I was able to fly one plane 00:36:02.934 --> 00:36:04.534 for most of my missions, 00:36:04.534 --> 00:36:06.767 but that plane still belonged to a senior pilot 00:36:06.767 --> 00:36:09.334 there who wasn't flying anymore. 00:36:09.334 --> 00:36:11.868 For as long as he was in the squadron, that was his airplane. 00:36:11.868 --> 00:36:12.934 -You know, to put a -- 00:36:12.934 --> 00:36:15.501 -Chrissy, you have another question. 00:36:15.501 --> 00:36:16.934 -Oh, yeah. Let's finish it up here. 00:36:16.934 --> 00:36:19.200 -I was going to say, for the young gents, man, 00:36:19.200 --> 00:36:23.934 a squadron back at that time was 32 pilots, 24 aircraft 00:36:23.934 --> 00:36:27.734 and then a couple hundred technicians and mechanics, 00:36:27.734 --> 00:36:30.567 airframe man and all that kept the plane flying, 00:36:30.567 --> 00:36:34.100 and then the other support, medical, communications, 00:36:34.100 --> 00:36:36.634 and so maybe another couple hundred people. 00:36:36.634 --> 00:36:40.000 So that's what a squadron back then. 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.701 Little different now where technology has taken us. 00:36:44.701 --> 00:36:46.067 -All right, Shelly. 00:36:46.067 --> 00:36:47.367 What's the next question? 00:36:47.367 --> 00:36:50.934 -Mr. Parker's ties class would like to know 00:36:50.934 --> 00:36:54.767 approximately how many hours did you fly each day? 00:36:54.767 --> 00:36:56.501 -Ooh. That's a good question. Okay. 00:36:56.501 --> 00:36:57.734 Ooh, do you know that? Okay. 00:36:57.734 --> 00:36:58.901 I'll repeat that for everybody just in case 00:36:58.901 --> 00:37:01.100 if our mike isn't strong enough. 00:37:01.100 --> 00:37:05.267 Mr. Parker's class wants to know how many hours you flew per day 00:37:05.267 --> 00:37:07.300 if you can answer that. 00:37:07.300 --> 00:37:14.000 -Well, for me, the missions varied on your assignment 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:19.133 and escorting of the bomber group, where their target was. 00:37:19.133 --> 00:37:23.100 My average missions was probably 4 hours and 15 minutes. 00:37:23.100 --> 00:37:26.934 The longest I ever flew a mission, 6 hours. 00:37:26.934 --> 00:37:29.667 Had a few under that where they were close in, 00:37:29.667 --> 00:37:33.968 and say, we were flying from the Adriatic side of Italy, 00:37:33.968 --> 00:37:36.734 but all the way west of the oil fields, 00:37:36.734 --> 00:37:38.701 as we mentioned earlier, 00:37:38.701 --> 00:37:41.501 late in the war all the way north to Berlin 00:37:41.501 --> 00:37:45.234 and also northwest from where we were, 00:37:45.234 --> 00:37:49.334 southern France and during the Normandy landing, 00:37:49.334 --> 00:37:51.367 we attacked units in southern France 00:37:51.367 --> 00:37:54.334 to keep them from backing up the German units 00:37:54.334 --> 00:37:56.901 facing the Normandy landing. 00:37:56.901 --> 00:38:02.067 The average, mine was about 4 hours and 15 minutes. 00:38:02.067 --> 00:38:04.067 Yours? -Well, that varied. 00:38:04.067 --> 00:38:07.234 When I got over there, I was with the strategic Air Force, 00:38:07.234 --> 00:38:08.434 15th Air Force. 00:38:08.434 --> 00:38:11.667 And you would fly normally one mission a day 00:38:11.667 --> 00:38:14.234 with the bombers that flew one mission a day. 00:38:14.234 --> 00:38:16.033 But the 99th, when it first went over, 00:38:16.033 --> 00:38:20.400 was supporting tactical units, the troops on the ground, 00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:22.100 and sometimes their pilots would fly more 00:38:22.100 --> 00:38:25.067 than one mission a day as needed, see. 00:38:25.067 --> 00:38:29.634 But once you got to strategic air, escorting bombers, 00:38:29.634 --> 00:38:32.300 the bombers would usually fly one mission a day, 00:38:32.300 --> 00:38:33.767 and that's it. 00:38:33.767 --> 00:38:41.234 So in 15th Air Force, 332nd, we normally flew one mission a day. 00:38:41.234 --> 00:38:42.734 -And then maybe the last one 00:38:42.734 --> 00:38:45.100 for this particular section will come from, 00:38:45.100 --> 00:38:46.467 this is Ms. Williams' class 00:38:46.467 --> 00:38:50.634 in Jennings High School in Jennings, Louisiana. 00:38:50.634 --> 00:38:54.534 How did you both feel being a black man fighting for a country 00:38:54.534 --> 00:38:56.334 that was oppressive to your race? 00:38:56.334 --> 00:38:57.667 I mean, is that something that you thought about 00:38:57.667 --> 00:38:59.767 while you were overseas? 00:38:59.767 --> 00:39:02.300 -Well, I never thought of it not being my country. 00:39:02.300 --> 00:39:05.934 The country had declared war, 00:39:05.934 --> 00:39:09.634 and we were behind supporting what was taking place, 00:39:09.634 --> 00:39:13.868 so I never looked at it as being otherwise. 00:39:13.868 --> 00:39:15.300 -No, I didn't either. 00:39:15.300 --> 00:39:17.567 Growing up in school, I learned about American history. 00:39:17.567 --> 00:39:20.033 I loved this country. It was my country. 00:39:20.033 --> 00:39:22.868 And so I'm flying for my country, 00:39:22.868 --> 00:39:28.167 and that never bothered me about this thing of segregation. 00:39:28.167 --> 00:39:32.367 As far as flying and going to war, it's for my country, too. 00:39:32.367 --> 00:39:33.701 -I think the other side of that, 00:39:33.701 --> 00:39:36.033 I often talk about, well, what's your attitude? 00:39:36.033 --> 00:39:38.367 And mine was the old "You treat other people like 00:39:38.367 --> 00:39:39.667 you want to be treated." 00:39:39.667 --> 00:39:45.567 If you had that type of respect, it paid off as far as 00:39:45.567 --> 00:39:48.300 I was concerned in accomplishing, 00:39:48.300 --> 00:39:50.634 and I couldn't have written a script for better opportunities 00:39:50.634 --> 00:39:52.968 than I had serving our country. 00:39:52.968 --> 00:39:56.200 As George and I have both not only in World War II, 00:39:56.200 --> 00:39:58.334 but in Korea and Vietnam. 00:40:00.467 --> 00:40:01.601 -All right. 00:40:01.601 --> 00:40:03.100 We're going to kind of move forward 00:40:03.100 --> 00:40:05.033 a little bit and talk about coming home. 00:40:05.033 --> 00:40:08.000 Of course, then your future career, too, 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:10.033 and then kind of the legacy of everything 00:40:10.033 --> 00:40:13.367 that you gentleman have achieved. 00:40:13.367 --> 00:40:17.367 Now, I've got a lot of questions for this section, 00:40:17.367 --> 00:40:19.334 so bear with me here. 00:40:19.334 --> 00:40:21.234 The first one, students want to know, 00:40:21.234 --> 00:40:22.901 what kind of welcome did you receive 00:40:22.901 --> 00:40:25.501 when returning home from the war? 00:40:25.501 --> 00:40:28.367 Is that maybe a complicated one to you? 00:40:28.367 --> 00:40:30.767 -It's complicated to maybe the word welcome. 00:40:30.767 --> 00:40:31.934 -So, yeah. 00:40:31.934 --> 00:40:34.167 Not the right, even the right word, right? 00:40:34.167 --> 00:40:35.400 -Yeah. 00:40:35.400 --> 00:40:38.801 Even though we had dispelled the biases so long 00:40:38.801 --> 00:40:43.167 that had been part of the policy and separating us, 00:40:43.167 --> 00:40:47.667 we were still segregated when we came home. 00:40:47.667 --> 00:40:53.601 Although they had a rest camp, I came home November '44. 00:40:53.601 --> 00:40:58.634 They gave us a week of rest from combat, and mine 00:40:58.634 --> 00:41:01.801 was in a hotel in Atlantic City, 00:41:01.801 --> 00:41:03.801 and they said that was the first time 00:41:03.801 --> 00:41:05.400 a black was sleeping in the room, 00:41:05.400 --> 00:41:07.634 not in the room to make up the bed. 00:41:07.634 --> 00:41:09.167 -Wow. My gosh. 00:41:09.167 --> 00:41:11.501 -And so there were many aspects 00:41:11.501 --> 00:41:16.734 that that part of our society living hadn't changed, 00:41:16.734 --> 00:41:18.234 and so it was still segregated. 00:41:18.234 --> 00:41:21.300 You couldn't go into any restaurants you want 00:41:21.300 --> 00:41:25.033 and get food or a room at a hotel, 00:41:25.033 --> 00:41:26.634 so it took some time, 00:41:26.634 --> 00:41:28.501 although our experience dispelled 00:41:28.501 --> 00:41:30.567 the biased internalizations 00:41:30.567 --> 00:41:33.567 that had been part of that policy. 00:41:33.567 --> 00:41:37.367 It took some time and some action by the Air Force 00:41:37.367 --> 00:41:41.767 well after the war when they separated from the ground forces 00:41:41.767 --> 00:41:48.167 to realize that integration was essential to a good unit, 00:41:48.167 --> 00:41:51.000 using people based on their training 00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:52.567 and the experience and where needed, 00:41:52.567 --> 00:41:56.234 not their color of their skin and that type of thing. 00:41:56.234 --> 00:42:01.434 So what we accomplished, although it took a few years 00:42:01.434 --> 00:42:06.033 for change to take place, was still important. 00:42:06.033 --> 00:42:10.767 -Well, I came back from overseas in August 1945. 00:42:10.767 --> 00:42:15.367 The 99th was really deactivated over there and reactivated here 00:42:15.367 --> 00:42:19.400 as part of the 477th composite group under Colonel Davis, 00:42:19.400 --> 00:42:21.934 but I came back in '45, went to Tuskegee, 00:42:21.934 --> 00:42:24.067 and everything was the same outside. 00:42:24.067 --> 00:42:26.434 Segregation was still in full force. 00:42:26.434 --> 00:42:29.000 But I was in Tuskegee till it closed in '46 00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:31.501 then went to Lockbourne for a few months. 00:42:31.501 --> 00:42:35.734 Then I was released from active duty in November of '46. 00:42:35.734 --> 00:42:40.567 Went to NYU School of Engineering '47, 00:42:40.567 --> 00:42:42.267 got married that same month. 00:42:42.267 --> 00:42:49.601 Anyway, I returned to active duty in June 1948. 00:42:49.601 --> 00:42:52.367 In April of '48, the chief of staff of the Air Force, 00:42:52.367 --> 00:42:56.667 the Air Force was created in September 1947. 00:42:56.667 --> 00:42:59.734 Seven months later, in April '48, 00:42:59.734 --> 00:43:01.133 the chief of staff of the Air Force, 00:43:01.133 --> 00:43:03.701 General Carl Spaatz announced that the Air Force, 00:43:03.701 --> 00:43:06.067 in the interests of economy and efficiency, 00:43:06.067 --> 00:43:08.968 were going to do away with racial segregation. 00:43:08.968 --> 00:43:11.834 That was publicly announced, and 4 months later, 00:43:11.834 --> 00:43:14.100 President Truman issued an executive order 00:43:14.100 --> 00:43:17.033 saying that the Army, Navy, and Air Force will submit 00:43:17.033 --> 00:43:19.167 their plans for racial integration. 00:43:19.167 --> 00:43:23.934 And that's when it started with racial integration, 00:43:23.934 --> 00:43:25.868 and fortunately, I went to school at Keesler Field 00:43:25.868 --> 00:43:28.133 in September 1948, 00:43:28.133 --> 00:43:30.467 and the plans for racial integration 00:43:30.467 --> 00:43:33.667 weren't turned in to the Department of Defense 00:43:33.667 --> 00:43:39.968 until January 1949, but at Keesler in '47, 00:43:39.968 --> 00:43:42.467 those are there from Tuskegee. 00:43:42.467 --> 00:43:46.400 The black people going to school there eventually were integrated 00:43:46.400 --> 00:43:49.300 because we were, 00:43:49.300 --> 00:43:52.434 for the first time in September '48, 00:43:52.434 --> 00:43:55.167 Don Simmons from Chicago, he's a brown-skin, 00:43:55.167 --> 00:43:58.567 whatnot, he was the first one from Lockbourne. 00:43:58.567 --> 00:44:01.934 They had no, he said, never had any black officers there, 00:44:01.934 --> 00:44:05.167 so they didn't have a separate BoQ for them, 00:44:05.167 --> 00:44:08.701 so Don Simmons was put in a BoQ with all whites, 00:44:08.701 --> 00:44:11.901 World War II barracks, common restroom facility. 00:44:11.901 --> 00:44:15.634 I came a few weeks later, and I was in that barracks, too. 00:44:15.634 --> 00:44:19.300 And when we flew, I would fly a B-25. 00:44:19.300 --> 00:44:22.334 That's what we had to fly, and 90%-some of the time, 00:44:22.334 --> 00:44:24.868 I was the pilot, and everyone but the copilot, 00:44:24.868 --> 00:44:27.234 everyone else was white, 00:44:27.234 --> 00:44:30.200 and that started in September 1948. 00:44:30.200 --> 00:44:33.234 That was at Keesler Field. 00:44:33.234 --> 00:44:37.033 And I graduated in '49, but the Air Force, 00:44:37.033 --> 00:44:39.133 I guess their plan to integration 00:44:39.133 --> 00:44:42.300 was approved in May of '49, 00:44:42.300 --> 00:44:46.133 and the end of June, the Air Force had moved. 00:44:46.133 --> 00:44:48.767 They deactivated the 332nd fighter group, 00:44:48.767 --> 00:44:50.734 and within a very short period of time, 00:44:50.734 --> 00:44:53.367 everyone at Lockbourne received orders, 00:44:53.367 --> 00:44:56.567 hundreds of people, to white units all around the world. 00:44:56.567 --> 00:44:58.467 So the Air Force was the first service 00:44:58.467 --> 00:45:01.434 to really racially integrate. 00:45:01.434 --> 00:45:03.934 The Army's plan was disapproved in '49. 00:45:03.934 --> 00:45:05.934 They resubmitted in 1950, 00:45:05.934 --> 00:45:07.701 and they started integrating about the time 00:45:07.701 --> 00:45:10.067 of the Korean War. 00:45:10.067 --> 00:45:15.000 -Korean War. -Now, Keesler, for some folks 00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:17.400 that aren't from this general area of Louisiana 00:45:17.400 --> 00:45:21.501 and Mississippi, is in Biloxi, or near Biloxi, Mississippi. 00:45:21.501 --> 00:45:24.801 So did you -- It was integrated on base. 00:45:24.801 --> 00:45:27.234 When you left base, though, there was still -- 00:45:27.234 --> 00:45:29.234 Jim Crow was still in full effect, right? 00:45:29.234 --> 00:45:32.701 -Well, in 1948, they didn't say they integrated, 00:45:32.701 --> 00:45:36.300 because integration, segregation was still part of the land, 00:45:36.300 --> 00:45:38.133 part of the law. 00:45:38.133 --> 00:45:39.667 But what they did was, 00:45:39.667 --> 00:45:43.200 they just didn't create separate barracks for colored officers 00:45:43.200 --> 00:45:47.334 because they didn't have any prior to that time, see? 00:45:47.334 --> 00:45:52.267 They just quietly put us into white BoQ, 00:45:52.267 --> 00:45:53.601 and we could go to the club then. 00:45:53.601 --> 00:45:56.601 We flew as pilot with the copilot. 00:45:56.601 --> 00:45:58.767 Everybody else on the plane, white, 00:45:58.767 --> 00:46:00.167 and we did that, but quietly. 00:46:00.167 --> 00:46:01.501 They didn't announce it to anybody. 00:46:01.501 --> 00:46:02.934 We just did it. -It wasn't publicized. 00:46:02.934 --> 00:46:06.634 -Yeah, right, right. 00:46:06.634 --> 00:46:09.634 Now, you said, you know, you didn't think about being treated 00:46:09.634 --> 00:46:11.567 necessarily as second-class citizens 00:46:11.567 --> 00:46:13.534 when you were overseas fighting in the war, 00:46:13.534 --> 00:46:17.200 but when you returned home, are -- 00:46:17.200 --> 00:46:19.767 Another question, actually, there's two schools 00:46:19.767 --> 00:46:21.667 that asked this kind of same question. 00:46:21.667 --> 00:46:24.767 How did you feel when you came back from the war and, you know, 00:46:24.767 --> 00:46:28.300 you saw kind of the same sort of segregation here in our country? 00:46:28.300 --> 00:46:30.400 Did you feel like you needed to act 00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:33.000 or do something to change that? 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:40.100 -I personally still felt that you always do your best 00:46:40.100 --> 00:46:42.300 in whatever you're doing and still treat others 00:46:42.300 --> 00:46:44.434 like they want to be treated. 00:46:44.434 --> 00:46:47.601 My first integrated assignment was in Salina, Kansas. 00:46:47.601 --> 00:46:50.934 I got along fine on base in my work, 00:46:50.934 --> 00:46:53.868 but I never got my family to Salina, Kansas 00:46:53.868 --> 00:46:57.434 because the community just hadn't changed that much. 00:46:57.434 --> 00:47:00.634 Their attitudes were still not up 00:47:00.634 --> 00:47:05.100 to where the service was focused on taking us, 00:47:05.100 --> 00:47:07.934 but fortunately, that base, 00:47:07.934 --> 00:47:11.801 because of draw-down on the World War II buildup, 00:47:11.801 --> 00:47:16.334 it was closed, and I went up to California. 00:47:16.334 --> 00:47:18.934 But even there, things were fine on base. 00:47:18.934 --> 00:47:22.634 Off base was still a problem with the housing, and so on. 00:47:22.634 --> 00:47:26.100 So I might say that, although we had performed well 00:47:26.100 --> 00:47:30.901 and dispelled some of the attitudes, 00:47:30.901 --> 00:47:33.267 still took some of the civil rights action 00:47:33.267 --> 00:47:35.868 later in the early '60s 00:47:35.868 --> 00:47:43.834 to continue that direction that equality and opportunity 00:47:43.834 --> 00:47:46.968 shouldn't come from happenstance at birth 00:47:46.968 --> 00:47:50.534 but based on the education and experience 00:47:50.534 --> 00:47:52.734 and their performance. 00:47:52.734 --> 00:47:55.467 -Well, you know, you can go several ways on this. 00:47:55.467 --> 00:47:57.834 I got out of the service in '46, 00:47:57.834 --> 00:48:00.701 and my primary means was to catch up 00:48:00.701 --> 00:48:02.501 and to get an education. 00:48:02.501 --> 00:48:04.167 I wanted to be an engineer. 00:48:04.167 --> 00:48:06.167 I got married, worried about family, 00:48:06.167 --> 00:48:08.033 and these are priority items. 00:48:08.033 --> 00:48:10.634 You worry about that more than anything else. 00:48:10.634 --> 00:48:12.334 And so that's what you follow. 00:48:12.334 --> 00:48:13.367 I needed to. 00:48:13.367 --> 00:48:15.400 I had to have an education. 00:48:15.400 --> 00:48:17.133 But I went back into the service, 00:48:17.133 --> 00:48:18.968 and I got my education in the service. 00:48:18.968 --> 00:48:21.367 I went to, got a B.S. in electrical engineering 00:48:21.367 --> 00:48:23.167 at Institute of Technology, 00:48:23.167 --> 00:48:25.634 and later they called me back to go to graduate school, 00:48:25.634 --> 00:48:27.734 so I received a masters in the service. 00:48:27.734 --> 00:48:30.267 So I got my education in the service. 00:48:30.267 --> 00:48:32.567 So it's one of those things. 00:48:32.567 --> 00:48:36.234 I had goals that I wanted to meet, and that was it. 00:48:36.234 --> 00:48:39.300 I achieved those goals. 00:48:39.300 --> 00:48:42.167 -Again, it's attitudes because, 00:48:42.167 --> 00:48:46.801 for a number of years after the Air Force integrated, 00:48:46.801 --> 00:48:48.634 we got assignments overseas 00:48:48.634 --> 00:48:52.267 that we were still not getting here in the States. 00:48:52.267 --> 00:48:55.868 I commanded a unit in the '50s in Philippines 00:48:55.868 --> 00:48:57.901 for a couple years, 00:48:57.901 --> 00:49:01.601 wouldn't get that kind of assignment back here at home. 00:49:01.601 --> 00:49:09.167 Same way, even commanded a unit later in Vietnam. 00:49:09.167 --> 00:49:11.100 We mentioned they closed Lockbourne. 00:49:11.100 --> 00:49:13.767 Their base, which was a wing based operation 00:49:13.767 --> 00:49:17.467 with Colonel Davis as our commander then, 00:49:17.467 --> 00:49:20.701 the commander of the wing, I became wing commander 00:49:20.701 --> 00:49:25.133 of Richards-Gebaur Air Base in June of '72, 00:49:25.133 --> 00:49:27.067 and they really here in States 00:49:27.067 --> 00:49:33.033 over those period of years from '49 to '72, 00:49:33.033 --> 00:49:37.133 things changed very rapidly after that as attitudes changed, 00:49:37.133 --> 00:49:40.501 and things became open 00:49:40.501 --> 00:49:43.334 throughout the service opportunities. 00:49:43.334 --> 00:49:46.100 But again, we experienced that slow buildup, 00:49:46.100 --> 00:49:53.300 slow change of attitude to realize that, as I said, 00:49:53.300 --> 00:49:55.901 your education, your potential and abilities 00:49:55.901 --> 00:49:57.968 that should speak for you 00:49:57.968 --> 00:50:00.133 and not have to stand for a group. 00:50:02.701 --> 00:50:03.801 -Thank you. 00:50:03.801 --> 00:50:07.033 Those are just such wonderful answers. 00:50:07.033 --> 00:50:09.534 I kind of want to -- 00:50:09.534 --> 00:50:12.601 We only have about looks like 10 minutes or so left. 00:50:12.601 --> 00:50:14.968 I just would like you both to kind of briefly talk 00:50:14.968 --> 00:50:16.334 about the rest of your career, 00:50:16.334 --> 00:50:19.868 especially in the military flying in Korea and Vietnam, 00:50:19.868 --> 00:50:21.100 and tell them about that. 00:50:21.100 --> 00:50:22.901 I know we're obviously focused on World War II, 00:50:22.901 --> 00:50:26.901 but a little bit on the rest, yeah. 00:50:26.901 --> 00:50:28.501 -Well, for me, I don't know. 00:50:28.501 --> 00:50:31.634 Still I enjoyed flying, had great opportunities 00:50:31.634 --> 00:50:35.334 and actively flew 27 of my 30 years, 00:50:35.334 --> 00:50:39.434 but the flying, in World War II, 00:50:39.434 --> 00:50:43.400 we had declared war and provided the wherewithal to win the war. 00:50:43.400 --> 00:50:48.000 Unfortunately, Korea and Vietnam were using military power 00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:49.567 for political purposes, 00:50:49.567 --> 00:50:51.701 and in politics, you really don't win it 00:50:51.701 --> 00:50:54.334 because politics is a compromise. 00:50:54.334 --> 00:50:57.033 So there was a lot of unhappiness 00:50:57.033 --> 00:51:01.033 against service people after Vietnam time frame, 00:51:01.033 --> 00:51:05.267 and some of that is going on today in what's going on. 00:51:05.267 --> 00:51:08.167 But again, service for our country 00:51:08.167 --> 00:51:10.667 to have a strong military to preserve 00:51:10.667 --> 00:51:14.501 the freedoms that we enjoy and have here in America 00:51:14.501 --> 00:51:17.367 that don't exist in so many countries around the world 00:51:17.367 --> 00:51:19.868 is what's important. 00:51:22.000 --> 00:51:23.167 -Now, let's see. 00:51:23.167 --> 00:51:24.667 Shelby, do we want to open it up? 00:51:24.667 --> 00:51:25.701 Do we have lots of questions? 00:51:25.701 --> 00:51:27.534 I have a couple more. 00:51:27.534 --> 00:51:28.868 -You have a lot of questions? 00:51:28.868 --> 00:51:30.701 -Yeah. -Okay. 00:51:30.701 --> 00:51:33.601 Well let's, while you're kind of handing over the questions, 00:51:33.601 --> 00:51:35.400 and because the kind of final thing 00:51:35.400 --> 00:51:36.667 I really want to talk about -- 00:51:36.667 --> 00:51:37.868 but I'm going to have the students answer it 00:51:37.868 --> 00:51:39.234 first before you do -- 00:51:39.234 --> 00:51:41.801 You know, I'm going to bring in one more poll question 00:51:41.801 --> 00:51:43.300 for students, 00:51:43.300 --> 00:51:46.934 and that poll question is, it says, "What do you think, 00:51:46.934 --> 00:51:48.934 students, is the most important legacy 00:51:48.934 --> 00:51:51.667 of these gentleman of the Tuskegee Airmen?" 00:51:51.667 --> 00:51:53.767 and then I'm going to have you guys take your turn 00:51:53.767 --> 00:51:55.267 and kind of tell us, like, 00:51:55.267 --> 00:51:56.501 the one thing you would love to share 00:51:56.501 --> 00:51:58.367 with students about your service 00:51:58.367 --> 00:52:00.868 and what it means to our country today. 00:52:00.868 --> 00:52:03.868 While Shelby gives us a bunch of your questions 00:52:03.868 --> 00:52:05.534 as we try to kind of answer them, 00:52:05.534 --> 00:52:06.734 but I'm going to give students 00:52:06.734 --> 00:52:08.701 your opportunity first to answer, 00:52:08.701 --> 00:52:10.234 and then I'll pose that question to you. 00:52:10.234 --> 00:52:12.167 So we'll give them a second to think. 00:52:14.467 --> 00:52:17.534 So students are saying, they're answering, 00:52:17.534 --> 00:52:18.968 so we've got a couple coming in. 00:52:18.968 --> 00:52:22.234 The integration of all races into the armed forces, 00:52:22.234 --> 00:52:24.467 helping to fight racial stereotypes, 00:52:24.467 --> 00:52:28.400 desegregation of the military. 00:52:28.400 --> 00:52:31.501 You gentleman called attention to the inaccuracies 00:52:31.501 --> 00:52:33.334 and prevailing racism. 00:52:33.334 --> 00:52:34.868 Wow. 00:52:34.868 --> 00:52:38.000 Fought for freedom for our country. 00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:40.968 All about having, you know, to overcome obstacles 00:52:40.968 --> 00:52:42.634 and achieve your goals. 00:52:42.634 --> 00:52:44.701 So that's what students -- Oh, my goodness. 00:52:44.701 --> 00:52:46.100 Awesome. 00:52:46.100 --> 00:52:47.801 I'll share all of these responses with you in 1 second, 00:52:47.801 --> 00:52:49.501 and then actually I'm going to turn it to you 00:52:49.501 --> 00:52:52.133 before I ask a few more of these questions, 00:52:52.133 --> 00:52:54.167 but what would you say, yeah, is your -- 00:52:54.167 --> 00:52:56.200 What do you want to leave, you know, with students? 00:52:56.200 --> 00:52:58.701 You know, what's the legacy of some of your achievements? 00:52:58.701 --> 00:53:00.901 -Well, I'd like to leave the value of lessons 00:53:00.901 --> 00:53:04.200 that sustained that's just as important for them, 00:53:04.200 --> 00:53:07.000 but perceive, dream your dreams, find your talent. 00:53:07.000 --> 00:53:09.501 Prepare. Get a good education. 00:53:09.501 --> 00:53:13.267 Both read, write, and speak well, but develop your talents. 00:53:13.267 --> 00:53:14.501 Perform. 00:53:14.501 --> 00:53:17.634 Let actions be your goal in always doing your best, 00:53:17.634 --> 00:53:19.133 and persevere. 00:53:19.133 --> 00:53:22.033 Don't let circumstance be an excuse for not achieving. 00:53:22.033 --> 00:53:24.234 We could have gone off in a corner with our head bowed 00:53:24.234 --> 00:53:26.767 and said, "They don't like me, don't want me. 00:53:26.767 --> 00:53:28.601 I'm not going to do anything for them." 00:53:28.601 --> 00:53:31.801 That's not American. 00:53:31.801 --> 00:53:33.200 -Well, I, in the service, 00:53:33.200 --> 00:53:36.400 I learned when you're given an assignment, 00:53:36.400 --> 00:53:38.334 find out what the assignment is, 00:53:38.334 --> 00:53:41.300 and do the best you can on that assignment. 00:53:41.300 --> 00:53:43.901 Each time I was given an assignment, 00:53:43.901 --> 00:53:46.601 I did what I thought was a damn good job, 00:53:46.601 --> 00:53:48.667 and it was recognized over the years. 00:53:48.667 --> 00:53:51.067 The main thing is, you apply yourself. 00:53:51.067 --> 00:53:52.634 Learn what you're supposed to do, 00:53:52.634 --> 00:53:55.400 and make sure you do it to the best of your ability. 00:53:55.400 --> 00:53:58.234 And you get ahead, and that's all anyone could expect 00:53:58.234 --> 00:53:59.934 from anyone who's serving. 00:53:59.934 --> 00:54:03.067 But just, the thing is, don't just take no 00:54:03.067 --> 00:54:04.434 for an answer in something 00:54:04.434 --> 00:54:07.267 if you feel you want to know something or do something 00:54:07.267 --> 00:54:08.868 because, quite often, 00:54:08.868 --> 00:54:11.634 you can work around it or still move ahead. 00:54:11.634 --> 00:54:16.000 So be persistent in your goal of what you want to do. 00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:17.400 -All right. That's awesome. 00:54:17.400 --> 00:54:19.033 Now, we have about 5 more minutes, 00:54:19.033 --> 00:54:21.601 so do you mind if I sneak in a couple more questions? 00:54:21.601 --> 00:54:22.634 -Okay. -Good. 00:54:22.634 --> 00:54:24.868 -Okay. So from the Journey home school, 00:54:24.868 --> 00:54:26.167 I told you we were talking about, 00:54:26.167 --> 00:54:28.434 like, the Hollywood depictions. 00:54:28.434 --> 00:54:29.767 There's been a few movies about it. 00:54:29.767 --> 00:54:31.400 There's "Red Tails" that just recently came out, 00:54:31.400 --> 00:54:32.701 and "The Tuskegee Airmen." 00:54:32.701 --> 00:54:35.801 How do you feel about your portrayal in Hollywood? 00:54:35.801 --> 00:54:41.133 -Well, Hollywood takes license with any character. 00:54:41.133 --> 00:54:43.767 As George mentioned earlier, you know, in the air, 00:54:43.767 --> 00:54:46.400 you've got your oxygen mask off, and you're talking. 00:54:46.400 --> 00:54:50.868 You know, radio silence was important in the combat zone. 00:54:50.868 --> 00:54:53.701 So they put in things that they hope will get folks 00:54:53.701 --> 00:54:58.734 in the theater and so on, and it distorts true history. 00:54:58.734 --> 00:55:01.367 You know, the young folks like what they see 00:55:01.367 --> 00:55:02.701 in football and basketball. 00:55:02.701 --> 00:55:04.734 Now, everybody getting in the circle 00:55:04.734 --> 00:55:07.501 and get themselves hyped up to go win the game. 00:55:07.501 --> 00:55:10.234 Well, we didn't have to hype ourselves up. 00:55:10.234 --> 00:55:14.133 We spent time with the mechanic and getting in the airplane 00:55:14.133 --> 00:55:16.968 and ensured all was well to carry out the mission. 00:55:16.968 --> 00:55:19.567 But that's Hollywood. 00:55:19.567 --> 00:55:21.334 -Right. -George Lucas also did 00:55:21.334 --> 00:55:22.634 "Double Victory," 00:55:22.634 --> 00:55:25.367 which is a documentary, and if you can see that, 00:55:25.367 --> 00:55:27.200 then you can compare and understand 00:55:27.200 --> 00:55:30.033 the difference in "Red Tails." 00:55:30.033 --> 00:55:31.300 -Well, when I look at "Red Tails," 00:55:31.300 --> 00:55:33.367 first of all, the love story... 00:55:33.367 --> 00:55:36.400 [ Laughter ] 00:55:36.400 --> 00:55:39.934 This pilot flying over this town with his mask 00:55:39.934 --> 00:55:41.667 hanging down to starboard, 00:55:41.667 --> 00:55:44.033 and he sees a girl waving from her roof. 00:55:44.033 --> 00:55:47.367 Then he lands somewhere many miles away, gets a Jeep 00:55:47.367 --> 00:55:48.834 and drives right up to the house. 00:55:48.834 --> 00:55:50.834 You know, we didn't have GPS then, 00:55:50.834 --> 00:55:54.033 so I don't know how he was able to do that. 00:55:54.033 --> 00:55:56.634 And then the story about the super, 00:55:56.634 --> 00:55:59.868 the senior pilot who had a drinking problem. 00:55:59.868 --> 00:56:03.667 I don't think they could have gotten away under Colonel Davis 00:56:03.667 --> 00:56:06.167 without him finding out about it and doing something about it. 00:56:06.167 --> 00:56:07.567 -He would have been out of the picture. 00:56:07.567 --> 00:56:09.133 -He would have been out of the picture a long time ago. 00:56:09.133 --> 00:56:10.667 -Yeah. 00:56:10.667 --> 00:56:14.501 -Colonel Davis was, I'd say a hell of a commander, and -- 00:56:14.501 --> 00:56:16.367 -Right man for the right job at the right time. 00:56:16.367 --> 00:56:19.133 -You're right. The man for the right job. 00:56:19.133 --> 00:56:22.033 And something like that couldn't have happened under him, 00:56:22.033 --> 00:56:23.868 I don't think. But that's Hollywood. 00:56:23.868 --> 00:56:26.801 -Yeah. That's Hollywood. 00:56:26.801 --> 00:56:28.667 Now, Naomi from Alaska wants to know, 00:56:28.667 --> 00:56:30.501 "What are the medals on your jackets mean?" 00:56:30.501 --> 00:56:32.300 They're looking at both of your jackets 00:56:32.300 --> 00:56:34.067 and want to know a little more. 00:56:34.067 --> 00:56:37.534 -Well, we received the, they call them service medals 00:56:37.534 --> 00:56:38.834 for the war you served 00:56:38.834 --> 00:56:41.200 and the period of time that you served, 00:56:41.200 --> 00:56:42.767 and then some of the others, 00:56:42.767 --> 00:56:45.534 such as Distinguished Flying Cross, 00:56:45.534 --> 00:56:47.234 Bronze Star, and the air medals 00:56:47.234 --> 00:56:50.267 are for our individual performance 00:56:50.267 --> 00:56:52.667 in the assignments that we were given. 00:56:54.734 --> 00:56:58.367 -And then Derek from Gulf Court High School wanted to know, 00:56:58.367 --> 00:57:01.801 when was the last time both of you actually piloted a plane? 00:57:03.801 --> 00:57:05.801 -Well, I'm sure the Commemorative Air Force 00:57:05.801 --> 00:57:09.300 has those Red Tail P-51 flying line 00:57:09.300 --> 00:57:10.934 saying that I was -- 00:57:10.934 --> 00:57:13.334 Well, it would be 3 years back now to get a ride. 00:57:13.334 --> 00:57:16.000 It's a two place job, but it has a stick in the back, 00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:20.601 and do a roll over the lake up there, Oshkosh Air Show. 00:57:20.601 --> 00:57:23.400 Then a year later, one of the commemorative 00:57:23.400 --> 00:57:26.467 air force units in Chantilly, Virginia 00:57:26.467 --> 00:57:29.734 has refurbished a BT-13, 00:57:29.734 --> 00:57:34.033 our basic trainer, and I got a chance to go up and fly that. 00:57:34.033 --> 00:57:35.901 So still a thrill. 00:57:35.901 --> 00:57:39.133 All I can say now, my flying days are probably over, 00:57:39.133 --> 00:57:41.767 but if you got the seat open, I'm ready. 00:57:41.767 --> 00:57:44.534 -Yeah. That's right. I like it. 00:57:44.534 --> 00:57:46.634 -Well I flew the 51 at World War II 00:57:46.634 --> 00:57:49.033 and B-29s in the Korean War, 00:57:49.033 --> 00:57:50.767 but the last time I actually flew an airplane 00:57:50.767 --> 00:57:53.067 was in Vietnam flying a gunship. 00:57:53.067 --> 00:57:56.901 It was a combination. 00:57:56.901 --> 00:58:00.300 It had been a cargo airplane, a two car airplane earlier, 00:58:00.300 --> 00:58:04.734 but they made a gunship out of it, a AC-119K. 00:58:04.734 --> 00:58:07.567 Had twin engines on it, but it was so heavy 00:58:07.567 --> 00:58:09.868 they had to put two jet engines on it also, 00:58:09.868 --> 00:58:11.767 so we had four engines on it, 00:58:11.767 --> 00:58:13.567 and that's what I flew in Vietnam at night 00:58:13.567 --> 00:58:15.267 looking for trucks, 00:58:15.267 --> 00:58:17.667 taking supplies from North Vietnam 00:58:17.667 --> 00:58:20.000 down through Laos and Cambodia, 00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:22.501 and down to South Vietnam. 00:58:22.501 --> 00:58:27.167 That was the last time I flew, and that was 1971. 00:58:27.167 --> 00:58:28.667 -All right. And let's maybe close out. 00:58:28.667 --> 00:58:30.734 We've got a minute left, but I feel like 00:58:30.734 --> 00:58:32.033 we've kind of discussed this, but I feel like 00:58:32.033 --> 00:58:33.901 it's an important one to bring home again. 00:58:33.901 --> 00:58:35.868 Again, another one from Gulf Court High School. 00:58:35.868 --> 00:58:38.434 They want to know, how do you feel you paved the way 00:58:38.434 --> 00:58:41.234 for civil rights in our country? 00:58:41.234 --> 00:58:43.601 That's a hard one to answer in a minute, right? 00:58:43.601 --> 00:58:48.767 -Well, looking at the record, we had a incredible record 00:58:48.767 --> 00:58:53.200 and any phase that you want to look at, compare equal to, 00:58:53.200 --> 00:58:57.067 in some cases exceeding the performance of other squadrons 00:58:57.067 --> 00:58:58.334 doing like work, 00:58:58.334 --> 00:59:04.300 so all is well that ends well, and it ended well. 00:59:04.300 --> 00:59:05.400 -That's the way I look at it. 00:59:05.400 --> 00:59:09.367 World War II was really segregated, 00:59:09.367 --> 00:59:10.901 and one of the things that World War II, 00:59:10.901 --> 00:59:14.701 you never have a person of color over a Caucasian. 00:59:14.701 --> 00:59:16.801 That was a thing of World War II. 00:59:16.801 --> 00:59:19.767 And Korean War, I was flying with a white group. 00:59:19.767 --> 00:59:21.734 At one time, I was the only person of color 00:59:21.734 --> 00:59:26.000 in the 28th bomb squadron flying V-29s. 00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:28.968 But then in Vietnam, I was Lieutenant Colonel, 00:59:28.968 --> 00:59:33.534 and I was 45 then, but I was a commander of the detachment, 00:59:33.534 --> 00:59:36.234 and all the pilots and navigators under me were white. 00:59:36.234 --> 00:59:38.367 About 20 years younger, but they were all white. 00:59:38.367 --> 00:59:42.601 So during my lifetime, I've seen that change. 00:59:42.601 --> 00:59:44.968 It's been very comforting to me. 00:59:44.968 --> 00:59:46.300 -My experience was similar, 00:59:46.300 --> 00:59:50.300 commanding a unit in the Philippines for a couple years, 00:59:50.300 --> 00:59:55.467 commanding 16th tac recon squadron in my year at Vietnam. 00:59:55.467 --> 00:59:58.667 Again, performance and ability based on 00:59:58.667 --> 00:59:59.968 the training and experience, 00:59:59.968 --> 01:00:03.868 we were able to -- well, I guess I can say, 01:00:03.868 --> 01:00:07.400 represent our country well and that's a change, 01:00:07.400 --> 01:00:10.334 and it's to say the value of lessons has sustained us, 01:00:10.334 --> 01:00:13.100 are good for you young folks today. 01:00:13.100 --> 01:00:17.267 Just realize where technology has taken us into a new era, 01:00:17.267 --> 01:00:20.334 and each of you are America's future. 01:00:20.334 --> 01:00:22.334 -And so they mentioned Tuskegee Airmen, 01:00:22.334 --> 01:00:25.834 we have an annual convention which we go to, 01:00:25.834 --> 01:00:27.868 but the people in Vietnam, 01:00:27.868 --> 01:00:29.734 although were much younger than me, 01:00:29.734 --> 01:00:31.334 we have an annual reunion also. 01:00:31.334 --> 01:00:33.868 It's in October, and I'll be with them 01:00:33.868 --> 01:00:36.767 at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. 01:00:36.767 --> 01:00:38.200 -That's great. 01:00:38.200 --> 01:00:41.267 Well, I think on that note and with it being 1:01 Central Time, 01:00:41.267 --> 01:00:42.634 we did it all. 01:00:42.634 --> 01:00:44.100 We got it done. 01:00:44.100 --> 01:00:46.267 I want to say thank you to both of you, 01:00:46.267 --> 01:00:48.300 Colonel McGee and Lieutenant Colonel Hardy 01:00:48.300 --> 01:00:50.834 for being with us today here at the museum. 01:00:50.834 --> 01:00:54.000 Not only talking to students, but of course talking later 01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:55.767 to a big crowd here at the museum. 01:00:55.767 --> 01:00:58.801 If any of you are in the New Orleans region, 01:00:58.801 --> 01:01:00.601 we're going to have them here today 01:01:00.601 --> 01:01:04.801 for the P-51 dedication in our U.S. Freedom Pavilion. 01:01:04.801 --> 01:01:06.133 I'll share a little bit more details on that for a second, 01:01:06.133 --> 01:01:08.934 but let's wave to everybody out there 01:01:08.934 --> 01:01:10.834 because we're going to transition over, 01:01:10.834 --> 01:01:12.133 and they won't see us. 01:01:12.133 --> 01:01:15.100 -Thanks for the opportunity to share with you. 01:01:15.100 --> 01:01:17.334 -Thank you so much. -Let me -- 01:01:17.334 --> 01:01:18.868 So we're going to kind of transition 01:01:18.868 --> 01:01:20.701 to kind of close this out. 01:01:20.701 --> 01:01:23.234 You all will see, I think, hopefully, 01:01:23.234 --> 01:01:27.067 a rotating slide show of our next programming. 01:01:27.067 --> 01:01:29.067 So let me actually start off not there. 01:01:29.067 --> 01:01:31.801 Let me go back here. Let's see. 01:01:31.801 --> 01:01:35.467 So here is the presentation this evening. 01:01:35.467 --> 01:01:37.167 Again, Colonel McGee and Lieutenant Colonel Hardy 01:01:37.167 --> 01:01:40.400 will be joining us here at the Museum. 01:01:40.400 --> 01:01:41.601 And, actually, the neat thing is, 01:01:41.601 --> 01:01:43.234 whether you're here or you're not, 01:01:43.234 --> 01:01:44.868 and that's A-okay because you can watch it, 01:01:44.868 --> 01:01:47.767 because, in a similar way, we'll be live streaming. 01:01:47.767 --> 01:01:49.267 So it won't be in this webinar platform, 01:01:49.267 --> 01:01:51.100 but we'll be live streaming it, and you can just watch it 01:01:51.100 --> 01:01:53.868 right from your computer via that link. 01:01:53.868 --> 01:01:59.334 In addition to that, if you want more resources on this topic, 01:01:59.334 --> 01:02:01.801 please check out our website for our current special exhibit, 01:02:01.801 --> 01:02:03.300 "Fighting for the Right to Fight: 01:02:03.300 --> 01:02:05.467 African American Experiences in World War II." 01:02:05.467 --> 01:02:07.133 If you're in the New Orleans area, again, 01:02:07.133 --> 01:02:09.300 it's up for about another month or so, 01:02:09.300 --> 01:02:12.868 until May 30th, but all of the exhibit materials, 01:02:12.868 --> 01:02:14.868 or many of them, are available online 01:02:14.868 --> 01:02:17.100 including teachers' lesson plans, 01:02:17.100 --> 01:02:18.801 and you can see some of those lesson plans 01:02:18.801 --> 01:02:20.100 and additional websites 01:02:20.100 --> 01:02:22.467 on the left-hand side for you to access. 01:02:22.467 --> 01:02:24.534 And then the last thing I'll say before I sign off 01:02:24.534 --> 01:02:27.133 is that we actually have one more student webinar 01:02:27.133 --> 01:02:29.834 this school year, and, in May, please join 01:02:29.834 --> 01:02:32.367 Ela Weissberger, a Holocaust survivor 01:02:32.367 --> 01:02:35.434 and I, as we talk about her experiences. 01:02:35.434 --> 01:02:39.267 She'll be in town for the children's opera "Brundibar" 01:02:39.267 --> 01:02:40.934 which will be here, actually, 01:02:40.934 --> 01:02:42.968 and we'll be staging it at the Museum. 01:02:42.968 --> 01:02:46.467 She'll take a little time away from her...