Top Photo: Harry Stewart Jr. Courtesy Harry Stewart. 

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Harry Stewart Jr., a decorated combat pilot of the 332nd Fighter Group and one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, has died. He was 100 years old.

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum confirmed Stewart’s death to the Associated Press, saying he passed away peacefully at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on Sunday.

Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African American had ever been a US military pilot. At First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s insistence, the first African American fighter squadron was created in 1941. The 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group came to symbolize African American participation in World War II. Overall, the 992 Tuskegee-trained pilots logged over 15,000 sorties and nearly 1,600 fighter missions over Nazi-occupied Europe, protecting B-24 bombers from aircraft fire and destroying enemy targets.

Stewart was born in Newport News, Virginia, and grew up in Queens, New York. As a child, he was fascinated with flying, building balsa wood model airplanes and becoming a member of the Junior Birdmen of America.

In 1942, Stewart dropped out of high school and volunteered for aviation cadet training in the US Army Air Forces. He made high marks in his entrance and aptitude exams and won admission into the aviation cadet program.

Sent to Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama in April 1943 for flight training, Stewart was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in July 1944 at 19 years old. After a brief leave, he was transferred to Walterboro Army Air Field for several weeks of intensive fighter tactics training before being shipped to Italy.

Harry Stewart Jr. Courtesy of Harry Stewart.

 Stewart was assigned to the 302nd Fighter Squadron,  332nd Fighter Group, Fifteenth Air Force, in Italy, flying 43 combat missions in North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft. 

During one mission on April 1, 1945, Stewart was one of eight “Red Tail” P-51s assigned to escort B-24 bombers enroute to St. Pölten, Austria. The mission went off without much trouble, and the fighters were able to break off from the bombers to search for enemy planes. Stewart, flying element lead in the forward flight of four aircraft, soon spotted two black dots about 2,000 feet below them. He and his wingman dove on their prey, which turned out to be a pair of German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.

After sliding into position behind one of the enemy planes, Stewart opened fire with his P-51’s .50-caliber machine guns and kept shooting until he saw pieces of the Fw 190 breaking off. He repeated this action to destroy the second enemy plane.

After destroying the two German planes, Stewart said his radio came to life warning him of an enemy fighter on his tail. He looked back and saw that his wingman was no longer there. Instead, there was a chaotic dogfight happening above him, and a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter was right behind him.

Stewart began evasive maneuvers, and after several twists, turns, and a steep climb, the German Bf 109's engine stalled and the enemy fighter dropped into a cloud bank. He later learned that the German plane did not recover and crashed.

Stewart, credited with downing three enemy planes, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions.

After returning to the United States in October 1945, Stewart remained on active duty. In early 1949, he was one of four Tuskegee Airmen who scored highest in the US Air Force’s inaugural Top Gun aerial gunnery competition among the military’s best pilots, though this accomplishment was not recognized until decades later. Official results for first place were recorded as “unknown” for nearly 46 years. In 2022, a plaque was commissioned and prominently displayed at the Air Force Weapons School to reaffirm the 332nd’s win.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Alva Temple, 1st Lt. James Harvey, 1st Lt. Harry Stewart and 1st Lt. Halbert Alexander pose with their 1949 Weapons Meet trophy in May 1949 at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. The trophy went missing for 55 years, but is now displayed at the National Museum of the U.S.Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force photo)

“We weren’t supposed to be able to fly aircraft, we weren’t supposed to be able to win this competition, but we did and we were the best,” said retired Lieutenant Colonel James Harvey III, Stewart’s teammate and fellow Tuskegee Airman.

Stewart left active duty in January 1950, taking advantage of the GI Bill to earn a degree in mechanical engineering at New York University. He remained in the Air Force Reserve, where he served as an instructor and test pilot, and was recalled for duty during the Korean War. He retired in the 1960s as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Mr. Fredrick Henry and Lt. Col. Harry Stewart, both documented original Tuskegee Airmen and WWII veterans, were honored during the renaming of Birch St. to “Tuskegee Airmen Way” at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, on February 27, 2018. Photo by Master Sgt. David Kujawa USAF.

Stewart became an advocate for the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen. He played a vital role in their recognition, and the group received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. In 2024, The National WWII Museum was proud to recognize the trailblazing Tuskegee Airmen with the American Spirit Award, the institution’s highest honor, for their accomplishments and patriotism in the face of discrimination.