Pioneering pilot talks about Tuskegee Airmen

Black aviators fought on 2 fronts

STORY SUMMARY »

Lt. Col. Bill Holloman flew "Red Tail" P-51s with the 332nd Fighter Group in World War II -- the famed Tuskegee Airmen. He continued flying during the Korean War and Vietnam, was the first black helicopter pilot in the Air Force and later became a professor of history at the University of Washington.

"I'm proud to be associated with that group of men who not only fought racism among the Nazis, but also here in America," Holloman says.

He'll speak on the contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen in a Black History Month presentation at the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor tomorrow and Sunday.

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FULL STORY »

It's one of the great stories rising from the so-called Greatest Generation, the tale of the "Tuskegee Airmen," the all-black squadrons that not only scored victories over Nazis in the air, they scored strikes against racism on the homefront. As an inspirational paen, it's a story that can't be told often enough.

Particularly now, during Black History Month. Which is why the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor is bringing in Tuskegee Airman Bill Holloman and others to give a couple of talks on the subject this week. Except that ...

..."During the war, nobody ever heard of Tuskegee Airmen," explains Holloman.

Say what?

"We were 'those colored pilots,' " said Holloman. "Then we were 'Negros' until 1963, when we became 'black.' Then somebody dreamed up 'African-American,' which I sort of resent. I'm an American who happens to be of African descent. And I'm proud to be associated with that group of men who not only fought racism among the Nazis, but also here in America. Some of our pilots who were captured by the Germans were asked, why would you fly for a country that treats you as second-class citizens? Compared to what the Nazis were doing, America is the greatest nation on Earth."

The phrase "Tuskegee Airmen," Hollomen explained, came about in the 1970s when veterans of the fighter group organized an educational trust under that name. It comes from the all-black Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a university that served as a conduit for young black men to join the Army Air Forces.

In 1941, Congress pressured the military into creating a black flying unit, but the plan was nearly scuttled by overt racism within the War Department, which commissioned "scientific" studies from the University of Texas proving that blacks couldn't handle anything as complex as a flying machine. This notion was scuttled by, of all people, Eleanor Roosevelt, who showed up at the flying field one day and insisted that she be taken up in the air in a Piper Cub flown by a black pilot.

Eventually, the 99th, 100th, 301st and 302nd all-black squadron were formed, collectively under the 332nd Fighter Group. And if you're wondering why there are four squadrons instead of the usual three, "we were the only four-squadron group in the armed forces," said Holloman. "And it was because we were segregated."

Not just pilots. The Tuskegee Airmen also consisted of hundreds of black support personnel. "And one of the beautiful things about being in a segregated unit," said Holloman, "is that you couldn't be transferred out away from your friends. We became a family."

Holloman hails from St. Louis, and like many aviators of the era, tried flying by jumping off the garage roof with a sheet tied across his shoulders. "That is, until my mother got wind of it, and my father had us try jumping off a box instead. 'If you can fly off the box,' he said, 'I'll let you jump off the garage.' "

The airplane-crazy kid went to Tuskegee for training, graduating in class 44H, and Holloman says that nearby Tuskegee Airfield was unique in the sheer variety of training aircraft. "Usually, cadets would move from one field to another, learning different types of aircraft. But since we were segregated, instead, all the types of aircraft came to Tuskegee."

Holloman became rated in the famous P-40, P-39 and P-47 fighters, and like many aviators, his heart was stolen by the sleek P-51 Mustang. The 332nd painted their aircraft with distinctively crimson control surfaces, and thoroughout the campaign in Europe, the "Red Tails" were noted as a fierce bunch of fighter pilots who went the extra air mile to protect bombers -- and often the crews who praised them didn't know the Red Tails were black.

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas' dream project is a movie about the 332nd, called, naturally, "Red Tails." Holloman was called to Los Angeles last week to consult on the script.

"By 1945, we pretty much controlled the air," said Holloman. "We'd do five escort missions, then get to do one search-and-destroy or strafing mission, which we preferred because it was more exciting! As a whole, fighter pilots are crazy young men, and we liked it that way."

The armed forces were desegregated in 1948 by executive order, creating by law -- supposedly -- the only fully integrated communities in the United States. "I discovered quickly that you can have friends in the military, and be treated as an equal, as long as our kids didn't date," said Holloman. "If there was any good that came out of World War II, it was the notion that we ignore the color of our skin when we're in the trenches together. America is not perfect -- 'America' is a goal, a dream to work toward."

And now, here in the midst of 2008's Black History Month, America has a black contender for the highest office in the land.

"I'm proud to have served my country, and for someone like Barack Obama to have happened in my lifetime is just so great."

But whom would you vote for?

"Well, I've always been a Clinton man, but Barack ..."

Oops, we're out of room.

'Tuskegee Airmen' Presentation by Lt. Col. Bill Holloman: » When: 7 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. Sunday » Place: Pacific Aviation Museum, Pearl Harbor » Admission: $14, kamaaina and military $10, children $7, museum members free » Call: 441-1000

To learn more On DVD There was a made-for-television movie in 1995 called, naturally, "The Tuskegee Airmen" and starring Laurence Fishburne, but it was well-meaning and highly fictionalized. Another film, called "Red Tails," is currently in pre-production. But if you want to find out more about the extraordinary story of the black aviators of World War II, the best documentary available is "Silver Wings & Civil Rights -- The Fight to Fly," released in 2004 by filmmaker Jon Timothy Anderson. Using archival footage, reenactments and extensive interviews, Anderson's film manages to touch nearly every base in the Tuskegee experience, from the pioneering combat flights of Eugene Bullard in the Great War -- the French dubbed him "Black Swallow of Death" -- to the dramatic Freeman Fild "mutiny" of 1945 that sparked the careers of many civil-rights trailblazers. Winner of documentary awards in the Miami and Daytona film festivals, "Silver Wings & Civil Rights" is available directly from the filmmakers on DVD for $24, with discounts for multiple copies. Visit www.fight2fly.com. -- Burl Burlingame Books Available at amazon.com, often at below the list price: » "A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman" by Chales W. Dryden (University Alabama Press, 2002, $24.95) » "The Tuskegee Airmen Mutiny at Freeman Field" by James C. Warren (Conyers Publishing, 1998, $28) » "Red Tails Black Wings: The Men of America's Black Air Force" by John B. Holway (Yucca Tree Press, 2000, $7.98) » "Red-Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II" by Pat McKissack, Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack (Walker Books for Young Readers, 1996, $22.63) » "Tuskegee's Heroes: Featuring the Aviation Art of Roy LaGrone" by Charlie Cooper, Ann Cooper, Roy LaGrone and Benjamin O. Davis (Zenith Press, 2001, $26.95) » "332nd Fighter Group -- Tuskegee Airmen" by Chris Bucholz (Osprey, 2007, $22.95) On the Net: » www.tuskegeeairmen.org