"332nd FIGHTER GROUP"
"THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN"
"THE REDTAILS ANGLES"
He gave the leader a burst with his .50 calibers and it nosed up, smoking, and soon went hurtling down to the ground. The pilot radioed to the others in his flight and heard"I'm right behind you." But when Weathers looked back for himself, all he could see was a nose cannon of another BF-109, pointing at him. He dropped his flaps and
chopped his throttle, instantly slowing his Mustang down, and the BF-109 overran him. A few bursts, and Lt. Weathers had his second kill of the day. Two more enemy aircraft were still in view and seemed like easy pickings, but the voice of the Group CO echoed in the pilots mind, "Your job is to protect the bombers and not chase enemy aircraft
for personal glory." Weathers return to the bomber.
Two things were unusual about this American fighterpilot. First, he had foregone a sure kill, Second, he was Black. He flew with the only U.S. Fighter Group on World War Two that could claim to have never lost a bomber in their care. Thar Group was the "332nd Fighter Group." "The Redtails," the famous all-Black outfit that fought
both American prejudice and Nazi militarism. Ynder the leadership and iron discipline
of Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. the Redtails had learned that their mission in life was to protect the bombers.
Prior to World War Two, the U.S. Army Air Corps did not employ Negroes
(the respectful term in thatera) in ant role, a policy which found its justification in a racist and inaccurate report written in the 1920's. However in 1940, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Air Corps to build an all-Negro flying unit. The presidential order caused the Army to create the 99th Pirsuit Squadron. To develop the Nefro pilots needed for the new squadron, the Air Corps opened a new training base
in central Alabama, at the Tuskegee Institute.
April 19, 1941- Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt visited Tuskegee and met Charles "Chief"
Anderson, the gead of the program, Mrs. Roosevelt asked, "Can Negroes really
fly an air plane?"He replied:"Certainly we can; as a matter of fact, would you like to take an air plane ride?" Over the objections of her Secret Service agents, Mrs.
Roosevelt accepted. The agent called President Roosevelt, who replied, "Well, if she
wants to do it, there's nothing we can do to stop her."
With Mrs.Roosevelt in the back seat of his J-3 Cub, Chief Anderson took off and flew her arounf for half hour. Upon landing, Mrs.Roosevelt turn to Chief and said, "I guess Negroes can fly," and they posed together for an historic photo. Not long after Mrs.Roosevelt's return to Washington, it was announced the the fiest Negro Air Corps pilots would be trained at Tuskegee Institute.
