Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

Former Tuskegee Airman Robert Decatur, who went on to become a judge and civil rights lawyer, has died. He was 88. Decatur died at his home in Titusville, Fla., on Aug. 19, according to officials with the Newcomer Funeral Home there. He will be buried at Biloxi National Cemetery on Thursday with full military honors. He was one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, the country's first black military pilots and crew, who fought overseas during World War II but faced discrimination when they returned home. In 1943, he was sent to Keesler Field in Biloxi for basic training, then on to Tuskegee, Ala., where ... Read Full Story

Matt Quy wanted a certain biplane, a Boeing PT-13 Stearman, since he was about 10 years old and growing up beside a grass runway in Minnesota. His neighbor had a Stearman, and when hed take off, hed do it real low, sweeping over the Quy house like he was going to rake the tiles off the roof. Young Matt Quy would draw pictures of himself flying the Stearman. He grew up to fly commercial jet liners and then, after 9/11, he joined the Air Force. He fell in love with a woman named Tina and married her. They decided to have a biplane together. ... Read Full Story

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE Published: December 9, 2008 When the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black force of elite pilots, emerged from combat in World War II, they faced as much discrimination as they had before the war. It was not until six decades later that their valor was recognized and they received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can give. The Inauguration Now, the roughly 330 pilots and members of the ground crew who are left from about 16,000 who served are receiving another honor that has surpassed their dreams: They are being invited to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama as ... Read Full Story

Montgomery, AL (BlackNews.com) - The Friends of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site (NHS), Inc. recently announced that Grammy-Award winning singer and songwriter Lionel Richie will return home to perform during the Tuskegee Airmen Gala Reception and Banquet on Saturday, October 11, 2008 at the Renaissance Convention Center in Montgomery, Ala. Richie, a native of Tuskegee and graduate of Tuskegee University, is scheduled to return to the United States from a tour in the Middle East to perform for the Airmen during the Grand Opening weekend of the new Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site at Moton Field. Harold Boone, Vice President of Community Development ... Read Full Story

WASHINGTON - The Tuskegee Airmen made history during World War II as the first black military pilots in the United States, only to return home to discrimination and exclusion from victory parades. Survivors of the elite unit have been invited to Barack Obama's inauguration as the country's first black president. "I want to come hopping, skipping and jumping!" said 92-year-old Spann Watson, an airman from New York. "We had a part in changing these United States." John L. Harrison Jr., an original airman now in his 80s, also said he plans to be in the inauguration audience on Jan. 20. "It makes us very ... Read Full Story