The Tuskegee Airmen - Black Heroes of World War II

Harris recounts the story of African American aviators who fought against prejudice in the U.S. in order to become fighter pilots during World War II. She discusses early black fliers and their difficulties recruiting others, which eventually led to the formation of the all-black Ninety-ninth Fighter Squadron. The group trained near Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and eventually flew many successful missions in and around the Mediterranean. Harris emphasizes how racial intolerances prevalent at the time (as well as governmental insistence on separate facilities for blacks and whites) sometimes hindered the team's operation. She also describes the successful postwar efforts to fully integrate the military and includes excerpts from several first-person accounts of the squadron's activities. Illustrated with numerous black-and-white photographs and appended with a bibliography of sources, this will make an excellent introduction to a frequently neglected chapter in American history

8:25 AM