Jaleel Cooper
Period 6
4/14/14
History
Tuskegee Airman Throughout the course of history, there were plenty events and different ethnic groups that played an important role in World War II. One ethnic group that was part of World War II was the Tuskegee Airman. The Tuskegee Airman was the first African Americans to be trained as pilots in the U.S Army Air Force in World War II. The first class was held in 1941 in Tuskegee and became the 99th Pursuit Squadron ordered by Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr was the first African American general officer in the United States Air Force. In 1943 that’s when the Tuskegee Airman went into combat in the spring time and deployed to North Africa. The Tuskegee Airman flew P-40’s for the twelfth Air Force while being with various white groups. While the Airman was with the Twelfth, they shared two distinguished Unit citations with the group it was attached to. Later on that spring they moved from North Africa to Italy and shot down 13 enemy aircraft over in Anzio in two days. After completing the training the 33nd fighter group had three fighter squadrons and took off to Italy in January of 1944 and flew P-39’s for the 12th. In Italy they traded P-51 mustangs and began escorting heavy bombers into enemy territory including Germany. Each fighter group had unique tail markings and the 332nd had a solid red tail and became known as the “red tails”. By June of 1944 and and April of 1945 the red tails flew more than 311 combat operations including 179 bomber escort missions and lost a total of 27 escorted bombs. The bombers lost to other fighting groups on the average 46 times, but shut down a total of 112 enemy aircraft. Tuskegee Airman most famous was their combat mission to Berlin and they used B-17 bombers. Three of the pilots shot down German jet planes during the mission and the 332nd Fighter Group a Distinguished Unit Citation. The Tuskegee served on bombing raids into Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Germany. Near the end of the war a
