Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 1-21-22

FYI
Renowned Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee Dies At 102
Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee has died at age 102 on Sunday. McGee was a decorated veteran who helped shine light on the racism Black pilots were facing at home while trying to fight for that same home in battle.
McGee began his flying career after World War II by entering an ‘experimental program’ for Black pilot candidates seeking positions in the Army Air Corps. After passing his examination, he was sent to the Tuskegee Army Field in Ala- bama. According to his biography in the National Aviation Hall of Fame, he joined the all-Black 332nd Fighter Group, 12th Air Force nicknamed the “Red Tails.”
“You could say that one of the things we were fighting for was equality. Equality of opportunity. We knew we had the same skills, or better,” he told reporters in 1995.
By the time he came back home, he had flown
136 missions over Europe. AP reported that out of the 900s men who trained at Tuskegee while McGee was in attendance, only 450 were de- ployed overseas and 150 lost their lives.
CHARLES MCGEE
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