WEBVTT - Tuskegee Airmen: American Heroes 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:04.560 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from how Stuff Works 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:14.360 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:17.239 and there's Charles W Chuck Bryant, and there's Jerry over there. 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:21.720 So this is stuff you should know about the Tuskegee Airman. 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.479 That's right, one of our Every year we try to 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:29.520 do a Black History Month podcast at least one. And 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:31.920 uh did mean to keep everyone on suspense this year 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:34.839 right here at the end of the month, but this 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.239 one we were getting this one put together. Yeah, this 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:41.840 is a good one. Yeah, and it's uh, I mean, 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:44.000 this is what we typically like to do, stuff that's 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:47.240 like your very little known history. I would say Tuskegee 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:50.519 Airman is is does not fall into the little known category, 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:55.000 yet still undersung. I think even after two not very 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.480 good feature films. Oh did you see any of them? 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.640 I had? The only one I'm familiar with was um, 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.680 I think it's just called the Tuskegee Airman, and I 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.360 kept confusing it with Memphis Bell. Yeah, Tuskegee Airman was 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:13.200 an HBO movie with Larry Fishburne and other Malcolm Jamal Warner. 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.840 I think, yeah, good seeing him, sure always, but uh, 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:20.800 I mean that one was okay, but I think better 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:23.960 than the Red Tails movie was. Uh yeah, Red Tails 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:28.120 just wasn't very good, which is a shame. Sure. But 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:34.360 speaking of shame, let's talk about how the Tuskegee Airmen retreated. 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:37.600 Just to get started, Um, we should kind of briefly 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:41.080 go over like the history of African Americans in the military, 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.840 because where we really pick up with our story the 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:47.080 Inner War period between World War One and World War Two. Um, 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.360 the military was very much segregated still officially, just like 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.560 America was. It was law. Segregation was law at the time. 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.000 But that's not to say that, um, African Americans hadn't 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:03.000 served in the military and US previously, uh, in some 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.960 pretty substantial roles too. Yeah, I mean dating back to 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:10.320 like when they were not even considered Americans, Like when 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:14.680 when uh, I mean, I keep wanting to say black Americans, 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:19.240 but they were not considered that, like during the Revolutionary War, um, 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.400 on both sides. Actually, as you'll learn in a short 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.800 stuff about black loyalists, it's interesting that slaves fought for 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:32.000 and against the revolution, really interesting all the way up through. 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:34.000 And you know, we should do podcasts on a lot 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.360 of these things, but they fought in the War of 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:40.320 eighteen twelve. They fought as the Buffalo Soldiers in many 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:44.120 of the conflicts against Native Americans all the way up 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:49.359 through World War One, where they joined the army, despite 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:51.800 the fact that there was segregation at home and in 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:56.360 the military um, notably the Harlem hell Fighters who fought 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.480 with the French, and even though Americans did not fully 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:03.919 recognize that as an accomplishment, the French government did. Ironically, Yeah, 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.640 if that sounds kind of weird to you, the the 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:11.320 American military had an all black regiment and said here, 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:13.679 you take them to to France, and France was like, sure, 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.200 we'll take them, We'll use them and awarded them the 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:21.079 Quada Gair for Heroism in combat um, which is like, 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:25.080 if you'll remember our Native American code talker episode. France, 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:27.800 especially World War One, had kind of a history of 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:32.120 awarding and recognizing bravery among minorities that were just totally 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.200 shown to the United States, you know, yeah, And I 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:38.440 mean there was even a study conducted by the Army 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:42.400 War College in nineteen five about the fitness and suitability 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:44.640 of black soldiers in the military, and it was just 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.880 it was brutal and racist, and you know, just said 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.360 the worst things you can imagine about the lack of 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:55.520 fitness for a black man to serve for the Americans 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:58.480 in the American military. Yeah, and I think this Army 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:03.400 War College study was basically just a an official position 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:10.600 paper that that summed up the sentiments among military officers 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.520 and most of the military at the time. Um that 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:15.400 they just wanted to get it down on paper. It's 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.800 like an official position so that that it wouldn't be eroded, 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.400 that they could say this is the military's official position 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:25.719 on black people. And essentially what it said was black 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:31.960 people are not intellectually capable of receiving like theoretical training. 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:38.000 They they can probably be you know, um worked into 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:41.279 uh like combat troops, but it's going to take a 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:43.520 lot more effort and you really have to dumb it 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.159 down and then maybe you can organize them into a 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:48.839 combat troop. But really, we don't have high hopes for this, 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:51.800 so we should probably just not mess with the whole 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:54.320 thing and just keep it in all white military. Yeah. 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.760 That that was And despite all of this, there were 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:02.039 still black soldiers who a achieved in the military, uh, 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.479 most notably in the reason we bring this Uh, this 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:09.000 gentleman up. Benjamin O'Davis sr Uh became the first black 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.919 general in the U. S. Military. He figures prominently in 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:17.960 the Tuskegee Airmen story, and that his son, Benjamin Davis Jr. Uh, Well, 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:19.760 we'll we'll tell you what he did, but he figured 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:24.440 very prominently in the formation and story of the Tuskegee Airmen. Yeah, 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.560 he's huge, he's um one of the leading figures, and 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.080 he gets most of the glory and the press and everything, 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:35.320 but there were plenty of others who who served quite valiantly. Yeah, 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.480 so that that's like the briefest of summations. I definitely 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.680 think we should do one on the Buffalo Soldiers at 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:45.080 some point. Tots agree like, I don't understand why Bob 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:52.480 Marley drew that that um line between Prasta's and Buffalo soldiers. 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.279 I'm not kidding, Like I know that it sounds like 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.000 a hilarious thing that Josh would say, but I have 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:02.200 always always wondered that, like what is he talking about? 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.480 What's the you know, were they were they rostas or 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.760 something like that, or is it do they have the 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.760 spirit of the roster vice versa. I'd love to get 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.960 to the bottom of that. Alright, let's do it. Okay, alright, 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:18.960 I'm excited. So that brings us to World War two. UM. 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.520 And like you said before, segregation is still, uh the 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:27.960 law in the United States. Race racism was rampant, and 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:30.640 it still is in a lot of places in this country, 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:34.400 but back then very much rampant. Uh. And despite all that, 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:38.400 there were still plenty of African Americans who wanted to 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.640 be in the army and wanted to fly planes. And 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:43.600 this was pre Air Force. It was called the uh, 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.360 the Army Air Corps. Yes, and we should say like 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:51.200 this was extremely prestigious to be in the Army. Air 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.120 Corps was far and away the most prestigious branch of 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.080 the military, although it wasn't technically its own branch, but 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:00.040 the UM. The it was the most prestigious part of 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:05.320 the military. UM because it was widely considered and rightfully 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:09.040 so you had to be really really sharp, really smart, 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:12.200 really quick on your toes, and just really large and 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:15.960 in charge. Basically to fly planes in the military. It 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:18.440 was still pretty new. It was a fairly new thing, 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.440 and the whole the whole world, but also the US 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:25.960 really looked up to aviators at the time because this 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.520 is at a time where if you flew across country, 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:32.480 you just you just made history kind of thing. So 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.080 to to UM to be a part of the Army 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.720 Air Corps, that was a that's a sweet plum right there. Yeah, 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:43.240 And so you know, we we move over to Alabama 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:47.600 at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, and this was a 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.200 place where you if you were a Black American and 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:52.920 you wanted to go to college and get a higher education, 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:55.600 that was a great place to start. Uh. Founded in 0:07:56.320 --> 0:08:00.120 one by Lewis Adams and Booker T. Washington UM. And 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.280 during this period they had something called the Civilian Pilot 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:08.200 Training Program, which is it was established basically to get 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:11.880 a pool of pilots with experience, uh, people who could 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:15.600 train pilots in the United States. And there were black 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:20.360 colleges participating in this program, and Tuskegee was one of them. Yeah. 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:24.560 The Howard University also had a program. UM. There were 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:29.080 also like by this time, there was some UM black 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:32.840 aviation history that had been established and it was small, 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.320 but it was really proud, and rightfully so, because if 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:39.160 you were an African American and you said, you know 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:41.719 what I really look up to all these pilots too, 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:43.800 I want to go be a pilot. The first story 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.040 you went to got slammed in your face. The next 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:48.800 door you went to, slamming in your face. And again, 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.280 like the idea that black people couldn't learn how to 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:55.000 fly a plane, So how are you going to let 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:57.080 one fly a plane or try to teach them? What's 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.520 the point? It's also probably pretty dangerous and expensive. Um, 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:05.000 Like you could not as an African American get into 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.840 a flight school. And so some of these earliest African 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:12.200 American pilots in aviation history and like the say, like 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:16.120 the twenties, the early thirties, like some of them were 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:20.280 self taught. There's a guy, see Alfred Anderson, who taught 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:24.880 himself how to fly in land planes because no flight 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.800 school would teach him, no white pilots would teach him. 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:30.840 He had to save up biz own plane and teach himself, 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:33.200 and he became a legend. He's known as the father 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.440 of black aviation in America. Yeah, and there's a like 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:39.600 you said, a very small but proud list, Bessie Coleman. 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:42.400 It was a black woman who went to France to 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.800 learn to fly. She was black and Native American yeah, 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.480 we should, she should get her an episode two. Uh. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:52.000 In NY two, James Banning and Thomas Allen became the 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.040 first black pilots to fly across the US from l 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:57.640 A to New York, and they as well. At least 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:01.240 Banning could not go to flight school, so he basically 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.920 found a white pilot who would give him private lessons, 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:08.839 which is pretty remarkable. Um. And the cool thing about 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.000 this story is they, uh, it cost a lot of 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:15.480 money to fly across the country at any point, so 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:19.840 they would stop in black communities and raise money basically 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:23.000 and say, hey, get you know, donate some cash. You 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.720 can sign our airplane and that will allow us to 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:27.840 buy fuel to get to the next stop as we 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.520 go across country. Yeah. So they became the first black 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:32.760 pilots to fly all the way across the US as 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:36.120 a result, which is that's pretty great. But it was 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.520 like it was, it was stories like this and people 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.880 like these um who were profiled in the black press 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.240 at the time that I don't want to say, I 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:48.120 guess the press was pretty much segregated at least, but 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:52.880 for all practical purposes, African America had its own um 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:56.960 pressed and I guess the standard establishment press was just 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:00.840 writing stories about white people only, uh or things that 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:04.280 related to white people. So African Americans had their own press. 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:07.920 So stories of people like this UM spread throughout the 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:11.880 country and inspired like whole new generations of pilots. And 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:14.800 it also inspired, like you said, the Tuskegee Institute and 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:18.320 Howard University and some other private schools like one formed 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:21.920 by Cornelius Coffee and Willi Brown in Chicago to actually 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:26.360 start training black pilots. And so this is a this 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:30.720 is already established by the time the drumbeat, the earliest 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:35.200 drumbeat to World War Two started and UM, the the US, 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:37.920 led by Franklin Roosevelt, said we need to get the 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:40.760 civilian pilot training program going because we need a pool 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:43.000 of people who already know how to fly in case 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:46.360 we need to turn them into military pilots as well. Yeah, 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.640 And the the idea here with these uh, with the 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:53.800 black journalists and newspapers was here, here's what we want. 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:56.439 You know, there's the V for victory slogan and campaign. 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:58.960 Let's start up something and get the word out called 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:03.000 the double V campaign, which is basically victory in Europe 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:07.640 but also for black soldiers, victory at home and trying 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:10.840 to make a dent and discrimination and racism. If we 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.280 go over there and we can fight and we can 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:17.200 fly planes and serve our country, maybe that might make 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.920 a difference when we come back home that we were 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:24.280 you know, distinguished with our military service. So that was 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.600 a double V campaign trying to get victory at home 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:29.720 against racism as well as in Europe on the ground 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:33.680 with the military. And none of this might have happened 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:38.439 had it not been for one Eleanor Roosevelt. And maybe 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:42.760 we should take a break there. Yeah. What does Eleanor 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:45.080 Roosevelt have to do with all this? We'll find out 0:12:45.120 --> 0:13:06.520 in just a minute, all right, Chuck. So, I mean, 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:10.800 I'm just gonna say it, Eleanor Roosevelt, give it up. Yeah, man, 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:12.600 I mean she was a great lady in a lot 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.480 of ways. But uh, what she did in the case 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:21.120 of the eventual Tuskegee Airmen was she visited Tuskegee. Um, 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.480 they had a training airfield called Moten Field m O 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:27.240 t O N. Yeah. Because remember this is like they're 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:31.840 they're they're flying program that they already established. Yeah, so 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.640 she visits, Uh, she's watching the pilots take off, fly 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:39.040 around land, and she was like, good argue in one 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:43.480 of those planes. That is a bitch in Eleanor Roosevelt man, 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.760 And they said sure, So she went up with an 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:49.560 African American pilot. She she went up with that, see 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:52.800 Alfred Anderson, the self taught father of aviation. Yeah, and 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:55.319 everything went great and she had apparently a good time, 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.839 went back home and got in her husband's ear and 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:01.880 was like, Hey, these these guys can fly planes. They're 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.320 doing a great job. They're fit for military service. So 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:07.720 let's let's get this thing going in earnest And he 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:12.600 did so, uh in January. So here's the thing. This 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:16.199 is what I'm on clear on, Like it's it's doubtless 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:20.760 that Eleanor Roosevelt played a role in making sure that 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:25.640 this this actually happened, that that um African American pilots 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:29.400 were eligible to fly for the US military, the Army 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:33.080 Air Corps. Right, But the timing of it I can't 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:38.240 quite suss out either. The US military said, yeah, we're 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:42.600 going to establish a black pilots training program at Tuskegee 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:47.920 UH in January nine, and then Eleanor Roosevelt showed up 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:49.800 a couple of months later to make sure that this 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.400 actually happened, or she showed up and then they established it. 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.120 I can't quite suss that out, but either way, she's 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:58.840 a pretty cool lady, Like she went down and saw 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:02.480 for herself and then came back and said, hey, we 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.320 really should make this happen. Or she knew that this 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:08.560 was happening but also could see people just dragging their feet, 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:11.080 so she went down to shine light on the whole 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.120 prosper the project, and uh, it kind of took off 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:18.000 from there. I feel forgive the pun. Either way, she 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:20.520 she played some sort of pretty cool role in getting 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:24.000 it going. Yeah, and when it first started, there was 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:26.520 sort of a joint affair between Tuskegee and the Army 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:31.720 Air Corps as far as uh providing funding and equipment personnel. 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:34.440 They all sort of chipped in a little bit. Um. 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.880 There were flying a few different planes for training, one biplane, 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:42.160 the Steerman PT seventeen. Eventually they were able to move 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.240 over to the Tuskegee Army air Field a few miles 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.800 away from Moten Field, where they had access to the 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:50.680 P forty Warhawk, and then they were like now we're 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:55.360 talking right, But also, I mean the initial primary training 0:15:55.520 --> 0:16:01.240 at motion field was this kind of quasi university military training, 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.400 almost like an r OTC air training program. And then 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.160 once you graduated from primary, you moved over to the 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:09.640 Army field and you were full on on a military 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:14.840 base in military life. Yeah, and this like this, this 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:19.120 wasn't the first time that black pilots tried to apply. 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:23.400 Like pre Tuskegee, they were applying. Recruits were applying and 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:25.640 getting rejected every time they tried to get into the 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:29.360 Air Corps. Eventually the N double A CP got involved, 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:33.840 a lawsuit was filed UM. And even after that, when 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:37.560 they started admitting black men into the Air Corps, it 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:41.720 was ten cadets every five weeks, so they were you know, 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.960 it looks like they were purposefully just sort of stymying 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:49.280 the process through red tape and bureaucracy to still not 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.720 allow them to train. Yeah. And initially so that that 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:56.360 lawsuit UM was by a Howard University student named Yancey 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:59.520 Williams who wanted to be a just straight up Army 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.880 Air Corps cadet, and the N double A CP back 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:08.160 back the lawsuit UM, and the result was apparently the 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:12.000 military saying, okay, we'll just start to segregated all Black 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.200 Pilot program where the n double a CP and most 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:19.600 black leadership wanted just integration in the Army Air Corps. 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:23.159 So they were like, okay, fine, we'll take it, but 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.359 we're not like, this is not what we were going for, 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:30.760 but we'll take this. It's better than nothing. I guess, yeah, 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:32.959 that's that's probably a good way to put it. Um. 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:37.040 But the program starts up in earnest. However few cadets 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.760 they were allowing. It started to build up. These men 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:43.840 are getting trained. Um men from the north came down 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:45.920 and this is you know, this is an Alabama during 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:50.200 the Jim Crow era, and there are there's one documentary 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:53.119 called They Fought Two Wars, which basically was like, you know, 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.960 they're getting trained, they're serving their country, and then they 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:58.639 go out like on the weekend maybe for a little 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.440 R and R and then met by the southern whites 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:05.359 of Alabama who basically, you know, treated him exactly how 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:07.960 you would expect. There was even a petition to end 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.600 the program just because they were like, there are so 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.240 many black men in our town. Now, we don't want 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:16.440 them in our community, right, Surely something bad will happen 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:19.480 to our community. Because of this, there was also apparently 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:23.919 at least one incident where black military police were disarmed 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:29.480 by white locals around Tuskegee civilians Yeah, who just refused 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:32.560 to recognize that they had any authority over them whatsoever, 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:37.480 military police or not. UM. And the at the time 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:41.040 this this happened early on, the commander of the UM 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:45.760 of the base, UH Ellison, James Ellison, Major James Ellison, 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:49.399 was UM. He protested very loudly and very vocally and 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.480 said this is messed up. I won't stand for this. 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:56.000 And they said, hey Ellison, UM, yeah, we need somebody 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.359 who is on the side of the recruits, but maybe 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.720 not quite so much of a true believers. So you 0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:02.600 come over here with us and we're gonna relieve you 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:04.960 of your post. And instead they brought in a guy 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:09.000 named Colonel Noel Parrish, and he was maybe a little 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:15.879 less gung ho about civil rights and equality and desegregation. UM. 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:21.440 He very much withstood and stood up with the segregationist 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.399 policies of the military. He didn't fight against it, but 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:29.680 within this framework he's very much credited for UM being 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:35.840 very fair, very even handed UM and giving like full throated, 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:42.840 legitimately good UM quality training to these black recruits at Tuskegee, 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:47.440 like he wasn't. They weren't getting um like subpar or 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:52.480 or less than adequate training compared to their white counterparts elsewhere. 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:55.720 They were getting just as good training to be trained. 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:57.520 Like he was taking it seriously and he was being 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:01.000 fair about it. So um, he's he's suspected for for 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:05.879 that to to have overseen this, um this this project, 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:09.879 I guess fairly, rather than he very easily could have 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:12.240 gone to the other side and just dragged his feet 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:15.480 to or put up unnecessary roadblocks and obstacles too, but 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:18.800 he didn't. Yeah, And one of the uh, I guess 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:20.840 you could call it one of the silver linings of 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:24.600 the segregation in the military was there was already a 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.960 ninety nine pursuit Squadron was already established, which were black 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:34.840 cadets to get training on maintenance and tech support for UH, 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:37.879 for the for the air patrol. So they were already 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:41.360 in place. So by the time Tuskegee gets rolling and 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:43.360 these cadets are being sent in to learn to fly, 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.160 they were like, let's just give them the ninety nine 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:50.320 pursuit squadron. So it was basically an all black unit, 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.040 from the maintenance, to the to the technical support to 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:57.560 the pilots that were training. Obviously not the instructors. But 0:20:57.800 --> 0:20:59.679 I get the feeling, you know, from research at that 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:04.399 lent Um some sort of uh kind of led to 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.000 camaraderie and that they had their own guys on the 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:10.680 ground and training you know, oh yeah, yeah for sure. 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:12.920 I mean like it was an basically an all black 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:16.800 squadron and not all the commanders um or trainers were 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:22.600 white like that. My favorite guy, chief Alfred Anderson UM, 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:25.480 he was the ground commander in chief that self taught 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:28.959 father of aviation he UM. He was the head of 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:32.920 the ground commanders at Tuskegee. So there was a mixed 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.000 But one of the things I think you kind of 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:37.679 hit upon that gets overlooked is when you talk about 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:42.359 Tuskegee and the Tuskegee Airmen, UM, you're talking about four 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:48.480 hundred to five hundred ish pilots fighter pilots typically UM 0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:51.000 that are thought of as a Tuskegee airman. But there 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:54.040 were so many more people that made up like this 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:58.640 whole project, this whole movement basically UM that I think 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:02.399 there was something like twelve housing, like people trained in 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:08.679 aviation through the that that are really technically Tuskegee airmen. 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:12.920 They they are considered um so and they get overlooked 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:15.800 a lot because the fighter pilots get all the glory. 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:17.800 But I mean these are all these people played a 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:21.000 huge significant role in the whole thing. Yeah. So we 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:24.439 mentioned uh at the onset the first African American general 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:28.760 Benjamin O'Davis Sr. And that his son figured prominently. So 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:31.920 that's Ben Jr. Uh, he comes in. He went to 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:35.280 he followed in dad's footsteps. He went to West Point, where, 0:22:36.280 --> 0:22:38.439 you know, despite it was sort of like a Lord's 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:41.399 of Discipline sort of seen there. Oh man, I forgot 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:44.760 about that book. Yeah, man, that was good. Good movie. Um, 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:46.960 I make brutal to watch, but a really good movie. 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:51.479 But Davis basically went to West Point, didn't give him 0:22:51.520 --> 0:22:55.160 a roommate, made him eat by himself. Uh. They say 0:22:55.240 --> 0:22:58.520 that he was like literally not spoken to by anybody 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:01.879 unless they absolutely had to speak to him. Yet he 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:06.240 persevered through all this. He graduated and uh went to 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:11.440 teach at Tuskegee instead of going to command for enlisted troops. 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:14.640 So it was a bit of serendipity that he ended 0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:17.160 up there. I think kind of right. At the same time, 0:23:17.160 --> 0:23:20.120 this Air Corps began, which is really really kind of cool. Yeah, 0:23:20.200 --> 0:23:22.240 one of the first things he did was um as 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:24.679 he was I think he became the commander of the 0:23:24.800 --> 0:23:28.119 ninety nine Pursuit Squadron. Um. He also was one of 0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:30.359 their first graduates. He was in the first class to 0:23:30.400 --> 0:23:36.199 graduate from flight school there. So, um, I don't know 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:39.119 that he had much flight training prior to that, but 0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:41.520 he went and learned it. Became pretty distinguished as a 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:47.080 pilot either way. But he he was immediately assigned the 0:23:47.200 --> 0:23:49.960 ninety pursuit squadron. He was in charge of it, which 0:23:50.000 --> 0:23:53.440 is pretty cool, right. So um as the as the 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:58.400 um the Tuskegee Airman started to distinguish themselves, which we'll 0:23:58.400 --> 0:24:01.720 talk about more in a minute. Um Davis kind of 0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:06.479 became distinguished as well because he was leading the whole show. Yeah, 0:24:06.520 --> 0:24:09.320 and you know, he he had been through West Point. 0:24:09.359 --> 0:24:11.919