Tuskegee Airmen share their experiences at Natick

By Tazanyia L. Mouton, USAG-Natick Public AffairsFebruary 24, 2015

Tuskegee Airmen share their experiences at Natick
Moderator Capt. Melissa Kottke looks on as two Tuskegee Airmen, Dr. Harold May (center) and retired Lt. Col. Enoch Woodhouse, answer audience questions Feb. 19 during the African American/Black History Month observance at the Natick Soldier Systems C... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Members of the Tuskegee Airmen spoke Feb. 19 at the Natick Soldier Systems Center during the African American/Black History Month observance.

Willie Shellman, president of the New England Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, gave valuable history before introducing the program's guests for a question-and-answer session with the audience.

"Beginning in World War I, and throughout the history of the United States, blacks have participated in every armed conflict and served with honor and valor," said Shellman. "Moving into the World War II period, the law of the land was quite different than that."

Lynchings were common in places throughout the states and Jim Crow Laws were used to deny American citizens of color equal rights and equal protection.

"Conditions back in the North were not much better, where the law was separate but equal, but the practice was separate and unequal," Shellman said.

Having defended America, blacks wanted the opportunity to join the Army Air Corps, but they were denied.

City organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Urban League, politicians and senators lobbied for the elimination of discrimination within the U.S. military.

In April 1939, Congress passed a law that authorized the Civilian Pilot Training Program, and soon after, six Historically Black Colleges and Universities were allowed to participate in the program.

"In spite of blacks participating in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, they still were not entered in the Army Air Corps," Shellman said, "so in late 1940, a lawsuit was brought by a student from Howard University for admission into the Army Air Corps."

Under pressure from the media and the NAACP, the War Department was compelled to set up a program to allow blacks into the Army Air Corps, and a separate but equal training program was established at Tuskegee (Ala.) Institute.

In March 1941, the 99th Fighter Squadron was formed.

The Tuskegee Airmen participated in major campaigns through Italy and Germany and were soon requested as escorts by white bomber pilots. The Airmen flew more than 2,000 missions, were well decorated, and had aviation records far superior to other groups of flying squadrons during WWII.

Although the Tuskegee Airmen were tackling amazing feats, they still faced an enormous struggle.

Retired Lt. Col. Enoch Woodhouse and Dr. Harold May shared their stories of when they first joined the military.

"When I volunteered to go into the Air Corps, (and) I got on the train from Fort Devens to Cincinnati, and the train crossed the Ohio River going into Kentucky, I knew I was going into a new country," said May. "I had never been in the South before, but I had heard about the South and about Jim Crow, and I knew that I better not get off that train."

Woodhouse told a story of when he was yelled at by a conductor stating that he could not ride the train he was on, while on his way to training.

"What really hurt me -- and it still bothers me -- I felt embarrassed in front of my friends (and) high school classmates, because I felt I wasn't good enough," Woodhouse said. "So I got off the train, with $3.40 in my pocket and a duffle bag."

He remembered later that a black gentleman explained that blacks were not allowed on that train and that another would be coming along. Twenty hours later, and with a dirty uniform, Woodhouse finally arrived at training.

Essentially, the Tuskegee Airmen were fighting two wars: a military war in a foreign country they knew little about and the war against racism in a country they called their own.

One audience member inquired about advice the Tuskegee Airmen would give on how to begin a dialogue involving serious issues such as the ones they had tackled.

"Just be sure of yourself and don't worry about comparing yourself to anyone else," said May. "The fact of the matter is that we are all fellow members of the human race."

With the benefit of hindsight, would they have still forged ahead with their mission of integrating the military?

"Hell, yes!" Woodhouse quickly responded.

Soon after the war ended, Jackie Robinson broke into the major leagues and President Harry S. Truman established Executive Order 9981, which outlawed segregation in all branches of the military service.

"The Tuskegee Airmen were a vital element as our society moved from a prejudicial, segregated society towards a more open society," said Shellman.

In July 1949, the last of the all-black flying organizations in the Air Force were inactivated at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio. Later, Brown v. Board of Education found that separate but equal laws were unconstitutional, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began work on what would become the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.