Lee A. Archer Jr. Chapter, Tuskegee Airmen Inc,

Lee A. Archer Jr. Chapter, Tuskegee Airmen Inc, Supporting the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.

08/30/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen events occurred:

30 August 1942: Only 2.8 percent of Army Air Forces personnel were black by this month, although the percentage of blacks in the general population of the United States was around 10 percent. By this month, the Army Air Forces had only 78 black commissioned officers. (Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate, editors, The Army Air Forces in World War II, volume VI, Men and Planes (Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1983), p. 523.

30 August 1943: Class SE-43-H graduated from advanced pilot training at Tuskegee Army Air Field. There were 22 in the class.

30 August 1944: The 332nd Fighter Group strafed Grosswardein Airdrome in Rumania and claimed to have destroyed 83 enemy aircraft on the ground and to have damaged another 31. (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 67 and its supplement).
2nd Lt. Charles T. Williams of the 301st Fighter Squadron was reported lost with his P-51 over Yugoslavia during the mission (Missing Air Crew Report 8332). He became a prisoner of war. Capt. Clarence H. Bradford of the 301st Fighter Squadron earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroic actions on this date. (Fifteenth Air Force General Order 1811 dated 27 Mar 1945).

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

08/30/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen event occurred:

29 August 1944: The 332nd Fighter Group were assigned to es**rt B-17s of the 5th Bombardment Wing to, over, and from Bohumin, Privoser, and Morvaska Main (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 66). The bombers were early, and when the 332nd Fighter Group finally caught up with them at about 1100 hours near the target, enemy fighters had already shot down nine of the B-17s of the 2nd Bombardment Group and were departing the scene. On the mission, 2d Lt. Emile G. Clifton, Jr. of the 99th Fighter Squadron bailed out of his P-51B after losing coolant while flying over the area of Zgon, Yugoslavia (332nd Fighter Group mission report 66; Missing Air Crew Report 8101; 332nd Fighter Group history for July 1944). Clifton returned on 9 September 1944 after successfully evading enemy forces in Italy for eleven days. (Escape, Evasion, and Repatriation Reports, 332nd Fighter Group)

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

08/28/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen events occurred:

28 August 1944: The 332nd Fighter Group es**rted B-24s of the 47th Bombardment Wing against Miskolc Min marshalling yards. (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 65). On the same day, 1st Lt. James Alonza Walker, who had been reported missing in action on 22 July 1944, returned safely after having evaded enemy forces in Yugoslavia for more than a month. (Escape, Evasion, and Repatriation Reports, 332nd Fighter Group). Lt. Charles S. Jackson also returned to the group, after having been shot down over Yugoslavia on 26 August. (332nd Fighter Group history, July 1944).

28 August 1946: Major Gabe C. Hawkins, a white officer, ended his service as Director of Training and Operations at Tuskegee Army Air Field. He had held that position since March 1945. (Histories of Tuskegee Army Air Field at Air Force Historical
Research Agency).

28 August 1947: By this date, Maj. William A. Campbell had assumed command of the 332nd Fighter Group. (332nd Fighter Group lineage and honors history).

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

08/28/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen events occurred:

27 August 1942: The War Department organized the Advisory Committee on Negro Troop Policies, with Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy as chairman. (Ulysses Lee, The Employment of Negro Troops [Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Army, 1966], p. 157)

27 August 1944: While returning from a mission to es**rt B-24s of the 304th and 55th Bombardment Wings to Blechhammer, Germany, units of the 332nd Fighter Group attacked airfields in Czechoslovakia, destroying 22 enemy aircraft on the ground (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 64). On the same day, 2nd Lt. Charles S. Jackson returned safely after evading enemy forces in Yugoslavia for more than a month. (Escape, Evasion, and Repatriation Reports, 332nd Fighter Group). For heroic actions on this date, the following three members of the 332nd Fighter Group each earned the Distinguished Flying Cross: Capt. Wendell O. Pruitt (302nd Fighter Squadron); Capt. Dudley M. Watson (302nd Fighter Squadron); 1st Lt. Roger Romine (302d Fighter Squadron). (Fifteenth Air Force General Order 3950 dated 15 Oct 1944; Fifteenth Air Force General Order 4009 dated 17 Oct 1944; Fifteenth Air Force General Order 5068 dated 18 Dec 1944).

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen events occurred:

27 August 1942: The War Department organized the Advisory Committee on Negro Troop Policies, with Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy as chairman. (Ulysses Lee, The Employment of Negro Troops [Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Army, 1966], p. 157)

27 August 1944: While returning from a mission to es**rt B-24s of the 304th and 55th Bombardment Wings to Blechhammer, Germany, units of the 332nd Fighter Group attacked airfields in Czechoslovakia, destroying 22 enemy aircraft on the ground (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 64). On the same day, 2nd Lt. Charles S. Jackson returned safely after evading enemy forces in Yugoslavia for more than a month. (Escape,
Evasion, and Repatriation Reports, 332nd Fighter Group). For heroic actions on this date, the following three members of the 332nd Fighter Group each earned the Distinguished Flying Cross: Capt. Wendell O. Pruitt (302nd Fighter Squadron); Capt. Dudley M. Watson (302nd Fighter Squadron); 1st Lt. Roger Romine (302d Fighter Squadron). (Fifteenth Air Force General Order 3950 dated 15 Oct 1944; Fifteenth Air Force General Order 4009 dated 17 Oct 1944; Fifteenth Air Force General Order 5068 dated 18 Dec 1944).

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Ron Brewington

08/28/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen events occurred:

26 August 1944: The 332nd Fighter Group provided close es**rt to B-24 bombers of the 304th Bombardment Wing to Banasea Airdrome. 2nd Lt. Henry A. Wise is reported to have bailed out of his P-51 during the mission, and to have landed safely near Krujino, Yugoslavia. (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 63; 332nd Fighter Group history for August 1944).

26 August 1995: The Home Box Office (HBO) motion picture THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN, the first full-length movie ever made about the first black pilots in American military history, was broadcast on television. While it made the Tuskegee Airmen nationally famous, and honored their achievements, it also spread the myth that the Tuskegee Airmen had “never lost a bomber.”

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

08/26/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen events occurred:

25 August 1941: Primary flight training of the first class of black pilots to enter the Army Air Corps moved from Kennedy Field to Moton Field, but the field still needed more construction and still suffered from drainage problems. Civilian pilot training continued at Kennedy Field, for a time, but the military primary flight training was thereafter at Moton Field, home of the 66th Army Air Corps Primary Flying School. (Jakeman, The Divided Skies, p. 266; George L. Washington history). The first supervisor of the primary flying school at Moton Field, Capt. Noel Parrish, was assisted by Capt. Harold C. Magoon, assistant supervisor, and Capt. John G. Penn, the first Commandant of Cadets there. Late August 1941: The second class of black aviation cadets arrived at Tuskegee for pre-flight training, as members of class 42-D. They included Charles W. Dryden, Clarence C. Jamison, Sidney P. Brooks, William C. Boyd, Benjamin A. Brown, Jr., Earl L. Bundara; Hercules L. Joyner; Emile J. Lewis; Harold E. McClure; Charles H. Moore; and James R. Smith. There were eleven of them, but only the first three graduated from advanced flight training (on 29 April 1942). (Lynn M. Homan and Thomas Reilly, Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airman (Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 2006), p. 58; Charles W. Dryden, A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman (Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press, 1997), pp. 21, 30, 36.

25 August 1943: The 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 616th, 617th, 618th, and 619th Bombardment Squadrons were inactivated, but the group was activated again in January 1944 (Maurer, Air Force Combat Units of World War II; Maurer, Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II).

25 August 1944: The 332nd Fighter Group es**rted B-17s of the 5th Bombardment Wing on a raid against Brno Airdrome. Four enemy Me-109 aircraft were seen on the mission, but there was no apparent aerial combat. (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 62). 2nd Lt. Robert O’Neil, who was reported Missing in Action on 14 August, returned after having evaded enemy forces in France for eleven days. French partisans had helped him remain hidden from the Germans, and helped him get back to his unit. (332nd Fighter Group history, August 1944; Escape and evasion reports give the date as 26 August for the return).

25 August 1948: Capt. Richard C. Pullam assumed command of the 301st Fighter Squadron, succeeding Capt. Charles I. Williams. (301st Fighter Squadron lineage and honors history).

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

08/26/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen events occurred:

24 August 1943: The 99th Fighter Squadron received six replacement pilots from the United States. (99th Fighter
Squadron history, Mar 1941-17 Oct 1943)

24 August 1944: Three Tuskegee Airmen each shot down an enemy aircraft during a mission to es**rt B-17s of the 5th Bombardment Wing to Pardubice Airdrome, Czechoslovakia (332d Fighter Group mission report number 61). The victors included 1st Lts Charles E. McGee and William H. Thomas, who each shot down a FW-190, and 1st Lt. John F. Briggs, who shot down an Me-109 (Fifteenth Air Force General Orders 3153, 3174, and 449, dated 6 Sep 1944, 7 Sep 1944, and 31 Jan 1945, respectively). Enemy aircraft shot down one of the es**rted B-17 bombers after flak had crippled it and forced it to drop out of the formation (Missing Air Crew Report 7971). 1st Lt. John F. Briggs of the 100th Fighter Squadron and 1st Lt. William H. Thomas of the 302nd Fighter Squadron each earned a istinguished Flying Cross for their heroic actions on this date. (Fifteenth Air Force General Order 49 dated 3 Jan 1945 and Fifteenth Air Force General Order 449 dated 31 Jan 1945).

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

08/23/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen events occurred:

23 August 1943: The second class of liaison pilots began training at Tuskegee Army Air Field’s Griel Field. (Samuel Broadnax, Blue Skies, Black Wings, p. 118)

23 August 1944: Flight Officer William L. Hill of the 302nd Fighter Squadron shot down 1 Me-109 during a mission to es**rt B-24 bombers of the 55th Bombardment Wing to Markersdorf Airdrome, Germany (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 60; Fifteenth Air Force General Order 3538 dated 21 Sep 1944). Fourteen enemy Me-109 fighters were encountered in the target area. The mission report also noted “1 B-24 seen to go down in flames in T/A (target area).” There was no corresponding Missing Air Crew Report.

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

08/22/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen events occurred:

22 August 1942: Lt. Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. became commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron, replacing Lieutenant George S. Roberts in that position. Colonel Davis was the second black commander of the unit. (99th Fighter Squadron lineage and honors history; 99th Fighter Squadron history, Mar 1941-17 Oct 1943)

22 August 1944: the 332nd Fighter Group es**rted B-24s of the 55th Bombardment Wing to, over, and from the Korneuburg Oil Refineries in Vienna, Austria (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 58). They encountered enemy Me-109 fighters over Lake
Balaton in Hungary. According to Missing Air Crew Reports for that day, two bombers were lost on the mission, one to enemy antiaircraft artillery, and one to an unknown cause. The 332nd Fighter Group flew a second mission on this day, this time to provide es**rt cover for six C-47s over Yugoslavia (332nd Fighter Group mission report number 59). Those C-47s apparently carried former prisoners of war, most of them American airmen, from Yugoslavia to Italy, and at least three other fighter groups of the Fifteenth Air Force, besides the 332nd, were also assigned to es**rt them. On the same day, the 96th Air Service Group moved from Foggia to Iesi (Jesi), Italy. (Lineage and honors history of the 96th Logistics Group)

22 August 1944: In the afternoon, Staff Sergeant Joe Louis, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, visited Ramitelli Air Field, home of the only black Army Air Forces flying units in combat. (366 Service Squadron history, Aug 1944)

22 August 1945: The 332nd Fighter Group issued orders that reassigned 99th Fighter Squadron personnel in Italy to other organizations. Capt. Wendell Lucas, who had been commander of the squadron, was reassigned and appointed deputy commander of the 332nd Fighter Group. Other personnel were reassigned to the 100th or 301st Fighter Squadrons. (Craig Huntly)

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

08/22/2026

Greetings!! On this date, the following Tuskegee Airmen event occurred:

21 August 1941: The first class of aviation cadets entered the first phase of military flight training (Primary) administered by Tuskegee Institute, under contract with the War Department, at Kennedy Field near Tuskegee, because Moton Field was not yet completed. The class included the same 13 cadets who had begun preflight training at Tuskegee on 19 July. (Jakeman, The Divided Skies, p. 267) Capt. Noel Parrish commanded the primary flight training, first at Kennedy, and later at Moton Field. (Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site) The first instructor pilots for primary flight training for the Army were Charles Alfred Anderson and Frank Shelton, the first black and the second white, who transferred from the civilian pilot training school. George W. Allen, also black, succeeded Anderson as chief of the civilian pilot training school. Other instructor pilots who remained at the civilian pilot training school at first were Lewis A. Jackson, Joseph T. Camilleri, Dominick J. Guido, and Frank Rosenberg. Allen and Jackson were black, but Camilleri, Guido, and Rosenberg were white. (Robert J. Jakeman, The Divided Skies [Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press, 1992], p. 264.

(The above information was taken from the current "Tuskegee Airmen Chronology," written by Daniel L. Haulman, PhD, Chief, Organization History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)

Aubrey Matthews

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