Author Description

This comprehensive five-part history of the Tuskegee Airmen and Air Force integration efforts tells the story of the distinguished air crew and ground crew personnel associated with black flying units of the Army Air Forces (AAF) during World War II, along with extensive military histories documenting Air Force integration and race relations. Contents: Introduction * Part 1: Tuskegee Airmen Chronology * Part 2: Chronological Table of Tuskegee Airmen Who Earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, By Date Of The Action For Which It Was Awarded * Part 3: Blacks in the Army Air Forces During World War II: The Problems of Race Relations * Part 4: The Air Force Integrates: 1945-1964. During World War II, the U.S. military was racially segregated. Reflecting American society and law at the time, most black soldiers and sailors were restricted to labor battalions and other support positions. An experiment in the U.S. Army Air Forces, however, showed that given equal opportunity and training, African-Americans could fly in, command and support combat units as well as anyone. The USAAF's black fliers, the so-called "Tuskegee Airmen," served with distinction in combat and directly contributed to the eventual integration of the U.S. armed services, with the U.S. Air Force leading the way. Blacks in the Army Air Forces During World War II: The Problems of Race Relations - This important account relates how the leadership in the War Department and the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) tried to deal with the problem of race and the prejudices which were reflected in the bulk of American society. It tells a story of black racial protests and riots which such attitudes and discrimination provoked. The author describes many of the discriminatory actions taken against black airmen, whose goal was equality of treatment and opportunities as American citizens. He also describes the role of black pilots as they fought in the Mediterranean theater of operations against the Axis powers. In his final