here for the first time, -- aviation cadets for being groom to fly of a unit which was then a unit and part onlyh

squadron. these men were pioneers of kn that you stand here before me now afterrs be forerunners in the movement, which acin the fighting men. the sky was. this f-4 is representative of today's modern air f.it's an ais systems, sophisticated people today, you or me or anybody who's qualified can fly this airplane.asn't always been that way. some 35 years ago, a group of young men and women came together to help make the air

t is. today, you might even say they made a little history in the process. it all began the skies over tuskegee, alabama. i remember the tuskegee because they started what they call civilian pilot training program, five black they wanted qualified black people to start flying. the only reason i knew something about the program is because my mother teaching down in turkey and she heard about the starting up this black air corps the day after pearl harbor, the whole gang went and applied for

admission to the aviation cadet traini program. it wasn't until a year later, though, that i was admitted, but i think we had to wait for about a lf before.y a year, a year a we went into the program. i was in black leather school that up for the air force and they didn't know what to do with me going into combat, it gave a lot o our race. and one of the prime contributors to and early part of the flying program. was chief anderson there are standing onth west but what used to be tuegee is army air corps. you here's where the cadets came out finishing in the voting field take the advanced training how's here? in barracks up on the hill therd chimneys standing where the barracks used to be all behind

field. here was the headquarters. there's the original building that was built here in the beginning of the army air force training program. out here, my right he pnes are lined upwas. all along that ramp with the very first type of aircraft up there. it went up. the pilots used to come out and fly the practice out here on this trip. ll tail, drag race and sometime i got to see this but lead.dn't see them take all they really got a big kick out of. back memories they both the fellows over here who flew over here came to the boat fld, the pilot over there. i got acquainted with him and higet their wings with most ofn them there. there was a great desi, but a

number of blacks to get into aviation and this is about the only place that they could come to and where they had an opportunity to learn something about fly. i myself applied for a flying training way back in 1935. i was 18 when i went into the progra 1ame a pilot, i was just really a coun boy trying to make it. i think the one of the most exhilarating feelings was to me when i was able to get up there myself and really fly that airplane and mak do what i wanted it to do. the interesting common though, that surrounded all of their backgrounds, that all of them that wanted to fly i think one of the principal things about, general davis, he instilled in us sse discipline. and i started outh young peoplek

air force inur world war two performances, the aolute key in combat to protect the bombers, to prevent from gettind n by enemy fighters. the 99% squadron was an expert and dropping bombs and hitting targets hitting locomotives. it was awful actually put an aerial combat the 99 squadron did one thing at anzio that no other did it sat down 16 enemy airplanes. so theys that. my all right i think we had quite a

bit of c the squadron trying to make ace and we hadewear when we get into space, we gathered some real good friends and.ui aw decorations. i retired yesterday. i feel one of my ambitions for the combat pilot. gone a the set right. and to fort worth came on i turned right and put up a stone wall primary. then was bombing strategic targets like to you? we flew one mission there. it took us all the way up to the czechoslovak and polish border, 50. it was the longest mission i, i think a long 7 hrs, 25 minutes. but i think it's safe to say that the germans new garrison respected us. we were the only that didn't lose a bomber. as a historian, you only have the 32nd group. nevertheless.

this was my country i wanted a piece of it. i had to fight it. but i'll be -- if i'm going and take it over. renaline started flowing. you wanted to go andt and was a. sociological out there but these are the that we were learning to fight against and we felt that ttry no therefore what we wanted to do our part i would have liked a ent arena in which to operate but since it wasn't there, i persisted, i don't think that i could have succeeded as dramatically in another career field during that period of time.

the man that came to morton field had a common cause. the common denominator, their intent and was to live down the adage that the black did not the capabilies perform in leadership roles. see a goal reach a which they all dreamed. we all remembered young chappie james no, it was i completed flight training at tuskegee institute alabama. we've come a l in the days of tuskegee, in difficult job of flying, we trained under the additional pressure segregation but we had no time for self-pity or dewe were too busy preparing ourselves for a career of

se nation, the state of our fully integrated air today is a pretty goindication d job. that doesn't mean that the fu be a rose garden or that there will not be other obstacles to overcome freedom must be repurchased by new generation. when the tuskegee flying program offered to america's black youngsters, we were ready. we had prepared ourselves for this opportunity. when it presented itself, we epare yourself so that when you're a tuskegee appears, you b ready. they were just exceptional people, there's no doubt about that. they're exceptional people. i've seen the cremebed(

our distinguished gue this evening is one of the most prominent journalists working in