PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Millions of Americans have risked their lives to defend our freedom, but few have faced as many roadblocks in the fight for their country as the Tuskegee Airmen.
The all-black squadron of pilots who served during World War II would become one of the most famous fighters in American history.
Eugene Richardson, 98, and one of the few remaining members of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmensaid he always knew he wanted to fly.
“I was about five years old when I got the bug to fly an airplane,” Richardson said.
But as a black man growing up in the 1940s, his chances of getting into a cockpit were slim. Even when the US was in combat during World War II, the military remained racially segregated.
“There is only one Air Force base where black men could learn to fly and fly freely. That was in Tuskegee. That’s why we adopted the name Tuskegee Airmen,” Richardson said.
A month after his 18th birthday, Richardson arrived in Tuskegee, where he trained as a fighter pilot to protect Allied bombers. Today, the group of all-black pilots is considered one of the most effective units the U.S. military has ever seen.
Richardson said it’s an honor they fought hard for.
“They didn’t want us at first,” he said. “But as the war went on, they saw how good our guys were. They kept asking about us. We want the Red Tails!’
Richardson graduated from flight school in Tuskegee in March 1945, about a month before Germany’s surrender.
“What I say to kids is that when Hitler heard I was coming over, he surrendered the war,” Richardson said, laughing.
But the actions of the Tuskegee Airmen had a much greater impact. In 1948, President Harry Truman desegregated the military, and Richardson believes the heroics of the Tuskegee Airmen played an important role.
“That idea of desegregation spread throughout our country, where people of color could easily vote and go to school,” Richardson said.
In 2007, President George W. Bush presented the Tuskegee Airmen, including Richardson, with the Congress Gold Medal. On the reverse, the medal reads: “Outstanding record in combat inspired revolutionary reforms in the armed forces.”
Richardson said it was a fantastic honor to receive the medal, the government basically says recognized what they did.
On Memorial Day, Richardson reflects on his fellow airmen. He said he was lucky that many of his friends returned home after the war. But with fewer World War II vets remaining, he said this is also a moment to keep the story of the Tuskegee Airmen alive.
“Hopefully we have young people joining us so they can continue the legacy,” Richardson said.
