Charles "Herb" Flowers

Charles Herbert Flowers, a former Tuskegee airman and the namesake of a Springdale high school, died Friday from complications of renal and heart failure. He was 92. Flowers lived in Glenarden for 49 years after moving to Prince George's County from North Carolina, where he grew up in the town of Wadesboro. He was born Aug. 8, 1918. His wife of 67 years, Wilhelmina Flowers, was not ready to talk to the press about her husband's death. Daughter Carolyn Green of Charlotte, N.C., said she had a loving father who was always concerned about her and her siblings after they left home and married. She said her father stayed involved as much as possible in all of his children's lives.

"He was such a wonderful father," Green said. "He was very dedicated to his family. He loved us. He taught us. Education was a priority with him. He made sure that we were able to go to college because he felt that education was the key to success for the black man." Flowers always had an interest in flight but could not afford lessons. When he discovered the Army Air Corps in Tuskegee, Ala., was looking to train blacks in aviation, he enrolled in 1941 and was among the first Tuskegee cadet graduates. He became a flight instructor in 1942 and trained Tuskegee cadets to fly for five years, Green said.

Flowers never saw combat. After his days as an instructor, Flowers majored in business administration at North Carolina Central University, then known as North Carolina College for Negroes, and became the first black manager of a North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Commission liquor store in Winston Salem, N.C., and co-owner of a drugstore. Green could not remember the name of the drugstore. Green said her parents moved to Glenarden in 1963 when her father took on a position as an electronic technician at Greenbelt's NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

After retiring from NASA in 1990 as a manager of employee relations, Flowers began to mentor local students through his church, Lanham's Ebenezer United Methodist Church, which Green said he did until about 2009, when his health began to fail. When plans sprouted in the late 1990s to build a new Prince George's County public high school in the Springdale area, former Board of Education member Kenneth E. Johnson of Mitchellville suggested Flowers' name given his background in training black pilots and mentorship. His was selected from a pool that included names such as James Fletcher, the former District 5 County Councilman who died in 1994 and is the father of County Councilwoman Andrea Harrison (D-Dist. 5) of Springdale; and Circuit Court Judge Sylvania W. Woods, for whom an elementary school in Glenarden is named.

"I just can't express how proud I was of him and how much I felt he deserved it based on his accomplishments and his service in the community," Green said. "I was very proud and I know he was terribly honored because of that."

Charles H. Flowers High School opened in the fall of 2000 on Ardwick-Ardmore Road. Principal Helena Nobles-Jones said Flowers was a "fatherly image" in the school whom students adored. Nobles-Jones said Flowers' support over the years and the fact that he cared so much about the students is what inspired her to come to work each day.

When Flowers High senior Cherrese Richardson-Frederick died in January 2008 after being struck by a stray bullet a few blocks from the school, she said Charles H. Flowers showed up on her doorstep the same night of the shooting to let her know everything would be OK. "First of all, I can't even accept it," Nobles-Jones said of Flowers' death. "I know I believe it, but just because I believe it I cannot accept the fact that I will never see him again, just showing up in my office, with that contagious smile."

Until his health began to fail, Flowers was a permanent fixture at Flowers' home basketball games and had his own seat on the 50-yardline of the school's football field. "He was just such an inspiration," Nobles-Jones said. "It's like I know I'll be coming back to some games after I retire, but it just was not the same. It's always like looking to your side, looking from behind looking for him. It just doesn't seem right. But it's OK." Son Charles H. Flowers III of Glenarden said that his father never liked to "toot his own horn" about his accomplishments, a character trait he said he adopted himself.

"To me he was a miracle," Charles Flowers III said. "He just knew how to do everything. I didn't see anybody else out there like that who could do so many different things and do them well. I got everything I need right there so I always wanted to be close to him and spend a lot of time with him." Charles Flowers III said he moved into his father's Glenarden home to look after his parents when his father began to have heart problems.

"I used him getting older as an opportunity to get even closer to him," Charles Flowers III said. "Some people might have thought that was selfish but I didn't because I continued to learn from my dad until he took his last breath."

A viewing for Charles H. Flowers is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 4 at Lanham United Methodist Church at 5512 Whitfield Chapel Road followed by an 11 a.m. funeral service at the same location.

Flowers is survived by his wife, Wilhelmina; his two children, Carolyn Green of Charlotte, N.C., and Charles H. Flowers III of Glenarden; six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his son Roderick Dean Flowers of Glenarden in 1987 and daughter Beatrice Yvonne Hinton of Winston Salem, N.C., in 1993.

Reference: Natalie McGill; http://www.gazette.net/stories/01312011/prinnew82619_32563.php

Curtis Robinson

Curtis Christopher Robinson sat at a den table. Pictures of fighter planes that he flew during World War II hung on the wall behind him. The former Tuskeegee Airman still has the bearing of a soldier at 88 years old.

Even with thin gray hair, Robinson remains striking and resembles the aviator in the living room photograph, which is surrounded by other World War II memorabilia.

Robinson is currently a pharmacist and assists customers at his pharmacy in Southeast Washington, D.C. He also co-owns Robnor Publishing, LLC along with author George Norfleet. Earlier this year, the two published Robinson's autobiography, "A Pilot's Journey."

On this particular afternoon, Robinson relived his experience as a Tuskegee Airman. He leaned forward and began to tell the story of how he became a part of American history.

Robinson spent his youth in South Carolina before joining the Air Force. As a youth, Robinson had always been interested in getting an education. After completing high school, Robinson attended Claflin College. His grandfather graduated from college in 1873, went into politics and later became a minister at an AME church. All of his grandfather's children graduated from Claflin College.

Upon graduating from Claflin College, Robinson taught in Spartanburg County, S.C., in the fall of 1940. He taught math, general science, history and geography.

"I began to like teaching," Robinson said. "I didn't want to teach at first, but after I started, I liked teaching and I think I got to be a pretty good teacher."

However, Robinson's teaching career was short lived. World War II began a new chapter in history as well as a new chapter in Robinson's life. Blacks were not initially allowed to fight in the war. The war department and War College thought blacks would not be able to perform required military duties and deemed them human beings of a lesser intelligence. Towards the end of his administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to integrate the Armed Forces.

As blacks were gradually drafted into the military, Robinson toured Camp Penn, the army base in Spartanburg County. While in Spartanburg, he observed blacks performing menial duties that were not part of basic training. He also heard the blacks referring to the officers as "Captain Boss."

This memory agitated Robinson. He recalled, "I didn't want to get into that. I'd rather go to any place to avoid that."

Robinson soon found out about the Tuskegee Air Force through a friend. It took him over a year to hear from the Tuskegee Air Force after he received an acceptance letter. When the Army Air Corps finally contacted him, they told him to report to Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C.

Robinson was sworn in and inducted at the Shaw Air Force Base, but was sent home because they did not know what to do with the blacks. Until the classes at Tuskegee were formed, traveling back and forth cost Robinson a lot of money. In August 1942, Robinson began his cadet training at Tuskegee.

"I wasn't interested in planes," Robinson said. "I had only seen one airplane on the ground prior to that. So, I wasn't interested in any airplanes."

Robinson had not thought about being a pilot before the war, but he quickly caught on and became skilled at flying planes. In primary, he flew an open cockpit, bi-wing plane with 90 horsepower and flew a cover cockpit 350 horsepower plane in basic training. As the pilots in training advanced, the planes they flew increased in speed and allowed them to do more.

"My favorite maneuver was the snap roll because it was difficult to do, and you had to be very precise," Robinson said with a smile.

He showed off this maneuver to his aunt as a stunt once. It did not go as planned and while landing, he fell short of running in to her and a neighbor.

"I almost killed her. That really stuck in my mind. I never told her the truth, no. She came back the next day and she said, 'You sure can fly a plane.' I told her I can pray too," Robinson said laughing.

During training, Robinson said that he was motivated to do well.

"I come from a small college," he said. "All my classmates came from these big institutions like Chicago University or Indiana or UCLA or those types of schools. They used to tease me about coming from a small college so it had made me want to stay there and do much better than I normally would have done."

The "washout" rate at the Tuskegee Cadet Program was very high. Many of the cadets did not graduate. Robinson, however, was fortunate enough to complete the program and graduated in April 1943.

After graduation, Robinson was assigned to the 99th Fighter Squadron. According to "A Pilot's Journey," it took him and a couple of other cadets six weeks to catch up with their squadron in Italy. Because the 99th Flight Squadron was constantly being moved, they spent those six weeks on a wild goose chase through numerous cities in Europe.

Many black squadrons were attached to white squadrons, but the white squadrons did not want to fly with black pilots. Certain officers, such as Captain Momyer of the 79th Fighter group, tried to get rid of the black pilots.

The 99th Fighter Squadron mainly performed dive bombings and random strafing missions. These small missions did not gain them any victories. However, they won one of their first victories while patrolling the coast between the Ponziane Island and the beach that was under attack.

The 99th Fighter Squadron ran into German planes. In "A Pilot's Journey," Robinson spoke of his fight with one of the Germans.

"I began diving and started gaining on him, and I began to shoot volleys of fire at him," he said. "I saw a large puff of black smoke coming out from his plane and I shouted, 'I got him.'"

All of their formation remained in tact, and they had taken out four or five of the German planes.

"We didn't get recognition here in the [United] States," Robinson said. "We got some recognition over in Italy [from] the British and the Italians and the French. The Americans didn't pay us any attention even though we had scored several victories."

Blacks were not recognized in their own country - the one for they were fighting.

"It felt kind of odd and it made you kind of angry because in Naples, there was a hotel that had at least 75 American reporters there at their airport and not one came out to investigate what was going on," he said. "The British came out. You can't let that get to you. You'll never make it."

After the war ended and Robinson returned to the United States, he moved to Washington, D.C. and married Florie Frederick Robinson. He applied for a pilot position at an airport in the Washington, D.C. area, but they refused to hand out applications to blacks.

Robinson returned to college and attended Howard University's School of Pharmacy. After graduating, he opened his own pharmacy. In addition to running the pharmacy, Robinson takes the time out to sign books at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

George Norfleet, the author of Robinson's book, said, "I wanted to help Mr. Robinson publish his story because there is more to know about the Tuskegee Airmen than their success as [fighter] pilots. They were the products of their families, institutions and value systems."

During his book signings, Robinson wears his red Tuskegee Airmen blazer and tells museum visitors about his career as a Tuskegee Airman. He greets them by saying, "I am one of the original Tuskegee Airmen."

Paula Adel, a manager at the Air and Space Museum, described Robinson as, "A truly great man. The staff always looks forward to his visits because he is one of the most pleasant, humble men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting."

Reference: Sophia Adem; http://media.www.blackcollegeview.com/media/storage/paper928/news/2007/11/18/News/The-Life.Of.An.Original.Tuskegee.Airman.Curtis.Christopher.Robinson-3125878.shtml

Lorna Polk

Lorna Marie Polk, Accomplished Federal Employee, Pilot, Aerial Photographer, and Volunteer

Lorna Marie Polk, a senior program officer at the Department, died Aug. 6.  The daughter of the late Judge Ora Polk and Louise Polk, Lorna Polk was a native of East St. Louis, Ill.

Polk's career as a senior program officer with the U.S. Department of Education, spanned more than 40 years. Most recently, she monitored federal programs at institutions of higher education while working with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Program in the Office of Postsecondary Education.

Previously, she worked in Migrant Education, TRIO, and the White House Initiative on HBCUs. She was a 2010 graduate of the Partnership for Public Service Excellence in Government Fellows Program.

At her funeral, she was described as a team player who would give her last to help anyone she could.

She always saw the good in everyone and every situation.

She received many honors, including: the Department's Outstanding Quality Service Award; Outstanding Service Award from the East Coast Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen; National Honoree for Women in Aviation Awards; Outstanding Young Women of America; Who's Who in America; and Who's Who among African Americans.

Polk entered Fisk University, in Nashville, at age 16 and graduated at age 19; earning a B.A. in psychology. She earned an M.A. in human resources development from the George Washington University and a doctorate in education from Catholic University, both in Washington, D.C.

She was a member of the American Society of Professional and Executive Women, Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Phi Delta Kappa Toastmasters Club, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., and the Organization of Black Airline Pilots and a founding member of Blacks in Government, Inc.

Polk had many hobbies and interests. She was a pilot, enjoyed aerial photography, African studies and writing. She was very involved in her church, the Alfred Street Baptist Church, in Alexandria, Va.

Polk, survived by her sister, Iva Louise Polk of Detroit, lived in Alexandria, Va.

Reference: U.S. Department of Education, August 2010

Charles Anderson

Charles A. Anderson, who dreamed as a boy of soaring into the clouds and later helped to smash racial barriers by training a famed unit of black fighter pilots in World War II, died on Saturday at his home in Tuskegee, Ala. He was 89.

Mr. Anderson had suffered from colon cancer, his son Charles Jr., of Greensboro, N.C., said yesterday.

In 1939, a decade after getting his flying license, Mr. Anderson started a civilian pilot training program at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The next year, Eleanor Roosevelt visited the college and thought she might like to take a ride in a plane. It was an event that changed lives and history.Exactly what the First Lady said is unclear. One version had it that she said to Mr. Anderson, "I always heard that colored people couldn't fly airplanes." Mr. Anderson himself reminisced 20 years ago that Mrs. Roosevelt "saw no reason why blacks could not fly."

This much is certain: Mrs. Roosevelt ignored the protests of nervous Secret Service agents, went aloft with Mr. Anderson for the better part of an hour and came back to earth safely.

Not long afterward, Tuskegee Institute was chosen for an Army Air Corps program to determine if black men could be competent pilots. The pilots, many from small towns, passed rigorous tests to join what became known as the Fighting 99th squadron of the 332d Fighter Group. Mr. Anderson was chief flight instructor, a position that conferred the nickname Chief, by which he was widely known the rest of his life.

The Tuskegee Airmen, as they have been called since, overcame extreme prejudice to win combat status (reportedly after Eleanor Roosevelt interceded with the President) and escorted American bombers over Europe and North Africa, providing a virtually impenetrable shield while shooting down hundreds of German fighters.

"We never lost a bomber to enemy air action," Herbert Carter, a member of the Tuskegee unit, said yesterday, recalling his 77 flak-filled missions. Mr. Carter, who retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1969, lives in Tuskegee and remained a close friend of his mentor.

After the war, Mr. Anderson managed an aircraft-sales business and continued to give flight instruction at Tuskegee. One of his students was Dr. Vascar Harris, an engineering professor at Tuskegee.

"Flying with him was like flying with a bird -- it was just so natural," Dr. Harris said yesterday. While other pilots might be able to gauge wind direction mostly from instruments, Mr. Anderson could tell from looking down on ponds and fields, seeing how the water and the corn rippled "and which way the cows were facing," Dr. Harris said.

But Mr. Anderson was never reckless, Dr. Harris said. He was skillful and prudent in bad weather, believing totally in the axiom that there are old pilots and bold pilots but no old bold pilots.

Dr. Harris said his flying mentor recalled how, as a boy in Bridgeport, Pa., he would sometimes see an airplane -- not a common sight back then -- and become so enchanted by the sight that he would try to follow it on foot.

Hours later and miles away, he would give up, then plod homeward to his relieved but furious parents.

He once ran away from home, looking for airplanes rumored to be barnstorming in the area.

Mr. Anderson borrowed $2,500 from friends and relatives and bought a used airplane when he was 22. He learned to fly by reading books and getting tips from white pilots who were willing to be friendly. Not all were.

In a poignant vignette of history, it took a German World War I pilot, Ernest Buehl, to persuade a reluctant government certifying pilot to fly with Mr. Anderson when the latter was trying to get a commercial license. Mr. Anderson passed and in 1932 became the first black pilot to hold an air transport license.

Mr. Anderson flew a round-trip transcontinental flight in 1933 and is believed to have flown the first land plane to the Bahamas in 1934. Until then, a seaplane was the normal way to reach the Bahamas by air.

Mr. Anderson's son Charles said his father flew until a few years ago, gladly teaching anyone who wanted to learn. One who did was Mayor Johnny Ford of Tuskegee, who yesterday called Mr. Anderson "a good teacher and a great man."

Mr. Anderson's wife of 62 years, Gertrude, died just over a year ago. Surviving are another son, Alfred, of Seattle; three grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

Reference: David Stout, New York Times, April 17, 1996

Col. William H. Eaton

"My father's retirement day was the saddest day of his life, because he was giving up what he loved more than anything else -- wearing a uniform," said Eileen Price of Bradenton, Fla., the oldest of Col. Eaton's children.

William Henry Eaton, a native of Suffolk, Va., was a student at what is now South Carolina State University in Orangeburg when he answered the government's call for black pilots. The Tuskegee program started when the U.S. government bowed to pressure from civil rights groups and decided to give black pilots an opportunity to be trained to fight for their country.

He was a member of the class of 45H, one of the last groups of young men to sign on, said Bill Broadwater, a former president of the East Coast chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, where Col. Eaton maintained a membership until he died of complications of cancer Jan. 11 at his home in Fort Washington. He was 86.

"He would have been in the class right after mine," Broadwater said. "The program ended in 1946, after the war ended. A lot of the guys got out of the military and did other things. It says something that he was later commissioned."

Records show that Col. Eaton completed training but never became a pilot at Tuskegee. Instead, he returned to college and in 1946 received a degree in biology, with a minor in chemistry. On campus, he had met a pretty co-ed named Juanita Vaughn, another biology-chemistry student.

"A classmate of his introduced us," his wife said. She was not initially impressed.

"He told my sister he liked me and I said, 'You don't know me. We have not been properly introduced,' " she recalled. A formal introduction and a semester later, they were an item. The couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary June 5.

Col. Eaton's plans to attend medical school changed, and he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve and assigned to the Chemical Corps in 1950, relatives said. He was later commissioned into the Army.

"I'm not sure why my father never went to medical school," Price said. "He and my mother were both science nerds. My younger sister was in the military, both she and her husband, and they are both doctors. My father was very proud of that."

In 1976, Col. Eaton was appointed post commander at Fort McNair. He moved his family onto the historic post and began what would be three of the most enjoyable years of his time in the service, Price said.

As base commander, he often served as the official host for events that drew people from all over the world. He also got to view the celebration of his nation's 200th birthday in 1976 from a spectacular vantage point.

"When the tall ships came for the bicentennial, our back yard was full of people with different accents," Price said.

After the military, he and his wife settled in Fort Washington. He sold real estate for a time, then settled down to a life of traveling, playing golf and bridge and growing vegetables. In 1986, he fulfilled a lifelong dream to see Pearl Harbor, whose attack by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941, launched the United States into World War II.

"The trip to Pearl Harbor was an emotional one," Juanita Eaton said. "You could see oil floating on the top of the water still. When our guide told us how many men were still down there in the sunken ship, it was really emotional."

Col. Eaton will be buried Wednesday with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

"The military was the only life he knew, that of a transient soldier who delighted in serving his country," Price said.

Reference: Avis Thomas-Lester, Washington Post Staff Writer, March 22, 2009

Dr. Henry A. Wise

Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr., a Prince George's [Maryland] County physician, a former medical director at Bowie State University and a World War II pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen, died May 2, 2003, at Prince George's Hospital Center after a heart attack, at the age of 82.

From 1955 until he retired 11 years ago, Doctor Wise had a family medical practice in Bowie, Maryland, and he was among the few contemporary physicians who made house calls to his patients. In 1955, he joined the medical staff of Prince George's Hospital; for 14 years, he was its only African American physician.

As a combat pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen, Dr. Wise served in the 99th Pursuit Squadron. His plane was shot down in a raid on the Polesti oil fields in Romania, and he was a prisoner of war for about three months. He was rescued and repatriated by Soviet Union forces. A resident of Lanham, Dr. Wise was born and raised in Cheriton, Virginia.

He graduated from Virginia Union University, then served from 1942 to 1946 in the Tuskegee Airmen of the Army Air Forces, the highly decorated African American unit that flew combat missions in Europe and the Mediterranean during World War II. Dr. Wise was a member of the Caterpillar Club, an organization of Tuskegee Airmen who were shot down. His decorations included a Purple Heart and Combat Air Medal. After the war, Dr. Wise graduated from Howard University Medical School in Washington DC. He then opened his medical practice in Bowie. Coinciding with his private practice was his service as medical director at Bowie State University.

He was on the medical staff at Doctors Hospital in Lanham and was a founder of the Prince George's Society of Medical Professionals. He was a member of the National Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the Maryland State Medical Society. Dr. Wise had been a volunteer with the state-sponsored Youth Motivational Program, encouraging high school students to continue their education. He received citations from former Maryland governors J. Millard Tawes and Marvin Mandel for this work.

He received an honorary doctorate from Bowie State University, a Distinguished Citizens Award from the Annapolis chapter of Links Inc. and a Statesman Leadership Award from the Prince George's Society of Health Professionals.

Reference: Unknown source

Raymond V. Haysbert Sr.

May 26, 2010 Raymond V. Haysbert Sr., whose Parks Sausage Co. became the first black-owned business in the U.S. to go public in 1969, has died at age 90.

He died Monday at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore after suffering from congestive heart failure, his son Brian Haysbert said Tuesday.

Born in poverty, Mr. Haysbert later became a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, serving in Africa and Italy in World War II before settling in Baltimore. There, he joined the company started by Henry Parks that became well known throughout the Northeast by advertisements featuring a hungry boy asking, "More Parks Sausages, Mom, please!"

Former Baltimore congressman and NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume said that in addition to his role as chief executive at Parks, Mr. Haysbert was a political adviser and community leader who became "synonymous with the struggle for entrepreneurship among African Americans at a time when it wasn't very popular."

Mr. Haysbert was also campaign treasurer for Sen. Harry Cole, the first black state senator in Annapolis, and helped integrate Baltimore politics by working to get Parks elected to the council in 1963.

Mr. Haysbert, who had suffered several heart attacks in recent years, remained chairman of the Greater Baltimore Urban League until his death, bringing the organization back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Born in Cincinnati, Mr. Haysbert worked for a coal company before joining the Army Air Corps. He is survived by his wife and four children.

Brian Haysbert said his father always had time to help those trying to start their own businesses, and taught him that "success is always tied to someone else and not just to yourself."

"He always figured he didn't have enough time to get all he wanted accomplished," said another son, Reginald Haysbert, 62. "He was terrifically motivated to make the world a better place."

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake said that Mr. Haysbert's death marked the end of an era.

Mfume remembered Mr. Haysbert inviting him to his home, where they discussed his political future in a sunroom at the house overlooking Lake Montebello.

"There were a lot of people who sat in that house, there in the sun room, who got lectures on life from Ray Haysbert," the former NAACP president said. "When he pulled you in, you knew you were in an elite class. Everybody wanted to be asked to be in that sun room."

Reference:http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/2320024,CST-NWS-xhaysbert26.article

William H. Holloman III

Lt. Col. William H. Holloman III, a Kent resident, died at a hospital Friday (June 18, 2010) after a heart attack. He was 85.

A St. Louis native who as a teenager was so crazy about flying he would walk two miles to an airport to watch the planes, he volunteered for an all-black aviation-training program at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama.

Because some Army generals were dubious about the ability of African Americans to maintain and fly aircraft, the Tuskegee Airmen were required to undergo twice as much training as their white counterparts.

One of 450 trainees sent to North Africa and Italy, Lt. Col. Holloman flew a single-seat P-51 Mustang fighter-bomber from a base in Italy to targets in Germany, Austria and Eastern European countries. He flew 19 combat missions, including escorting bombers and hitting enemy targets.

Stationed at bases segregated by race, the black fighter pilots and the white bomber crews mingled in towns where whites insisted on buying drinks for their fighter escorts. When Lt. Col. Holloman sailed back to the States, he walked down a gangplank in New York and saw signs that read, "Whites to the right, coloreds to the left."

The war at home

"I always say we were fighting two wars: the war against Hitler and the race war at home. Both were to preserve democracy," Lt. Col. Holloman told Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat in 2008.

Although racial segregation continued in much of the country for another two decades, the Tuskegee Airmen showed white aviators and their commanders that they, too, were first-class warriors.

President Truman issued an executive order in 1948 integrating all branches of the armed forces. President Obama invited the Tuskegee Airmen to his inauguration last year.

After World War II, Lt. Col. Holloman did stints dusting crops in South America and flying small commercial planes in Canada. An Air Force reservist, he was called back to active duty during the Korean War and in Vietnam, where he switched to the Army. He retired in 1972.

A founding member and first president of the Sam Bruce Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc., Lt. Col. Holloman took the Tuskegee story to virtually anyone who would listen.

"Just by talking to him you were touching a primary point of history," said Greg Anders, commander of Cascade Warbirds, a vintage-aircraft organization Lt. Col. Holloman was active in.

Lt. Col. Holloman annually hosted panels at the Museum of Flight, spoke to young people about history and aviation, and traveled the country sharing his story. His calendar was booked for the next two years with speeches, aircraft fly-ins and other events, daughter Lesley Holloman said. "He never slowed down. ... He loved that people wanted to hear what he had to say about history," she said.

Flight jacket in museum

Lt. Col. Holloman's World War II flight jacket is on display at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle. He attended the museum's opening in 2008, standing by the jacket and telling the Tuskegee Airmen story to the 3, 000 visitors, said the museum's executive director, Barbara Earl Thomas.

His presence left Thomas and others in tears, she said. "When people realized that he was actually the person that belonged to the jacket, they were like, 'Oh, my god, you're kidding!' ... That was the moment when people made the connection. That made us feel like we were a living museum."

He is survived by his wife, Artie Adele Holloman, of Kent; sons William IV and Michael Holloman, both of Seattle, and Christopher, of Bellevue; daughters Lesley Holloman, of St. Louis, Robyn Holloman, of Seattle and Maria Holloman-Toye, of Rochester, Thurston County; and five grandchildren.

Viewing will be at Marlatt Funeral Home in Kent from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday, with a flyover of vintage military aircraft at 1:45 p.m. and a memorial service at 2 p.m. A service will be held Monday in St. Louis.

Reference: Keith Ervin, Seattle Times staff reporter and http://obit.marlattfuneralhome.com/obitdisplay.html?id=797075&clientid=marlattfuneralhome&listing=Found

Spann Watson

Spann Watson was born in 1916 near rural Johnston, South Carolina, the second son of Sherman and Leona Holt Watson. He began his education at the age of four, at Red Hill, a one-room school. Later, he attended Simpkins School and finally Reeder Branch School, on the grounds of Reeder Branch Church, which still exists in Saluda County.

In 1927, when Watson was 10 years old, his family moved to Lodi, New Jersey. A frequent visitor to the nearby Teterboro Airport, Watson watched Charles A. Lindbergh fly in his famous plane “Spirit of St. Louis” on July 4, 1927. This historic event had a lasting impact on the youngster and inspired him to pursue a career in aviation.

Watson was educated at Lodi and Hackensack Public Schools and at Howard University where he studied mechanical engineering. He began his aviation training in 1939 in the original College Pilot Training Program at Howard and continued under the same program at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.  In 1941, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as a flying cadet. A pioneer of the Tuskegee Airmen Experience, he was an original member of the famed 99th Fighter Squadron. On July 8, 1943, Watson was one of eight pilots who successfully fought the German elite Luftwaffe over the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Sicily, marking the first time African-American pilots fought in air combat. In World War II, he distinguished himself flying missions over North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Southern Europe.

At the midpoint of his combat tour with the original 99th Fighter Squadron (F.S.) in North Africa/Southern Europe, he was selected and ordered back to the U.S. to bring combat experience to the 332nd Fighter Group as it transitioned to a combat status for services in the Mediterranean theatre in 1943/44.  That one time opportunity was lost during an untimely delay caused by his misdirected travel orders.  His assignment was withdrawn and he was reassigned to form the 553rd F.S. as an instructor pilot at Selfridge Air Field, Michigan.  Subsequently, the 553rd F.S. was dissolved in the creation of a Combat Crew Training Center for Tuskegee Airmen replacement pilots enroute to the 99th Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group (F.G.) at Walterboro Army Air Field, South Carolina.  That assignment proved to be rewarding during 1944/45.

At the close of the Air War in Europe, the 99th F.S. was withdrawn from Italy and reactivated at Fort Knox, Kentucky to prepare for participation in the war against Japan.  Spann Watson was selected again to reassemble the 99th F.S. completely.  It quickly grew to a peak of 136 Tuskegee Airmen Pilots, 14 Flight Leaders and 79 F47 N Airplanes by the time “A” weapons closed out the war in the Far East. 

Spann Watson supervised the flight activities of the 99th F.S. as the U.S. Air Force reorganized and reduced its air units to peacetime levels until the integration of military services came to the 99th F.S. and the 332nd Fighter Group in June 1949.  Spann Watson played a major role in the development of the Armed Forces integration plans becoming the Nation’s policy.

In 1965, after a 23-year military career, Watson joined the Federal Aviation Administration as an equal opportunity specialist and subsequently as an air traffic specialist, but his EEO efforts did not diminish at all.  He was responsible for more than 35 youngsters winning appointments to the three major service academies.  He helped hundreds of minorities gain employment, including 483 airline flight attendants, and first-time pilots.  He resolved hundreds of other on job situations and military acute assignment situations.

Lt. Col. Watson’s photo hangs with other Airmen in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. He is the first African-American elected as an Elder Statesman of Aviation by the National Aeronautics Association and served as the National President of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group he helped organize. Among his many honors include the Charles A. “Chief” Anderson Award from the National Coalition of Black Federal Aviation Employees; the Brigadier General Noel F. Parrish Award, the highest honor of the Tuskegee Airmen; the Department of Transportation Exceptional Service Citation for his exceptional achievements in the area of equal opportunity; the Legion of Merit from the mayor of Washington and the D.C. National Guard Organization; and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Public Service from Rhode Island College in May 1994.

He was one of the Tuskegee Airmen honored by President William “Bill” Clinton at the White House, Washington, D.C. on October 9, 1998.

In September 2000, he was awarded the Cliff Henderson Achievement Award, by the National Aviation Club.  A new Tuskegee Airmen Chapter in Columbia, S.C. was dedicated in his honor on September 30, 2002.

His awards and recognition continue from many origins as the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, New York, made him one of its 2003 honorees, and awarded its trophy, “In Recognition of Outstanding Leadership,” at its Juneteenth Celebration on June 19, 2003.

Col. Watson and his wife Edna were married December 17, 1943.  They have five children, seven grandchildren and one great grand child.

Reference: http://www.thechallengercenter.com/news/SpanWatson.htm

Brigadier General Charles B. Jiggetts

Retired Nov. 1, 1982.   Died March 16, 2010.

General Jiggetts was born in Henderson, N.C. He graduated from high school at Henderson Institute in 1943, and received a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Howard University, Washington, D.C., in 1950. General Jiggetts graduated from Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., in 1957 and completed Air Command and Staff College in 1963. He completed the Air War College in 1970 and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces associate program in 1972. 

In 1944 he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces and was honorably discharged in May 1946. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in August 1950 through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program. His initial assignment was as a group adjutant and supply officer with the Basic Military Training Center at Sampson Air Force Base, N.Y. He attended flying school at James Connally Air Force Base, Texas, in 1952 and later become an aircraft observer and radar intercept officer. He served in that capacity at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.; McGuire Air Force Base, N.J.; and Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. 

In July 1957 General Jiggetts joined the 98th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Dover Air Force Base, Del., as flight and later squadron radar officer. He attended the Communications Officer Course at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., in 1959. Upon completion of the course in 1960, he was assigned to the 27th Communications Squadron, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, as squadron operations officer. In June 1963 he returned to Keesler Air Force Base to attend the Communications-Electronics Staff Officer Course. 

From March 1964 to May 1966, General Jiggetts was a maintenance officer, chief of maintenance and wing communications-electronics officer with the 92nd Strategic Aerospace Wing, Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. The wing had operational responsibility for Fairchild-based Atlas E intercontinental ballistic missiles, B-52s and KC-135s. 

Transferring to Headquarters 7th Air Force, Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, in May 1966 the general served as a communications-electronics requirements officer. General Jiggetts returned to the United States in May 1967 as a joint communications staff officer with the U.S. Strike Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. 

In August 1969 he was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., as the technical assistant to the director for telecommunications policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Installations and Logistics). He next served at Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., as chief of the Program Management Division for Communications-Electronics. 

From September 1971 to July 1974, General Jiggetts served as military assistant to the director of the Office of Telecommunications Policy, Executive Office of the President of the United States, Washington, D.C. He then became vice commander of the Air Force Communications Command's Northern Communications Area at Griffiss Air Force Base, N.Y. He served as commander of the Northern Communications Area from July 1976 to June 1979. 

The general transferred to Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, as director of communications and data processing (later reorganized as Directorate of Command, Control and Communications System), J-6. In February 1981 he was assigned to Scott Air Force Base as Air Force Communications Command's deputy commander for combat communications and reserve force matters. He assumed his present duties in July 1981. 

His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal. He also wears the air traffic controller's badge. 

He was promoted to brigadier general April 1, 1977, with date of rank March 29, 1977. 

The general's hometown is Henderson, N.C. 

Reference: http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5947

Victor L. Hancock, D.D.S.

On Tuesday March 8, 2005. Beloved husband of Elaine B. Hancock; father of Ava, Mark, Norma and Kathryn; grandfather of Obi, Elaine, Jon, Kenneth and Kevin; brother of Elinor (Henderson) and Richard. Also surviving are a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

On Friday, March 11 from 6 to 8 p.m., friends may call at Dunbarton Chapel, Howard University, 2900 Van Ness St. N.W. Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 12, at 12 Noon at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, 16th and H Sts., N.W. Interment Rock Creek Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Victor L. Hancock Endowed Scholarship for Howard College of Dentistry, 2225 Georgia Ave., N.W., Suite 922, Washington, DC 20059 Attn: Karine Sewell. Arrangements by McGUIRE FUNERAL SERVICE.

 

 

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Lemuel Rodney Custis
Lemuel Rodney Custis, who was Hartford's first black police officer and helped bring about desegregation of the armed forces as a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, died Thursday, February 24, 2005. He was 89.

Custis, of Wethersfield, was a member of the first class of black men to undergo pilot training at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. George Schnyer of East Windsor, who has studied the Tuskegee Airmen, said Custis was the last surviving member of the group.

Custis was not boastful. He never mentioned he was leaving his police job to become an Army pilot during World War II.

Connie Nappier of New Britain, who later went through the same pilot training Custis completed to become a Tuskegee Airman, remembered Custis as a beat cop in Hartford. Custis had joined the department in 1940, two years after earning a bachelor's degree at Howard University.

"One day we missed Lem," Nappier recalled Tuesday. After two or three days passed, he and many others in Hartford's black community figured "the man found a way to get rid of Lem."

They learned the truth months later when the Pittsburgh Courier, a newspaper that served black America, arrived. "There was Lem on the front page with the other four fellas, having earned his wings," Nappier said.

"Lem was one of those who was determined that he was going to see it through and get his wings, not to pin bouquets on himself, but to prove we had the capabilities that any other human had," Nappier said.

The Army was responding to pressure when it agreed to begin a training program for black pilots at Tuskegee.

Custis was assigned to the all-black 99th Fighter Squadron, which flew escort and patrol missions in P-40 Warhawks in North Africa, Sicily and Italy from April 1943 to July 1944. Members of the 99th first tangled with German fliers while covering the beaches during the Allied invasion at Anzio on Jan. 27, 1944.

Sixteen Warhawk pilots spotted 15 German Focke-Wulf 190 fighters dive-bombing Allied ships off Anzio. The black aviators attacked the Germans, who were flying superior airplanes, and shot down five without losing one of their own.

The squadron's success that day gave Custis a sense that he was part of something special, although it would be decades before the black aviators would receive wide acclaim for their combat in Europe.

"After our success at Anzio and Salerno ... we had an inkling that perhaps we had made a real contribution," Custis said during an interview in April 2000. "And then, of course, as the years went by, and you got older and you had a better perspective of history and so forth, we could realize that we had really done something from a historical standpoint."

The Tuskegee Airmen went on to earn more fame by escorting Allied bombers. German pilots were taking a heavy toll on the lumbering bombers, and fighter escort was crucial.

The Tuskegee Airmen, by then flying as the 332nd Fighter Group, were the only Allied outfit not to lose a bomber they escorted to enemy fighters.

Despite their performance in combat, the black aviators still endured indignities at home and abroad. But it didn't make them bitter.

"I like to think that most of us, as a result of all of our experiences, tried to really overcome some of those scars we had picked up over the years - some of the mental and social scars," Custis said during an interview in 2002. "We tried to be good citizens in whatever city or town we thought we'd live our lives in."

Custis left the service in 1946 after attaining the rank of major and went to work in Connecticut state government. He retired in 1980.

Custis' wife, Ione, died in 1991. His funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home, 34 Beaver Road, Wethersfield. Burial will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford.

Reference: Hardford Curant By DAVID OWENS, Courant Staff Writer

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Robert C. Bailey
On Sunday, August 31, 2003 of White Plains, MD. Beloved and precious husband of Mabel Benoit Bailey; devoted father of Robert Davis Bailey, Robert C. Bailey Jr., Joan Lloyd and Jan Bailey; step-father of Robert T. Benoit, Jr. and wife, Onnetta and the late Michael Benoit; loving grandfather of Traci Tyer, Tina Douglas, Maria Braman, Opal Benoit, Mark Benoit, Leanor Hodge and Robert L. Bailey. Also surviving are seven great-grandchildren, special friend, Thyra Benoit and a host of other relatives and friends. Viewing Thursday, September 4, 7 to 9 p.m. at Metropolitan United Methodist Church, Pomonkey, MD, where there will be a family hour Friday, September 5 10:30 a.m. until time of service, 11:30 a.m. Interment Maryland Veterans Cemetery, Cheltenham, MD. Repast at Metropolian United Methodist Church, following burial. Arrangements by Thornton Funeral Home.

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Cunningham C. Bryant, Maj. Gen. (Ret.)
On Tuesday, July 29, 2003. Loving husband of Hyacinth B. Bryant; devoted father of Candice C. and Gregory B. (Bertie) Bryant and Beverly G. (Frank) Nelson; beloved grandfather of Kerri Rose and Frank H. Nelson Jr. and Stephen S. Bryant. He is also survived by one sister, Juanita B. Mitchell; two nieces, Jacklyn and Janice, one nephew, Samuel, other relatives and friends.

The late Maj. Gen. Bryant will lie in state at Calvary Episcopal Church, 820 6th St. N.E. on Wednesday, September 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. and on Thursday, September 4, from 9 a.m. until funeral services at 10 a.m. Interment Arlington National Cemetery with Full Military Honors at 1 p.m. Family suggests contributions be made in the name of Maj. Gen. Bryant to Calvary Episcopal Church Building Fund or Cardozo Class of 1940 Scholarship Fund, c/o William Mason, 4229 19th St. NE, Washington, D.C. 20018. Services by STEWART.

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Colonel Harry A. Sheppard, USAF (Retired)
It is with deep, deep sorrow we announce that Colonel Harry A. Sheppard, USAF (Retired) passed away on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 at his home in Arlington, Virginia. Colonel Sheppard was born October 24, 1917 in Jamaica, New York. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on April 1, 1941 and became one of the first Blacks accepted for aircraft maintenance training in the Air Corps and to be assigned to the 99th Pursuit Squadron, which was activated a month earlier at Chanute Field, Illinois. He completed pilot training, earning his wings and a commission at Tuskegee Army Air Field on May 28, 1943 and was assigned to the 302nd Fighter Squadron. During WW II, he flew 123 combat missions in P-39, P-47, and P-51 aircraft. During his 33-year military career, he served as Pilot, Engineering Officer and Supply Officer, earning an impressive list of decorations, including the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Service Medal, and Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters.

Colonel Sheppard was a charter member of East Coast Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. and served as the first chapter secretary. He served as Chapter President 1987-1988 and as Eastern Region President for three years.

Colonel Sheppard is survived by his widow, Amy Casserly Sheppard, four daughters and one son.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00am on Tuesday, September 9, 2003 at the Old Post Chapel on Fort Myer, Virginia. Inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery immediately following. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Hospice of Northern Virginia, 6565 Arlington Blvd., Suite 501, Falls Church, VA 22042.

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Dr. Percy Langston Ellis, Jr.
On Sunday, May 18, 2003 in Lexington, VA. Beloved husband for 50 years of Viola Patterson Ellis and loving father of Dr. Percita L. Ellis. Survived by devoted sister, Elnora Ellis Chase of Elizabeth City, NC; three nieces, Patricia G. and Elaine E. Chase and Valerie P. Johnson (Robert); two great-nieces; three nephews, Larry W. Chase (Vanessa), Rev. Percy R. Chase and Louis P. Prather, Jr.; one great-nephew; brother-in-law, James O. Patterson Jr. of New York City; sister-in-law, Bernice I. Patterson of Washington, DC; numerous cousins and friends. He was predeceased by his parents, his sister, Pearl L. Prather and his twin brother, Daniel L. Ellis. Friends may call on Saturday, May 24, 2003 from 9 a.m. until time of service at 11 a.m. at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, 5301 North Capitol St., NE, Washington, DC, Rev. Graylan S. Hagler, minister. Interment Fort Lincoln Cemetery, Brentwood, MD. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be donated to the Plymouth Youth Scholarship Fund. Arrangements by MARSHALL'S. ECCTAI will serve as honorary pallbearers.

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Matilda Roumania Peters Walker
Matilda Roumania Peters Walker, 85, who learned to play tennis on a clay court in Washington in the days of racial segregation and became one of America's top-rated black tennis players, died May 16 at Prince George's Hospital Center of complications from pneumonia. She had lived with her daughter in New Carrollton since the late 1990s and lived previously in Washington.

Mrs. Walker was known as Roumania Peters during her years in tennis. In 1944 and 1946, she won the national title of the American Tennis Association, one of the nation's oldest black sports organizations. The latter victory came against legendary African American tennis star Althea Gibson. She won national championships in singles and doubles. Mrs. Walker teamed with her sister, Margaret Peters, to win the ATA's women's doubles title 14 times from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s, a record that remains unbroken. The sisters were a dominant pair in their era, much like Venus and Serena Williams of today. They traveled to regional and national invitational ATA tournaments on the campuses of traditionally black colleges across the country. The success and prominence of the Peters sisters made them into national celebrities. Movie stars posed with them for publicity photographs, and they played exhibition matches for English royalty. But there was virtually no financial compensation. Tennis, at the time, was an amateur sport. Mrs. Walker, like many others, paid for her equipment and traveling expenses. At the time, she worked full time as a physical education instructor at Tuskegee Institute, which she attended on a tennis scholarship.

Mrs. Walker graduated from Tuskegee in 1941 and received a master's degree in physical education from New York University. She returned to her native Washington in the 1950s to take a teaching position at Howard University. From 1964 to 1981, she was a physical education instructor for D.C. public schools, mostly at Dunbar High School. She directed a tennis camp for the D.C. Department of Recreation for about 20 years, mentoring hundreds of students. She got her start without the benefit of an organized program. As a 10-year-old, she picked up a racket and began playing tennis at the Rose Park playground across the street from her Georgetown home. She and her sister played for hours each day, honing their serves and backstrokes. She continued to play competitive tennis into her sixties, according to her daughter, Frances Della Walker Weekes. "Tennis meant everything to her," Weekes said. "She was happy with everything she got out of the game." She credited tennis for a courtship and subsequent 35-year marriage to James Walker, who died in 1992. They met at Tuskegee, where Walker, a mathematics professor, applied for a teaching position after seeing Roumania Peters's photograph on the cover of a magazine.

She was a member of Epiphany Catholic Church in Washington and Zeta Phi Beta social sorority. In addition to her daughter, of New Carrollton, survivors include a son, James George Walker of Washington; and two grandchildren.