George Ford

West Virginia’s Tuskegee Airmen
By James Rada Jr. When Wilson Eagleson of Bloomington, Illinois, was a young man, he had a chance to fly like an eagle. He climbed into an airplane with a barnstormer and never got over the sensation of flying above the earth. After that experience, Eagleson knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He attended West Virginia State College in Institute and learned to fly in the Civilian Pilot Training Program there. But in the 1930s, learning to fly and being a career pilot were two vastly different things for an African American. In the late 1930s, the Army Air Training Command was producing only a few hundred pilots per year, and all of them were white. To increase the number of pilots available to the military, in June 1939, Congress passed the Civilian Pilot Training Act, which authorized the establishment of Civilian Pilot Training Programs at 166 colleges and aviation training centers around the nation. In an article published in the 2005 program that commemorated both West Virginia State University commencement exercises and the 65th anniversary of the school’s aviation program, Charles T. Ledbetter, Ph.D., noted that African American leaders and newspapers, as well as concerned congressmen and liberal coalitions, applied pressure to Congress to include six historically black colleges in the 166 aviation programs. A retired professor of education at West Virginia State University and a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, Ledbetter wrote, "To the surprise of many, on September 10, 1939, West Virginia State College became the first of six historically black colleges to be authorized by the Civil Aeronautics Authority to establish an aviation program." The first of several pilot training classes at West Virginia State College in Institute began on November 14, 1939. Ledbetter explained that the selection of West Virginia State College (now University) was likely due to both its well-prepared application and its location next to Wertz Field, then Charleston’s municipal airport. In July 1940, the Charleston Gazette reported that 10 students at West Virginia State College had made solo flights. Three years later, the Gazette noted that 110 students had taken flight instruction at the college. Yet, in 1941, when America entered World War II, it had no African American military pilots. That year, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the Army Air Corps to admit African Americans. While Roosevelt’s orders were obeyed, many commanders didn’t believe African Americans had the intelligence or the courage to take on the challenges of being a pilot. In an attempt to make the creation of an all-black fighter squadron fail, the War Department set the bar very high for incoming African American pilots. The department wanted college-educated men who knew how to fly. But even with these requirements, the Army Air Corps was overwhelmed with applications. Many of the men who applied had learned to fly through the Civilian Pilot Program. African Americans admitted into the Army Air Corps were not allowed to train with their white counterparts. On June 23, 1941, construction began on the Army Air Field at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. The 99th Pursuit Squadron was assigned to conduct training for African American pilots. The first cadet pilot training class consisted of 13 members, including George Spencer "Spanky" Roberts, who graduated first in his class at Fairmont’s Dunbar High School and then, in 1938, graduated from West Virginia State College, and Mac Ross, a 1940 graduate of West Virginia State College from Dayton, Ohio. Of the 13 cadets who began the training, only five successfully completed it. On March 7, 1942, Spanky Roberts, Mac Ross, and two other cadets were commissioned as second lieutenants. The four men joined Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a West Point graduate, in receiving their wings as the first African American aviators in the Army Air Corps. Lieutenant Roberts was later appointed Commanding Officer of the 99th Pursuit Squadron (renamed the 99th Fighter Squadron in May 1942) and Lieutenant Ross was appointed Commanding Officer of the 100th Pursuit Squadron (renamed the 100th Fighter Squadron in May 1942). Many other Tuskegee Airmen who were graduates of West Virginia State College followed Roberts and Ross. Indeed, according to the director of the college’s division of trades and technical education at the time, J. E. Evans, who was quoted in the Charleston Gazette in 1943, every class that received commissions at Tuskegee had at least one graduate of West Virginia State College. In all, 31 African Americans, either native to West Virginia or who learned to fly at West Virginia State College, served in the Army Air Corps through the Tuskegee program. Another graduate of the college, Rose Agnes Rolls Cousins of Fairmont, became the first African American woman to receive flight training through the Civil Aeronautics Authority. She traveled to Tuskegee with great hopes of becoming a military pilot, but, being a woman, she was refused admittance to the program. It has been said that the Tuskegee Airmen fought two wars: the one in Europe against the Axis powers and the one in the United States against racism. In 1942, the War Department terminated the pilot training programs at all six historically black colleges; thus aviation training at West Virginia State College came to an end. At this time, many of the men training there transferred to Tuskegee to continue their training. "The Tuskegee Airmen earned an outstanding record in and out of combat," noted Ledbetter. "They performed brilliantly, despite being trained and having to operate under the most difficult conditions of segregation and discrimination in the United States and overseas." By the war’s end, nearly 1,000 pilots had been trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field. These airmen were known as "Red Tails," as they painted the tails of their planes red. Their primary mission was bomber escort, at which they excelled. The Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 15,000 combat sorties and shot down 111 enemy aircraft. They never lost a bomber they were protecting. George Spencer "Spanky" Roberts flew more than 100 missions against the enemy in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. He earned the Air Force Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters, as well as two Presidential citations. Following the war, he became the first African American to command an integrated unit in the air force. He retired as a full colonel and died in 1984. Sadly, Roberts’s flight training colleague Mac Ross was shot down over Europe and killed in action. Wilson Eagleson enlisted in the army in 1942 and also became a Tuskegee Airman. He shot down two aircraft in 1944 as a member of the 99th Fighter Squadron. He earned two Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Flying Cross, and, fulfilling his dream, served 30 years in the air force. Another distinguished pilot, John Whitehead of Lawrenceville, Virginia, attended West Virginia State College before training at Tuskegee. He flew with the 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group during the war. After WWII, he became the first African American jet pilot instructor in the air force. He was also the air force’s first African American experimental test pilot. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with five oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters, and the Army Commendation Medal. He retired as a lieutenant colonel and died in 1993. The success of the Tuskegee pilot training program was finally recognized in 2007 when President George Bush awarded these airmen the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. "For all the unreturned salutes and unforgivable indignities ... I salute you for your service to the United States of America," Bush told the more than 300 Tuskegee Airmen in attendance. According to the Tuskegee Airmen Association, there are no known living Tuskegee Airmen still in West Virginia. Though late in receiving the respect and admiration afforded their white colleagues, all Tuskegee Airmen leave a legacy of extraordinary skill, courage, and dedication to their country. Their loyalty and distinguished record of accomplishments were significant in helping to promote social change and racial equality in America. For more information about the Tuskegee Airmen, visit www.tuskegeeairmen.org. Thanks to Wes Holden, director of constituent services for Senator Jay Rockefeller, and Pat Dickinson, director of public relations at West Virginia State University, for their help with this article. Journalist James Rada Jr. of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, has received many awards for his writing. His articles have appeared in Wonderful West Virginia, History Magazine, Maryland Life, Catoctin History, and other publications. He is also the author of four historical novels. West Virginia Tuskegee Airmen(Pilots and support staff from West Virginia or who attended West Virginia State College) William R. Alston (Huntington)Wilson AlstonJohn CarterLemuel CustisL. D. DavisCharles DeBow James Dillard Jr. (East Beckley)Wilson V. EaglesonJerome EdwardsMarshall FieldsHoward C. Gamble (Charleston)George E. Gray (Hemphill)Lloyd HathcockWilliam L. Hill (Huntington)Langdon E. Johnson (Rand)Ralph JohnsonHubert L. Jones (Institute)George H. Kydd III (Charleston)Thomas H. Mayfield (East Shinnston)Charles MinorBenjamin Perkins (Charleston)Mexion O. Prewitt (East Beckley)George S. Roberts (Fairmont)Robert L. Robinson (Wilcoe)Mac RossEarl B. RudisillHector StrongFloyd A. Thompson (London)Edward W. Watkins (Freeman)Johnson C. WellsJohn L. Whitehead Tuskegee Airmen Stats 15,533 Sorties1,578 Missions992 Pilots graduated from Tuskegee450 Pilots sent overseas66 Killed in Action32 Prisoners of War