BHS Day 26: Tuskegee Airmen

Hi! I originally intended to feature someone in science and technology today, but this military school and the Black heroes it birthed was something I really wanted to get to this year. Growing up, I heard about the Tuskegee Airmen but I only heard that they were Black airmen, which was unheard of during their heyday. We never got to learn anything in-depth about them and admittedly I didn't take the initiative to learn on my own until I started this series. I wanted to change that today, which is why the Airmen program is today's entrant. 

Name: Tuskegee Airmen Date of establishment and founders: 1940 by the US Army Corps Purpose of organization: To train qualified African-Americans for aviation positions in the military Why is the Spotlight on it today? For making the first big step to break down the racial barriers in the military and openly displaying the skill of Black military aviators Notables and accomplishments:
--Started through qualification tests created for use in Psychological Research Unit 1, which were used for all aspiring soldiers, but these tests were further narrowed down by the War Department to only let the best and most skilled African-Americans through --Were a very decorated group of airmen, receiving a Distinguished Gold Medal, multiple Distinguished Unit Citations, Distinguished Flying Crosses, Purple Hearts and over 700 Air Medals throughout their tenure --Lost at least 27 bombers to enemy air attacks while the average for other aircrafts during WWII was nearly 50 --Included a total of nearly 1000 pilots --Trained at the only Army training base to provide three different phases of training for its cadets --Fought past the initial limitations of having White commanders over their all-Black unit and eventually were able to get Black commanders over the unit --Were given a financial boost by then-First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in her position as a trustee as she donated funds to have their primary field constructed --Are the honorees of a now annual convention called the Tuskegee Airmen Convention, where their legacy and accomplishments are celebrated  --Were the reason behind the Freeman Field Mutiny, which was a series of racially discriminatory incidents wherein Airmen weren't allowed to enter an all-white officers' club and were falsely arrested and court-martialed --Were able to become one of the best performing and most popular air units despite intense racism from White soldiers and racist civilians --Were successful in their first air attack, which resulted in the surrender of over 11,000 and made history for being the first surrender by air attack --Were the subjects of the movie Red Tails --Were able to parlay their success as airmen into becoming instructors, speaking at institutions, and moving on to achieve greater heights in the military as it finally became desegregated Research resources and further reading links: Lest We Forget | Wikipedia | Tuskegee Airmen Inc. | BlackPast | Tuskegee Q&A Quote of the Day (for irony's sake):
"Negro pilots cannot be used in our present Air Corps units as this would result in Negro officers serving over White enlisted men creating an impossible social situation." --General Henry Arnold