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Show HILLTOP TIMES Hilltop 6 TIMES Feb. 20. 2014 4c 6.1t z oirerood and MUSK FESTIVAL RERIC1111 maim HISTORY C01111110110111T1011 DATE Wednesday, 26 February 2014 TIME: 11:00 13:00 LOCATIumi Hill AFB Chapel Annex - COST $5 Donation per Tasting Plate Delivery will be available on orders of 5 plates or more! Pre-order and pay through Monday, 24 February 2014 MEM 11111CRIC.1111cum OFRICI111 11111CRI01111 MUSK MUSTS POCi: SSgt Kurkowski, 586-7628, kauwela.kurkowski@us.af.mil MSgt Thomas, 777-9338, Iakisha.thomas.1 i`cmus.af.mil SSgt Nixon, 586-2280, gerald.nixon@us.af.mil Turn From page 3 become a bustling training base. They would take an experiment by senior Army leadership to see if blacks were "teachable" to fly airplanes and turn it into the ultimate experience for African-Americans to do something that until then was strictly off limits. Eventually, Moton Field, named for the former Iliskegee Institute president Robert Moton, would consist of two aircraft hangars, wooden offices, storage buildings, a locker building, clubhouse, vehicle maintenance area, and a control tower. However, in the first few years of the war, riggers hung parachutes from the hangar trusses to dry because the field's tower wasn't built until 1943. Cadets first completed their primary flight training there before they advanced to basic and advanced training at Iliskegee Army Air Field. Some Army leaders considered training in Iliskegee during World War II "an experiment." But African American pilots saw it as an opportunity, with one surviving Iiiskegee Airman calling it the "Iliskegee Experience." Surviving Iliskegee Airmen say the standard was higher for them than it was for white pilots, and that the training was "an experiment designed to fail," with many qualified African American pilots washing out during basic and advanced training. Of the 3,000 who trained to fly at Iliskegee, only 1,000 graduated. About 650 were single-engine pilots, with the remainder qualified as bomber pilots who never saw combat. Cadets faced racism and segregation at Iliskegee and other training bases such as Selfridge Field, Mich., and Walterboro Army Air Field, S.C. "We just loved the airplane, but we knew segregation at that time was the rule of the world," said Dr. Roscoe C. Brown Jr., a Iliskegee Airmen who graduated on March 12, 1944, and later became commander of the 100th Fighter Squadron and one of three Iliskegee Airmen who shot down German Me-262 jets from the P-51 Mustang. "People who never grew up during segregation can't realize how rigid it was," said Brown. "You could go as high as you could in the black community, but you couldn't go nearly as high in the white community. Opportunities were denied to you, and you had no recourse. That was why the NAACP and the civil rights movement got started back in the 1920s and '30s. That was the struggle the people of my generation went through." But, according to Brown, "excellence is the antidote to prejudice." Only six of those original 13 cadets survived all four phases of training to earn their wings on March 7, 1942. That initial class included Capt. Benjamin 0. Davis Jr, who would go on to become the Air Force's first African American general. Because construction on Moton Field was delayed by rain, the class started training at Kennedy Field, where chief flight instructor Charles A. ("Chief") Anderson took first lady Eleanor Roosevelt on her heavily publicized flight on March 29, 1941. According to historical documents, if many military leaders had their way, the effort to train African American pilots for combat would have been a failed experiment. As late as 1925, an Army War College study referred to African-Americans as "mentally inferior subspecies of the human race," with "smaller brains that weighed 10 ounces less than whites." Much of the leadership believed blacks lacked the intelligence, leadership or coordination to be pilots, much less fighter pilots. "Experiments within the Army in the solution of social problems are fraught with danger to efficiency, discipline, or morale," wore Gen. George C. Marshall, Army chief of staff, in a letter in 1941. Just a year earlier, he had also written that the military wasn't the proper place to change the segregation policy prevalent in American society. Fortunately, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was concerned about the black vote in the 1940 presidential election, and announced after the Civil Pilotrfraining Act passed in 1939 that African Americans would be trained as military pilots in the Army Air Corps. The Iliskegee Institute was already training African American civilian pilots, and in 1939, the Civil Aeronautics Administration approved the school as a civilian pilot training institution. The Army Air Forces allowed the 99th Fighter Squadron to become the first African American flying unit to deploy to North Africa in the spring of 1943.11iskegee pilots were initially limited to flying patrols along the coast and on shipping targets, but would go on to become one of the most successful escort groups within the Army Air Corps. But by the end of the war, Iliskegee Airmen in the 99th Fighter Squadron, part of the 332nd Fighter Group, had flown about 1,500 missions, destroyed 260 enemy planes, and were instrumental in the destruction of many enemy targets. Not too long ago, many Americans were unaware of the role African Americans and their training in Iliskegee played during World War II. Most of the Iliskegee Airmen, like intelligence officer 2nd Lt. Ted Lumpkin, kept their experiences to themselves. "There was no real recognition that we had been overseas, other than our immediate family and friends," Lumpkin said. "It eventually got to the point where most of us just did not talk about the experience at all, because no one really believed you, and it became a secret." Dr. Daniel C. Haulman is the organizational histo- ries branch chief at the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxell Air Force Base, Ala and co-authored the book "The Iliskegee Airmen: An Illustrated History: 1939 - 1949." He explained that for about two decades after the war, important documents, histories and mission reports on the Iliskegee Airmen remained classified. But beginning in the late 19505, several important steps led to the Iliskegee Airmen finally being recognized for their service, struggles and accomplishments. "It was not until the documents were de-classified and people could read them that the Itiskegee Airmen slowly came to the attention of the public," said Haulman, "The first step was the one that gave them their name, Charles Francis' book, 'The Illskegee Airmen,' first came out in 1955. The second step was the formation of Iliskegee Airmen Inc., which formed to publicize what they accomplished during World War II. The third step was the HBO movie (also called 'The Iliskegee Airmen') in the 1990s that helped increase the publicity the Iliskegee Airmen got." The Itiskegee-trained pilots went on to earn their place in U.S. military history, but some historians are skeptical of the role they played in President Harry S. limman's decision to desegregate the military on Feb. 2, 1948. Haulman has a much different view "Not everyone agrees with me, but I believe they did have an influence on 11uman's decision," Haulman said. "The Air Force was already moving toward desegregation even before Tillman issued Executive Order 99801. The first secretary of the Air Force, Stuart Symington, was well aware of the luskegee Airmen record, and he was long an advocate of desegregation of the Air Force. "There are those who believe Symington helped Tillman draft the executive order because the Air Force was already moving toward desegregation. (Col.) Noel Parrish wrote a thesis advocating the desegregation of the Air Force right around the time the Air Force was born. I think Parrish influenced Symington, and Symington influenced Ti-uman." Lumpkin, now 94, sometimes uses his lessons from overcoming prejudice to serve his country during World War II to help prepare young people for their "own Iliskegee experi- ence." "I think one of the things the Itiskegee experience can do for youngsters is to help them to realize that, because the Itiskegee Airmen were able to do their best on a day-to-day basis, these kinds of actions accumulate," Lumpkin said. "And as they do, they build a strength which connects with other people and also strengthens the person going through this experience. "Tuskegee was a challenge for the Itiskegee Airmen. I think this is important for youngsters to know that they are going to have their own luskegee experiences because those things come up in life. But if they do their best, each and every day, the accumulation of that effort will show itself in a positive way in their lives and help them to be better citizens and be more comfortable in their life activity." • STANDARD EXAMINER HOME GARDEN THE GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER Uedia9' FEB 28-MAR 2 for more information go to events. standard.net , scan the QR code or call 801-625-4400 S CELEBRITY GUEST MIKE BAIRD' Creator of Spike TV's Flip Men I Hofmann Arthritis Institute Surgeons Now Seeing Patients in Layton w. 7??.ttlq.yam ,T-44:117:44:-? New joint replacement technology helps you do the things you enjoy. Join Us for Our Grand Opening Thursday, February 27 • 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. 1. 492 W. Antelope Dr., Suite 110, Layton, UT 84041 On the campus of Davis Hospital and Medical Center Join Hofmann Arthritis Institute as we celebrate the grand opening of our new Layton location. • Meet the physicians and medical staff • Complimentary lunch and refreshments • Free hat pin for military veterans and personnel • MAKO® surgeon-assisted robot demonstration for partial knee replacement For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call 801-355-6468 or visit HofmannArthritislnstitute.com Hofmann Arthritis Institute Precision Joint Replacement The Centel for Precision Joint Replacement Salt Lake Regional MEDICAL CENTER In Partnership With Physician Owners |