Tuskegee Airkids

Hudson Valley Magazine
1,500 words

  Survivors among the original Tuskegee Airmen, the black fighter pilots who defied American racism and helped defeat Hitler's Germany - becoming heroes of World War II - are now giving wings to the dreams of young people in the Hudson Valley, and helping them to fly.

  A number of the most celebrated of the original Tuskegee Airmen who live in this region - veterans in their late 70's and early 80's - have lent a hand to a program that enables minority and less affluent youngsters in the Hudson Valley become airplane pilots.

  These legendary airmen include air ace Lt. Col. Lee A. Archer, Jr. , Lt. Colonel Spann Watson, and Lt. Col. Clayton Lawrence - all of whom were trained at Moton Field, Tuskegee, Alabama, a segregated pilot training facility that was founded in 1941.

  The U.S. military authorities at that time suspected that blacks could not actually qualify as pilots. They were wrong: the Tuskegee Airmen got their wings and were sent into combat in North Africa and Italy, flying bomber escort and ground attack on 15, 533 sorties. They downed 251 enemy planes, won more than 850 medals, and never lost a bomber aircraft under escort.

  However, throughout the war and after their return as heroes, they were still segregated. "We often felt our main enemy was not Hitler," says Lt. Col. Archer. "It was American racism." Eventually, however, the success of the Tuskegee Airmen paved the way for the eventual integration of the armed forces in 1948.

  Inspired by the Tuskegee Airmen's indomitability, and determined to keep their legacy in the public mind, an organization called the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. was founded in 1972. It has 49 chapters around the U.S., one of the newest at Stewart Airport, Newburgh, where members have taken on a special mission: to take less privileged youngsters with dreams of flying and show them that, with perserverence and ambition, they too can soar.

  Every Tuesday afternoon, in a small room on the outskirts of Stewart Airport, volunteers from up and down the Hudson Valley - commercial pilots, corporate pilots, air force pilots and pilots from the National Guard - have been instructing the kids in the program. And quite often, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen comes along too.

  Called the Red Tail Youth Flying program, it is named for Air Ace Lee "Buddy" Archer, one of the most highly decorated of the original Tuskegee Fighter Pilots. The Tuskegee Airmen painted the tails of their P-51 Mustang fighter planes red, earning them the moniker "Red Tail Angels". (Lt. Col. Archer's original Red Tail P-51 has been replicated and is now part of the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport, Long Island.)

  Lt. Col. Archer, 81, lives in retirement in New Rochelle, New York, after a distinguished career in the military, foreign service and business. He still travels all over the world. However, his passion is to inspire young people with the story of the Tuskegee Airmen's triumph over prejudice and hardship, and to exhort them to "set goals, overcome obstacles and succeed."

  In February he was among six Tuskegee Airmen from The Hudson Valley and Long Island reunited at a dinner dance in New Windsor to help raise money for the local chapter's college scholarship program. This annual gala dinner has become a highlight of the social calendar in Newburgh, drawing as many as 600 people.

  President of the local chapter (which is named after retired Major General Irene Trowell-Harris, USAF, ) is Major Glen Fraser, a dashing 40-year-old Continental Airlines pilot and member of the New York Air National Guard. Fraser, who lives in LaGrange, Dutchess County, has been flying for 18 years.

  As a child, said Fraser, he never knew about the Tuskegee heroes. "I want to make sure youngsters today know all about them, and take their example as motivation for excellence." With fellow Tuskegee Inc, members he started raising money for college scholarships for needy kids. To date more than 20 youngsters have been beneficiaries.

  But Major Fraser was especially concerned about the low percentage of minorities - specially African Americans - in commercial aviation. The numbers - estimated at less than 1% - have dropped further since the "last hired, first fired" furloughs in the airline industry after September 11. His worries were shared by fellow member of Tuskegee Inc., Ray-Sean Silvera of White Plains, a pilot for Continental Airlines (now transferred to Houston, Texas). The two airmen decided to go further than the scholarships and inspiration they were giving youngsters: they drew up an ambitious plan to give flying instruction as well.

  "The response was beyond our dreams," says First Officer Silvera. Corporations and individuals promised support and within six months they had the use of a training aircraft, the loan of a hanger, financial contributions and a flock of airmen and women who had volunteered to serve as instructors.

  The next part was harder: selecting the students from the huge pool of applicants. The mentoring organization Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Orange County helped identify suitable candidates - hardworking youngsters aged 12 - 18, with good grades and an interest in aviation.

  "We turned down some brilliant kids, outstanding students, because we knew they could succeed without us," said Fraser. "Our focus is kids who need a hand, a sense they can become something, and who don't have the financial resources. It costs $6,000 to qualify as a private pilot."

  Race was not a consideration, said Fraser. "One of the lessons of the Tuskegee experience is that race has no place in selection criteria. But we also teach the other Tuskegee lesson: no matter what obstacles you face - racism, poverty, or problems at home - you can overcome them if you are determined."

  The 15 who were finally chosen from all over the Mid-Hudson region were an ethnic rainbow. The eight boys and seven girls had good grades and hoped for careers in aviation - on the ground, in the air, on aircraft carriers, as engineers or controlling air traffic.

  Tuskegee veteran Lt. Col. Spann Watson, 84, of Westbury, New York, was a hero of the air war with the German Luftwaffe over the Mediterranean and campaigns over North Africa and Italy, helped to launch the Red Tail program. He told the students how the Tuskegee Airmen were patriots who fought overseas for democracy, but had to fight for their civil rights at home. He urged the youngsters to be courageous in the face of discouragement. And Tuskegee veteran Lt. Col. Clayton F. Lawrence of Springfield, New York, who is President of the New York chapter of Tuskegee Inc., has been a n advisor and consultant on the Red Tail training program.

  Once a week thoughout the school year the young trainees took classes in a room donated by the BOCES Transportation Learning Center in a bleak building on the outskirts of Steward Airport. But there was nothing bleak about the classes. The kids would trickle in with their flying instruction manuals, take their seats, and then quickly become engaged by lively lessons from instructors, some of whom had been mobilized and were volunteering between stints in the Middle East or Europe.

  Core instructors like Dave Farley, a pilot at Teterboro Airport, and Jim Nolan, a corporate pilot for Citigroup, would explain such aviation concepts as "weight lift ratio" and the difference between "parasitic and induced drag". Cathy Ann McMorris, manager of air traffic control at Stewart, gave harrowing accounts of poor piloting, including unannounced landings and deviations from flight instructions.

  The youngsters came from all over the region. Calvin Perez traveled from Warwick and Eric Hillard from Fishkill. It took Kim Alonzo two and a half hours to get there from Sparrowbush. Indeed, just getting to flying class posed problems. For others, especially high school seniors, the workload clashed with scholastic commitments. Some faced difficulties in their home lives. But by the last day of class only one candidate had left and three of the students - all girls - had finished the school year with 15 hours of flying time.

  All three, Rossmary Gil and Ashley Wimes of Newburgh and Kim Alonzo, are off to college. Kim plans a career in aviation. Rossmary wants to be a doctor - "maybe a flying doctor!" Ashley will study business and hopes to make money to complete her pilot's license - even buy her own plane." I just loved flying," she said. "This was such a wonderful opportunity."

  With six seniors now graduated from high school, the remaining eight students will return to the flying program when school starts in the fall. Among them is Matthew Pickett, 16, of Middletown. "I always wanted to do something related to aviation, but in my whole life I never imagined I could learn to fly."

  Glen Fraser points out that the training is hard work. "But these kids didn't let the difficulties deter them." It was such a success, in fact, that the program is expanding to 20 students this fall - and youngsters with high flying dreams are invited to apply.*

  Lt. Col. Archer tells the kids in the program how defiant he was as a Tuskegee Airman. "We used to say that no one can tell us what we can't do." Whether it applies to flying or reaching other goals, it's the message Major Glen Fraser and the Red Tail program instructors wanted to pass on. And their Tuskegee Airkids got it.

(*Phone:(845) 838-7848, e-mail tai_ny@hotmail.com, website www.tai_ny.org)