An article of interest

[John Beaman]

At the risk of starting a flame war which I hope the usually “professional” and mature members of this forum will avoid, I will post this link to a newspaper article that appeared yesterday, regarding the famous claim of the 332nd Fighter Group, the “Tuskegee Airmen”.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612100313

I do not know if many non-USA members on this site know of their claim: they never lost a USAAF bomber they were escorting. Of course, it is impossible to prove you did not lose one. This article documents attempts to do some serious research about the claim.

Many people, but especially other WWII fighter pilot veterans, are very resentful of this claim. A US Congressman, Charles Wrangle of New York, even sponsored a bill through Congress to strike and award a special gold medal to the pilots for this “accomplishment”. Unfortunately, in the current “PC” world of US politics there was no stopping it and it has been awarded. This makes other veterans even more angry, but if one says anything about this claim, one is branded as a “racist”.

Considering the segregationist climate they had to operate in at the time, the accomplishments of the Group were such that they did not need to make such a claim, but a few zealots have.

It is truly sad.