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It Is Written

John Bradshaw

High Fliers

Coming up next, please stay tuned for It Is Written, presented by Pastor John Bradshaw.

It was a very different age, yet society was still colored by the attitudes of another era altogether.

Slavery had ended almost 80 years before.

The Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863.

But deeply ingrained attitudes often take some time to work out.

Change would come, but not without the hard work, the drive, the heroism of agents of change, men and women who would press and work and sacrifice and endure the hardships that pioneers are so frequently called upon to endure.

There are Bible stories about people who fought to change the status quo, and they only ever succeeded after going through the most trying circumstances.

At a time that Israel should have advanced, its feckless king, although handpicked by God, had all but abandoned hope.

Faced by a literal giant, Goliath of Gath, Israel lacked the courage to either engage or reverse.

Into that milieu stepped a teenager with a faith that was simple enough to believe that God was able.

Goliath was defeated, and a shepherd boy went on to become Israel's most illustrious king.

Confronted by seemingly impregnable defenses and fearsome enemies, when others had none, Joshua and Caleb had faith that God could and would.

And ultimately, 400 years of slavery and 40 years of wilderness wandering concluded with Israel taking the Promised Land.

Daniel's 3 friends would not join the crowd and refuse to bow before a golden image.

That courageous act of faith still inspires faith today.

There were many who stood up boldly on America's plain of Dura, while so many were bowing down before the golden image of bigotry.

Du Bois, and others make progress in the fight to throw off the shackles of racism.

And the long night of Jim Crow and intolerance began to slowly give way to the hope of a bright new day.

But those were early days, and prominent figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and others were still some way off.

Ever since the Civil War, Americans of all backgrounds have been afforded the privilege of fighting for their country.

However, African Americans had not been permitted to serve in what would become the United States Air Force.

Joined World War II in 1941, its official doctrine was that African Americans were incapable of flying aircraft.

A study conducted by the military concluded that blacks did not have the necessary intelligence, ability, coordination, or bravery to fly.

He's the lead park ranger at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.

There had been an effort for many years by black aviation groups in Chicago and in Los Angeles to get more opportunities for African-American pilots, especially within the military.

The prevailing views of the time was that African Americans did not have the ability to do this job.

President Roosevelt was running for a third term.

He needed African American votes from the African Americans who had newly moved to the North during the Great Migration.

So he came out and he promised that if he got reelected, he would start training for African-American pilots within the military and open up other opportunities within the military for African-Americans as well.

He did get reelected and 1941, President Roosevelt announced the start of the Tuskegee Airmen Program and that it was gonna be located here in Tuskegee.

How did the Tuskegee Airmen, as you see it, impact not only the military, but also society?

For 1 thing, I think because of the success of the Tuskegee Airmen In 1948, President Truman signed an executive order to start the desegregation of the military.

Also, many of the, not just Tuskegee Airmen, but World War II veterans overall, when they came back from what they had experienced after World War II, came back determined to fight for civil rights here at home.

During this whole period, during the 40s, there was something known as the Double V Campaign.

Yes, we'll fight for the country, but at the same time, in addition to fighting against fascism overseas, we're going to be fighting against racism and discrimination here at home.

And from that did grow the eventual civil rights movement.

Despite all that they suffered and all that they went through, they were still willing to fight for this country and to try to make things better for the generations to follow.

And you can see that in various ways, including some of what some of the Tuskegee Airmen were able to accomplish after the war.

Some of them became involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

Some of them stayed in the military and rose to high rank.

Some of them went into private industry or into education.

But no matter what they went into, they still had the discipline that they learned as Tuskegee Airmen that was able to cause them to be successful in later life.

The Tuskegee Airmen took their rigorous flight training here at Moton Field.

When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited this area in March of 1941, she went to Kennedy Field some miles south of here.

She asked to be taken to where the Tuskegee Airmen were staying, and there she met a man named Charles Anderson.

Now Anderson, before World War II, had bought himself a plane and taught himself how to take off and land.

He became the chief flight instructor here at Tuskegee.

Roosevelt remarked that she had always heard that a black man couldn't fly a plane, Anderson offered to take her up for a ride.

Much to everybody's surprise, she accepted.

And when they got back down on the ground, she turned to Aniston and she said, Well, you sure can fly.

The story of the First Lady and the Black Pilot gave the Tuskegee program some much needed go forward.

Roosevelt used her influence to raise the money needed to develop Moton Field.

That same month, the War Department created the 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first flying unit made up of black pilots.

The program was underway by June of 1941, and by the time the United States entered World War II, hundreds were in training.

But if those would-be pilots thought that they would be afforded the respect due to officers in the military, they were mistaken.

They weren't permitted to access the officers' club.

By the spring of 1942, Despite all the obstacles, the first Tuskegee Airmen completed training, becoming the nation's first African-American military pilots.

Before the war's end, almost 1, 000 African-American men were trained as pilots.

Of the pilots who graduated from Tuskegee during the war, almost 500 served overseas where they flew more than 15, 000 sorties and destroyed more than 200 enemy aircraft.

66 gave their lives, with another 32 being shot down and spending time in prisoner of war camps.

I had the good fortune of sitting down recently with 1 of the few remaining Tuskegee Airmen.

After graduating on September 8, 1945, Gerry Hodges was assigned to the 617th Bomb Squadron of the 477th Bomber Group.

Jesus said He came into the world to give us a more abundant life.

And you can have that by making simple changes that bring profound results.

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The Tuskegee Airmen were stationed in North Africa and Italy during their time in combat.

They were frequently used as escorts for bombers on bombing missions.

In fact, compared to other squadrons assigned to escort duty, the Tuskegee Airmen had 1 of the lowest loss records.

Because of their excellence, the Red Tails were frequently requested when escorts were needed.

I sat down with him recently and he shared some of his experience with me.

Tell me how you came to get involved in flying at a time where African Americans weren't flying.

Okay, I was a freshman in college at that time.

At this college, every young man that was drafted went to the Navy.

And in the Navy, my only job available was a cook, a steward, or something like that at that time.

My mother called me 1 day and she said, you know, they've opened a flying training program for us, for our boys down in Tuskegee.

And I thought about it and I said, you know that's a good idea.

The following week I made applications for cadet training from Hampton University.

I had to take physical examinations, mental tests.

I really didn't expect I'd pass all of them, but I did.

And from Then on, I was looking forward to the day that I was gonna take off all by myself.

The rate at which you had to learn was much more than you would expect in a civilian life.

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High Fliers

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