Editor,
Each year, the month of February is dedicated to Black History Month, and we are reminded of the contributions many African-Americans have made to the betterment of our country. Many Americans are familiar with the story of the Tuskegee Airmen — young volunteers who were trained as fighter pilots, mechanics and armorers in the early days of World War II at an Army Air Corps field in Tuskegee, Alabama.
The Tuskegee Airmens’ story has been told in a number of films and documentaries, one of which is the 2012 movie “Red Tails.” In one of the movie’s brief but most telling scenes, one of the pilots assigned to the 302nd Fighter Squadron — one of the four all-black squadrons which made up the 332nd Fighter Group which helped to drive the Luftwaffe from the skies over Europe — had his crew chief letter “Your Driver Is Maurice” on the nose of his state-of-the-art P51C Mustang fighter.
These simple inscriptions speaks volumes about this man and his brethren and their pride, perseverance, wit and wisdom as well as the stifling culture at home which the Tuskegee Airmen rose above to stand tall among our country’s most noble patriots.
Michael Traynor
Burlingame
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