Ordie
02-26-2008, 04:16 AM
My work hosted its annual African American History Month lunch and program. Normally it was an excuse to get out of the office chat with co-workers, and eat some great soul food on the company's dime.
As I entered the lunch room, I immediately saw some great aviation displays of P-51 Redtailed mustangs and an old man in a flight suit standing next to them. After checking the displays I began to chat with the fellow and I come to find out he was one of the original Tuskeegee Airman, Captain Woodie Spears.
Anyway we had a nice chat and told me how he flew 51 missions and was hit by flak over Berlin and bailed out over Poland joined up with the Soviets shortly thereafter. He was also near my grandfathers hometown in Southern Italy during the war and he might have flown over the town several times.
He's now involved in organizing basic summer flight orientation for at-risk youth from Oakland. The Tuskeegee Airmen provides 20 hours of ground school and flight instruction for kids who otherwise get might into trouble in the streets during the summer.
I asked him what was the biggest change in his lifetime. He said during training in Tuskeegee, even black commissioned officers were barred from walking within the University of Alabama campus nearby. Back then everybody thought you were crazy if a black man could become president one day. Today he's amazed at what progress is done, but fears that we're losing our youth.
Anyway he's going to come back in a few weeks and chat with us some more. Overall, I'm privilaged to meet have met Capt. Spears.
Here's an article
http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/uploads/NowEmbraced.pdf
Here's the flight program
http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/uploads/youthprograms.pdf
As I entered the lunch room, I immediately saw some great aviation displays of P-51 Redtailed mustangs and an old man in a flight suit standing next to them. After checking the displays I began to chat with the fellow and I come to find out he was one of the original Tuskeegee Airman, Captain Woodie Spears.
Anyway we had a nice chat and told me how he flew 51 missions and was hit by flak over Berlin and bailed out over Poland joined up with the Soviets shortly thereafter. He was also near my grandfathers hometown in Southern Italy during the war and he might have flown over the town several times.
He's now involved in organizing basic summer flight orientation for at-risk youth from Oakland. The Tuskeegee Airmen provides 20 hours of ground school and flight instruction for kids who otherwise get might into trouble in the streets during the summer.
I asked him what was the biggest change in his lifetime. He said during training in Tuskeegee, even black commissioned officers were barred from walking within the University of Alabama campus nearby. Back then everybody thought you were crazy if a black man could become president one day. Today he's amazed at what progress is done, but fears that we're losing our youth.
Anyway he's going to come back in a few weeks and chat with us some more. Overall, I'm privilaged to meet have met Capt. Spears.
Here's an article
http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/uploads/NowEmbraced.pdf
Here's the flight program
http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/uploads/youthprograms.pdf