Black History Month
the original 'Tuskeegee Airmen'. This unit began flying in North Africa in 1943 and later joined the 100th, 301st and 302nd fighter squadrons to form the 332nd Fighter Group. The 99th had a reputation for not losing bombers to enemy fighters when they were escorting a mission. As a Captain, Davis was the first Black officer to solo an aircraft in the Air Corps. Later, he was the first Black in the Air Force to reach Brigadier General. ( COL Davis' father, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr was the first Black General Officer in the Regular Army.)
Lieutenant John R. Fox served in the 92nd Infantry Division as a forward observer for the artillery. Rather than escape when he had the chance, he remained in his position and continued to call for fire. When the enemy was finally too close for him to escape; he called for fire on his own position. His actions delayed the enemy attack long enough for a counter attack to be organized.
I'll finish with Dorie Miller. Serving as a steward on board the battleship West Virginia, he manned a machine gun during the Pearl Harbor attack. He was officially credited with downing two enemy aircraft, though he had never fired a machine gun before. Many witnesses insisted he had shot down more than two. Dorie Miller was killed in action two years later when the carrier Liscombe Bay was torpedoed.
This article is already significantly longer than most that I write; and I've barely scratched the surface. Take a look at the following links. Heroes are out there, go find them.
http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/aa_mh.htm http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/ww1.htm http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/people.htm http://www.abest.com/~cklose/aawar.htm#C... http://www.webhosters.com/34thtxcav/inde...
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