1. History of the Tuskegee Airmen By: Connor Kelly
“BLACK EAGLES”
History of the Tuskegee Airmen
By: Connor Kelly

2. Quick Overview
They were an African-American flight crew known as the Tuskegee Airmen. They played a key role escorting bombers and protecting them from enemy fighter planes.

3. Significance to the War
During WWII, American fighter squadrons were segregated. The Tuskegee Airmen preformed so well in WWII that they helped lead the slow but sure desegregation of the U.S. Military.

4. In the Beginning
Around the start of WWII, the U.S. Army Corps refused to accept any African-American recruits. Finally, under legal and political pressure from Washington, the air corps agreed to organize several segregated squadrons.

5. The 99th
The most famous of these was the Ninety-Ninth fighter squadron, which trained at a segregated facility in Tuskegee, Alabama. From , some 1,000 Black pilots were trained at Tuskegee. The 1,000 black pilots trained there became known as the Tuskegee Airmen and were also known as the “Black Eagles”.

6. Their Missions
In April 1943 the Ninety-ninth Fighter Squadron was deployed to North Africa under the command of Lt. Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., (a West Point graduate who would go on to become the first black major general in the U.S. Army.) The Black Eagles became the first group of black pilots in combat and racked up a distinguished record in fighting the air war over Italy.

7. Their Success
In more than 1,500 missions over enemy territory in Europe, the Tuskegee Airmen did not lose a single bomber. All told, by war’s end the Tuskegee pilots were credited with shooting down 111 German planes.

8. Quiz… The Tuskegee Airmen are also known as what?
Who was their commander?
How many bombers did the Tuskegee Airmen lose?
How many German planes were they credited with destroying?

9. Works Cited Page
Isserman, Maurice. World War II , New York: Facts on File Inc., Print.
Lapansky-Warner, Emma, and Roberts, Randy, and Levy, Peter, and Taylor, Alan. United States History. Boston, Massachusetts: Print.
Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL Tuskegee University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033, (404) ) to award baccalaureate, master's, professional and doctoral degrees.