Tuskegee Doubts

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2006/12/Tuskegee_Airmen.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:990;s:6:"height";i:768;s:4:"file";s:27:"2006/12/Tuskegee_Airmen.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:12:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-336x261.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:261;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-771x598.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:598;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-768x596.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:596;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:25:"Tuskegee_Airmen-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-800x450.jpg";s:5:"width";i:800;s:6:"height";i:450;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-401x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:401;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-342x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:342;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"Tuskegee_Airmen-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:0;s:14:"optimized_size";i:0;s:7:"percent";i:0;}s:5:"sizes";a:1:{s:4:"full";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => already_optimized
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

)
1655404392 
1165968000

 

It happened more than 60 years ago, but Tuskegee Airman Captain Richard Macon remembers it clearly. He was flying his P-51 fighter plane, escorting bombers over a German radar station.

“They had a wall of fire – a wall of fire of that many bullets at one time. If you fly through there you get the same thing that a child gets trying to run through a stream of water. My plane was hit and the right wing was shot off.”

Macon’s plane went down, he was captured and spent nine months and seven days as a prisoner of war. But, Macon says, he never – never he says – lost a bomber to enemy fire and neither did his fellow Tuskegee airmen.

“I am positive that we did not see a bomber that we were escorting get shot down by a fighter than belonged to the germans.”

But William Holton, the historian of Tuskegee Airmen Inc., says Air Force records show that enemy planes did shoot down at least a few bombers escorted by the red-tailed fighters of the Tuskegee Airmen. His story is backed up Daniel Haulman of the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery. They cite one mission report that on July 26, 1944 “1 B-24 seen spiraling out of formation in T/A (target area) after attack by E/A (enemy aircraft). No chutes seen to open.” Another report on September 12, 1944 also suggests a bomber, under Tuskegee Airmen escort, went down.

But with up to 1,500 flying in the skies, Captain Macon says it would have been nearly impossible for someone on the ground the correctly identify whether a bomber that went down was one of the 50 or so his crew was protecting.

At the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, executive director Jim Griffin has spent countless hours working with airmen, including Captain Macon, to create what will be one of the most elaborate Tuskegee Airmen exhibits in the country. Accuracy is a priority, even down to the smallest detail.

The Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base is also collaborating on the project, and Griffin says he’s got a lot of faith in the research coming out of that operation. And that means he can’t discount the conclusion that the Tuskegee airmen may have lost bombers to enemy fire. Still, even if Tuskegee airmen lost a couple of bombers Griffin says it doesn’t diminish their accomplishment.

“These were valiant historic men who stood up for our country during the second world war at a time when we needed good pilots, we needed competent pilots and they proved to the world that they were equal to the very best pilots in the world.”

Of the original nearly 1,000 Tuskegee pilots, only about 200 are alive today and they are in their mid to late 80s.

 

 

Purdue Pharma, Sacklers reach new $7.4 billion opioid settlement

A new $7.4 billion opioid settlement for Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family has been approved by all U.S. states and territories

Top House Democrat asks Microsoft about DOGE code allegedly tied to NLRB data removal

A top House Democrat is asking Microsoft for information about a DOGE staffer's GitHub account connected to whistleblower allegations of sensitive data leaving the National Labor Relations Board.

The suspect in the shooting of 2 Minnesota lawmakers has been captured and charged

Vance Boelter was captured in a wooded area on Sunday night, and charged in the shootings of two state lawmakers and their spouses. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.

This mother relies on SNAP to help feed her kids. Now, she’s bracing for cuts

Millions of people who use the food assistance program SNAP are facing changes: on what food they can buy, how much money they'll receive or even if they'll still qualify for the program.

Britain’s MI6 spy agency names first female chief

It's a case of real life catching up with James Bond fiction: Britain's MI6 spy agency named its first-ever female chief. She used to be Q. Now she'll be C.

Israel hits more Iranian military targets, Iran retaliates on fourth day of conflict

Trump said Sunday he remained optimistic about Israel and Iran reaching a deal, but added "sometimes they have to fight it out."

More Government Coverage