Support Crewman Kept Electronic Equipment Operational

Another of the famed Tuskegee Airmen has gone west. Earl Rudisill passed away last Thursday in Columbus, OH, at the age of 97.

According to a notice in the Huntington, WV Herald-Dispatch, Rudisill, a native of Huntington, had enlisted in the Army Signal Corps in 1942. He received additional training on the then-new transmitters and receivers being installed in aircraft, and joined the Tuskegee Airmen in Alabama, where he was an electronics technician keeping the equipment operational.

Rudisill was deployed in North Africa as well as several postings in Europe. He said in a 2009 interview with the paper that the electronics he was maintaining were new, and there were not a lot of people qualified to work on them. He said he was eventually given more people to train, which "greatly helped in keeping the aircraft ready to fly."

Rudisill was among those Tuskegee Airmen to receive the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.

Funeral arrangements have not been finalized, according to the report.

FMI: www.tuskegeeairmen.org