WWII Heroes Deserving Of Symbolic Gesture

The pilots and ground crew of the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black force that served with distinction in World War II, have been invited to attend the inaugural speech of President-elect Barack Obama on January 20 in Washington, DC.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat and chairwoman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies extended the invitation last Tuesday to the swearing-in ceremonies.

Committee staff director Howard Gantman said, "They served honorably on behalf of our country, helped fight the battle to overcome racial barriers and because of the historic nature of this election, we thought they deserved to be there."

When the Airmen received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007 in appreciation of their valor, Obama acknowledged his debt to them, saying, "My career in public service was made possible by the path heroes like the Tuskegee Airmen trail-blazed."

"I didn't believe I'd live long enough to see something like this," said retired Tuskegee fighter pilot Lt. Col. Charles A. Lane Jr., 83, of Omaha. "I would love to be there, I would love to be able to see it with my own eyes," he said.

Retired Tuskegee combat fighter pilot William M. Wheeler, 85, of Hempstead, NY said, "The election of Barack Obama was like a culmination of a struggle that we were going through, wanting to be pilots." Wheeler wanted to become a commercial pilot after the war, but was offered a job cleaning planes instead, the New York Times reported.

According to Tuskegee Airmen Inc., about 119 pilots and 211 ground crew are still alive. Because the men are in their 80s and 90s, it is uncertain how many will make the trip to Washington.

Robert D. Rose, first vice president of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc., said he saw a direct connection between the Tuskegee experience and Mr. Obama's election.

"The Tuskegee Airmen preceded Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, and if they hadn't helped generate a climate of tolerance by integration of the military, we might not have progressed through the civil rights era," Rose said. "We would have seen a different civil rights movement, if we would have seen one at all."

FMI: www.tuskegeeairmen.org