Flew 142 Combat Missions With The Storied Unit

Another of the last remaining original members of the Tuskegee Airmen has Gone West. Retired Lt. Col. Robert “Bob” Friend died Friday afternoon in Long Beach, CA. He was 99 years old.

Friend flew 142 combat missions as a pilot for the storied segregated unit. He served in the Air Force for 28 years, including tours during the Korean and Vietnam wars. He also worked on space launch systems such as the Titan, Atlas and Delta rocktes, and as the service's foreign technology program director. He was also the Director of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Program, tasked with investigating unidentified flying objects. After retiring from the Air Force, Friend formed his own aerospace company.

Friend was born on February 29, 1920 in South Carolina. According to redtail.org, Friend earned his private pilot certificate through the Civilian Pilot Training Program at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. After completing his military training, he was assigned to the 301st Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group and sent to North Africa and then to the European Theater as a Combat Operations Officer.

Friend was qualified to fly both the P-47 and P-51 aircraft. During the war, he flew a P-51D, and an example of the aircraft with his original "Bunny" nose art was restored to airworthy condition in 2015 by the Palm Springs Air Museum after being on static display for many years. That airplane flew again for the first time in February, 2015.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.redtail.org/portraits-tuskegee-airmen-robert-friend
Additional information from the Associated Press