Passed Away Early Sunday In Seattle, WA

Another of the original Tuskegee Airmen has passed away. Former Capt. George Hickman, who was among the first of the ground crews of the segregated unit, died Sunday in Seattle, WA, at the age of 88.

Hickman was among those who traveled to Washington, D.C. to receive the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007, and in 2009, he was an invited guest at President Barack Obama's inauguration.

According to an Army profile posted on the Internet in 2010, Hickman served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1943 until 1945. He was a part of the graduating class of 1944 at the Tuskegee Airfield.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Hickman was eliminated from pilot training in 1943, and while a cadet captain was barred from flying after calling out white superior officers for mistreatment of a fellow black cadet. He went on to graduate from the program as a crewman.

Following his service, he moved to Seattle in 1955, where he worked for Boeing as an engineering training instructor and aerospace executive until his retirement in 1984.

In 1955, he met and married Doris Baptist Crawford in Amarillo, Texas. They were married for 57 years and have four children, five grandchildren and two great grandsons.

FMI: www.tuskegeeairmen.org