VIENNA Tuskegee Airmen speak at breakfast

A national organization carries on the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
VIENNA -- Thomas Austin had no idea when he hitchhiked across Ohio as a young man more than 60 years ago that he was about to become part of history.
Austin was just looking for a job and three square meals a day but wound up being part of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black men honored for their military accomplishments and recognized for speeding the integration of the American military.
Austin and three other Tuskegee Airmen, all of whom are from the Cleveland area, spoke Monday at a breakfast sponsored by the Trumbull County Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Team. The breakfast at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna was part of a daylong series of events sponsored by the group.
Other Airmen told stories similar to those of Austin, who hitchhiked from Xenia, Ohio, to Dayton with a friend after hearing that a new military unit was being formed.
'You're in the Army now'
Austin said that after passing the physicals, he didn't really understand what was happening and was shocked at the end of the day. He took an oath and then was told, "You're in the Army now."
He is honored today for becoming a support member of the Tuskegee Airmen.
He was trained as an aircraft mechanic and eventually became a staff sergeant attached to the 99th Fighter Squadron and served from 1941 to 1945. Though the Army Air Corps pilots became the most famous of the Airmen, it took about a dozen others to support each pilot, Austin said.
The Airmen got their name from a training program created for black pilots at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama during World War II. Blacks pressured the Pentagon into forming the program by filing lawsuits that said they were unfairly refused military pilot training.
Materials from the Airmen organization say many high-ranking officials thought the program would fail because they thought blacks didn't have the mental and physical ability to be pilots. Soon, however, the pilots proved so successful and were in such demand for missions that they painted "By Request" on the sides of airplanes.
Achievements
The Tuskegee Institute graduated 926 fighter and bomber pilots, including two who would become four-star generals, Daniel James and Benjamin Davis Jr.
The Airmen never lost a bomber that they escorted on a mission, but 66 Airmen were killed in combat and 33 became prisoners of war.
In 1948, President Truman signed an order that began the gradual desegregation of the military.
Also speaking Monday were Roy Richardson, a former corporal who worked in maintenance and other ground tasks; Arthur Saunders, a former first lieutenant who was a flight engineer; and James Travis Sr., a former sergeant who was an engineer, gunner and crew chief.
Richard Enty, a private pilot and planner for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transportation Authority, helped arrange the speaking engagement. He said he wants others to be as inspired as he is by the Airmen's story.
He said he was so motivated when learning of the Airmen that he joined the Cleveland-based North Coast Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen and now is chapter president.
Tuskegee Airmen Inc. has nearly 50 chapters across the country that are dedicated to encouraging young people to explore careers in aviation and also to tell the story of the Airmen.
"The struggles are not something we dwell on," Enty said. "We dwell on the opportunities there are today. Our big goal is to inspire young people to look at the variety of occupations available in the aerospace field."
shilling@vindy.com