Original Tuskegee Airman dies, services set in Texas and N.J.

DALLAS — Original Tuskegee airman and fighter pilot, Lt. Calvin Spann, died Sunday. He was 90 years old.

Spann was an original Tuskegee Airman and fighter pilot with the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group. Spann received his wings from the Tuskegee Flight School as a part of the graduating class of 44G, an elite squadron of African-American pilots.

As a member of the Army Air Corps, he served in Europe during World War II, where he flew 26 combat missions, including a 1,600-mile round trip mission on March 24, 1945 from Ramitelli, Italy to Berlin, Germany to destroy the Daimler-Benz manufacturing plant, according to the Dallas Love Field Frontiers of Flight Museum.

Two public memorial services have been planned. A service in Texas will be Saturday at Covenant Church, 2660 E. Trinity Mills Road, Carrollton, Texas. The funeral service will begin at 10:30 a.m.

After the service in Texas, American Airlines will fly Spann's remains and his immediate family to New Jersey, where a final memorial service will be in his hometown of Rutherford, N.J.