Tuskegee Airmen

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Tuskegee Airmen
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World War II (1939-1945)

• German armies swept across Europe
• December 7, 1941 Japanese Navy bombs U.S. Naval
  Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
• U.S. enters the war after bombing

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Call to action

• President Roosevelt called on Americans to help
  win the war
• African-Americans rose to the challenge and many
  joined the military to fight
• Military was segregated. They were not allowed to
  fight alongside white soldiers.

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U.S. Army air corps

• Branch of the military that recruited and trained
  pilots for combat
• Later renamed U.S. Air Force
• Did not allow African Americans to join until
  1941 when the 99th Pursuit Squadron of fighter
  pilots was created.
• All members were African-Americans
• Trained at an airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama
• Group became known as the Tuskegee Airmen

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• Your future, good or bad, will depend largely on
  how determined you are not to give satisfaction
  to those who would like to see you fail.
• -- Captain Noel Parrish addressing the Tuskegee
  pilots before their deployment

• Captain Parrish worked hard to convince top
  military leaders that his pilots were ready,
  willing, and able to fight
• April 1943, first 400 members of the 99th Fighter
  Squadron sent to war in North Africa and Europe

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Videos
http//player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?gui
dAssetId9AC56939-72CB-412A-9218-3064DBC0ED0AblnF
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http//www.youtube.com/watch?v-lRx-wMCJFE
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