+----------------------------+------------------+---+-------------------+
| National Park Service      | Tuskegee Airmen  |   | 1616 Chappie      |
|                            |                  |   | James Avenue      |
| U.S. Department of the     | National         |   |                   |
| Interior                   | Historic Site    |   | Tuskegee, Al      |
|                            |                  |   | 36083             |
|                            | Use the complete |   |                   |
|                            | site name here   |   | 334-724-0922      |
|                            | (e.g. Palo Alto  |   | phone             |
|                            | Battlefield      |   |                   |
|                            | Historic Site).  |   | 334-727-0952 fax  |
+----------------------------+------------------+---+-------------------+

![](media/image1.png){width="0.5597222222222222in"
height="0.7201388888888889in"}

**Tuskegee Airmen NHS** News Release

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Use a "short-hand" version of the site name here (e.g. Palo Alto
  Battlefield not Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Site).

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

October 20, 2005

Christine Biggers 334-724-0922

### Aviation Comes Full-Circle at Tuskegee

### 

In 1943 due to segregationist policies, and the racial attitudes of
Americans in general, African-Americans could not receive military pilot
training at Maxwell Army Base in Montgomery, Alabama, alongside their
white counterparts. Not so today... Partially due to the courage and
persistence of the Tuskegee Airmen, in 1948 President Harry S. Truman
issued Executive Order 9981 officially ending segregation in the United
States Armed Forces. This led to a gradual "changing of the guard" in
the attitudes and views of the majority of Americans living today.
African-Americans are accepted as full and equal citizens entitled to
the rights and freedoms guaranteed to all men under the United States
Constitution, including that of military service training.

On Friday, October 14, 2005, evidence of this change was clear when U.S.
Air Force volunteers of various nationalities worked side by side doing
area clearing of small trees and underbrush for a memorial to the famed
Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. Over 40 volunteers from Maxwell Air
Force Base AFOATS Enlisted converged upon the Tuskegee Airmen National
Historic Site and worked diligently to begin clearing of trees near the
front of the temporary visitor center on Chappie James Avenue.

Upon arriving in Tuskegee the group had tours of the Tuskegee Airmen and
Tuskegee Institute National Historic Sites, and Tuskegee University.
They then dined at the Kellogg Conference Center. Afterward, they got
moving on the historic site work. The volunteers were so motivated they
offered to come again and do more clearing of underbrush. Many expressed
their appreciation for the courage and determination of the Tuskegee
Airmen, and felt that this was a way to thank them. The National Park
staff is eagerly awaiting their return.

Thank You Again, and Hat's Off!!! to Maxwell Air Force Base, AFOATS
Enlisted Volunteers!!!!

For more information, contact Ranger Christine Biggers at 334-724-0922.

-NPS-