H. R. 1259

One Hundred Ninth Congress

of the

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and six 

An Act 

To award a congressional gold medal on behalf of the Tuskegee Airmen, collectively, 

in recognition of their unique military record, which inspired revolutionary reform 

in the Armed Forces.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

The Congress finds the following: 

(1) In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt overruled 

his top generals and ordered the creation of an all Black flight 

training program. President Roosevelt took this action one day 

after the NAACP filed suit on behalf of Howard University 

student Yancy Williams and others in Federal court to force 

the Department of War to accept Black pilot trainees. Yancy 

Williams had a civilian pilot’s license and had earned an 

engineering degree. Years later, Major Yancy Williams participated in an air surveillance project created by President Dwight 

D. Eisenhower. 

(2) Due to the rigid system of racial segregation that prevailed in the United States during World War II, Black military 

pilots were trained at a separate airfield built near Tuskegee, 

Alabama. They became known as the ‘‘Tuskegee Airmen’’. 

(3) The Tuskegee Airmen inspired revolutionary reform 

in the Armed Forces, paving the way for full racial integration 

in the Armed Forces. They overcame the enormous challenges 

of prejudice and discrimination, succeeding, despite obstacles 

that threatened failure. 

(4) From all accounts, the training of the Tuskegee Airmen 

was an experiment established to prove that so-called ‘‘coloreds’’ 

were incapable of operating expensive and complex combat 

aircraft. Studies commissioned by the Army War College 

between 1924 and 1939 concluded that Blacks were unfit for 

leadership roles and incapable of aviation. Instead, the 

Tuskegee Airmen excelled. 

(5) Overall, some 992 Black pilots graduated from the 

pilot training program of the Tuskegee Army Air Field, with 

the last class finishing in June 1946, 450 of whom served 

in combat. The first class of cadets began in July 1941 with 

13 airmen, all of whom had college degrees, some with Ph.D. 

degrees, and all of whom had pilot’s licenses. One of the graduates was Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a United States 

Military Academy graduate. Four aviation cadets were commissioned as second lieutenants, and 5 received Army Air Corps 

silver pilot wings. 
H. R. 1259—2

(6) That the experiment achieved success rather than the 

expected failure is further evidenced by the eventual promotion 

of 3 of these pioneers through the commissioned officer ranks 

to flag rank, including the late General Benjamin O. Davis, 

Jr., United States Air Force, the late General Daniel ‘‘Chappie’’ 

James, United States Air Force, our Nation’s first Black 4-

star general, and Major General Lucius Theus, United States 

Air Force (retired). 

(7) 450 Black fighter pilots under the command of then 

Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., fought in World War II aerial 

battles over North Africa, Sicily, and Europe, flying, in succession, P–40, P–39, P–47, and P–51 aircraft. These gallant men 

flew 15,553 sorties and 1,578 missions with the 12th Tactical 

Air Force and the 15th Strategic Air Force. 

(8) Colonel Davis later became the first Black flag officer 

of the United States Air Force, retired as a 3-star general, 

and was honored with a 4th star in retirement by President 

William J. Clinton. 

(9) German pilots, who both feared and respected the 

Tuskegee Airmen, called them the ‘‘Schwartze Vogelmenschen’’ 

(or ‘‘Black Birdmen’’). White American bomber crews reverently 

referred to them as the ‘‘Black Redtail Angels’’, because of 

the bright red painted on the tail assemblies of their fighter 

aircraft and because of their reputation for not losing bombers 

to enemy fighters as they provided close escort for bombing 

missions over strategic targets in Europe. 

(10) The 99th Fighter Squadron, after having distinguished 

itself over North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, joined 3 other Black 

squadrons, the 100th, the 301st, and the 302nd, designated 

as the 332nd Fighter Group. They then comprised the largest 

fighter unit in the 15th Air Force. From Italian bases, they 

destroyed many enemy targets on the ground and at sea, 

including a German destroyer in strafing attacks, and they 

destroyed numerous enemy aircraft in the air and on the 

ground. 

(11) 66 of these pilots were killed in combat, while another 

32 were either forced down or shot down and captured to 

become prisoners of war. These Black airmen came home with 

150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, 

and Legions of Merit, one Presidential Unit Citation, and the 

Red Star of Yugoslavia. 

(12) Other Black pilots, navigators, bombardiers and crewman who were trained for medium bombardment duty as the 

477th Bomber Group (Medium) were joined by veterans of 

the 332nd Fighter Group to form the 477th Composite Group, 

flying the B–25 and P–47 aircraft. The demands of the members 

of the 477th Composite Group for parity in treatment and 

for recognition as competent military professionals, combined 

with the magnificent wartime records of the 99th Fighter 

Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, led to a review of 

the racial policies of the Department of War. 

(13) In September 1947, the United States Air Force, as 

a separate service, reactivated the 332d Fighter Group under 

the Tactical Air command. Members of the 332d Fighter Group 

were ‘‘Top Guns’’ in the 1st annual Air Force Gunnery Meet 

in 1949. 
H. R. 1259—3

(14) For every Black pilot, there were 12 other civilian 

or military Black men and women performing ground support 

duties. Many of these men and women remained in the military 

service during the post-World War II era and spearheaded 

the integration of the Armed Forces of the United States. 

(15) Major achievements are attributed to many of those 

who returned to civilian life and earned leadership positions 

and respect as businessmen, corporate executives, religious 

leaders, lawyers, doctors, educators, bankers, and political 

leaders. 

(16) A period of nearly 30 years of anonymity for the 

Tuskegee Airmen was ended in 1972 with the founding of 

Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., in Detroit, Michigan. Organized as a 

non-military and nonprofit entity, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., exists 

primarily to motivate and inspire young Americans to become 

participants in our Nation’s society and its democratic process, 

and to preserve the history of their legacy. 

(17) The Tuskegee Airmen have several memorials in place 

to perpetuate the memory of who they were and what they 

accomplished, including—

(A) the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., National Scholarship 

Fund for high school seniors who excel in mathematics, 

but need financial assistance to begin a college program; 

(B) a museum in historic Fort Wayne in Detroit, 

Michigan; 

(C) Memorial Park at the Air Force Museum at WrightPatterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio; 

(D) a statue of a Tuskegee Airman in the Honor Park 

at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado 

Springs, Colorado; and 

(E) a National Historic Site at Moton Field, where 

primary flight training was performed under contract with 

the Tuskegee Institute. 

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

(a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall 

make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of the 

Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in honor 

of the Tuskegee Airmen, collectively, in recognition of their unique 

military record, which inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed 

Forces. 

(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the award 

referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 

in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike the gold 

medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 

(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the gold medal 

in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen under subsection (a), the 

gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

it will be displayed as appropriate and made available for 

research. 

(2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold 
H. R. 1259—4

medal received under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, particularly at other appropriate locations associated 

with the Tuskegee Airmen. 

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the 

Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 

medal struck under section 2, at a price sufficient to cover the 

costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of 

machinery, and overhead expenses. 

SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for 

purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized 

to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of 

the medals authorized under section 2. 

(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the sale of 

duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the 

United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.