109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1259

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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2

•HR 1259 EH 

1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

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

4 overruled his top generals and ordered the creation 

5 of an all Black flight training program. President 

6 Roosevelt took this action one day after the NAACP 

7 filed suit on behalf of Howard University student 

8 Yancy Williams and others in Federal court to force 

9 the Department of War to accept Black pilot train10 ees. Yancy Williams had a civilian pilot’s license and 

11 had earned an engineering degree. Years later, 

12 Major Yancy Williams participated in an air surveil13 lance project created by President Dwight D. Eisen14 hower. 

15 (2) Due to the rigid system of racial segrega16 tion that prevailed in the United States during 

17 World War II, Black military pilots were trained at 

18 a separate airfield built near Tuskegee, Alabama. 

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

20 (3) The Tuskegee Airmen inspired revolu21 tionary reform in the Armed Forces, paving the way 

22 for full racial integration in the Armed Forces. They 

23 overcame the enormous challenges of prejudice and 

24 discrimination, succeeding, despite obstacles that 

25 threatened failure. 
3

•HR 1259 EH 

1 (4) From all accounts, the training of the 

2 Tuskegee Airmen was an experiment established to 

3 prove that so-called ‘‘coloreds’’ were incapable of op4 erating expensive and complex combat aircraft. 

5 Studies commissioned by the Army War College be6 tween 1924 and 1939 concluded that Blacks were 

7 unfit for leadership roles and incapable of aviation. 

8 Instead, the Tuskegee Airmen excelled. 

9 (5) Overall, some 992 Black pilots graduated 

10 from the pilot training program of the Tuskegee 

11 Army Air Field, with the last class finishing in June 

12 1946, 450 of whom served in combat. The first class 

13 of cadets began in July 1941 with 13 airmen, all of 

14 whom had college degrees, some with Ph.D. degrees, 

15 and all of whom had pilot’s licenses. One of the 

16 graduates was Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a 

17 United States Military Academy graduate. Four 

18 aviation cadets were commissioned as second lieuten19 ants, and 5 received Army Air Corps silver pilot 

20 wings. 

21 (6) That the experiment achieved success rather 

22 than the expected failure is further evidenced by the 

23 eventual promotion of 3 of these pioneers through 

24 the commissioned officer ranks to flag rank, includ25 ing the late General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., United 
4

•HR 1259 EH 

1 States Air Force, the late General Daniel ‘‘Chappie’’ 

2 James, United States Air Force, our Nation’s first 

3 Black 4-star general, and Major General Lucius 

4 Theus, United States Air Force (retired). 

5 (7) 450 Black fighter pilots under the command 

6 of then Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., fought in 

7 World War II aerial battles over North Africa, Sic8 ily, and Europe, flying, in succession, P–40, P–39, 

9 P–47, and P–51 aircraft. These gallant men flew 

10 15,553 sorties and 1,578 missions with the 12th 

11 Tactical Air Force and the 15th Strategic Air Force. 

12 (8) Colonel Davis later became the first Black 

13 flag officer of the United States Air Force, retired 

14 as a 3-star general, and was honored with a 4th star 

15 in retirement by President William J. Clinton. 

16 (9) German pilots, who both feared and re17 spected the Tuskegee Airmen, called them the 

18 ‘‘Schwartze Vogelmenschen’’ (or ‘‘Black Birdmen’’). 

19 White American bomber crews reverently referred to 

20 them as the ‘‘Black Redtail Angels’’, because of the 

21 bright red painted on the tail assemblies of their 

22 fighter aircraft and because of their reputation for 

23 not losing bombers to enemy fighters as they pro24 vided close escort for bombing missions over stra25 tegic targets in Europe. 
5

•HR 1259 EH 

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

2 distinguished itself over North Africa, Sicily, and 

3 Italy, joined 3 other Black squadrons, the 100th, the 

4 301st, and the 302nd, designated as the 332nd 

5 Fighter Group. They then comprised the largest 

6 fighter unit in the 15th Air Force. From Italian 

7 bases, they destroyed many enemy targets on the 

8 ground and at sea, including a German destroyer in 

9 strafing attacks, and they destroyed numerous 

10 enemy aircraft in the air and on the ground. 

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

12 while another 32 were either forced down or shot 

13 down and captured to become prisoners of war. 

14 These Black airmen came home with 150 Distin15 guished Flying Crosses, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, 

16 and Legions of Merit, one Presidential Unit Cita17 tion, and the Red Star of Yugoslavia. 

18 (12) Other Black pilots, navigators, bombard19 iers and crewman who were trained for medium 

20 bombardment duty as the 477th Bomber Group 

21 (Medium) were joined by veterans of the 332nd 

22 Fighter Group to form the 477th Composite Group, 

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

24 the members of the 477th Composite Group for par25 ity in treatment and for recognition as competent 
6

•HR 1259 EH 

1 military professionals, combined with the magnifi2 cent wartime records of the 99th Fighter Squadron 

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

4 racial policies of the Department of War. 

5 (13) In September 1947, the United States Air 

6 Force, as a separate service, reactivated the 332d 

7 Fighter Group under the Tactical Air command. 

8 Members of the 332d Fighter Group were ‘‘Top 

9 Guns’’ in the 1st annual Air Force Gunnery Meet in 

10 1949. 

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

12 civilian or military Black men and women per13 forming ground support duties. Many of these men 

14 and women remained in the military service during 

15 the post-World War II era and spearheaded the inte16 gration of the Armed Forces of the United States. 

17 (15) Major achievements are attributed to 

18 many of those who returned to civilian life and 

19 earned leadership positions and respect as business20 men, corporate executives, religious leaders, lawyers, 

21 doctors, educators, bankers, and political leaders. 

22 (16) A period of nearly 30 years of anonymity 

23 for the Tuskegee Airmen was ended in 1972 with 

24 the founding of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., in Detroit, 

25 Michigan. Organized as a non-military and nonprofit 
7

•HR 1259 EH 

1 entity, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., exists primarily to 

2 motivate and inspire young Americans to become 

3 participants in our Nation’s society and its demo4 cratic process, and to preserve the history of their 

5 legacy. 

6 (17) The Tuskegee Airmen have several memo7 rials in place to perpetuate the memory of who they 

8 were and what they accomplished, including—

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

10 Scholarship Fund for high school seniors who 

11 excel in mathematics, but need financial assist12 ance to begin a college program; 

13 (B) a museum in historic Fort Wayne in 

14 Detroit, Michigan; 

15 (C) Memorial Park at the Air Force Mu16 seum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 

17 Dayton, Ohio; 

18 (D) a statue of a Tuskegee Airman in the 

19 Honor Park at the United States Air Force 

20 Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and 

21 (E) a National Historic Site at Moton 

22 Field, where primary flight training was per23 formed under contract with the Tuskegee Insti24 tute. 
8

•HR 1259 EH 

1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

2 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 

3 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

4 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

5 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 

6 of appropriate design in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, 

7 collectively, in recognition of their unique military record, 

8 which inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces. 

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

10 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

11 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec12 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

13 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec14 retary. 

15 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

17 gold medal in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen under 

18 subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the 

19 Smithsonian Institution, where it will be displayed 

20 as appropriate and made available for research. 

21 (2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense 

22 of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

23 should make the gold medal received under para24 graph (1) available for display elsewhere, particu25 larly at other appropriate locations associated with 

26 the Tuskegee Airmen. 
9

•HR 1259 EH 

1 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre3 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

4 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 2, at a price 

5 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

6 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

7 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

8 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med9 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

10 Code. 

11 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

12 OF SALE. 

13 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

15 Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 

16 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized under section 

17 2. 

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

19 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 
10

•HR 1259 EH 

1 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

2 Fund.

Passed the House of Representatives February 28, 

2006. 

Attest:

Clerk. 
109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1259

AN ACT

To award a congressional gold medal on behalf of 

revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces. of their unique military record, which inspired the Tuskegee Airmen, collectively, in recognition