109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 392

AN ACT

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf

of Congress, collectively, to the Tuskegee Airmen 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,
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1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

2 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.
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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.’s, and

15 all of whom had pilot’s licenses. One of the grad16 uates was Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a United

17 States Military Academy graduate. Four aviation ca18 dets were commissioned as second lieutenants, and

19 5 received Army Air Corps silver pilot wings.

20 (6) That the experiment achieved success rather

21 than the expected failure is further evidenced by the

22 eventual promotion of 3 of these pioneers through

23 the commissioned officer ranks to flag rank, includ24 ing the late General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., United

25 States Air Force, the late General Daniel ‘‘Chappie’’
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1 James, United States Air Force, our Nation’s first

2 Black 4-star general, and Major General Lucius

3 Theus, United States Air Force (retired).

4 (7) Four hundred fifty Black fighter pilots

5 under the command of then Colonel Benjamin O.

6 Davis, Jr., fought in World War II aerial battles

7 over North Africa, Sicily, and Europe, flying, in suc8 cession, P–40, P–39, P–47, and P–51 aircraft.

9 These gallant men flew 15,553 sorties and 1,578

10 missions with the 12th Tactical Air Force and the

11 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 Vogelmenshen’’ (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.
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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) Sixty-six of these pilots were killed in com12 bat, while another 32 were either forced down or

13 shot 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
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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
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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.
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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

2 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is

3 authorized to award to the Tuskegee Airmen, on behalf

4 of Congress, a gold medal of appropriate design honoring

5 the Tuskegee Airmen in recognition of their unique mili6 tary record, which inspired revolutionary reform in the

7 Armed Forces.

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

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

10 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec11 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems,

12 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec13 retary.

14 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

15 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre16 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in

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

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

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

20 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

21 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med22 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States

23 Code.
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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS

2 OF SALE.

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

4 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint

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

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

7 2.

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

9 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be

10 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise

11 Fund.

Passed the Senate October 4, 2005.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 392

AN ACT

To authorize the President to award a gold medal

form in the Armed Forces.military record, which inspired revolutionary reTuskegee Airmen in recognition of their uniqueon behalf of Congress, collectively, to the