Sixty-six of these pilots were killed in aerial combat and 32 were shot down and captured as prisoners of war. When the war ended, the Tuskegee Airmen returned home with 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, Legions of Merit and the Red Star of Yugoslavia. This group never entered combat because of the surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945. The Tuskegee Airmen also went on to win the first ever top gun competition before being disbanded after the integration of the Air Force. Oliver Goodall inspects his image on the mural.
Every project has to begin somewhere.
Stan Stokes begins the second section of the mural with a few brush strokes on one of the five 12x6 foot panels. Each panel, backed by steel supports, plywood and canvas, weighs 250 pounds. Bill Terry appears on the mural above his left shoulder. General Davis was a Colonel at the time and commander of the 332nd. He remained in the military after the war and retired as a four star general.