117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6863 
AN ACT 
To designate the medical center of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs in Memphis, Tennessee, as the ‘‘Lt. Col. 
Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center’’. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., was born De-
cember 16, 1922, in Grenada, Mississippi, then 
moved to Memphis, Tennessee, at age five. 
(2) Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., graduated from 
Booker T. Washington High School and is an alum-
nus of Xavier University in New Orleans. 
(3) Upon his graduation, Luke Joseph Weath-
ers, Jr., enlisted in one of the first training pro-
grams for Black pilots, beginning his journey as a 
Tuskegee Airman. 
(4) Within his first few years active in the war, 
Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., named his plane ‘‘Spirit 
of Beale Street’’, in honor of his hometown, Mem-
phis, Tennessee. He flew this plane with the ‘‘Red 
Tails’’. 
(5) He was credited with shooting down Ger-
man planes while protecting United States Army Air 
Corps bombers and shooting down two Messer-
schmitt 109s in Italy while escorting a damaged B– 
24 Liberator bomber. 
(6) During his military service, he rose to the 
rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
(7) Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., received numer-
ous honors and awards throughout his long and dis-
tinguished career. 
(8) Among them, he was presented with an Air 
Medal with 7 clusters and an American Theater Rib-
bon Victory Medal during his military service. 
(9) Following the war, Luke Joseph Weathers, 
Jr., returned to Memphis, receiving a hero’s welcome 
and a key to the city. 
(10) On July 13, 1947, he married LaVerne 
Nailling at St. Therese-Little Flowers Catholic 
Church in Memphis. 
(11) In 1960, he accepted a job with the Fed-
eral 
Aviation 
Administration 
(hereinafter, 
the 
‘‘FAA’’) as an air traffic control specialist in An-
chorage, Alaska. 
(12) In 1965, Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., 
moved back to Memphis, becoming the first Black 
air traffic controller in Memphis. 
(13) Weathers later held positions with the 
FAA in Atlanta, Georgia, and the District of Colum-
bia, where he eventually retired in 1985, after serv-
ing as a reservist in the military for 23 years. 
(14) During retirement, Luke Joseph Weathers, 
Jr., remained active with the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
and continued to support African Americans in the 
military. 
(15) In 1995, Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., 
moved to Tucson, Arizona, shortly after marrying 
Jacqueline Moore Weathers. 
(16) In 2007, Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., and 
the Tuskegee Airmen were honored with a Congres-
sional Gold Medal. 
(17) On October 15, 2011, Luke Joseph 
Weather, Jr., died in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 
90, leaving behind his wife, two sons and daughters, 
12 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren as 
well as a legacy of countless lives he touched. 
(18) On January 20, 2012, Lieutenant Colonel 
Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., was interred at Arling-
ton National Cemetery. 
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF THE LT. COL. LUKE WEATHERS, 
JR. VA MEDICAL CENTER. 
The medical center of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs located in Memphis, Tennessee, shall, after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, be known and des-
ignated as the ‘‘Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical 
Center’’. Any reference in any law, regulation, map, docu-
ment, paper, or other record of the United States to such