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 partici-
pated in an air surveillance project created by President Dwight 
D. Eisenhower. 
(2) Due to the rigid system of racial segregation that pre-
vailed 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 grad-
uates was Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a United States 
Military Academy graduate. Four aviation cadets were commis-
sioned as second lieutenants, and 5 received Army Air Corps 
silver pilot wings.
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(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 succes-
sion, 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 crew-
man 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.
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(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 Wright-
Patterson 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 Rep-
resentatives 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 deter-
mined 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 Con-
gress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold
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medal received under paragraph (1) available for display else-
where, 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.