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 re-
form in the Armed Forces.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 train-
ees. Yancy Williams had a civilian pilot’s license and 
had earned an engineering degree. Years later, 
Major Yancy Williams participated in an air surveil-
lance project created by President Dwight D. Eisen-
hower. 
(2) Due to the rigid system of racial segrega-
tion that prevailed 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 revolu-
tionary 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 op-
erating expensive and complex combat aircraft. 
Studies commissioned by the Army War College be-
tween 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 
graduates was Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a 
United States Military Academy graduate. Four 
aviation cadets were commissioned as second lieuten-
ants, and 5 received Army Air Corps silver pilot 
wings. 
(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, includ-
ing 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, Sic-
ily, and Europe, flying, in succession, 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 re-
spected 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 pro-
vided close escort for bombing missions over stra-
tegic 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 Distin-
guished Flying Crosses, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, 
and Legions of Merit, one Presidential Unit Cita-
tion, and the Red Star of Yugoslavia. 
(12) Other Black pilots, navigators, bombard-
iers and crewman 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 par-
ity in treatment and for recognition as competent
military professionals, combined with the magnifi-
cent 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. 
(14) For every Black pilot, there were 12 other 
civilian or military Black men and women per-
forming ground support duties. Many of these men 
and women remained in the military service during 
the post-World War II era and spearheaded the inte-
gration 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 business-
men, 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 demo-
cratic process, and to preserve the history of their 
legacy. 
(17) The Tuskegee Airmen have several memo-
rials 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 assist-
ance to begin a college program; 
(B) a museum in historic Fort Wayne in 
Detroit, Michigan; 
(C) Memorial Park at the Air Force Mu-
seum 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 per-
formed under contract with the Tuskegee Insti-
tute.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) AWARD
AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 
House of Representatives 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 ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 
devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-
retary. 
(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 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 
should make the gold medal received under para-
graph (1) available for display elsewhere, particu-
larly at other appropriate locations associated with 
the Tuskegee Airmen.
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre-
scribe, 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 med-
als 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.
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 
the Tuskegee Airmen, collectively, in recognition 
of their unique military record, which inspired 
revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces.