Arkansas State press. [volume] (Little Rock, Ark.) 1941-1959, 1942-07-17
BY Lieut. Charles II. DsIiow
u. s. Army Air Force


That motor sure sounds swell
as it roars like one thousan,
thunderstorms, l swing the Will
! onto the concrete runway for tn,
take-off. Faster, faster. Han
CARS flash past, At first It's q
bunny as riding in a jallopy witt
one flat tire. Then. the never
failing miracle, the humps smootl
Oft. We're in the air. Out Of thi'
world. Free.
Upstairs, at 1000 feet, l lool
around. Below me, the Tuskepc'
Army Flying School, where nearl!
80 colored officers and over l,00t
colpred enlisted men are working
like industrious ants to make I
success Of the first Army await
ion post for Negroes.
Around me. stretching away Il
the horizon the red clay of Ala
bama, dotted with the corn ant
cotton fields where the Negroes
are working. The same fields
where their ancestors worked-a,
slaves. A little knot of people il
one field look up a. me, A couple
of them wave. ] feel q catch in my
throat.
Ny people :,
I'm a Negro, too; one Of thu
pioneer class at Tuskegee, There
were IS of US to begin with, but
s got washed out, That left 8
and we all got our wings togeth,
err. Those bright, silver wing
that had never been awarded t.
any colored men before. Captain
Ben Davis, Jr.,, a West Point grad
uate and son of Brigadier Genera
Davis, the only Negro to become
a general In American history
Lem Curtis, who used to be a cop
in Hartford, Conn, George Rob
erts, who worked with the CAA
in West Virginia, Mae Ross, ex-
inspector in q Dayton, Ohio, steel
mill. And myself.
A voice crackles in my earphon-
es: Lieutenant De Bow, proceed
to.
As I carry out the assignment
/ remember the civilian who stop
ped me on the street in Mont
gomery the other day. "You one
Of those eelored filters, "Xou one
Tushegee9" no asked.
"Yes, SIR l replied proudly.
"Tell me on thing" he said.
"What do you boys want to fly
for, anyhow"
If my skin hadn't been black, |
don't suppose he'd have asked me-
But l have been thinking it over
ever since, and ] think ] have
cleared It up in my own mind.
First of all, am flying for I'm
Gle Sam. We are in war for the
future, and | want no part Of thu
Fascist future. Our democracy !,
not perfect, but it's the only sys-
tenn that opens the way to perfec
ton. Maybe tomorrow, MAYBE
months from tomorrow, ! might b.
shipped Of for combat duty. Eas
or West, l don't care which. tt
help protect this way of life,
Jap or a German is all the sam
: to me.
I'm flying for Dad and Mon
too. Dads a porter in a whit
barber shop in indianapolis, Ind
He makes $50 a week, and Mon
used o earn $40 more as a mai
in a department store. When
got my commission | began send
ing her half my pay on conditio,
she quit working. 1t took som
persuading, but finally she agree
Both of them gave up comfort
and vacations to see me throug
school. can't let them down.
Finally, Pm flying for every On
of the 100000 Negroes in tn
United States. | want to prov
that we can take tough job an
handle it just as well as a whit
man, God didn't fit me to be
great educator like Booker
| Washington, or a great scientis
like George Washington Carver
But maybe can fly so that nc
body can ever again say, "Oh Ne
groes are all right as janitors an
handymen, but they can't learn I
fly, or fight or be good officers.
| / think all of us at Tuskege
feel that way. We've got a doubl
duty--to our country and to on
race. That goes not only for tn
fliers, but for the ground crews
and doctors, and executive officer!
and radio specialists, and suppl
men, Everybody, We've all got
| job to do and we're going I
see it through.
| | guess that's why there ism
much fooling in our outfit. TAX
the time Mac Ross got in troubl
a few weeks after We got GU
wings. He and were flyi1
tight formation at 5000 feet
Wing tips o inches apart. SUDDEN
II noticed smoke wishping out o
his engine Half a second later Ma