Blue Skies, Black Wings: African American Pioneers of Aviation
Broadnax fell in love with aviation at an early age, watching daredevils fly in carnivals in a small town in California. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and trained as a pilot at the Tuskegee Army Air Base. Broadnax offers personal recollections and firsthand accounts of the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and the broader social and racial struggle represented by these black men. Broadnax also profiles other black pioneers in aviation: Charles Wesley Peters, who flew his own plane in 1911, and Eugene Bullard, who piloted planes for the French in World War I. He vividly recalls the struggle to desegregate the military during World War II and the hardships suffered by the airmen who wanted to serve and fly. Broadnax's own love of flying is evident in his recollections of the rarefied status of flying in the early days, and his own personal struggle to garner the experience for himself despite the racial limitations of the time.Vanessa BushCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved