Lee Archer ( pilot ) Lee Andrew Archer , Jr . ( September 6 , 1919 – January 27 , 2010 ) was a black U . S . fighter pilot in the African - American unit which became known as the Tuskegee Airmen . He was one of the first African - American military aviators in the United States Army Air Corps , the U . S . Army Air Forces and later the U . S . Air Force , eventually earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . During World War II , Archer flew 169 combat missions , including bomber escort , reconnaissance and ground attack , and is officially credited with four enemy fighter aircraft shot down . Early life . Born in Yonkers , New York , Archer grew up in New York ' s Harlem district , later attending New York University . Upon graduation , he joined the Army in the hopes of becoming a pilot . At that time , the Army did not accept black pilots , so Archer was posted to a communications job as a telegrapher and field network - communications specialist in Georgia . When the Army ' s policy changed , he was accepted to the training program for black aviators at Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama , graduating first in his class , and one of only 994 black wartime pilots to graduate there . He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on July 28 , 1943 . World War II . Archer is considered by some as the first and — as of 2010 — only black U . S . pilot to earn an " ace " designation , for shooting down at least five enemy aircraft , but that claim is not true . Documents show that Archer claimed to have shot down four enemy aircraft during World War II , and he earned full credit for all his four claims . He did not share any aerial victories with another pilot , and none of his aerial victory credits was ever reduced or taken away . He also destroyed six aircraft on the ground during a strafing mission in August 1944 , as well as several locomotives , motor transports and barges . While flying with the 302nd Fighter Squadron , as a combat pilot , nicknamed " Buddy " , Archer flew 169 combat missions in the European Theatre of World War II , flying the Bell P - 39 Airacobra , Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt and North American P - 51 Mustang fighter aircraft . Flying a P - 51C fighter with the distinctive red tail of the 332nd Fighter Group , known collectively as the " Tuskegee Airmen " , he scored his first victory , a Messerschmitt Bf 109 on July 18 , 1944 over Memmingen , Germany . Archer is best remembered for his exploits of October 12 , 1944 . In the midst of a furious series of dogfights over German - occupied Hungary , he shot down three Hungarian Bf 109s over Lake Balaton , Hungary , in engagements that spanned only 10 minutes . The claim that Lee Archer scored , in addition to his awarded victory on July 18 , 1944 , an additional victory or half a victory that day is false . Archer claimed and was awarded a credit on July 18 , 1944 , according to the group history and Fifteenth Air Force mission reports , and did not share an additional victory with anyone else . In fact , Freddie Hutchins , with whom he is sometimes said to have shared the credit , did not earn an aerial victory credit or a half aerial victory on July 18 , 1944 . No other pilot in Archer ' s squadron or group earned a half credit that day . The July 1944 history of the 332nd Fighter Group lists all claims for the month , and Archer is listed with one , on July 18 , 1944 , and he received credit for that claim . The assertion that he was intentionally denied a full or partial credit on July 18 to avoid a black pilot being designated an ace was also refuted , inasmuch as it could not be foreseen that he would later shoot down three more . These occurred on a single mission in October 1944 and for each of those claims he was awarded a whole credit , making his World War II total 4 . Two other Tuskegee Airmen also shot down a total of four aircraft during World War II , one of whom recorded his 4th in July 1944 and was not rotated back to the United States until December . When Archer returned home in 1945 , a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross , he found that nothing seemed to have changed in American society . " I flew 169 combat missions when most pilots were flying 50 , " Archer told the " Chicago Tribune " in 2004 . " When I came back to the U . S . and down that gangplank , there was a sign at the bottom : ′ Colored Troops to the Right , White Troops to the Left ′ . " Archer remained in the armed forces for a career as the U . S . Army Air Forces transitioned into the present day U . S . Air Force in 1947 . He later flew missions during the Korean War , became a diplomatic officer at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ( SHAPE ) and then became the headquarters chief of the U . S . Air Force Southern Command in Panama , eventually retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1970 . Later career . After retiring from the military , Archer joined General Foods Corporation in White Plains , N . Y . where he became one of the first black corporate vice presidents of a major U . S . company . While there he also led its small - business investment subsidiary , North Street Capital Corporation , which serviced clients such as Essence Communications and Black Enterprise Magazine . In 1987 he helped establish the food conglomerate TLC Beatrice and in the same year founded the venture capital firm Archer Asset Management . Archer became a longtime resident of New Rochelle , New York . In October 2005 , Archer and two fellow Tuskegee veterans , retired Technical Sergeant George Watson Sr . and Master Sergeant James A . Shepherd , visited Balad Air Base at Balad , Iraq , to meet with 700 servicemen from the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing , the successor unit to his all - black outfit . " This is the new Air Force , " he told The Associated Press . In the dining room , he said , he saw " black , white , Asian , Pacific Islanders , people from different parts of Europe . This , " he said , " is what America is . " Illness and death . In April 2009 , Archer was selected to be an adviser for the George Lucas produced film , " Red Tails " . Archer , aged 90 , died at Cornell University Medical Center in New York City on January 27 , 2010 , as a result of coronary complications , according to his son Roy Archer . His death came during the post - production work on the Lucas film " Red Tails " , and the film ' s final credits subsequently bore a tribute to the pilot . At a memorial service for Archer held at the Riverside Church on February 4 , entertainer and commentator Bill Cosby gave a eulogy . Archer was predeceased by his wife , Ina Burdell , who died in 1996 and was survived by his three sons , one daughter and four granddaughters . He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery .