A BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

         North Carolina is the home of approximately 20 of the original Tuskegee Airmen; five of which are members of the Wilson V. Eagleson Chapter, Tuskegee, Inc. (WVECTAI) of Goldsboro NC.

Wilson V. Eagleson, for whom the chapter has been named, completed his Civil Pilot Training at West Virginia State College in 1939, and the Aviation Cadet Program at Tuskegee Army Air Field, AL, in April of 1943. He was assigned to the Army Air Corps' - 99th Fighter Squadron that later was combined into the 332nd Fighter Group.

Lt. Eagleson, originally a native of Bloomington, Indiana, retired after serving 30 years in the U.S. Air Force. He died Easter Sunday 2006 at the age of 86. He enjoyed his family, especially his grandchildren. Much of his time was spent speaking and sharing his experience as a Tuskegee Airman with schools and other organizations throughout North Carolina. Some of Lt. Eagleson's memorabilia from World War II is displayed at the Air and Space Museum, Hampton, VA. His family has other awards and achievements earned by him.

Racism was alive and well during the early part of World War II. The 99th Fighter Squadron was criticized for failure to shot down enemy aircraft. Shortly thereafter to arrive overseas was a group of replacement pilots. They were characterized by some of the older combat experienced pilots as eager and arrogant new comers. They had the ability to somewhat antagonize and intimidate the older members of the squadron.

It was thought by some that their mission was to show the older members of the squadron how to shoot down enemy aircraft. These newcomers definitely exuded a positive attitude. The older members took a "wait and see" attitude and watched their performance. They thought that some of their "cockiness" would be knocked out of these "eager beavers," as they would experience the rigors of combat. Lt. Eagleson did not agree with the so-called arrogance, but simply stated, "I was trained to have confidence in my abilities of combat flying skills. My instructor from Randolph Field in Texas trained us to be what we were. We used all our air discipline."


The Tuskegee Experience produced 992 pilots for the United States Army Air Corp and destroyed 407 enemy airplanes during World War II. The Tuskegee Airmen were black-they were great pilots and held the records and had the skills to back them up. They flew more than 200 missions escorting various bomber aircraft without losing one to enemy aircraft fire - a record that still stands today.

These black pilots were the first to down a German fighter jet, hitting three in one day, and the first to sink an all-metal German destroyer using only machine gun fire. The Army trained 992 black pilots at Tuskegee from 1940 to 1946, and about 450 Tuskegee Airmen flew combat missions over Europe and North Africa.

The black pilots, known as "Red Tail Angels" for the color painted on the tails of their aircraft, were accredited with shooting down more than 100 enemy aircraft and never losing an American bomber to enemy fighters. The path to that success began amid spartan surroundings near Tuskegee Institute, which started training black civilian pilots after Congress passed the Civilian Pilot Training Act in 1938. While the accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen went unheralded for decades, the surviving members are gaining widespread recognition in recent years. There are several books on the Tuskegee Airmen, several diecast P-51 models, several movies, and two Tuskegee Airman GI Joe action figures, among other commemorations available.