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N5MDT > TODAY 18.12.15 17:16l 49 Lines 2176 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 843_N5MDT
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Subj: More Today
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Sent: 151218/1459Z 843@N5MDT.TX.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.65
Remembering Lowell C. Steward, one of the Tuskegee Airmen,
who died one year ago today: ancstry.me/1ZetwzM
He was laid to rest in Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles County.
After Steward graduated college and when Army Air Corps began
allowing blacks to enlist and become pilots, he enlisted in 1942.
According to Steward, the US Air Force brought together black
men—specifically black athletes—from throughout the US to be
trained at Tuskegee Institute. When they were initially deployed
in Europe, they were initially ignored and often called the
"Spookwaffe". Their mission was to fly fighter aircraft to escort
bombers. Once their reputation for providing effective air support
for bombers became widely known, they started receiving special
request for bomber support.
Steward describe how he became a Tuskegee Airman:
When I left school to sign up for the air force, I found out
I could not go into the service with my friends. I was the only
black on the basketball team. We had decided among ourselves that
we would all go into the air force. The others did. When I went
down to sign up, they didn't know what to do with me. Just told
me they couldn't send me to the air force. Ten months later I was
finally called. That's when they decided what they could do with
me. I was sent to Tuskegee, an all-segregated base, deep in the
heart of Alabama.
After receiving segregated training at the Tuskegee Army Air Field,
he was sent to Italy in 1944 with the 100th Fighter Squadron. From
Capodichino Air Base in Naples, Italy he flew a number of missions
in Bell P-39 Airacobras and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. He was
subsequently based in Ramitelli Airfield where he flew many more
missions in North American P-51 Mustangs. In total, he flew 143
missions.
After the war and after his return to Los Angeles, he helped to
organize the Los Angeles chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. and to
found a scholarship foundation in the name of the Tuskegee Airmen.
In 2007, Steward attended President George W. Bush's presentation
of the Tuskegee Airmen with the Congressional Gold Medal.
(Wikipedia)
Mark Taylor, N5MDT
n5mdt@n5mdt.tx.us.noam
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