****************************************
IN MAY 0F 1949 THEY WERE THE VERY FIRST U. S. AIR FORCE TOP GUN PILOTS
332nd Fighter Group - Awarded First Place In
The Conventional (Propeller) Aircraft Division
TUSKEGEE AIRMEN (PILOTS, CREW&ADMIN)
"Top Gun Commander" - Captain Alva Temple
Tuskegee Airmen Virtual Cemetery
(Please transfer your Tuskegee Airmen Memorials to Cemetery Manager--pm)
****************************************
World War II United States Fighter Pilot:
He fought both segregation in his our nation and the Nazis as a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. As a First Lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corps, he flew 133 missions over enemy territory in North Africa and Europe as a member of the all-black 99th Fighter Squadron. He served in the 12th Air Force first, and later in the 15th Air Force as one of 450 black fighter pilots who flew Combat Bomber Escort Missions in WWII. For his service he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters and the Presidential Unit Citation. To survive 133 missions is a substantial accomplishment itself, since most white aviators were sent home after 25 or 50 missions. This standard wasn’t applied to the Tuskegee Airmen, who flew until they were shot down or the war ended.
After the war he became an educator after the war in the public school system on Florida's east coast, where he taught for years.
Later in life he owned his own funeral home in Daytona Beach.
****************************************
IN MAY 0F 1949 THEY WERE THE VERY FIRST U. S. AIR FORCE TOP GUN PILOTS
332nd Fighter Group - Awarded First Place In
The Conventional (Propeller) Aircraft Division
TUSKEGEE AIRMEN (PILOTS, CREW&ADMIN)
"Top Gun Commander" - Captain Alva Temple
Tuskegee Airmen Virtual Cemetery
(Please transfer your Tuskegee Airmen Memorials to Cemetery Manager--pm)
****************************************
World War II United States Fighter Pilot:
He fought both segregation in his our nation and the Nazis as a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. As a First Lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corps, he flew 133 missions over enemy territory in North Africa and Europe as a member of the all-black 99th Fighter Squadron. He served in the 12th Air Force first, and later in the 15th Air Force as one of 450 black fighter pilots who flew Combat Bomber Escort Missions in WWII. For his service he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters and the Presidential Unit Citation. To survive 133 missions is a substantial accomplishment itself, since most white aviators were sent home after 25 or 50 missions. This standard wasn’t applied to the Tuskegee Airmen, who flew until they were shot down or the war ended.
After the war he became an educator after the war in the public school system on Florida's east coast, where he taught for years.
Later in life he owned his own funeral home in Daytona Beach.
