The Tuskegee Airmen, also called Red Tails, were a group of African American (and some Caribbean American) military pilots and support crew who fought against the Nazis during WWII and against (then prevalent) racism and racial segregation back in the United States. It consisted of 332nd Fighter Group and 477th Bombardment Group, although only the 332nd saw actual fighting.
Origins[]
The Tuskegee Airmen were formed due to constant lobbying by early African American civil rights activists due to the fact that African Americans were excluded from World War I-era United States Army Air Corps service based on their race. Initially, the recruitment process for African American combat pilots was made intentionally hard in an attempt to restrict them from service. However, that backfired because those pilots who pass the tests ended up more combat capable than their white counterparts on average, and there were many African Americans (some who already had civilian pilot's licences) who wanted to sign up. It was also at this time that Eleanor Roosevelt vouched for the African American pilots by allowing herself to be flown by them.
World War II action[]
Initially, the pilots were deployed to North Africa in mid-1943, and flew air attack missions against ground targets in Italy. It was during that time that the unit received the "Distinguished Unit" citation for their combat performance. The 332nd started escorting bomber formations over Italy as well, and later over Germany. Their overall combat record was impressive (with hundreds of enemy air and ground units destroyed but only dozens of pilots lost), and it earned the black airmen a number of awards. Most importantly, it dispelled rumors that African American pilots can't fly or fight as good as the white pilots, which meant that white men that were operating with them at the time were not racist. They also shot down a few enemy Me-262 fighter jets and put a old destroyer out of action. What the Luftwaffe thought of the Tuskegee Airmen is unknown to this day, however.
Legacy[]
Despite performing admirably, the pilots didn't receive a warm welcome in the US until many decades later. However, the former pilots of this group went on to participate in the Civil Rights Movement, and that movement succeeded in compelling the US government to ban institutional racism altogether in 1968 by passing the Civil Rights Act.