Honor to Tuskegee Airmen

The National Park Service is developing a park to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black fighter pilots who gained fame for their daring during World War II.

The airmen trained at Moton Field near Tuskegee, Alabama. The new national historic site will include period aircraft and exhibits about the airmen and integration of the US military, a very inspiring story. The airmen completed 1,578 missions during the war, destroying more than 260 aircraft in North Africa, Sicily and Europe. The crews were feared by the Germans, who called them Schwartze Vogelmenschen – black birdmen.

Learn about the airmen at the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site at Tuskegee University; 334-727-3200; www.nps.gov/tuin.

from the Knight Ridder Tribune