The first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces were the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII.   They were comprised of both fighter and bomber pilots, but the name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks and other  support personnel for the pilots.  It was World War II and at that time black Americans were still subject to the Jim Crow laws, thus the military was racially   segregated along with much of the federal government.  Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African-American had been a U.S. military pilot,   although many had tried but were rejected.    In 1941, civil rights organizations and the black press exerted enough pressure to change all that.  Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama became the site of primary flight training for these pioneering pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen.  In fact, it was the only primary flight facility for African-American pilot candidates in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII.  The War Department had strict standards and accepted only those with a level of flight experience or higher education, ensuring that only the most able and intelligent African-American applicants were able to join. 

Read the complete article in the Bevil Newsletter,

which accompanies the cover when collected!

GREETINGS FROM ALABAMA

564

3561

FIRST DAY OF ISSUE

OCTOBER 25, 2002

NEW YORK, NY 10199

OCTOBER 2013

175

10

1

186