What was the name of the group of African-American military pilots who fought in World War II with prestigious members such as Harold K. Hoskins?
4b4c3d0c7e70f4abc826ea5dde73f23e
Harold K. Hoskins Harold K. Hoskins, Sr. (15 February 1927 – 1 May 2012) was an American pilot and Tuskegee Airman who was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. He trained during World War II and served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In 1945, he joined the U.S. Army at age 18 and learned to fly at Alabama's Tuskegee Army Air Field. In 1971, he retired as a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel after logging 9500 flight hours. Hoskins later become assistant vice president of student affairs at California State University in Hayward.
195fdb8d2265b520a9f937d4fc0a2b92
Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African-American military pilots (fighter and bomber) who fought in World War II. Officially, they formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces. The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks and other support personnel for the pilots.
05ade0981ebb99e86d6f7f958ab6c0be
Columbia Air Center The Columbia Air Center was an airfield in Croom, Maryland from 1941 to 1958. It was started by African American pilots who were not permitted to use other airports, but was also open to whites. It had an all black staff, and a number of the trainers had served in World War II as Tuskegee Airmen.
9ce11349c2d20c10051e845ecc547574
Henry A. Norman Major Henry Arthur Norman was among the first African American military pilots during World War II. Although a member of the 598th Field Artillery Battalion (and not the famed 332nd Fighter Group or 477th Bombardment Group), he trained at Tuskegee and is generally counted among the Tuskegee Airmen. A career military man, he served as part of the peacetime occupation forces in Germany, seeing armed combat again during the Korean War. He eventually becoming a commissioned officer during an era in which that was rare for African-Americans, overseeing the 20th Army Air Corps. After a rescue mission following the North Sea Flood of 1953 he was personally presented an award for meritorious conduct by the Queen of the Netherlands. Following an honorable discharge from the Army, he earned a PhD in Education from the Ohio State University, and became the principal of the Lincoln School in Gallipolis. He was a direct, male-line descendent of black Revolutionary War hero Bazabeel Norman.
816f68e6e67344dbe32fbdcd1d913954
Elaine D. Harmon Elaine D. Harmon (December 26, 1919 – April 21, 2015) was an American from Maryland who served in the U.S. Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. In 2009 she received a Congressional Gold Medal for her service as a pilot during World War II. As a WASP pilot, she has been accorded full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. In 2016, Ms. Harmon was posthumously inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.
ebb976ee7ece32901c73ad911cf42463
AirSols AirSols was a joint command for Allied air units in the Solomon Islands campaign of World War II, from April 1943 to June 1944. It was subordinate to the Allied Pacific Ocean Areas POA Command. AirSols superseded and absorbed Cactus Air Force, which controlled Allied air units in the Solomons during 1942–43. AirSols units came from elements of the: United States Navy (USN), United States Marine Corps (USMC), the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and the Thirteenth Air Force, United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).
84c593df19d268a67c7da7df8512ef9e
Robert B. Westbrook (pilot) Robert Burdette Westbrook (9 November 1917 – 22 November 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces lieutenant colonel and a World War II flying ace. Westbrook, a member of the California National Guard before World War II, completed flight training in 1942, and was sent to the South Pacific with the 44th Fighter Squadron, which he later commanded. Westbrook gained his first victories while flying the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and in late 1943 began flying the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. After scoring his fourteenth victory, Westbrook was sent back to the continental United States on leave in spring 1944, returning as aide to the commander of the Thirteenth Air Force. In late summer he became deputy commander of the 347th Fighter Group. With 20 victories, Westbrook became the Thirteenth Air Force's highest scoring ace. He was killed in November 1944 while strafing a Japanese gunboat.
999219903436d6a373b45dc3ddf81cde
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States Armed Forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918."
1d6fcbfe987e4634cdda5c0f9fa9112d
Flight Instructor Badge The Flight Instructor Badge was an aeronautical badge of the United States Army during the Second World War. The badge was issued to members of the United States Army Air Forces who were civilian pilots, appointed as military flight instructors and granted officer commissions to train at military pilot schools.
b4c275ecd8d533a697c829b9284490c3
Marine Aircraft Group 32 Marine Aircraft Group 32 (MAG-32) was a United States Marine Corps aviation unit established during World War II.
63cce8cb97d0db57215d516fadb01c68
Schlachtgeschwader 2 "Schlachtgeschwader" 2 (SG 2) "Immelmann" was a Luftwaffe Dive bomber-wing of World War II. It was named after Max Immelmann, the first German pilot to earn the Pour le Mérite.
f1eef8bfbbc7412bed38706f05c870a1
Harry W. Brown (pilot) Harry Winston Brown (May 19, 1921 – October 7, 1991) was an Army Air Corps second lieutenant assigned to the 47th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field on the island of Oahu during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. He was one of the five American pilots to score victories that day. Brown was awarded a Silver Star for his actions, and was the first Texan decorated for valor in the war. By the war's end, he was a flying ace.
daf734dfb37d4748525f47a8d3c6081f
James Banning James Herman Banning (November 5, 1900 – February 5, 1933) was an American aviation pioneer. In 1932, James Banning, accompanied by Thomas C. Allen, became America's first black aviator to fly coast-to-coast.
1ac3cc9b3feecb83f725296e281f2a79
Naval Aviation Photographic Unit The Naval Aviation Photographic Unit was a group of military photographers in the United States Navy during the Second World War, under the command of Edward Steichen.
206f9843a9f8ff83043914f23dca3545
Maryland World War II Army Airfields During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous airfields in Maryland for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers.
b9fd0cce0ab0239feb35406b60166374
Louis E. Woods Lieutenant General Louis Earnest Woods (7 October 1895 – 20 October 1971), one of the Marine Corps' outstanding aviators, served as Commanding General, Aircraft, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, and 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, prior to his retirement. During World War II, he commanded the Cactus Air Force at Guadalcanal during November and December, 1942, and later, at Okinawa, was Commanding General, Tactical Air Force, Tenth Army, and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.
86e0640140db4d2e1fc77d3548ee781a
Michael J. Novosel Michael J. Novosel Sr. (September 3, 1922 – April 2, 2006) of Enterprise, Alabama served in the United States military during three wars: World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He flew the B-29 Superfortress bomber in World War II. In order to serve in the Vietnam War, he gave up the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve to become a chief warrant officer in the Army. For his bravery in conducting a medical evacuation under fire in this conflict, he was awarded the United States' highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor.
7ad391e1a3bf2c105a6b6d34363b2c95
Lehrgeschwader 2 "Lehrgeschwader" 2 (LG 2) (Demonstration Wing 2) was a Luftwaffe unit during World War II, operating three fighter, night fighter, reconnaissance and ground support "Gruppen" (groups).
a75eddcac6d165c8cc830f2e5fe76d5b
Air Warning Squadron 2 Air Warning Squadron 2 (AWS-2) was a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control squadron during World War II. The squadron was tasked to provide aerial surveillance and early warning during amphibious assaults. They took part in the Battle of Guam in 1944 and would eventually move to Peleliu in 1945 assuming responsibility for air defense in that sector until the end of the war.
bdec75e3da07cb5829b050f10721843b
A. Porter Davis Albert Porter Davis (November 13, 1890–September 1, 1976) was a pioneering African-American physician and pilot. He practiced medicine in Kansas City, Kansas, where he served in multiple county-level positions and on the staff of local hospitals. In 1953, he became president of the National Medical Association. He received a pilot's license in 1928, making him one of the first licensed African-American pilots in the nation, and played an important role in the development of African-American aviation nationally.
978c80857a0c1d7b14f850536cda7add
Billy Fiske William Meade Lindsley Fiske III (4 June 1911 – 17 August 1940) was the 1928 and 1932 Olympic champion bobsled driver and, following Jimmy Davies, was one of the first American pilots killed in action in World War II. At the time Fiske was serving in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He was one of 11 American pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939–45 campaign star.
092691f21a29f0d05a821d6ae449248e
Violet Cowden Violet "Vi" Cowden (October 1, 1916 – April 10, 2011) was an American aviator who served as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. Cowden was one of the surviving members of the 1,074 WASPs, who were the first women to fly American military planes.