Michael Janke

While wandering around in South Carolina we ran across a small memorial to WWII’s Tuskegee Airmen, the first black Americans to be trained and deployed as fighter pilots. This is significant because at the time, in spite of prior demonstration of their ability to fight like white men in the Revolutionary, Civil and Indian wars, black men were considered unfit for combat duty, and certainly not fighter-pilot material. The Tuskegee Airmen proved otherwise, demonstrating skill and bravery equal to or better than white airmen.

About 500 black pilots were trained (in segregated facilities) at this small airfield in Walterboro South Carolina. Hence the memorial.

In part, an inscription at the memorial read:

As a result of their remarkable actions in combat the airmen were called Schwarze Vogelmenschen (Black Birdmen) by the Germans whom feared and respected them. Additionally, white American bomber crews reverently referred to the airmen as the ‘Red Tailed Angels’ due to the identifying red paint on their aircraft and their reputation for loosing fewer bombers to enemy fighters during their dangerous escort missions deep inside Europe.

The locals were not always fond of having black soldiers being trained in their community though, as one of the signs in the memorial suggests that there was some racially inspired conflict as a result. The memorial was damaged a few years ago, perhaps deliberately. What we saw this November was a replacement, rededicated earlier this fall.

Another interesting tidbit that we picked up on while staying at Edisto Beach State Park (South Carolina) was that through the 1950’s, blacks were not permitted in the park. When sued by the NAACP, the state closed the park rather than allow the park to be integrated. The park stayed closed for a decade, until 1965 when civil rights activists forced the issue.

On the way back we drove a bit of the Blue Ridge Parkway and spend a night in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Lots of hills, lots of woods. It was cold and we wanted to be home by the end of the week, so we didn’t spend much time in that area.

I’ll bet it’s beautiful in early spring or during fall colors.