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Rumsfeld
backs Tuskegee honor - By Brian DeBose THE
WASHINGTON TIMES
Published December 15, 2005 |
Rep. Charles
B. Rangel's quest to have Congress honor the Tuskegee
Airmen with its highest civilian honor -- the Congressional
Gold Medal -- got a boost yesterday from Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld. Mr. Rumsfeld, in a letter sent to
Mr. Rangel, praised the all-black World War II fighter
squadron for its distinguished service, which won national
acclaim and helped pave the way for formal desegregation
of the military.
"In my view, this recognition is well-deserved,"
Mr. Rumsfeld said. "This is of utmost importance
to me." Mr. Rangel, New York Democrat and a Korean
War veteran, has long admired the fighter pilots, whom
he said are directly responsible for his opportunity to
serve in the military. He introduced the bill in March,
but has been unable to garner 280 co-sponsors needed for
consideration.
"I am confident that his support will make a difference
in gaining bipartisan support for the legislation,"
Mr. Rangel said. "I don't agree with the secretary
on too many things, but as regards the Tuskegee Airmen,
we stand shoulder to shoulder."
The Senate has passed a version of the bill introduced
by Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat. Retired Air Force
Lt. Col. Gene Carter, 86, a native of Tuskegee who entered
the cadet training at 19 and served for 27 years, said
the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor would be a long-awaited
official recognition of the Tuskegee Airmen's contributions.
"We overcame the adversities of second-class citizenship
and all of the other discrimination that prevailed at
the beginning of World War II," said Col. Carter,
who returned to Tuskegee in 1965 to be an Air Force ROTC
professor of air sciences until he retired in 1969. "Even
with all that we felt, I felt that I am an American and
I have as much obligation to patriotism as any other American."
Trained on the U.S. Army Air Corps field near the Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama, a school founded by civil rights
leader Booker T. Washington, the group of more than 994
black pilots, bombardiers and navigators were organized
in the segregated 99th Squadron and 332nd Fighter Group.
Their success, which included 15,500 missions and the
distinction of never losing a bomber to enemy fire, is
regarded as a major factor in President Truman's decision
to desegregate the U.S. military after World War II. Sixty
of the pilots died in combat, and about 200, most in their
80s, are still alive, said Ron Brewington a Tuskegee Airmen
historian.
Lt. Bev Dunjill, 78, a Chicago native and the youngest
of the original trainees, who became a cadet at 18, said
the Congressional Gold Medal would be a testament to how
much the country has changed. "I will be completely
honored that I have lived long enough to see such a thing
by the country for which we fought for and died, and honor
the reason why the black community fought so hard to further
the success of black people and the citizens of this country,"
Lt. Dunjill said.
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