Legacy


	These veterans have left lasting effects on history and today’s world. Read on to discover a few examples of how the Tuskegee Airmen changed our world.

Barrington A. Irving, Jr. is an aerospace student at Florida Memorial University, and reportedly the youngest person and first black person and first Jamaican American to pilot a plane around the world solo.

Irving was born in Jamaica, and grew up in the Miami, Florida area.

Irving started his journey on March 23, 2007 in the Opalocka Airport located near Miami, planning to complete the trip in 41 days. His airplane, a Columbia 400, is named the "Inspiration", and was assembled by himself using over $300,000 in donated parts.

The first two stops on his itinerary were Cleveland and Long Island.

On June 27, 2007, Irving completed his flight around the world, after 95 days of travel. Among those who welcomed the young pilot home on Wednesday were several retired members of the "Tuskegee Airmen," the first African-American pilots in the US military, who flew during World War II.

"We were an oddity back then, with perseverance, we overcame," said Leo Gray, who as a lieutenant colonel flew 15 World War combat missions with the squadron formally known as the 322 Fighter Group.

"When we started in 1941 as the first black squadron, they didn't think blacks could fly, and now this young man has gone around the world," said former Tuskegee mechanic Richard Rutledge, 85.

Irving turned down multiple football scholarship offers with his sights set on aviation. He later founded Experience Aviation, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering minority youth to pursue careers in aviation.

In 2005, four Tuskegee Airmen (Lt. Col. Lee Archer, Lt. Col. Robert Ashby, MSgt. James Sheppard, and TechSgt. George Watson) flew to Balad, Iraq, to speak to active duty airmen serving in the current incarnation of the 332nd, reactivated as first the 332d Air Expeditionary Group in 1998 and made part of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. "This group represents the linkage between the 'greatest generation' of airmen and the 'latest generation' of airmen," said Lt. Gen. Walter E. Buchanan III, commander of the 9th Air Force and US Central Command Air Forces, in an e-mail to the Associated Press.


	On 29 March 2007, about 350 Tuskegee Airmen and their widows were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the US Capitol rotunda. The medal will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution; individual honorees will receive bronze replicas. Click on the Medal to learn more

The airfield where the airmen trained is now the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. Established on November 6, 1998, the National Historic Site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places the same day. The site has a temporary visitor center, pending completion of the first phases of a restoration project around 2008. An oral history project, consisting of interviews of hundreds of people involved in the Tuskegee Airmen, was completed in 2005 and will eventually be available to the public at the historic site and at the Library of Congress.


	Much More Coming Soon...

If you know of a story about the Tuskegee Airmen, in particular their legacy, we would love to hear it. Please send it to the following address:

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