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Congressional Record—Senate S12040 S12040 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 8, 2004 Defense Act and for future improvements to ‘‘We proved that the antidote to rac- flight-related training—nearly 1,000— indigent defense procedures statewide. ism is excellence in performance,’’ said were instrumental in breaking the seg- Thank you for considering my views. If retired Lt. Col. Herbert Carter, who regation barrier. They all had a will- you need any further information, feel free started his military career as a pilot to contact me or any member of the Task ingness to see combat, and committed Force. We are at your disposal to build on and maintenance officer with the 99th themselves to the segregated training the successes all Texans have experienced Fighter Squadron. ‘‘Can you imagine with a purpose to defend their country. since the passage of the Fair Defense Act. with the war clouds as heavy as The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded Sincerely, they were over Europe, a citizen of the three Presidential Unit Citations, 150 JAMES D. BETHKE, United States having to sue his govern- Distinguished Flying Crosses and Le- Director, Task Force on Indigent Defense. ment to be accepted to training so he gions of Merit, along with The Red f could fly and fight and die for his coun- Star of Yugoslavia, 9 Purple Hearts, 14 THE COURAGEOUS TUSKEGEE try?’’ The government expected the ex- Bronze Stars and more than 700 Air AIRMEN periment to fail and end the issue, said medals and clusters. It goes without Carter. ‘‘The mistake they made was question that the Tuskegee Airmen are Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, today I that they forgot to tell us . .’’. deserving of the Congressional Gold would like to make my colleagues The first class of cadets began in Medal. aware of my intention, when the 109th July of 1941 with 13 men, all of whom According to existing records, a total Congress convenes in January, 2005, to had college degrees, some with PhD’s of 155 Tuskegee Airmen originated introduce bipartisan legislation, to au- and all had pilot’s licenses. From all from Michigan, I wish to recognize thorize the awarding of the Congres- accounts, the training of the Tuskegee each one of them. I ask unanimous con- sional Gold Medal, collectively, to the Airmen was an experiment established sent that their names be included for Tuskegee Airmen. to prove that ‘‘coloreds’’ were incapa- the RECORD. They are as follows: The Tuskegee Airmen were not only ble of operating expensive and complex Kermit Bailer; Clarence Banton; unique in their military record, but combat aircraft. Stationed in the seg- James Barksdale of Detroit; Hugh Bar- they inspired revolutionary reform in regated South, the black cadets were rington of Farmington Hills; Naomi the Armed Forces, paving the way for denied rifles. Bell; Thomas Billingslea; Lee integration of the Armed Services in Months passed with no call-up from Blackmon; Charles Blakely of Detroit, the U.S. The largely college-educated the government. However, by 1943, the Robert Bowers of Detroit; James Tuskegee Airmen overcame the enor- first contingent of black airmen were Brown of Ypsilanti; Willor Brown of mous challenges of prejudice and dis- sent to North Africa, Sicily, and Eu- Ypsilanti; Ernest Browne of Detroit; crimination, succeeding, despite obsta- rope. Their performance far exceeded Archibald Browning; Otis Bryant; Jo- cles that threatened failure. What anyone’s expectation. They shot down seph Bryant, Jr. of Dowagiac; Charles made these men exceptional was their six German aircrafts on their first mis- Byous; Ernest Cabule of Detroit; Waldo willingness to leave their families and sion, and were also the first squad to Cain; Clinton Canady of Lansing; Carl put their lives on the line to defend sink a battleship with only machine Carey of Detroit; Gilbert Cargil; Na- rights that were denied them here at guns. Overall, nearly 1,000 black pilots thaniel Carr of Detroit; Donald Carter home. Former Senator Bill Cohen, in graduated from Tuskegee, with the last of Detroit; Clifton Casey; David Cason, remarks on the floor of the Senate in class finishing in June of 1946, 450 of Jr; Peter Cassey of Detroit; Robert July of 1995 summed it up this way: whom served in combat. Sixty-six of Chandler of Allegan; Pembleton Coch- ...I listened to the stories of the the aviators died in combat, while an- ran of Detroit; Alfred Cole of South- Tuskegee airmen and . the turmoil they other 33 were shot down and captured field; James Coleman of Detroit; Wil- experienced fighting in World War II, feeling as prisoners of war. The Tuskegee Air- liam Coleman of Detroit; Eugene Cole- they had to fight two enemies: one called men were credited with 261 aircraft de- man; Matthew Corbin of Detroit; Hitler, the other called racism in this coun- Charles Craig of Detroit; Herbert try. stroyed, 148 aircraft damaged, 15,553 combat sorties and 1,578 missions over Crushshon; John Cunningham of Rom- Prior to the 1940s, many in the mili- Italy and North Africa. They destroyed ulus; and John Curtis of Detroit. Don- tary held the notion that black service- or damaged over 950 units of ground ald Davis of Detroit; Cornelius Davis of men were unfit for most leadership transportation and escorted more than Detroit; Eugene Derricotte of Detroit; roles and mentally incapable of combat 200 bombing missions. Clearly, the ex- Taremund Dickerson of Detroit; Walter aviation. Between 1924 and 1939, the periment, as it was called, was an un- Downs of Southfield; John Egan; Army War College commissioned a qualified success. Black men could not Leavie Farro, Jr.; Howard Ferguson; number of studies aimed at increasing only fly, they excelled at it, and were Thomas Flake of Detroit; Harry Ford, the military role of blacks. According equal partners in America’s victory. Jr. of Detroit; Luther Friday; Alfonso to the Journal of the Air Force Maga- A number of Tuskegee Airmen have Fuller of Detroit; William Fuller of zine, Journal of the Air Force Associa- lived in Michigan, including Alexander West Bloomfield; Frank Gardner; Rob- tion, March 1996: Jefferson, Washington Ross, Wardell ert Garrison of Muskegon; Thomas Gay . these studies asserted that blacks pos- Polk, and Walter Downs, among others. of Detroit; Charles Goldsby of Detroit; sessed brains significantly smaller than Tuskegee Airmen also trained at Ollie Goodall, Jr. of Detroit; Quintus those of white troops and were predisposed to lack physical courage. The reports main- Michigan’s Selfridge and Oscoda air Green, Sr.; Mitchell Greene; James tained that the Army should increase oppor- fields in the early 40s. In the early Greer of Detroit; Alphonso Harper of tunities for blacks to help meet manpower 1970s, the Airmen established their Detroit; Bernard Harris of Detroit; requirements but claimed that they should first chapter in Detroit. Today there Denzal Harvey; James Hayes of De- always be commanded by whites and should are 42 chapters located in major cities troit; Ernest Haywood of Detroit; always serve in segregated units. of the U.S. The chapters support young Minus Heath; Milton Henry of Bloom- Overruling his top generals and to his people through scholarships, sponsor- field Hills; Mary Hill; Charles Hill, Jr. credit, President Roosevelt in 1941 or- ships to the military academies, and of Detroit; Lorenzo Holloway of De- dered the creation of an all black flight flight training programs. Detroit is troit; Lynn Hooe of Farmington Hills; training program at Tuskegee Insti- also the location of the Tuskegee Air- Heber Houston of Detroit; Ted Hunt; tute. He did so one day after Howard men National Museum, which is on the and Hansen Hunter, Jr. Leonard Isa- University student Yancy Williams grounds of historic Fort Wayne. The belle Sr., Leonard Jackson; Lawrence filed suit in Federal Court to force the late Coleman Young, former mayor of Jefferson of Grand Rapids; Alexander Department of Defense to accept black the city of Detroit, was trained as a Jefferson of Detroit; Silas Jenkins of pilot trainees. Yancy Williams had a navigator bombardier for the 477th Lansing; Richard Jennings of Detroit; civilian pilot’s license and received an bombardment group of the Tuskegee Louie Johnson of Farmington; Ralph engineering degree. Years later, ‘‘Lt. Airmen. This group was still in train- Jones; William Keene of Detroit; Lau- Col. Yancy Williams’’ participated in ing when WWII ended so they never rel Keith of Cassopolis; Hezekiah Lacy an air surveillance project created by saw combat. However, the important of River Rouge; Richard Macon of De- President Eisenhower. fact is that all of those receiving troit; Albert Mallory; Thomas Malone; VerDate Mar 15 2010 21:47 Jan 29, 2014 Jkt 081600 PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\2004SENATE\S08DE4.REC S08DE4 mmaher on DSKCGSP4G1 with SOCIALSECURITY December 8, 2004 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S12041 Ralph Mason of Detroit; J. Caulton should do all we can to ensure that bill, and I was pleased to work with Mays of Detroit; William McClenic; Ar- first responders can provide their es- them on it and to include it in our in- thur Middlebrooks; Oliver Miller of sential public services and that in- tellectual property legislation. These Battle Creek; Vincent Mitchell of Mt. cludes e-911. The spectrum relocation provisions would provide new tools in Clemens; Wilbur Moffett of Detroit; trust fund will free more space for the fight against bootleg copies of Dempsey Morgan of Detroit; Russell wireless broadband services. This will movies snatched from the big screen by Nalle, Jr. of Detroit; Robert O’Neil of help the American economy by pro- camcorders smuggled into theaters. Detroit; Frederick Parker; Robert moting jobs and education. The Uni- Our bill would adopt a creative solu- Pitts of Detroit; Wardell Polk of De- versal Service Fund provision will fix tion developed by the Copyright Office troit; Walter Poole; Calvin Porter of an accounting glitch that if left unat- to address the growing problem of pi- Detroit; Calvin Porter; Leonard Proc- tended will seriously impede the USF racy of pre-release works.
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