h^i/ f The Tuskegee Airmen and the Integration of the Armed Forces *?^^-/jL* An Oral History of Lieutenant Colonel Woodrow W. Crockett OH SAY 1999 By Austin Saylor Saylor, Ausfiu Austin D. Saylor February 3. 1999 A.P. U.S. History Mr. Whitman V/DDDRDW W. CROCKETT Al \D THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEI J THE INTEGRATION OF THE ARMED FORCES Page 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Intefviewee Release Fonn and Contract Page 2 Statement of Puipose Page 3 Biography - Lieutenant Colonel Woodrow W. Crockett Page 4 Historical Contextualization Page 5 Inteiview Transcript Page 18 Interview Analysis Page 49 Bibliography Page 57 W ^"^^'^ ST. ANDREW'S EPISCOR-VL SCHOOL INTERVIEWEE RELEASE FORM: Tapes and Transcripts I, lUmhiPM^J^L^^S^U^—' do hereby give to the Saint Andrew's Episcopal name of interviewee School all right, title or interest in the tape-recorded interviews conducted by .A3JJh.^BflQ}C on __Z£?/k^/^/_„. I understand that those name of intei'viewer date{s)' ' interviewes will be protected by copyright and deposited in Saint Andrew's Library and Ai'chives for the use of future scholars. 1 also understand that the tapes and transcripts may be used in public presentations including but not limited to audio or video documentaries, slide-tape presentations, exhibits or articles. This gift does not preclude any use that 1 myself want to make of the information in these recordings. CHECK ONE: Tapes and transcripts may be used without restriction J^::^^. Tapes and transcripts are subject to the attached restrictions . SignatLue of Interviewee Date Address „dj!}^^bMi^^yA ^1^?A 1 yil:3J3.Z'^lH^ Telephone Number \ 8804 Postoak Rond • Potomac, Maryland 20854 • (301)983-5200 • Fas: (301) 98.3-4710 • http://wuiv.sacs.com STATEMENT OF PURPOSE This oral histoid project is intended to enhance the existing scholarship on the Tuskegee Airmen, and does so by presenting a viewpoint of the tmi£:4}eriod from an actual participant in the events. Through dialogue with such^S^rsorts^^wham oral historian Studs Terkel calls the"living reposhories of the past," the perceptions pFan era can be made as complete as possil V_ y Page 4 BIOGRAPHY; Lieutenant Colonel Woodrow W. Crockett, U.S. Air Force (Ret.) Woodrow W, Crockett was born in Texarkana, Arkan^'sas and attended Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School and Junior College in Little Rock, Aikanpas. After studying and teaching mathematics in both high school and junior college, Mr. Crockett joined the U. S. Army as a private in August, 1940. Lie was assigned to the 349"" Field Artilleiy Group, the first black field artilleiy unit in the Regular Army, and was later selected as the Model Soldier of the Regiment. He applied for entrance into the aviation program at the Tuskegee Army Air Field, and was transferred to the air base in Alabama in August, 1942. Upon graduation from the Flight Program, Lieutenant Colonel Crockett was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was a member of the lOO"' Fighter Squadron, JSZ'"" Fighter Group, nicknamed th&Red Tails. During World War II, he fought in Italy and Southern France, completing 149 combat missions during a fifteen month tour of duty. He flew 45 combat missions in the Korean War from 1952 to 1953. During his thirty years of military seivice. Lieutenant Colonel Crockett has held a variety of positions, including Squadron and Group Operations Officer, Flying Safety Officer, Squadron Commander, and Radiological Safety Officer. Colonel Ciockett was a member of the B-17 crew airborne over each atomic blast test. He earned his Mach 2 card on June 2, 1959, for having flown the F-106 Delta Dart at twice the speed of sound, or 22 miles per minute. Colonel Crockett has been awarded, among other honors, the Distinguished Flying Cross, as well as two Soldier's Medals for bravery. The Soldier's Medals were awarded after he freed fellow pilots from burning aircraft in 1944 in Italy and 1953 in Korea. Lieutenant Colonel Crockett was inducted into the State of Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame on October 15, 1992. Page 5 HISTORICAL CONTEXTUALIZATION: The Tuskegee Airmen and Their Struggle for Equality From the vei"y beainnins, African-Americans were used in combat in the United States. The key word, however is used, for blacks did not truly fight in American wars, but instead were assigned the menial tasks required to run an army. They served as cooks, as attendants to officers, and also provided much of the manpower needed to dig trenches and, later, build airstrips. The first war that actually recruited black soldiers for active combat duty was the Civil War, in which more than 186,000 black soldiers served in the Union Army, and nearly 38,000 died. The 54'^ Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the most famous umt, proved with their heroic efforts during the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina, that blacks were just as capable as white soldiers in combat. Although the Civil War marked the first widespread use of black soldiers, discrimination was intense, and the troops were treated poorly. Equality and respect had not yet been attained. The success of the black troops during the Civil War led Congress to form the all-black 9"' and 10"* Cavalry Regiments. This outfit, nicknamed the "Buffalo Soldiers," was sent West to fight the Native Americans still remaining in the Great Plains, Arizona, and Texas. Major General Lucius Theus, USAF (Ret), when recalling the monument to these soldiers at the Tuskegee Airman National Museum in Detroit, Michigan, said, "Native Americans named them [Buffalo / Soldiers] because their wooly hair resembled the manes of buffaloes. The name was really a sign of respect and fear as they were regarded as great warriors" (Cooper, 15). Although the Native Americans found much to admire about the "Buffalo Soldiers," the U.S. government apparently did not, as no recognition was given to the black troops for their dedicated service. Thus, after Page 6 two occasions in which African-Americans had served in the U.S. military, I'espect and even basic acknowledgment were still denied them. During World War I (1914-1918), black troops were humiliated and degraded throughout their service in Europe. The U.S. government went to great lengths to maintain the subordinate position of blacks both in the inilitary and in American society. The great majority of black enlisted men were relegated to labor and service brigades, but even those who won the opportunity to actually fight were treated harshly. General John J. Pershing's office went so far as to send a memorandum entitled "To the French Military Mission - Secret Information Concerning Black American Troops," which, among other things, advised the French not to "eat with blacks, shake hands, or seek to meet whh them outside of militai'y service," and "do not commend 'too highly' black troops in the presence of white Americans' ((Mullen, 44). After black troops returned home, they were greeted by a revived Ku Klux Klan, and they discovered that no advances had been made in civil or human rights. More than seventy African-Americans were lynched the year following the end of the war (1919), and race riots became increasingly common (Mullen, 50). This first large-scale involvement in an American war, then, was discouraging and humiliating to African-American soldiers and citizens. Two decades later, in 1939, as the war mobilization began to build in America, many African-Ainericans, like other Americans, started to participate in the effort. Despite the // 0 ' disappointing legacy of mistreattnent from World War I, black citizens purchased war bonds, served in the Red Cross (which operated segregated blood banks), and worked in war industries. As some blacks participated in the war effort, however, others were calling for desegregation of the armed forces and other basic freedoms. They maintained that two wars must be fought, one Page 7 against Hitler and the other against racism in America. This concept was known as "Double V" (that is, two victories) and was widely reported in the black press (Mullen, 54). Some black civilians turned against the soldiers, whom they regarded as traitors to their race for fighting for a country that denied them basic rights. Many black hotel owners in the South even refused lodging for black soldiers. In the late 1930's, with conflict in Europe quickly escalating into the Second World War, America began to prepare to enter the war. In 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt, declaring that "h has become increasingly clear that peace is not assured" and that "this generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny," announced the creation of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) (Francis, 25). These programs were intended to aid in the national defense build-up by increasing the number of civilians who had private pilot's licenses and who would therefore be more quickly trained in case of war. Despite establishment of these programs, blacks continued to be denied entry into thei^Ay. In April 1939, Congress strengthened the power of the CAA and the CPTP by passing Public Law 18, which included a provision for the military to contract whh civilian aviation schools to provide basic flight training (Cooper, 460). Senator Hariy Schwartz of Wyoming proposed an amendment that would allow the lease of flight equipment to schools approved by the CAA for the training of black pilots. This proposal was met with controversy, and an intense debate ensued between the AAC and the national black leadership, which included the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The War Department, which headed the AAC, decided in June 1939 to give in to the proposed amendment to Public Law 18.