Would you risk your life for a country that considered you a second class citizen? Would you join a military that asked you to risk sacrificing your life but separated you from other soldiers because of the color of your skin? That is precisely what the Tuskegee Airmen did. They were brave, intelligent, African-American men and women who fought for the United States in World War II.
In 1940, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt agreed to allow African Americans to fly airplanes in the military. Before that, African Americans could only serve in the Armed Forces as part of the ground troops. The first African American airmen reported for duty in 1941. They began their training outside of Tuskegee, Alabama. The soldiers were completely separated by race and the two races could not communicate. About 450 African American pilots finished the training. These men were the original Tuskegee Airmen.
The Tuskegee Airmen had an amazing record. They did not lose any of the bombers they were escorting (护航). When the war was over in 1945, the Tuskegee Airmen were heroes. But when they returned to America, they were appalled to find out that they were still treated like second-class citizens. They faced the same segregation (种族隔离) and discrimination (歧视) as they had before they began their training.
Frederick Henry, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, lives in Detroit, Michigan. Because he was from the North, he would often forget the segregation rules of the South. Once, Henry was on a bus alone with a white bus driver. Soon, after the two had talked for a while, a wave of other passengers came on the bus. A problem arose when some white passengers were still standing, which was against the rules. Henry was put off the bus, even though he was the first person to board the bus and had paid his fare.
One thing did change, however. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order prohibiting segregation in the military. Eventually, the Tuskegee Airmen were officially thanked for their amazing efforts in the war.