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BOOKS AND PLACES for anybody who wants to know more about the Tuskegee Airmen back to Louis's page

After Louis passed I did a lot of reading. I wanted to understand the part he didn't talk about. A retired mailman has time, and a library card, and the St. Louis library was very good to me. These are the ones I'd hand to somebody starting out. Most libraries have them or can get them for you.  BOOKS Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American: An Autobiography by Benjamin O. Davis Jr. (1991) The commander's own story, from West Point, where the other cadets wouldn't speak to him for four years, all the way through the war and after. If you read one book, read this one. Louis read it twice. The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation by Charles E. Francis Francis first wrote this one back in the 1950s, and it has been updated since. It's full of names, missions and dates, and it's the book I go back to when I want to look something up. Segregated Skies: All-Black Combat Squadrons of WW II by Stanley Sandler (1992) A historian's book, careful and even-handed. It's good on the fight inside the Army over whether the program should exist at all. Lonely Eagles: The Story of America's Black Air Force in World War II by Robert A. Rose A man from Louis's Sunday school class lent me this one a year ago. It's still on my shelf, which I need to do something about before he reads this page. Blacks in the Army Air Forces During World War II by Alan M. Osur (1977) This one isn't about the flying. It's about how the men were treated, on the bases and off them. Hard reading in places, and it should be. Red-Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack (1995) Written for young people. I gave a copy to each of Louis's grandchildren who didn't already have one, and I read it myself, and I learned things. On videotape: The Tuskegee Airmen, the 1995 HBO movie with Laurence Fishburne. Read Louis's review on the main page first. Then watch it with your grandchildren, and when it's over, tell them about the mechanics.  PLACES Tuskegee, Alabama. Mary and I drove down in May. Tuskegee Institute is a National Historic Site, with a museum for George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington's home, The Oaks, and the campus itself is worth the trip. Moton Field, where the cadets took their first flying lessons, is just outside town. I read last year that Congress voted to make it a historic site too. There wasn't much to see when we went but a field and some old buildings, and I stood there anyway for a long time. The United States Air Force Museum, Dayton, Ohio. At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and it's free. They have a P-51 Mustang and a P-47 Thunderbolt on display. I stood under the Thunderbolt and tried to imagine my brother pulling that big propeller through by hand before daylight, and I'll tell you, it's bigger than you think. Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis County. Louis is buried there, with a lot of other men who served. If you're in St. Louis and you'd like to pay your respects to a crew chief, write me and I'll tell you where to find him. Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. The men themselves started a national organization in 1972, and it has chapters in cities all over the country. The members are getting older now, every one of them. If there's a chapter near you, go to a meeting while you still can and listen. That's my best advice on this whole page. Your own family. If somebody in your family served in the war, in any job, sit them down with a tape recorder this year. I never did that with Louis. I thought there'd be time. Back to Louis's page  |  Write to Willie Last updated September 12, 1999