This book honors the Tuskegee Airmen - African American pilots known

as the "Red Tails," who never lost escorted bombers during World War

II. These decorated pilots overcame the prejudicial conclusion of the 1925

War Department Study that "blacks cannot fly a complex airplane." Eleanor

Roosevelt, who was flown by a black Tuskegee pilot, dispelled these myths along

with their success during WWII. Two issues are clarified: 1) the Tuskegee Pilots

never lost a bomber they escorted during WWII, and 2) the difference between

the Tuskegee Experiment and the Tuskegee Pilot Experience. Chronicled are

the events leading up to the Tuskegee pilot training and their achievements

during and after the war, which culminated with each pilot receiving Honorary

Doctorate degrees from Tuskegee University and being awarded the U.S.

Congressional Gold Medal.

This book also documents Tuskegee Airman, Ret. Lt. Col. Hiram E. Mann's

progress from bellman at a hotel, to studying romance languages at Philander

Smith College, to becoming a pilot in the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd

Fighter Group. Lt. Col. Mann's personal diary accounts provide insights into the

struggles of the pilots in the 1940s, the values that anchored their success, and

their experiences fighting the enemy in Europe only to return to a segregated

military and civilian life.