I’m Cassandra R in Mr. Salvucci’s period six 20th Century class.

The Tuskegee Airmen came to be as a controlled experiment for the American Military. The purpose of this experiment was to see if colored pilots could serve as well as the current white pilots. The African American pilots in training were assigned to the training institute in Tuskegee, Alabama to begin the experiment. They were trained at a higher standards that the white pilots, which was seen unfair disadvantage. They just wanted fair treatment, but this is difficult when blacks are still seen as different from whites.

In the beginning the pilots in training were not seen as a good idea by many. They were thought too uneducated to understand the complexities of flying a plane. They were doubted until they saved a bomber plane that was not assigned to them who had lost their escorts. Eventually they were seen as good, if not better than, the white pilots.

They were soon not assigned, but requested for bomber escort by white pilots who saw them as their best chance at protection. The Tuskegee Airmen never lost a single bomber plane to enemies when they flew as the escort team. This made many change views on the capabilities of African Americans. They realized that they are just as capable of serving their country as whites. Their legacy lives on because they were great airmen in WWII.