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A Tuskegee Airman's Story of Heroism and Service

Our American Stories / Lee Habeeb
The Truth Network Radio
November 7, 2022 3:01 am

A Tuskegee Airman's Story of Heroism and Service

Our American Stories / Lee Habeeb

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November 7, 2022 3:01 am

On this episode of Our American Stories, Lt. Col. Harry Stewart fought for his country in WW2, and faced discrimination and worse along the way. But he said he'd do it all over again for the country he loves.

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Find your cheer on the Starbucks app today. This is our American stories and we tell stories about everything here on this show from the arts to sports and business to history. And today we bring you the story of Colonel Harry Stewart.

Harry is one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen and fought in the skies over Europe to bring an end to the war and a victory to the United States. Harry, I'd like to start out by asking you about your early life. Okay, I was born in Newport News, Virginia on July 4th of 1924.

I was born to Florence Bright who was a native of Gloucester County, Virginia and Harry T. Stewart Senior, which was a native of Newport News, Virginia. We moved after I was two years old to New York City, but before that, let me mention about living in Virginia. We lived not too far from Langley Field, which was a big military airfield at the time there and my parents would put me out in my crib and the plane is flying over.

Evidently they attracted me very much because my parents would tell me how I would cool at the aeroplanes. But anyway, that was followed up by a move to the borough of Queens in New York City. We lived about a mile or a mile and a half from airport by the name of North Beach Airport.

In 1939, they changed the name of that airport to LaGuardia Airport, which everyone knows pretty well. That's about where I started. I guess my yen for aviation was those two fields there being near Langley Field, Virginia and in LaGuardia Airport in New York. So it was almost in your blood and in your bones. Yeah, in my blood and bones and I guess you would use the word, the 25 cent word inculcated, you know, in me, you know.

Yep, and I love that 25 cent word. Let's talk about your childhood and your high school library experience in New York City because it turns out it's in your bones, but something happens in New York City that puts it in your mind. Talk about that. It was in the 30s there, I'm thinking about, where aviation was quite a new thing as far as the attraction and the adventure was concerned there. A lot was happening at that time with aviation. And of course, I saw things like people don't see today, the great giant dirigibles flying over New York like the Akron and the Shenandoah and of course, Devon Hindenburg.

I saw that when it flew over New York on a couple of occasions and of course, I lived in New York when it had its tragic end in Lakehurst by bursting into flames. But anyway, that was my attraction to aviation at the time there and with World War coming along, World War II, the clouds in the sky of World War II, there was the draft that was taking place and of course, they were drafting all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 25. Of course, I was still a teenager and maybe 15 or 16 or 17, but I thought of the draft as I got to be about 17 years old and I was thinking about volunteering for the Air Corps when I found out that African Americans were not accepted for training as pilot. While I was in high school at the time, I was in the library period and I picked up a copy of Popular Science magazine and there was an article mentioned in there that the Air Corps had decided that it would permit Negroes to take training as aircraft pilots and that they were going to form a field or a squadron of these pilots down in Tuskegee, Alabama. So I immediately went, I was 17 I guess at the time, I immediately went to the draft board and took the examination to become a cadet there and I passed the examination and of course, after I reached 18, I was called into the service and sent down to Tuskegee, Alabama to begin my training.

And that was the 99th pursuit squadron that we're talking about. Now you take this train ride down to the south and it's not like all things race were perfect in New York because they weren't, but the train ride down south was eye-opening for a teenager. Talk about that crossing of the Mason-Dixon line and what you experienced. Well that's true because in New York, even though there was prejudice, there was not the mandated segregation that you found in the south. So I was completely raised in a integrated neighborhood, I went to integrated schools, I went to integrated social affairs, I went to integrated movies, all that type of thing and the transportation system was all integrated. When I got to the Mason-Dixon line when I was going into the service and that was that imaginary line that crossed Washington DC, that was where segregation was enforced by law at that time there, where I was sitting with some friends of mine, these were white friends who were living in the neighborhood with me who were going in the service the same time I was and was headed south the same way I was and they conducted, came back when we got to Washington DC and he pointed to me and he said you'll have to go up to the front car, that's the Jim Crow car. So the fellows I was with, you know, they weren't familiar with this and said well that's okay, Harry, we'll go up with you.

So he says oh no, he says you have to stay back here, that car up front there is for the colored people and that was my first experience with with the Jim Crow and enforced segregation and of course I lived under those forced segregation rules all the time that I was in the service. And when we come back we'll continue with this remarkable life story, the story of Colonel Harry Stewart here on Our American Story. Folks, if you love the stories we tell about this great country and especially the stories of America's rich past, know that all of our stories about American history from war to innovation, culture and faith are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College, a place where students study all the things that are beautiful in life and all the things that are good in life. And if you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free and terrific online courses.

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There's no question about it. I had no other country. The other thing is that I was very well steeped in patriotism.

I remember it, class, the first class in the morning that we'd had, we'd have to stand by the side of our desks there and there were the blacks in the class and the whites in the class and the Chinese in the class. We were all together with our right hand placed over our hearts reciting the pledge of allegiance. Patriotism was inculcated with me.

This was the only country that I knew. And number three, of course, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States, which read a very beautiful document, even though it may not have been lived up to at the time there, but it was something that I felt as though was coming that I could aspire towards and sometimes see in the future. You wrote in the Wall Street Journal, you felt you were part of something big, something magnificent. You weren't just learning to fly. You were serving your country and you were going to fight. And let's talk about that P-51 Mustang, because my goodness, what fun it must have been for a young man to have gear and equipment and engine and power under the hood that few men in America got to experience, let alone enjoy. Talk about that first experience seeing those P-51s and getting to fly one. It was quite a thing for a 19 year old, because I didn't even know how to drive yet.

You know, in New York City, you didn't have to. But yes, yes, it was something big, because, you know, these big things were, it was in the propaganda that was being espoused throughout the world. You know, this was the war to either bring about the regiment of the Nazi Bowers or the freedom that we live in the United States here. So it was a big thing. And you know, there was something like 11 million men and women under arms at that time there.

So you were part of a big thing, and you know, bigger than anything that has come up since then. Well, I started with a very low-powered aircraft, which was similar for all beginning cadets in the air corps, no matter where they were. But it started with the PT-17, a bi-wing plane. And after you successfully finished training in that one, you went to a higher powered train, which was the BT-13, which was one of those that I talk about emblazoned all-metal barrel-ship planes there. It wasn't until I got overseas that I was introduced to the aircraft that I would fly throughout combat. And that was the P-51 Mustang, which was just an absolute delight in one picture that I saw a one-time movie, The Cadillac of the Air. It was quite an aircraft. Now you flew 43 combat missions with a 332nd fighter group known as the Red Tails.

Talk about your commander, because he's a legend. And we're talking about Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Talk about what it was like to serve under him. Yes, he was a West Pointer, and he was the second or third black that ever went to West Point. But when he went to West Point in 1932, there was still the mandatory segregation that they had in the service. So even though he was in a class of something like close to 400 cadets there, he lived alone because they mandated that there would be no integration as far as concerns. So he had a room to himself, and he ate alone for all four years that he was in West Point.

However, with that onus on him, he managed to graduate 35th in a class of something like 375. It's spectacular. It's a remarkable thing. And how far we've come, still how far we have to come, but it's so unimaginable to so many of us living today that we would be sequestered like this at our nation's finest military institution because of the mere color of one's skin. He said to you all at your briefings, gentlemen, stay with your bombers. What did that mean?

And why did he say that to you? I think it had the hidden meanings there, for instance, that the mission of the fighter groups was to protect the bombers. That was their sole mission to protect the bombers. But however, we had hot dog pilots who were leaving the bombers, trying to get some victories as far as shooting down enemy aircraft or concern. A lot of pilots could get away with that. But can you can imagine what would have happened if this happened to one of the Tuskegee airmen, and as a result of them hot dogging it and going after the enemy fighters there to get the glory of the kills in there, that a number of bombers got shot down because they lacked the protection of those people that left them. So as a result, the war came to a conclusion and the 332nd, which now is known as the Tuskegee airmen, had the best record as far as the safety or loss of the bombers that they escorted were concerned.

We lost the fewest bombers of any of the fighter groups that were over in the 15th Air Force in Italy at the time there, which was quite a feather in our cap. Indeed. And he also said this, and it goes to his convictions. And despite how he got treated at West Point, quote, the privileges of being an American belong to those brave enough to fight for them. That's really something to say, given the treatment he'd suffered at West Point, but tells you a lot about his character. Well, and you know, and I think that's what made him and made me and made a lot of other black Americans a fully certified citizen of the country here with all of the rights and prerogatives and that type of thing there. So in other words, we earned our keep.

Indeed. Let's talk about Easter Sunday, 1945, and you shooting down three German fighters. Talk about that day. We were on a bomber escort mission up into Austria. And the command mentioned to us that at the end of the mission, there might be a segment of us fighters that are released to leave the bombers and go on what's known as a fighter sweep.

A fighter sweep being is looking for targets of opportunity. Well, there were seven of us who were designated to leave the bombers. We were looking for trouble and we found it. We ran into a horde of fuck wolf one nineties, but three of us got shot down. One of the fellows got shut down. He actually, his plane was damaged pretty badly, but he managed to make it back to friendly portion of Yugoslavia. The second pilot I'm thinking of his name was William Armstrong.

He was killed instantly. And the third pilot was a fellow by the name of Walter Manning from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had to bail out. And when he landed, he was picked up by a mob of Austrians that took him and put him in the local jailhouse of the nearest town.

A couple of nights later, a mob formed again and they broke into the jail and dragged Walter out and they lynched him from a local lamppost out in the street there. And you've been listening to Colonel Harry Stewart, and he's one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen. Talk about some storytelling folks. We're lucky to hear voices like this. It's why we do this show. So you can hear stories like this. And stories like this can be honored and remembered. When we come back, we're going to continue with remarkable American life.

Colonel Harry Stewart's life, his story here on Our American Stories. Everything is more expensive these days. With inflation rising, Medicare beneficiaries living on a fixed income are concerned about increasing costs. Make your Medicare dollars go further by picking the right plan. Start by looking for a plan that gives you more. For example, many Medicare Advantage plans include dental, vision, and hearing benefits. While original Medicare doesn't, learn more about plan costs beyond premiums such as deductibles, co-pays, and drug coverage. Find that right plan for you.

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Talk about that in terms of this fighter sweep that you did. This was happening at the same time that these other three fellows got shot down but what had happened is that I had got in a good position. I don't think that the two of these Focke-Wolf aircraft, the German aircraft saw me and I pulled up behind them and I hit both of them with the 50 calibers that I had and pieces came off of the plane there and that type of thing. But at the same time, just after that, I saw these traces coming by me and I looked back and there was this German aircraft on my tail and I was sure that I had it because he was in a position where you would say he just can't miss. So I went into a very steep dive with the aircraft and I pulled all sorts of maneuvers to try to get away or out of the gun sight of this German aircraft there and I pulled a steep turn very, very close to the ground there and evidently the pilot who was behind me, the German pilot, lost control of this plane and hit what they call a high-speed stall but he went into the ground. When I got back to the base there, the intelligence officer said, well you get credit for that aircraft, just let us, you shut them down. So that's where I got the three thrown and that's how I got the DFC and actually as far as shooting down is concerned, I shot down two planes but I got credit for a third one which they said would not have happened had not I been in combat with the plane there.

So they gave me credit for it. That's a great story and you called winning the war a double V. What did you mean by winning the double V? We had that victory overseas there but we also had a victory of proving ourselves that we also were combatants who did a lot to win the war there and that we paid our dues there so it was a victory on both sides as far as our investment in this country is concerned and in regards to the racial discrimination that we had there but we proved ourselves and that was the part that we meant by the double victory and that proving ourselves has even turned out to be greater as time has gone on and as we've gone into this new century here and more recognition has been given to the Tuskegee Airmen because well before getting out of the service and it was in 1949, General Vandenberg who was the chief general of the air force at the time, they had decided he would resurrect a game that was in the Air Corps before World War II and that was a game similar to what we call today Top Gun and he dictated that three pilots be sent from each of the fighter groups that they were in the continental United States here out to the environs of Las Vegas and Nevada that's out the desert there and compete in a aerial gunnery competition and this aerial gunnery competition would take place in 1949 it would be the first Top Gun contest and there would be these 12 fighter groups that would compete three men representing each of these fighter group and at the end of the tournament there turned out that the three from the Tuskegee Airmen fighter group turned out to be the winners. And that had to make you proud. Talk about life after the war and your service in the military and beyond.

It was the same old family as far as the racial attitudes of concern in the country. I thought that with my flying time that I had and with the record that I had I could go ahead and get a job probably flying on the airlines and I did apply with two airlines and I was rejected because of my race and they admitted that they weren't prepared to go ahead and take colored or Negro or African American on as a pilot in the plane. One just dismissed me outright the other the personnel officer tried to explain that it wasn't the policy of the company but if I were to get on the plane and walked into the cockpit it would disturb the passengers probably they would probably lose faith in the airline and and not fly the airline any longer. So it was a it was a business thing and that was it but I decided to go back to school. I had to go back to high school because I never had my high school diploma. I had quick high school in order to go into the service there and I did make up my credits that I needed for the academic course there and I was qualified then to go ahead and enter engineering school which I did New York University College of Engineering. I got my engineering degree and after I got my degree everything fell in line very well for me.

I was hired with no no problem by a number of very prestigious companies and ended up as a vice president of a oil and gas consortium in the United States here and that that was about it. I did I did continue a little bit of flying after that. I belong to a Tuskegee organization out here the Tuskegee Airmen Museum who were given some aircraft by the Air Force and I dusted off my license and re-qualified myself in these aircraft.

They're called motor gliders and I used to take local kids up in the local neighborhood here and give them an orientation in the area aircraft. They're hoping that someday it might lead them on to getting a good job in the field of aviation which some of them did and some of them are pilots on major airlines today. Well it's a heck of a story and my the story of you volunteering for this is very dangerous duty by the way. I'm not sure that most Americans understand that people who volunteered to fly were really taking some of the greatest risks of anybody. My mother's brother didn't qualify to fly but he qualified to jump out of those planes and the only son of her father was killed jumping out of those planes a few days a few days after D-Day but he knew what he was getting into and wanted to do it like so many of the young men did at the time but talk about the the knowledge of the danger of of what you were getting into because you all knew how dangerous flying planes in combat was didn't you? Yes but you know what we were we were teenagers and you know it's an attitude we have as teenagers or something like that we're we're sort of invincible and bad things happen to other people you know that type of thing so that's why they take these people so young and then there's that feeling of camaraderie and group belonging and that type of thing when I used to see the movies that we went to and the heroes in the movies those guys like John Wayne and Pat O'Brien and James Cagney and people like that they made you feel really good in seeing them as heroes and protecting the country and you felt the same thing when you went in the service that you would like to emulate those guys even though they were in the movies there you would like to emulate them in the in real life you know I'm heading for 96 now I'll be 96 on the 4th of July and I feel just fine all I can say is that I've had a blessed life I wouldn't change it for anything and I feel as though I've really left nothing behind. A blessed life indeed you've been listening to Colonel Harry Stewart and we're blessed to hear his voice he's not a character from a movie folks this is what a real life hero sounds like in the humility with which he told his own story well need we say more Colonel Harry Stewart's story here on Our American Story How does a 65 inch Vizio 4k smart TV with award-winning quantum color sound?

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Whisper: small.en / 2022-11-07 05:37:21 / 2022-11-07 05:44:13 / 7

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