Images of Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site – Alabama, taken in June 2024.

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site honors the African American men and women who were trained for service in the Army Air Corps (AAC). Throughout history, most African Americans were either denied the chance to serve or were assigned to non-combat roles. That changed in July of 1941 when 13 men were assigned to flight training at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. By the time World War II ended, 994 men, later known as Tuskegee Airmen, had become pilots, and approximately 17,000 men and women had been trained as mechanics, communications, electrical systems, armament systems, medical technicians, cooks, clerks, parachute riggers and navigators to name a few. All served with honor, and all were instrumental in campaigns throughout the war.

Segregation was still enforced until 1948 when, because of the exemplary service of the Tuskegee Airmen, President Harry S. Truman, signed Executive Order 9981, calling for “equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.”