Overview

As the country's first African American military pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen fought in World War II on two fronts: against the Axis powers in the skies over Europe and against Jim Crow racism and segregation at home. Although the pilots flew more than 15,000 sorties and destroyed more than 200 German aircraft, their most far-reaching achievement defies quantification: delivering a powerful blow to racial inequality and discrimination in American life. In this inspiring account of the Tuskegee Airmen, historian J. Todd Moye captures the challenges and triumphs of these brave pilots in their own words, drawing on more than 800 interviews recorded for the National Park Service's Tuskegee Airmen Oral History Project. Denied the right to fully participate in the U.S. war effort alongside whites at the beginning of World War II, African Americans-spurred on by black newspapers and civil rights organizations such as the NAACP-compelled the prestigious Army Air Corps to open its training programs to black pilots, despite the objections of its top generals. Thousands of young men came from every part of the country to Tuskegee, Alabama, in the heart of the segregated South, to enter the program, which expanded in 1943 to train multi-engine bomber pilots in addition to fighter pilots. By the end of the war, Tuskegee Airfield had become a small city populated by black mechanics, parachute packers, doctors, and nurses. Together, they helped prove that racial segregation of the fighting forces was so inefficient as to be counterproductive to the nation's defense. Freedom Flyers brings to life the legacy of a determined, visionary cadre of African American airmen who proved their capabilities and patriotism beyond question, transformed the armed forces-formerly the nation's most racially polarized institution-and jump-started the modern struggle for racial equality.

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9780195386554

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Reviews

<br> Excellent history of the first African-American military pilots...Moye's lively prose and the intimate details of the personal narratives yield an accessible scholarly history that also succeeds as vivid social history. --Publishers Weekly<br> A scholarly but accessible treatment of a significant forerunner of the civil-rights movement. --Kirkus Reviews <br> In several particularly moving passages, veterans recall the heavy load they carried to attain not only personal success but also achievement for their entire race...The personal nature of the examples Moye cites make it a far deeper and richer narrative than typical WWII fare...As both civil rights and U.S. military history, the Tuskegee Airmen comprise a worthy subject, while the author's friendly style should open the title up to even casual readers. --Booklist <br> This book is an important contribution that will be enjoyed by general readers and historians. --ForeWord Reviews <br> Moye, a history professor

Moye does an admirable job in recounting these men's heroic and painful struggle... Takes us beyond the story's superficial feel-good factor and furnishes the details that give gravitas to this saga. James T. Crouse, Times Higher Education Supplement.

Author Information

J. Todd Moye is an Associate Professor of History and the Director of the Oral History Program at the University of North Texas. A historian of the American civil rights movement, he directed the National Park Service's Tuskegee Airmen Oral History Project from 2000 to 2005.

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