The Tuskegee Airmen and Beyond

It follows the earliest struggle for liberty from slavery,when some 200,000 African American slaves and freemen fought on both sides in return for the promise of freedom. Some, but pitifully few, did achieve their freedom, though most returned to the lot that had been dealt to them by their owners and the abolition of slavery did not give them equality. The Spanish American War was followed twenty years later by the "GreatWar" - the war to endall wars, where over three hundred African American soldiers were awarded the Croix deGuerre, France's highest award for valor, yet only one was awarded the Medal of Honor by the United States - seventy-three years after his death on the battlefield. World War II brought the first-ever all-black-crewed fighter squadron, the 99th, followed by the 332nd Fighter Group, the most highly decorated group of men in their theaters of war. These men were also the catalyst of political action to bring desegregation to the Armed Forces, by means of President Harry Truman's Executive Order 9981, which preceded the Civil Rights Act by twenty years. Since President Lyndon Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act into law, we have seen sometimes great, but faltering, steps forward. African Americans have finally risen to the top in their chosen careers - four-star generals, astronauts and ultimatelyan African American President. This book is that story.