Today's Special:
Two Blog Entries for the Price of One: $7.99 while supplies last!
(You can read now and pay me back later.)
First serving below.
Yeah the Superbowl was fun, I guess. I liked the office working monkees and the tomato-sauce-bloody cat. My daughters won--in absentia--one of the betting pools at my father's annual Superbowl party back in Indy. ($10--woo-hoo!)
But for me, the highlight of the Superbowl came at the very beginning, as some members of the Tuskegee Airmen were introduced and walked out onto the field.
I know it's not politically correct for a liberal such as myself to say so, but the military has a special place in my heart. I was born in an Army hospital--Beaumont Army Medical Center, Ft. Bliss, El Paso, Texas!--and spent five years of my adult life as an Army spouse. I was an Army civilian employee in Bamberg, Germany directing the family child care program and generally advocating for child and family services on base. I have friends who are still active duty--as well as family members. And depending on the day and my mood, I may argue with you that the military has done more to lift Americans out of poverty, educate low income and working class young people, and foster racial integration than has higher education.
Like I am with most complex issues, I am of two minds about the subject, though.
For example. I am well aware of the scars left on the Black community--and the country in general--by the Vietnam war. (I've mentioned in a previous post how compelling Martin Luther King's speech against the war is, even today.) It pains me to see television shots of soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq and see so many young African Americans--many more than I ever see in any one place on my college campus. I worry that many have bought a certain promise, a promise that many previous generations of Blacks have purchased--a promise of opportunity and advancement in exchange for serving their country in battle. But a promise that comes with some serious fine print...
But--the Tuskegee Airmen.
I do, despite my ambiguous feelings about military Black History, take great delight in hearing the stories of the Tuskegee Airmen. These stories, however, are in danger of dying out as the men who lived them pass away. Hopefully, however we may feel about current, past, and future wars we will find it in our hearts to not let that happen.
Tuskegee veterans embark on mission to record stories
By Rachel Uranga , Staff Writer
More than six decades ago, Lowell Steward dodged enemy fire in the skies above Europe risking his life for a country that refused to treat him as an equal. Steward's heroism and that of the more than 1,000 of his fellow African-American fighter pilots World War II fliers known as the Tuskegee Airmen helped break the military's color barrier while fighting to liberate Europe from the Nazis.
With the airmen aging and their ranks dwindling rapidly, those who remain worry that the stories of their accomplishments will die with them...
(Read full story here.)
More on the Tuskegee Airmen:
National Museum of the United States Airforce page
National Park Service Tuskegee Airmen national historic site info
Great site from Tuskegee University about the Airmen
And finally, only because this is from one of my Indiana homesteads of Gary-East Chicago, read about this program at the airport:
CALLING ALL KIDS
TAKE YOUR FIRST PLANE RIDE ABSOLUTELY FREE!
Join us at the beautiful Gary/Chicago International Airport for the time of your life!
You can join the more than 7000 Young Eagles already flown!
All you have to do is be 7 to 17 years old, get your parent’s permission and call the Tuskegee Airmen/Experimental Aircraft Association Young Eagles Hot Line. You will automatically be scheduled for the next available rally. Every young eagle will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian and will receive an official Young Eagles flight certificate commemorating their first flight. Volunteer EAA or Tuskegee Airmen member pilots are welcome.
Reservations:
Tuskegee Airmen Young Eagles Program Hotline:
Chicago (312) 409-5621
Gary, Indiana (888) 235-9824