A Gold Star

In a rare instance of bipartisanship, the House voted 400-0 approving the Congressional Gold Medal on the Tuskegee Airmen.

That was the vote in the House of Representatives Tuesday night in favor of Rep. Charles Rangel's bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Tuskegee Airmen. In a body known for its partisanship, it was a remarkable expression of national unity and consensus. As Mr. Rangel notes, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld - who Mr. Rangel has urged be impeached - released a letter urging members of Congress to support the initiative. "I don't agree with Secretary Rumsfeld on too many things. But when it comes to the Tuskegee Airmen we stand shoulder to shoulder," Mr. Rangel, a Democrat who represents Harlem, said in a press release.

The resolution itself tells a remarkable story: "The Congress finds the following: In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt overruled his top generals and ordered the creation of an all-Black flight training program. President Roosevelt took this action one day after the NAACP filed suit on behalf of Howard University student Yancy Williams and others in Federal court to force the Department of War to accept Black pilot trainees."

It goes on, "Due to the rigid system of racial segregation that prevailed in the United States during World War II, Black military pilots were trained at a separate airfield built near Tuskegee, Alabama. They became known as the 'Tuskegee Airmen'. The Tuskegee Airmen inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces, paving the way for full racial integration in the Armed Forces. They overcame the enormous challenges of prejudice and discrimination, succeeding, despite obstacles that threatened failure."

That unit of African American pilots deserves every accolade that this country can bestow on a unit, and to the soliders individually. Their heroic actions were instrumental in the Allied war effort in Europe.

Among the feats performed by the Tuskegee Airmen, this one stands out: the Redtails were the only fighter group who never lost a bomber to enemy fighters. They were requested by bombing groups that learned of the unit's record, and knew that their comfort factor (and survival) was greatly enhanced when the Redtails were escorting them. This, despite the fact that few actually knew that the unit was comprised of solely African Americans. Further:

By the end of the war the 332d had claimed over 400 Luftwaffe aircraft, a destroyer sunk only by machine gun fire, and numerous fuel dumps, trucks and trains. They flew more than 15,000 sorties and 1500 missions. The unit received recognition through official channels, and won two Presidential Unit Citations, 744 Air Medals, 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, fourteen Bronze Stars and several Silver Stars.

In all, 992 pilots were trained in Tuskegee from 1940 to 1946. About 450 deployed overseas and 150 lost their lives in training or combat.

UPDATE:
Incorrectly listed the award as a Gold Star, when the award is a Gold Medal.