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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2014)
Page 8 The Portland Observer Black History Month February 26, 2014 White c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 5 considered the worst crew position on the Flying Fortress. It was de white neighborhoods and forced to scribed by military veterans as re ride in the back of buses. quiring an agile occupant who was The Tuskegee Airmen endured immune to claustrophobia and brave all of that and much worse. While enough to be without a parachute much of more prestigious jobs in the close by. military where considered off limits As the Germans pounded the to African Americans at the time, American bombers, the pilots and Air Force pilot jobs were even more crew had to put fear behind them and so. Fighter pilots were considered fight against insurmountable odds. top notch. They were the elite of the Their very lives depended upon it. In elite. Opening these positions to their heart of hearts, however, they anyone not white was considered had to be wondering if they would impossible. But the Tuskegee Air make it out of this mess. men did not give up hope for a better Suddenly, another swarm of future. They dug in hard and fighter planes came out of nowhere. deservingly earned their wings. The tails of the planes were painted Tuskegee Airmen shot down 111 red. Red was the color of the German enemy aircraft and destroyed an flag. Did they now have a second other 150 on the ground during squadron of enemy planes coming to World War II. They also disabled insure their demise? more than 600 enemy locomotives No, this second wave was actu and railroad cars, a German de- _______ __ _ ally the group of “Red Tailed An stroyer and 40 other boats and The T u skegee A irm e n w ere the firs t A fric a n -A m e ric a n m ilita ry a via to rs in the U n ite d S tate s a rm e d barges. Most importantly, they flew forces. F o rm e d du rin g W orld W ar II, w hen the A m e ric a n m ilita ry w as ra c ia lly se g reg ate d, a s w as m u ch gels.” One by one, the enemy planes over 200 bomber escort missions ° f tfie fe d e ra l govern m en t, th e y fa c e d ra c ia l discrim ination, b o th w ithin a n d o u tsid e the arm y. were shot out of the sky by this all black 332nd Fighter Group. These against some of the most heavily there. Purple Hearts, 2 Soldiers Medals, 14 Don.” Don grewkip a farm boy in highly skilled Tuskegee Airmen in defended targets in the Third Reich. They were known by their P 5 1 Bronze Stars, a Presidential Distin- Iowa. Prior to his militaiy service he their American P51s escorted the Theall-black332ndFighterGroup aircraft with the tails painted a bright guished Unit Citation and a Red Star had never even seen a black man As B24 squadron safely back to their was credited with “never having red. When bomber pilots looked out of Yugoslavia. Not bad for a group a young man he could never imagine base. lostasinglebom bertoenem y fight- their windows and saw those shiny o f men who were allegedly “not that someday a group of African I tried to imagine what it would be ers. Wlule some military personnel red tails, they knew they would make capable of learning how to fly .” American pilots would save his life, like in that turret, but the truth is I ave said they may have lost a .it home safely. In my world, the Tuskegee Air- Sitting with Uncle Don in the warm ‘ can’t. Facing what Don did is more couple of planes, one thing is for W hen the w ar en d ed , the men also did something else huge, glow ofhis north Portland living room than I can imagine. Sitting there in the certain: The Tuskegee “Red Tailed Tuskegee pilots came home with They brought my uncle home. recently, I wondered how he did it. turret you were a sitting duck. The nge s had the best escort record 150 Distinguished Crosses, a Le- Even though he is a second cousin, Listening to him tell the story Icould Germans knew that if they could take of any bomber escort group out gion of Merit, 744 Air Medals, 8 I always called Don Bachman “Uncle feel the cold hair on the back of my out the ball turret gunner they could neck standing up. Terror seemed ever- blow the mammoth American bomb present as Don recounted his terrify ers out of the sky. ing experience one day in 1944. While When I asked Uncle Don how on he had flown many missions, one in earth he could stand it, he simply particular remains fresh in his mind looked me in the eye and said, “I had nearly 70 years later. an optimistic outlook; it wasn ’ t gonna It happened as he flew with a be me.” group of seven American B24 bomb Something else I cannot imagine is ers with the 459th Bombardment the immense relief the B24 crews must Group. Because of their size, B24s have felt to see these Red Tailed were also called a “Flying Fortress.” Angels come out of nowhere and They had just flown out of Italy to blast the German fighter planes to drop bombs on oil factories in Vienna. pieces. Although racial lines were But heavy winds forced the cancella often problematic on the ground, they tion of the bombing that day and they were not a concern up in the sky that were re-routed to Pola, a city at the tip day. Almost a half a mile straight up of Yugoslavia where their target was in the air race didn’t matter. Bravery a submarine base. and skill were the only necessary After a successful drop they ran ingredients to come out of this alive. into a hornet’s nest of enemy planes. Today, Don and his wife, Jane are At 22,000 feet, they were under in enjoying over 55 years o f marriage, tense fire. The seven American bomb having lived in north Portland the ers suffered approximately 60 hits entire time. They have six children, from the German fighter planes that 11 grandchildren and a great grand were attacking. Things did not look child. Their life is full with such a good. large family. All of this would not -Volunteers of At 19 years old, Don had already have been possible without a few been through Basic Training and black men proving to the world that America Oregon Gunnery School. Still a teenager, he African Americans could do any changes lives by had the size to pack himself into the thing a white person could. extremely small gun turret at the bot Thank you Tuskegee Airmen for promoting self- tom of one of the B-24s. The noise bring my Uncle Don home. And determination, was overwhelming with the sound of thank you Don Bachman for your his plane, the 50mm machine guns he h ero ic se rv ice . You and the building strong was firing, and the German planes Tuskegee Airmen are part of the shooting at him. communities and reason America is still the best coun OREGON Swinging around in his turret, Don try in the world. standing for social had plenty of targets to shoot at as Ron Weber is a Portland writer they were heavily outnumbered by (503) 235-8655 | www.voaor.org justice. and long time contributor to the enemy planes. The ball turret was Portland Observer. We nurture, uplift an d empower the most vulnerable members o f our community. ▼ Volunteers of America
