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
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