 Hello from the National Archives Public Programs and Education staff. My name is Sarah Lyons Davis. I'm an Education Specialist at the National Archives in New York City. Welcome to the National Archives Comes Alive Young Learners Program. Today we meet Tuskegee Airman John McCaskill. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American flying unit in the U.S. military, responsible for protecting U.S. bomber planes from German fighter planes during World War II. The story is a fascinating one. At the start of World War II, African-Americans serving in the armed forces were segregated into all black units, and limits as to the positions they could hold included flying planes in combat. But on April 3, 1939, Congress passed legislation expanding the Army Air Corps, better known today as the Air Force. Among the act's provisions was the creation of training programs located at historically black colleges to prepare African-Americans servicemen for Air Corps service. On January 16, 1941, the War Department announced that they were creating the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Fighter planes were then called Pursuit Planes, hence the name Pursuit Squadron. During the war, the term was replaced with Fighter Squadron. The 99th Pursuit Squadron was different. It was that it was to be an all-black flying unit trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. War Department officials selected Tuskegee because it had an airfield and a civilian pilot training program. As a result, the Tuskegee Airmen became the nickname for the World War II Army Air Force units that were made up predominantly of African-American pilots and maintenance crews. From 1941 to 1946, nearly 1,000 African-Americans completed training at the Tuskegee Institute as pilots. Many went on to serve with distinction during the war. The National Archives has many records related to the Tuskegee Airmen, which can be found in the National Archives. This image is from our education-specific resource, Doc's Teach. It shows Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., an air fighter in 1943. It's part of a series of original drawings and mock-ups for cartoons, promoting the war effort during World War II. The original sketches were drawn by the noted Harlem Renaissance artist Charles Alston, the highlight African-Americans. This photo shows members of the 99th Fighter Squadron of the Army Air Forces as they pose for a picture around Zio-Italy. The man in the foreground, with his head buried, is Tuskegee Airmen First Lieutenant Andrew Lane. Our National Archives online catalog also features records related to Tuskegee Airmen, including this one from 2001 of Captain Adrian Spain on the left and 27th Fighter Squadron F-15 pilot and Lieutenant Colonel retired Francis Horn as he gives a thumbs up prior to their flight. Horn is one of the original Tuskegee Airmen. Despite the Airmen's service to the country, the U.S. military remained segregated until President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 in 1948. It wasn't until March 29, 2007 the 300 surviving Tuskegee Airmen received the Congressional Gold Medal. During the ceremony, President George W. Bush acknowledged the men for their contribution to winning the war and he saluted them for their service to the nation. This photograph in our catalog shows President George W. Bush presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to Tuskegee Airmen Earl Middleton in July 2007. And another great resource to learning more about the Airmen is from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library. They recently created a new animated film called We Dare Not Fail, The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen. We have an excerpt of the seven minute film here. The Army Air Corps selects the Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington, to train black pilots. Eleanor Roosevelt, in Alabama for a related event, visits the institute. She said, I've heard that Negroes can't fly, but I see you seem to be doing it around here. Mrs. Roosevelt takes a flight with Chief Alfred Anderson, now known as the father of black aviation. Their photo will be seen nationwide. Four months later, Benjamin Davis leads the first class of Tuskegee Airmen to graduate, eventually becoming commander of the all black 99th squadron. They deployed in North Africa in April 1943. Programs are brought to you from the National Archives Public Programs and Education Team and the National Archives Foundation. You can find information for free teacher and student programs on the National Archives website, archives.gov, under Archives News, upcoming events. And if you follow the National Archives on social media. And please let us now give a warm welcome to John McCaskill. Straighten up and fly right, straighten up and fly right, straighten up and fly right, cool down papa don't you blow your top, ain't no need in diving, what's the use in driving, straighten up and fly right, cool down papa don't you blow your top, yeah I'm in a good mood this morning, actually everybody on the base is in a good mood. We did something today that we've never done before. We escorted bombers all the way to Berlin that had never been done before. We have to think about mechanics for that. They put drop tanks on our wings in it, wait. You know what? If mother was here, she would say, son, where are your manners? So allow me to introduce myself. My name is John W. McCaskill. I'm a major in the 332nd Fighter Group, actually in 302nd Fighter Squadron. Just got back from a mission and as I said, we're all excited about it, but we'll get to that in just a moment. That's the real question is how did I get here? I was born January 26, 1918. I attended the Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School and graduated in 1937. I then entered Howard University in the fall of 1937. I was a history major, but I had the opportunity to do some other things as well. I had the opportunity to be in the ROTC program where they train students to become officers in the Army. And so I was a part of that. So I had, I was learning a military background. I also had the opportunity to participate in the civilian pilot training program. Now the United States knew at some point we were going to be involved in World War II. And when that time came, needed to have pilots who were already trained. Now there was no connection between these universities in the military. But everybody knew, hey, we'd be able to get pilots because we would have a lot that were trained. Some of these programs were at historically black colleges and universities. Howard University was one of them. So I took my elementary training here in Howard, but then we had to go to secondary training. There was only one school that was doing that, and that was Tuskegee. So all the other black colleges that had elementary had to send their students down to Tuskegee for secondary training. And so I had my license pretty much before I even got into flight training. I graduated in 1941, and I got my second lieutenant commission. And so I was lieutenant in the United States Army, and I had my pilot's license. My family was there for my graduation. It was a very festive moment. And guess who else was there? At the time, she was a girlfriend, soon to be fiancee, Betty. Betty was from Louisiana, as was mother. And we met one summer and hit it off. And before I left, I said, hey, Betty, I want you to be my girl. And she's been my girl ever since. I started graduate school in August of 1941, but there were some rumblings that the United States was probably going to be in World War II. December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. So Betty, we needed to get married sooner than later. And so she and I got married May of 1942. I left graduate school in December of 1942. Why? Because, listen, I knew at some point I was going to be in this war. The question was, how would I be? You know, if I got drafted, I would either be in the Army digging ditches, or I would be in the Navy washing dishes for officers. And neither one of those options was fine with me. The interesting thing, my report date for my draft date and for flight training, whichever one came up first, is the one that I'd be at. And I was hoping and we were praying that flight training would come up first. Now, I have to admit, all the men in my family served. I have uncles, my dad, who served in World War I. So we have a tradition in our family of serving. And as I said, I knew I was going to be in at some point, just a question as to when and where. I had to report down to the recruitment station. The corporal tried to tell me that he was going to put me in the Navy and I said, well, I have a letter here saying, and I'm supposed to report to flight training. He says, I don't care about that letter, you're going into the Navy. First lieutenant came out, he says, let me see this paperwork. Took the letter, came back and says, oh, no, this man is going to be going to flight training. That got me in flight training. And so friends of mine, I went to school with, and somewhere I grew up with, we all jumped the train and we went down to Tuskegee. It was a long ride. And we had to sit in the segregated train. But no big deal. We got down, we were too excited about what we were about to do. And as I said, I loved aviation and I was going to have the opportunity to fly. I reported to Motenfield January 1943. Now, we were all down there, fresh recruits. There were guys who were all ready training. There was airplanes flying everywhere. We had to learn basic Army protocol. I already had a leg up on it because most of it, I was in ROTC, so I knew most of that stuff. And so it didn't take long for them to realize that I could potentially be a leader in the group. So we went through our classrooms, stuff, radio navigation, communications, first aid, all sorts of things. But what did I like most? Obviously the flight training. Now, we had three levels of flight training. The first was primary. Primary was a two-wing airplane. It was a, it wasn't a very strong engine, but that's where you pretty much learned how to fly. And like I said, I already knew how to fly. And so you spend about three months on the PT-17, and most of us did. And then you graduated to another plane, the BT-13, which was a basic flight. And basic was another three months and whether or not you were going to go into single and whether or not you were going to go into single engine or multi-engine. I ended up taking the single engine track. And so my next aircraft was the AT-6. It was the most powerful of the three trainers. And I love that thing. I tell you the exhilaration of pulling loops and different types of acrobatic maneuvers was absolutely incredible. So that's what I was able to do when you were able to go through that. And most of the guys enjoyed it too. And let me just say, most of the guys who were there were college graduates. They or had some college. I think they started out wanting you to have two years of college. Then they wanted you to at least graduate high school. Then they had an entrance exam. After they went through the pool of those individuals, they said, look, if you could pass this entrance exam, we'll let you in. So we were all there having a great time. I didn't go into town much. I mean, we were down in the South. And of course, dad was from Mississippi. Mother was from Louisiana. And they pretty much told me how to act down there. I stayed on the campus the most. And I never had any instances of anything that was hurtful towards me. I was always able to find what I needed to find there. Nine months after I started, I graduated December 1943 in class 43L. We had a graduation down at Moten. And I went down, the family came down. They were so proud of me. And of course, Betty was there. And well, she pinned my wings on my uniform. That was a proud moment for the both of us. We continued to train, transition flying. We were flying a P-40, which was a fighter plane. But it wasn't the plane that we would be using in theater. That's what we started training on. So you learn the maneuvers. And then you learn from the lessons of those who were already over there, what did the plane do well, what did not do so well, and how did you adapt your strengths and force your opposing aircraft into its weaknesses. So we had the opportunity. One day, I was flying. And I had a mock dog fight with another fighter. And so we're flying, maneuvering. And the fighter pretty much got, I mean, I know we're not shooting each other, but out maneuvered me. And I rocked my wings to say, yeah, you got me. So we landed, pulled up to the revetment. And the other plane pulled out or pulled up next to me. Pilot got out, pulled the helmet off, and her hair came past her shoulders. I had been beaten by a woman. You're the first that I told this story to. It was kind of hard for me. But anyway, we got two weeks to go home. And I went home and I got to see the family. I got to see Betty. I got to see some of my mentors. Dr. Carter G. Woodson was there. And Ms. Mary McLeod was there. I got a chance to see them. I got to go to church in uniform. And everybody was so proud of me. Of course, my pastor was excited and was telling me how much of an honor it was to defend the country. And I was home for two weeks. Then I went to New York and we all set sail towards England. Went to England, got on another ship, went down into somewhere around in North Africa. But at some point, let me tell you, we went from a ship. And let me just say, the ship, oh, it was great. The food was great. The people on the ship treated us as officers and gentlemen. I had never really seen that before. So we ended up sailing overseas. Then we got on the train. It was OK. We got on a truck. That was not OK. And we arrived in Ramatelli, Italy, early in the morning, about 2 AM in the morning. So we had to pretty much set our tents up. It was cold that time of the morning, but we adapted. We rigged up a heater to keep us warm inside. So for the first few days, we flew. Oh, let me just tell you, we were flying the P-47. I may be able to show you a picture of it. The P-47 was a single-engine bomber, a single-engine fighter. And that was a type of aircraft we flew. It was good for ground support because it was air-cooled. So if you got a bullet in the engine, it didn't really affect the cooling system. That was pretty good. But it didn't have much of a range. The range is only about 350 miles. And we flew that plane, the P-47, for about four weeks. Then we transitioned to the P-51. I like the P-51. It was a faster aircraft, more maneuverable. It was liquid-cooled. So if you got a bullet in the cooling system, you're going to probably have issues. That's the P-51. That is the plane that we are flying now. So let's talk about today's mission. Why everyone's so excited. United States Army Air Force has realized early on that these bombers had a crew of 10, had about 13 machine guns on it. And they thought that if they flew close enough, they could defend themselves. It didn't take us long to realize that was not the case. The German fighters, they learned too. And they learned to attack these planes from the face, from the front. We call it 12 o'clock high. Exposing your pilots, there's no armor there, and they started to decimate our bombers. Now I have to admit at one point, they didn't want us to fly. We were flying down in other places, and then they heard about us. And Colonel Davis went back to Washington and said, listen, the reason why we're not getting German aerial victories is because we're not close to them. He promised that if you put us close to them, we would start to score some victories. And we did. Most of the time, we didn't really know what was going on outside or off the base, unless we got letters from our family members. There was a Life Magazine article that had us in it. It was quite an article, but we proved our own. And it got to the point where bomber squadrons started to request us to escort now. Listen, it didn't matter what color we were. The only thing that mattered was whether or not we could get the job done. To have people ask about you, well, they're requesting, maybe we're getting a job done. So today we flew to Berlin. Berlin is over 1,000 miles, and we would not have been able to make it had it not been for our mechanics. We had drop tanks. Drop tanks were extra fuel tanks that went on the wing, underneath the wing, and we would utilize those fuel tanks first. And then when they were empty, you could drop them off and then go to your main fuel source, which extended our rage, allowed us to go a lot further. What the German fighters would normally do, they'd just wait until we left them and then they would go after the bombers. Sure, they were surprised when they saw we were the bombers all the way into the target. So we flew with those guys and we made it back home. A lot of people said that we weren't gonna be able to do the job. They said that blacks could not fly, that we didn't have the mental capacity to fly. I think we may have proved them all wrong. So for the fact that we were in Germany, it was just like any other day for us, wake up at 430 in the morning, go to breakfast, kitchen is already up and going. We would go to a briefing to find out who we were going to escort, where were you gonna meet up with them, get our bearings and our headings to find out the flight course. Some of us had kneeboards where we were writing all of that information down. And I tell you, never in my wildest imagination would I have ever dreamed of seeing hundreds of bombers in front of me and hundreds behind me and contrails throughout the sky. Oh my goodness, it was absolutely exhilarating. Colonel Davis told us, he says, listen, I don't want you chasing these German pilots around. I want you to protect these bombers with your life. He says, we will sacrifice one life for 10. So we were serious about what we did. We stayed with those bombers. And I think we did a pretty good job. After we'd come home from a mission, we'd go talk about our mission. I'd have paperwork that I had to do, after action reports, probably go eat if the dining hall was still open. Then we pretty much had the run of the day to ourselves. We would find out later that evening if we were flying the next day. That's pretty much how it went. What did I do in my day? Oh, I'd write letters to everybody. We have a mail call. They deliver the mail. And let me just tell you, I probably get more mail than anybody else. I write a lot of letters. Wrote a letter to Betty. Said, dear Betty, we had a mission today. We lost one fighter, but we're still hopeful. To realize that you're fighting for the nation inspires you. To realize that you could lose your life in doing so is just part of it. I think we all know what the cost is. But if that cost is to help make others free, we will all pay that price. But I have good news. I'm gonna be coming home in a few weeks. And when I do, I expect to see you at Union Station. Girl, I miss your red beans and rice and your shrimp a-to-fay. And I can hardly wait to see you. Tell everyone I said hello, and I hope that this war is over soon. I don't normally read my letters to my wife to anyone else. I just let you in on that. Well, listen, I like to stay longer, but I have a debrief. And gotta go talk about what we saw. As I said, I think this is gonna be over in the next couple of months. We'll be glad to get this thing behind us. Well, I've got to go, but thank you so much for hanging out. Hey, any time you got the questions? Hey, just let us know. Thank you so much. I learned so much from everything you shared with us. I was hoping you'd have some time for just a few quick questions. Well, listen, I'm a little major. I'll make time. Thank you. We very much appreciate it. So, where's the Tuskegee Airmen only the pilots? Oh my goodness. I would have to say no. I mean, this Tuskegee experience, it's not just the pilots. I mentioned earlier about the mechanics and what they did, they worked all night to put those drop tanks on our airplanes. But we've got mechanics. We've got armorers. We've got women in administration. We've got Tuskegee Army nurses back at Tuskegee and they helped to keep us through the air. I would say the Tuskegee Airmen is not just the pilots, but it's everybody who had anything to do with the Tuskegee experience. Sounds like a very talented group of men and women who contributed. Well, they tried to get the best of the best. And I will say that some people washed out of flight school who were better pilots. But I don't know why, maybe because I didn't work with so many, but yeah, there were some better and more brighter who didn't make it through the program. Well, thank you. And I will say this, I will say this. I think we all realize what's riding on this. We've appeared in the black press and we realized that if this thing works, maybe one day there will be other black pilots. There will be black pilots in the commercial industry, but we realize it's a lot is riding on this. And for those of us watching, for those watching along with us today, if they're interested, how can they get involved with airplanes and aviation? Oh, there's so many different ways. There is an organization, an auxiliary Air Force organization that started right around the time that the war started. It's called the Civil Air Patrol. And I think that that would, it's gonna probably, if it's around the next 80 years or so, that would be an opportunity for them to learn about flight, for them to learn about leadership. I think that would be a great way of doing it. Going to air shows, meeting pilots. And even if you're not taking lessons, just being around it. Sometimes when people see that you're interested, they'll bend over backwards to help you achieve your aviation goals. I think that there's gonna be a lot of opportunities there. That's wonderful. It sounds like there's a really rich community around aviation. Yeah, I didn't mention it, but I got to meet John Green. And he started a black aviation club here in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area there. And it was for black pilots. And I got to meet him when they dad took me to an air show. There were a lot of acrobatic pilots there. And I got to meet him. That was before I even started flight training, but he was inspiring to me. Yeah, it's a very, it's a magnificent community of aviators. And for the most part, the only thing that they care about is whether or not you could do the job. What an incredible legacy. And we have one final question for you today. This is one we always end on with. What advice do you, a Tuskegee Airman, have for young people today? Oh my goodness. What would I say to young people? One of our pilots, he's gonna be great. Charles Imagi, he's a lieutenant now. Here's what he said. He calls it the four P's. You have to proceed. You gotta have a vision. What do you want to do? You have to be exposed to different things. Then you have to prepare. Whatever it is you want to do, you have to prepare to do it. And then you must perform. When it is time for you to rise up to the challenge, you've got to perform. And always, you must persevere through adversity. Because adversity is no come, it's a part of the game. But I tell young people, you've got what it takes to persevere through any adversity. Four P's, proceed. Prepare, perform, and persevere. Well, thank you for that inspiring advice. I know everyone appreciates it. And it's wonderful to hear. And again, so fantastic to hear your story and learn a little more about this inspiring history and legacy. So now we're gonna take one last look at that Doc's Teach educational activity related to members of the 99th Fighter Squadron of the Army Air Forces, as they pose for a picture at Anzio, Italy. And again, that's docsteach.org. So I hope you can join next month for our Young Learners Program with James Monroe, author of the Monroe Doctrine. And thank you everyone for participating in our program today.