"A must read for any aviation enthusiast or historian." -- Tim Muise, Publisher of Wings Magazine
Samuel L. Broadnax enlisted in the Army Air Corps at age 17 and graduated from Tuskegee Army Air Base with Class-45A in March 1945 as a fighter pilot. One of the celebrated Tuskegee Airmen, he was assigned to the 332nd Replacement Training Unit. He later attended Yuba college, Howard University, and the University of California, Berkeley, and has worked as a newscaster and journalist. In 2006, the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor was awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen.
Broadnax provides a long-needed book….[h]e tells what it was like
to be an African American man of courage and skill in the racist
south and US Army of that time….The Tuskegee Airmen helped edge
their country a little close to its self-proclaimed image, as did
many other whites and African Americans. Broadnax paints a clear
picture of how those young men earned their commissions as second
lieutenants in the US Army Air Force of more than six decades ago.
Their story is well worth reading now….Highly recommended. General
readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates; two-year
technical program students
*Choice*
Inspired by a childhood interest in flight, Broadnax enlisted in
the Army Air Corps at the age of 17. He graduated from Tuskegee
Army Air Base in March 1945 as a fighter pilot, becoming one of the
celebrated Tuskegee Airmen. In this text, he employs skills from
his subsequent career as a newscaster and journalist to research
and recount the history of African Americans involved in aviation,
particularly during the first half of the 20th century, including
Charles Wesley Peters, who flew his own plane in 1911; Eugene
Jacques Bullard, the first African American combat pilot and one of
200 Americans who flew for France in WWI; and the 1945 Freeman
Field fight against segregationist policies in the Air Corps. For
aviation enthusiasts and historians.
*Reference & Research Book News*
Broadnax offers personal recollections and firsthand accounts of
the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and the broader
social and racial struggle represented by these black men….He
vividly recalls the struggle to desegregate the military during
World War II and the hardships suffered by the airmen who wanted to
serve and fly. Broadnax's own love of flying is evident in his
recollections of the rarefied status of flying in the early days,
and his own personal struggle to garner the experience for himself
despite the racial limitations of the time. A unique report
resource for advanced readers.
*Booklist*
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