Tuskegee Airmen

How is patriotism measured? Is it in how well one recites the Pledge of Allegiance? In whether the American flag is permanently attached to the siding of one's home? Or in how close to perfect your attendance has been for each and every election (yes, even the local fire district's)? Service to country has been a reliable yardstick for centuries, military service in particular. By that standard, Philadelphia's streets this weekend will be walked by some convention attendees who are among the most patriotic Americans this country has known.

When you think about World War II, military leaders such as George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur often come to mind. But how much do you know about the Tuskegee Airmen? Now's your chance to learn about the first African American military pilots, who fought valiantly against fascism during the war. The African American Museum in Philadelphia is offering a free screening Thursday night of Double Victory, a new documentary by filmmaker George Lucas about the recruitment, training, and combat missions of the Tuskegee Airmen.

The pilots in the room, young and old, were there to celebrate the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, the black military aviators who, during the segregated days of World War II, escorted heavy bombers 200 times over Europe, and never lost a single aircraft to enemy attack. The success of the 996 black aviators trained at a U.S. Army airfield near Tuskegee, Ala., cleared the way for the desegregation of the U.S. military, enacted in a July 26, 1948, executive order from President Harry S. Truman.

Nathaniel C. Stewart, 77, a retired pharmacist for the City of Philadelphia who was a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, died Thursday of prostate cancer at his home in Germantown. As a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, Mr. Stewart served with the famed unit of black aviators from 1942 until he was injured in a crash in 1944. Mr. Stewart was flying a P-40, a single-engine fighter, on a training mission when the plane's engine malfunctioned. "He used to tell us that his engine tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'Lt. Stewart, I'm going to quit right here and now at 6,000 feet.

They commanded the room as easily as they did the controls of their Mustang P-51 fighters during World War II. The three Tuskegee Airmen, America's first black military pilots, sat up front yesterday at the Media Theater in Media while a film featuring their commentary played to a packed house of 600 instant fans, mostly middle and high school students, but politicians and veterans, too. The film, combined with a lesson plan, is being offered to...

During World War II, a group of black fighter pilots gained the respect of the nation as they flew heroic combat missions. By the time the war was over, the Tuskegee Airmen had destroyed 261 enemy aircraft and had won a total of 95 Distinguished Flying Cross medals. At least 66 of the 900 pilots trained at Tuskegee were shot down and died during missions to stop Hitler's German army, but six of the world-famous airmen were among those honored Sunday at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station in observance of African-American History Month.

They were trailblazers and gave new meaning to "the sky's the limit. " They were the first black U.S. military pilots in World War II, known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Fifty photographs of the Tuskegee Airmen, who fought America's enemies abroad while facing racial discrimination at home, opened Thursday at Philadelphia International Airport. The exhibit, which will be on display through June in Terminal A-East, is a photo essay of seven decades of aviation history. On hand were four original Tuskegee Airmen, named for the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where they trained, an all-black unit of World War II pilots, navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, and others.

When Roscoe Dabney and Ben Hardy met on a train more than 50 years ago, the two men - one a private first class from Lakewood and the other a master sergeant from Indiana - became fast friends. They went on to become military classmates in Texas and decorated pilots trained at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama during World War II in a premier program that produced a cadre of men who came to be known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Although the two corresponded over the years, it was without planning that they ended up living across the street from each other in Willingboro about 30 years ago. Today, Dabney and Hardy are among four Tuskegee Airmen from Burlington County who are being honored at a golf classic at Rancocas Golf Club in Willingboro.

I REMEMBER thinking "The Help," for a civil rights movie, had an unseemly fixation on fashion and furnishings. Because, I guess, I'm a dude. Watching "Red Tails," a World War II movie about the proto-civil rights heroes known as the Tuskegee Airmen, I certainly didn't mind that it was also a movie about really cool airplanes. Doing really cool things, such as flying head-to-head against the German Me 262s, the world's first combat fighter jets, part of Adolf Hitler's growing arsenal of game-changing weapons that the Tuskegee pilots helped destroy before those weapons could alter the balance of war. In doing so, they helped to free the world from delusional master race ideology - ironic, since the black fighter pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group had to fight racism at home in order to earn the right to kill Nazis over Italy, France and Germany.

Looks like Red Tails , George Lucas' World War II biopic about the Tuskegee Airmen, made $19 million over the weekend. Decent, considering its limited opening in the dreaded dead zone between Christmas and the Oscars. I wasn't going to let ho-hum reviews stop me from seeing it. If anything, I went to honor men like Maj. John L. Harrison, one of the 320 surviving airmen (out of about 900) to receive a Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. Harrison saw it, too, and liked it. "I thought it was a superior depiction of aerial combat.

FRANK DELANO Burbage was a proud Marine. So proud, he was able to convince others, including relatives, that they should also become one of the "few, the proud," as a recruiter at the 52nd and Walnut streets office. "He was very convincing," said his brother-in-law, Alfred Burbage Jr., who joined up. Frank Burbage, who served first in the Air Force after being inspired by tales of the Tuskegee Airmen, then joined the Marines and rose to the rank of gunnery sergeant, died March 19. He was 68 and lived in Southwest Philadelphia.' Frank was a typical tough guy with a heart of gold.

George Lucas, the legendary director of the Star Wars saga, should have taken a few down-to-earth meetings with master storyteller Bertram Levy before he made Red Tails , the story of the African American pilots known today as the Tuskegee Airmen. Critics have not been kind to Lucas' World War II saga. They complain about the depth of the characters and the cliche-ridden dialogue. Most damning are the concerns that the movie doesn't delve deeply enough into the battles against segregation that the airmen had to wage just to help defend their country in wartime.

Looks like Red Tails , George Lucas' World War II biopic about the Tuskegee Airmen, made $19 million over the weekend. Decent, considering its limited opening in the dreaded dead zone between Christmas and the Oscars. I wasn't going to let ho-hum reviews stop me from seeing it. If anything, I went to honor men like Maj. John L. Harrison, one of the 320 surviving airmen (out of about 900) to receive a Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. Harrison saw it, too, and liked it. "I thought it was a superior depiction of aerial combat.

Cuba Gooding Jr. is one of the veteran Tuskegee Airmen. That is, the actor plays a base commander in the new, George Lucas -produced Red Tails, an action-packed account of the daring aerial exploits of the famed all-black flying unit of World War II. And Gooding was one of the young African American aces who took to the skies to shoot down Nazis in 1995's HBO drama The Tuskegee Airmen . Both films show...

Prosecutor to take 5th in gun probe WASHINGTON - A federal prosecutor in Arizona intends to remain silent if called for questioning in a congressional probe of a problem-plagued gun-smuggling investigation. Patrick Cunningham's decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious was disclosed Friday after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee subpoenaed him. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.)

TERRENCE HOWARD didn't do much research for his role in "Red Tails. " Didn't have to. The movie's story, of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen, was one that he knew by heart. "I'd written reports about them in 1974, 1975. For my dad. That's how my daddy would discipline us," said Howard. "My dad was big on education, so I grew up knowing about the black pilots who shot down Nazi jets, and flew the P-51 Mustang. For me, the Mustang was always the airplane, not the car. " Howard admitted he needed the discipline of his dad's informal home schooling.

I REMEMBER thinking "The Help," for a civil rights movie, had an unseemly fixation on fashion and furnishings. Because, I guess, I'm a dude. Watching "Red Tails," a World War II movie about the proto-civil rights heroes known as the Tuskegee Airmen, I certainly didn't mind that it was also a movie about really cool airplanes. Doing really cool things, such as flying head-to-head against the German Me 262s, the world's first combat fighter jets, part of Adolf Hitler's growing arsenal of game-changing weapons that the Tuskegee pilots helped destroy before those weapons could alter the balance of war. In doing so, they helped to free the world from delusional master race ideology - ironic, since the black fighter pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group had to fight racism at home in order to earn the right to kill Nazis over Italy, France and Germany.

FOR MT. AIRY'S Eugene J. Richardson Jr., the last few months have been a whirlwind. Manhattan parties with George Lucas, Spike Lee, Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr. He's been an honored guest at several movie screenings, a couple of premieres, walked the red carpet, had his photo taken, given interviews, stood for applause and ovations. It's all well-deserved. And about 60 years overdue. All the recent excitement in Richardson's life surrounds the release of the new movie "Red Tails," an action picture celebrating the service of African-American fighter pilots in World War II, the so-called Tuskegee Airmen, including men like Richardson.

Stewart Fulbright, 92, a trailblazing black educator who piloted a bomber during World War II as one of the Tuskegee Airmen and who later served as the first dean of North Carolina Central University's school of business, died on New Year's Day in Durham, N.C. Born in Springfield, Mo., Mr. Fulbright enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943. He was one of about 1,000 men trained in Tuskegee, Ala., as the first African American pilots, navigators, and bombardiers in the U.S. military.

Airmen's story inspirational Re: "Remember veterans who fought many battles," Nov. 11: On Tuesday night, I had the privilege of joining more than 150 fellow Philadelphians at the National Constitution Center for a screening of the new documentary about the Tuskegee Airmen, Double Victory. While the film was terrific, it was the after-movie speakers who were really extraordinary. Mount Airy resident Dr. Eugene Richardson, one of the famed aviators, was joined by fellow airmen on stage and in the audience.