CAPITAL CLOSE-UP

Airmen,” an HBO drama, which first aired in August
1995. Both productions highlighted the feats of these airmen,
who were battling the real enemy, the Germans,
and often were faced with an enemy within their own
Army Air Forces — racism.
These racist attitudes were documented in official
U.S. War Department documents from the Army
Historical Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., in 1925.
The documents said that blacks lacked the brains and
courage to be combat airmen. Yet, despite this hostile
environment on the homefront, the Tuskegee Airmen
persevered.
“I think the pilots coming out of Tuskegee were as
good as any,” said Gray.
The pilots were called “Red Angels” because their
aircraft tails were painted red.
“We were just doing what we had to do,” said
Gray, who enlisted from Boston in the Army Air
Forces. He graduated from Boston English High
School in 1942.
Lt. Col. Leo Gray, above, as a
Tuskegee Airmen cadet, is still
active with the Civil Air Patrol. At
left, Gray poses for a photo at
Challenge Air 2007 in Fort
Lauderdale.
Former Kansas Wing Commander
Col. George M. Boyd, right, became
a Tuskegee Airmen cadet in 1944.
Impeccable military records
Following his pilot training at Tuskegee, Gray flew
15 missions out of Italy during War World II as a
pilot with the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter
Group. His job was to protect and escort the Allied
bombers flown by white pilots.
“We did that to the best of our ability,” Gray said,
noting the black pilots who got their wings at
Tuskegee destroyed or damaged 409 enemy aircraft,
including 112 destroyers in aerial combat. But they
paid a price. Seventy-eight Tuskegee Airmen were
killed overseas, most of them by ground fire or routine
aircraft accidents. But 12 were killed in aerial combat.
In addition, 34 of the airmen were captured and
became prisoners of war. Numerous airmen were
downed but managed to evade capture by the enemy.
“You never knew when you went on a mission if
you were going to come back,” Gray told the Sun-
Sentinel.
Boyd, a member of Class 45-G, became a Tuskegee
Airman in 1944, shortly after Gray. A native of
Civil Air Patrol Volunteer 30 May-June 2007