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t1_itlawgt wrote

One of my favorite movies growing up was actually a HBO film called The Tuskegee Airmen.I am talking Laurence Fishburne.I'm talking Cuba Gooding Jr.And so many other amazing actors.It utilizes actual gun cam footage for some of it's scenes that lend it a distinct style and also help hammer home that this is real.

It's not without it's faults but it's well worth checking out.Over the years my Dad and I have sat down to watch it many times and it still hits hard.

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t1_itlbww3 wrote

The one on the far right might be Steph Curry

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t1_itld4az wrote

1578 combat missions, 112 enemy aircraft destroyed in the air, another 150 on the ground and 148 damaged.

Not one of them allowed into the Officers Club, because they were black.

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t1_itlgh6f wrote

Badasses fighting two wars simultaneously. One in the skies over Europe and one at home. Salute.

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t1_itluv9i wrote

The one in the middle looks like Michael Jordan.

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t1_itlzi3h wrote

If this doesn’t speak badass then I don’t know what does. Some of the bravest pilots ever to fight In WW2, and some of the boldest as well

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t1_itm1fi1 wrote

*Twenty years* after the Tuskegee airmen came home, Colin Powell did *two* tours of duty in Vietnam. When he returned to the States and tried to order a hamburger at a restaurant in the South, he was advised to go to the take-out window around back.

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t1_itm2ac0 wrote

After the war, six Tuskegee airmen lived in my small historically segregated neighborhood. Not one of them was allowed to eat or stay at the downtown hotels for another 20 years. Those dudes changed military and social history.

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t1_itm6a55 wrote

My father in law was a B17 pilot. He loved these guys, and they saved his ass on more than one occasion. He was not progressive but he had a great deal of respect for these men.

In the movie Red Tails they portray a young white officer standing up for them to come into a bar or something (don’t remember exactly), that moment is real, that officer was my father in law. Pretty proud of him.

Edit: corrected plane type

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t1_itm7xdi wrote

These dudes were badass!

Just think how much better America would have been had we embraced our differences rather than segregate.

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t1_itmjxdg wrote

I think that was true to an extent with non-white folks in the British Army too, at least some of them. I've heard Indian officers were not allowed in the Club. It sounds like racial/ethnic prejudice was a problem on both sides of the Atlantic, even if it was significantly different.

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t1_itmkorr wrote

What makes the southern states look even more pathetic is when you read about how some states like Iowa had enforced integration for decades by the 60s (all public accommodations HAD to serve them). The South had no excuses for their treatment of others.

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t1_itmud9i wrote

Some good looking men! Learning about the Tuskegee Airmen was my favorite history lesson in my high school history class ❤️

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t1_itmytpa wrote

Of all the dumb stuff Hollywood chooses to write about, why hasn’t a movie been made about these guys yet ? A real one not some straight to dvd bs

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t1_itn0x3y wrote

My dad was a WWII veteran, and I remember he was furious in the '70s when there was a news story about a VFW post (I can't remember where it was located) that turned away a Black veteran, telling him there were posts for people "on his side of town" -- or words to that effect. Dad wanted that post shut down.

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t1_itn151q wrote

The baffling thing is this in comparison to the treatment of black soldiers on the British Home Islands. Brits on the home island for example, at the battle of Bamber Bridge, fought white Americans in defence of black Americans being allowed into pubs and public spaces with everyone else, yet in India this attitude was not carried over at all.

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t1_itn1tzf wrote

They have done a movie about these guys. The 1995 The Tuskegee Airmen movie as well as Red Tails. Red Tails is ... not a great movie but The Tuskegee Airmen movie is good.

Additionally, there is a movie coming up called Devotion about Ensign Jesse Brown who was a USN fighter pilot that died in Korea.

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t1_itn2zff wrote

I read about these intensely brave and focused men. For them to have been treated as badly as they were once they came home was/is a travesty.

America was fortunate to have had these and of course - all other military folks fighting for us. They should have been honored and invited into any Officer's club with gratitude.

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t1_itn3x42 wrote

About to drop bombs and the hottest album of the year

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t1_itn9mj8 wrote

This is a great picture. These men should have received the highest honors possible. Racism is an ugly thing.

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t1_itn9rog wrote

I honestly have respect for anyone that goes above and beyond. Hopefully, this brave and courageous group of humans will always be remembered and honored.

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t1_itnav7p wrote

These dudes were so badass - few today could hold a candle to the courage and strength of these men. Truly.

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t1_itnb1rw wrote

My ex wife’s grandad was a Tuskegee airman. I think he just turned 97. It’s insane. Talking to him is wild

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t1_itndxtb wrote

Saw Red Tails about 2 months ago with my SO. Shit was a fucking blast.

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t1_itng8tc wrote

Hell, Cleveland Ohio had a black mayor in 1968 while the southern states were still tripping over the mere suggestion that people with African ancestors were, y'know, human.

Pathetic. And as you say, no excuse.

Edit: just looked up the year. Nineteen freakin sixty-eight!

Edit 2: Apparently he took office precisely 100 years after the United States finally granted black men full citizenship. Wow.

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t1_itng9ex wrote

Genuine badasses - they had the lowest loss records of all the escort fighter groups. BADASSES.

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t1_itnhovq wrote

My late uncle flew bombers out of Italy in WWII and got tears in his eyes when the subject of these guys came up. He said he and his crews’ confidence went way up when they had these guys as escorts.

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t1_itnhqkv wrote

Remember when the US government gave them all syphillis as an experiment and lied to them about the treatment they were getting?

The CDC and US government don’t do that stuff anymore though. No longer corrupt it’s all clean.

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t1_itnjnm8 wrote

I really wish they would make a Band of Brothers style show on these guys. Also want one about the Japanese units.

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t1_itnrfur wrote

America had an interesting view of its Negro population. They were expected to bear all the responsibilities of citizenship with none of the privileges.

As a proportion of their respective populations blacks had a greater proportion drafted into the armed forces in WW1 and WW2 than the white population.

George C. Marshall had such a low opinion of black troops that he said they were only fit for duty on Iceland in the summer.

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t1_ito004y wrote

>In the movie Red Tails they portray a young white officer standing up for them to come into a bar or something (don’t remember exactly), that moment is real, that officer was my father in law. Pretty proud of him.

Whoa, can't believe that actually happened. I thought that was Hollywood writing yet another "white savior" scene.

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t1_itobapg wrote

That right there is a picture of a whole lotta heroic badassery.

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t1_itp1jlj wrote

These brothers are why I have a mustache. I grew up in awe once I learned their story .

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t1_itp80hn wrote

What covid? Putin-who? Isis? Dude you fell real bad. Come on we got germans to bomb.

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t1_its72nw wrote

My 5th grade teacher (Alton Ballard) was a Tuskegee Airman. I didn't know the significance then but if I did I would have asked him more questions than he asked me. RIP Mr. Ballard.

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