Posted Date: July 2, 2008

Area Tuskegee Airmen Chapter To Observe 25th Anniversary In Aug

  The Tidewater Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. will celebrate more than 25 years of service to the Hampton Roads community with a 25th Anniversary Black Tie Gala on Saturday, August 9, 2008 at 6 p.m. at the Newport News Marriott at City Center. The theme is “Giving History a Future" which emphasizes the contributions of African Americans in aviation from the challenges of WWII to full participation in the U.S
Space Program today.
  Guest Speakers will be Howard Baugh, a P-51 WWII Pilot, and Leland D. Melvin, who recently was a crew member of the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station.  Tickets are $75.00.  Special hotel and  table reservations are available. For more information, call  757 286 0277.
   The Tidewater Chapter was chartered in 1981 at Langley Air Force Base by a group of active duty and retired Air Force members along with a cadre of local original Tuskegee Airmen. From that small group of military professionals the Tidewater Chapter has grown to an organization of civilian, active and retired military members committed to motivating African American youth to pursue careers in science and aviation.
   The chapter seeks to preserve the legacy and spirit of the original Tuskegee Airmen through community service, fostering academic excellence through financial support to college-bound youth, and preserving the history of the Tuskegee Experience.
  The Tuskegee Experience (1941-1949) began with the recruitment and assignment of a highly select population of over 1000 African Americans to Tuskegee, Alabama for an Army Air Corps aviation unit established exclusively for African Americans to fly combat in WWII. The distinctive accomplishments of these African American patriots in the European Theatre of Operations paved the way for African Americans to pursue careers in aviation. Their pioneering exploits culminated in the Tuskegee Airmen being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush in 2007.

 

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