WWII‘s Tuskegee Airmen invited to inauguration

[bigtree]

10 December, 2008


"I want to come hopping, skipping and jumping!" said 92-year-old Spann Watson, an airman from Westbury, N.Y. who flew above Pennsylvania Avenue for President Truman‘s inauguration. "We had a part in changing these United States."

"It makes us very very proud," said Harrison, of Philadelphia. "And it sort of compensates for a lot of the things that we had to endure in the early days."

After fighting the Nazis, they returned home to face discrimination. Watson, the New York airman, said blacks weren‘t allowed to participate in victory parades with other troops returning from Europe during World War II.

Each member will receive two tickets to the Jan. 20 inauguration, and they have 10 days to decide if they will attend.

Robert Rose, first vice president of Tuskegee Airmen, said he believes the last time the airmen were officially invited to an inauguration as a group was for Truman‘s swearing-in 1949.


http://www.onelocalnews.com/newhopecourier/stories1/index.php?action=fullnews&id=53632

[dflprincess]

1. The article is very short and doesn't mention how the surviving airmen will get there

Given their ages, I would hope they would have special escorts. I doubt that many of them are up to dealing with the crowds and they certainly deserve some extra consideration.

[NOLALady]

2. I'm sure our local hero will be there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQp_SdYC-mg
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2007/sep/27/news/chi-0927tuskegee_fill_sep27


He's enjoying the long overdue recognition. He was honored locally last year.

[bigtree]

3. Robert Rose, first vice president of Tuskegee Airmen,

. . . speaking from his home in Bellevue, Neb., said his local chapters are contacting airmen. Most are in their late 80s and early 90s, making travel difficult. The logistics involved, such as finding increasingly expensive and scarce hotel rooms, also may prevent some from showing up.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081211/NEWS03/312119890/-1/XML15