"RED TAILS" Tuskegee Airmen January 20, 2012

We have at least one “Red Tail” or Tuskegee Airman in Coatesville and lots of people related to Tuskegee Airmen; including former Coatesville City Council member Ingrid Jones’ uncle Percy Sutton:

While many bomber escort fighter pilots went off to score kills on German planes the “Red Tails” had a reputation for staying with the bombers. The B-17 crews were very happy to see the P-51 Mustangs with the red tails because that meant they would come back. The Germans were terrified of them. 

Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group, "Tuskegee Airmen," the elite, all-African American 332nd Fighter Group at Ramitelli, Italy., from left to right, Lt. Dempsey W. Morgran, Lt. Carroll S. Woods, Lt. Robert H. Nelron, Jr., Capt. Andrew D. Turner, and Lt. Clarence P. Lester. (U.S. Air Force photo)

http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/020926-O-9999G-015.jpg

One interesting thing about the Tuskegee Airmen; because of the reluctance of Army Air Corps Generals to send black pilots into combat, they were the most highly trained and highly skilled fighter pilots in the Army Air Force.