The Tuskegee Airmen were also awarded several Silver Stars , 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses , 8 Purple Hearts , 14 Bronze Stars and 744 Air Medals . Their valiant efforts lead the way to the desegregation of the armed forces in 1948 .
The Tuskegee Airmen entered the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 2008 . Notable amongst the pilots who represented the Tuskegee Airmen when they were inducted was Captain Roscoe Brown . The Museum ’ s P-51 is presented in the personal markings of Captain Brown ’ s Mustang , who was a squadron commander of the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group . During his service , he shot down an advanced German Me 262 jet fighter and a FW-190 Focke Wulf fighter , and he is widely credited as the first pilot to shoot down a jet . He was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross .
Charles Lindbergh , Neil Armstrong and Amelia Earhart . Notable inductees also include Buzz Aldrin , Chuck Yeager , Igor Sikorsky , Jack Northrop , Jackie Cochran , William Boeing , Sr ., Reuben H . Fleet , Glenn Curtiss , Wally Schirra , Bill Anders , Jim Lovell , T . Claude Ryan , Jimmy Doolittle , Bob Hoover , Ellen Ochoa , Peggy Whitson , Patty Wagstaff , and many more . Learn more at www . sandiegoairandspace . org .
The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is the most prestigious induction of its kind in the world and is composed of hundreds of air and space pioneers , engineers , inventors and innovators , along with adventurers , scientists and industry leaders . NASA Mercury , Gemini and Apollo astronauts and Russian cosmonauts are honored in the Hall , as well as famous legends such as the Wright Brothers ,
Tuskegee Airmen
NOVEMBER 2020 | GBSAN . COM 89