Soon, bomber crews flying missions

over well-protected strategic German targets began to request the 332nd

to escort them and protect them from attacking German fighter planes.

Sixty-six of the black pilots

were killed in combat, and 32 were shot down and became prisoners of war.

They destroyed or damaged 409 German aircraft along with 950 units of

enemy rail traffic and ground transportation units.

They also are well-known for

having sunk an enemy destroyer with nothing more than machine gun fire,

and for never having lost a friendly bomber to enemy fighters.

The success of the 332nd and

other black units that followed in their footsteps is credited with helping

bring about integration of the armed forces in 1949.

After the war, members of the

Tuskegee Airmen returned to civilian life and earned positions of leadership

as businessmen, educators, doctors, lawyers and political leaders.

Thirty years later, the Tuskegee

Airmen Inc. was founded in Detroit, Mich., as a nonmilitary, nonprofit

organization devoted to motivating and inspiring young people to become

active in society and in the democratic process.

For information on the group's

visit to Flat Rock AME, phone 770-461-0283.