Once known

as "angels" for their fierce protection of allied bombers during

World War II, the African-American fighter squadron known as the Tuskegee

Airmen are still working for good causes 56 years later.

In a special

Black History Month presentation, members of the 332nd fighter group will

tell their stories at Flat Rock African Methodist Episcopal Church in

Fayetteville Feb. 25.

The church

Young People's Division will sponsor the program as part of its monthly

youth-led service.

Squadron members

will talk briefly about their experiences, according to Annie Atkins,

wife of pastor the Rev. Charles Atkins Jr.

Members of

area churches are invited to the service at 10 a.m. The church is at 148

Old Chapel Lane, Fayetteville.

Members of

the famous squadron are credited with helping tear down the rigid walls

of racial segregation that prevailed during WWII.

Named for the

segregated air field where they were trained, the Tuskegee Airmen flew

the P-40, P039, P-47 and P-51 fighter planes, racking up a record 15,553

combat sorties and completing 1,578 missions with the 12th Tactical and

the 15th Strategic Army Air corps.

From bases

in Italy, the 332nd destroyed enemy coastal surveillance stations, rail

traffic and hundreds of military vehicles.

Initially rejected

as escorts by some of the white bomber crews, the black pilots soon developed

a reputation for bravery. They stood out because they painted the tails

of their planes red, and word spread among the bomber crews that the "Black

Red Tail Angels" did their job.

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.

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