Report: Tuskegee Airmen lost 25 bombers

[DeclinetoState]

So much for the legend that they never lost one.

Sun Apr 1, 7:26 AM ET

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - At least 25 bombers being escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen over Europe during World War II were shot down by enemy aircraft, according to a new Air Force report.

The report contradicts the legend that the famed black aviators never lost a plane to fire from enemy aircraft. But historian William Holton said the discovery of lost bombers doesn't tarnish the unit's record.

"It's impossible not to lose bombers," said Holton, national historian for Tuskegee Airmen Inc.

The report released Wednesday was based on after-mission reports filed by both the bomber units and Tuskegee fighter groups, as well as missing air crew records and witness testimony, said Daniel Haulman, a historian at the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.

The tally includes only cases where planes were shot down by enemy aircraft, Haulman said. No one disputed the airmen lost some planes to anti-aircraft guns and other fire from the ground.

The 25 planes were shot down on five days: June 9, July 12, July 18 and July 20, 1944 and March 24, 1945, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
More (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070401/ap_on_re_us/tuskegee_airmen;_ylt=AtIY1xaJC_ZSZE1RYO4LsiSs0NUE)

I assume this is not an April Fools' Day joke.

[BEST45CAL]

heh...it might be

[Beowulf]

Probably some other peacnik trying to once again discredit the military.

[Riverboat]

I read this in the local newspaper. I doubt it's a joke (the story, that is). Turns out the legend got started in a black-run newspaper in 1945:

. . . the claim that the Tuskegee Airmen had never lost a bomber they escorted to enemy fire first appeared on March 24, 1945, in an article in the black newspaper Chicago Defender. The newspaper's headline read "332nd Flies Its 200th Mission Without Loss."

The information was attributed only to "the 15th Air Force, Italy."

But, is it still an impressive record? Someone more knowledgeable will have to say. Bre'er Fox? Best?

[dPrasse]

Very impressive ... they served our Country in wartime ... impressive unit ...

As Beo points out ... the article is most likely another anti US military piece ...
the article does not state the losses were do to ineptness of the Tuskegee Airmen ...

They fought over hostile skies against a dedicated enemy ...

Very Honorable ...

http://www.ozarkairfieldartworks.com/sitebuilder/images/tuskegee-junction_540_1_-507x265.jpg

[Oldeshooter]

They served their country with courage in the face of the German Luftwaffe and sent many a pilot spiralling downward to take a real deep dirt nap. They were heroes I could care less what color their skin was. They were AMERICAN'S.

[buckeyepete]

And, now we will hear from our 'friends' jack-off-son, sharp-as a-marble-ton, and fart-in-a-can screaming racism which will actually demean the heroism these men displayed.

[DesertFox]

I get the impression this is an article correcting overzealous advocates of the Tuskegee airmen. That they really were good there is no doubt, but somebody either honestly got the poop wrong or was exaggerating just how good the guys actually were. As the man says, it's impossible in a major war like WWII not to lose bombers to hostile fire.

[Rhino]

It's an old article, but I found it interesting.

Historians dispute Tuskegee Airmen's perfect record

Updated 12/10/2006 9:50 PM ET

By Alvin Benn Montgomery Advertiser

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The hallmark of the Tuskegee Airmen success story has been that America's first black fighter pilots never lost a bomber to enemy aircraft during World War II escort missions. Two historians say that's a myth.

Daniel Haulman of Montgomery and William Holton of Columbia, Md., have released documents showing several U.S. bombers were downed by German planes during some Tuskegee Airmen protective flights.

The exact number is unclear, the historians said. Haulman, who is white, works for the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base. Holton, who is black, is the national historian of Tuskegee Airmen Inc., which was formed to promote and honor the fabled fighter pilots.....http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-12-10-tuskegee-airmen_x.htm?csp=34

I still think they were awesome, though.

[DeclinetoState]

Yes.

Similar article discussed here: http://www.freeconservatives.com/vb/showthread.php?t=46037

[Rhino]

Yes.

Similar article discussed here: http://www.freeconservatives.com/vb/showthread.php?t=46037Dang! I miss everything!

Threads merged.