Tuskegee Airmen in World War II -- in Italy

Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African American or Black man had ever been a United States military pilot. The Jim Crow laws, a series of racist laws that enforced the “separate but equal” treatment of African Americans, were used as justification for blocking previous attempts by Black soldiers to become pilots. African Americans served bravely and with distinction in every theater of World War II while simultaneously struggling for their own civil rights from “the world’s greatest democracy.”

 

Although the United States Armed Forces were officially segregated until 1948, WWII laid the foundation for the post-war integration of the military. In 1941 fewer than 4,000 African Americans were serving in the military, and only twelve African Americans had become officers. By 1945, more than 1.2 million African Americans would be serving in uniform on the Home Front, in Europe, and in the Pacific (including thousands of African American women in the Women’s auxiliaries).

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African American participation in World War II was disproportionately concentrated in Italy. In April 1943, the Tuskegee-trained 99th Pursuit Squadron, which was later renamed the 99th Fighter Squadron, deployed to North Africa, which the Allies had occupied. A few of these Black fighters were brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. More information is being accrued as we learn of our Brotherhood's presence in this county.

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In North Africa and then Sicily, they flew missions in second-hand P-40 planes, which were slower and more difficult to maneuver than their German counterparts. After the commander of the 99th’s assigned fighter group complained about the squadron’s performance, General Benjamin Davis, a Black man, had to defend his men before a War Department committee. Rather than being shipped home, the 99th was moved to Italy, to the segregated Ramitelli Air Field, used by the Tuskegee Airmen while they were s in central and eastern Europe.

 

They flew more than 15,000 sorties between May 1943 and June 1945. Bomber crews often requested to be escorted by these “Red Tails,” a nickname acquired from the painted tails of Tuskegee fighter planes, which were a distinctive deep red. Sixty-six Tuskegee Airmen died in combat. They had one of the lowest loss records of any escort fighter group.

 

In early 1944, pilots from the 99th shot down 12 German fighters in two days, going some distance toward proving themselves in combat. In February 1944, the 100th, 301st, and 302nd fighter squadrons arrived in Italy; together with the 99th, these squadrons of Black pilots and other personnel made up the new 332nd Fighter Group. Though these were the best-known of the Tuskegee Airmen, Black aviators also served on bomber crews in the 477th Bombardment Group, formed in 1944.

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After this transfer, the pilots of the 332nd began flying P-51 Mustangs to escort the heavy bombers of the 15th Air Force during raids deep into enemy territory. The famous “Tuskegee Airmen” of the 332nd Fighter Group became part of the 15th Air Force, escorting American white pilots of the 79th Fighter Groupbombers as they flew over Italy. As escorts, flying P-47s, and later P-51s, the Tuskegee Airmen were responsible for protecting larger bombers from German fighter planes.

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An interracial romance involving black soldiers and Italian women often resulted in marriages and mixed-race offspring.  The marriage of future Massachusetts Senator Brother Edward W. Brooke to Remigia Ferrari-Scacco was the most prominent example. Brooke was an officer in the Army with the all-African American 366th Combat Infantry Regiment. He fought in Italy during World War II and won a Bronze Star for leading an attack on a German artillery battery. Decades later, Brooke fondly recalled: “The prejudice Negro soldiers faced in the (American) Army was underscored by the friendliness of the Italians, who were colorblind with regard to race.  We were simply American soldiers who happened to be black.”

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A popular myth arose during the war—and persisted afterward—that in more than 200 escort missions, the Tuskegee Airmen had never lost a bomber. The truth wasn’t uncovered until years later when a detailed analysis found that enemy aircraft shot down at least 25 bombers they escorted. Nonetheless, that was a much better success rate than other escort groups of the 15th Air Force, which lost an average of 46 bombers.

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