Long Beach, CA – World War II pilot Robert Friend, one of the last original members of the famed all-black Tuskegee Airmen, has died at the age of 99.
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Friend’s daughter, Karen Friend Crumlich, told The Desert Sun her father died Friday at a Southern California hospital.
Born in South Carolina on 1920’s leap day, Friend flew 142 combat missions in World War II as part of the elite group of fighter pilots trained at Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute. The program was created after the NAACP began challenging policies barring black people from flying military aircraft.
Friend’s 28-year Air Force career included service in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He also worked on space launch vehicles and served as foreign technology program director before retiring as a lieutenant colonel and forming his own aerospace company.
thank you service and to all of those in the 332nd Fighter Group,
and the 477th Bombardment Group who were probably the best of the best in any Air Group
Despite racism and overt discrimination these men were true heros, as escorts and in battle. Hurrah for the mighty Tuskeegee Airmen!
There were several documentaries made about the Tuskegee Airman, and how they not only provided fighter escort for our bombers, but also attacked Nazi targets, including the sinking of a German Navy destroyer. The history of the Tuskegee Airman was essentially kept hidden from the American public, until the 1990’s. In the late 1980’s, there was an American History course being taught in a high school, out west, where the students were encouraged to share information about relatives, who had served in the armed forces of the USA, during World War Two. A Black girl stated that her Father had served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and had been a combat pilot, stationed in Italy. The adamant teacher kept insisting that “there were no Black pilots during World War Two”. The girl went home, and brought in photos of her Father, a Tuskegee Airman, in his combat uniform, with his medals, and with photos of his squadron. The ignorant teacher didn’t know what to say, after that.