(Photo By Flickr User Raymond M)
Hiram Mann, one of the last Tuskegee pilots, has died at age 92 after a brief illness (he would have turned 93 this week).
According to cbsnews.com, Mann was one of the few remaining pilots of the all-black group of airmen whose story was first brought to the fore in the eponymous 1995 "The Tuskegee Airmen" TV movie. In 2007, they were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for their service. Their story was also told in a 2012 big-screen movie "Red Tails."
Mann, who was from Titusville, FL, flew 48 combat missions as a pilot during World War II in Europe and went on to serve more than 21 years in the Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no black pilots had served in the military. Mann was among the first black pilots and crews to be trained by the U.S. military to be part of 99th Fighter Squadron, the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Medium Bombardment Group. They later collectively became known as the Tuskegee Airmen, because they trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama. Ultimately, 450 of the men trained there served in combat.
Mann wanted to be a pilot from a very young age, and he used his story of determination to encouraged young people to pursue their dreams.
In a ceremony honoring the Tuskegee Airmen in 2007 (The Congressional Gold Medal, the Nation's highest civilian award), then-President George W. Bush said:
"These men in our presence felt a special sense of urgency. They were fighting two wars. One was in Europe and the other took place in the hearts and minds of our citizens."
President Bush then saluted the airmen, saying he offered the gesture to, "help atone for all the unreturned salutes and unforgivable indignities they endured."
Famous Tuskegee Airmen Hiram Mann, dead at the age of 92.
