A New Generation Of Tuskegee Aviators Takes To The Skies To Tackle Another National Challenge

A New Generation Of Tuskegee Aviators Takes To The Skies To Tackle Another National Challenge

Having once trained the first Black military pilots for deployment in World War II, Tuskegee University is now training another Black generation for another national challenge.

Hoping to address the nation’s pilot shortage, the aviation science program at Tuskegee University in Alabama is currently on track to graduate 50 young Americans as commercial and private pilots.

One of those, Kembriah Parker, has just received a pilot’s license, and is excited to be carrying on the legacy of the famous Tuskegee Airmen.

“There were Tuskegee women working but not flying,” Parker told NBC, “so it feels pretty good to be doing the flying.”

Of the more than 900 Black cadets who were trained as military pilots, 335 were deployed mostly to North Africa and Italy. They flew dozens of missions, and many of the pilots lost their lives in the course of the campaign.

The aviation science course combines ground crew studies with flight training on the tarmac at the historic Moton Airfield, where the Black pilots would have done similar training before shipping off to war.

Even though the legacy of the war resounds today in the echoes of echoes, these modern Tuskegee airmen and airwomen are proud to carry that legacy—to fly with history under their wings.

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Originally afraid of heights, Parker said it was the sense that she was becoming someone greater than herself which gave her the bravery to face those fears and acquire her license, an accomplishment that now makes her feel “8 feet tall.”

WATCH the story below from NBC…