Remembering the Tuskegee Airmen

Transcript:

hey were pioneers who blazed a trail through the war torn skies over Europe. Before the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, no black American had ever been a U-S military pilot…after the Tuskegee Airman, the U-S military would never be the same. 

Widespread discrimination prevented African Americans from flying during the First World War. For the next twenty years, the pressure would slowly build to allow black pilots to serve in the sky. Finally in 1941 the Army launched what it called “an experiment” -- the segregated 99th Fighter Squadron. That squadron would train at an airfield near Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and thus, the Tuskegee Airmen were born. To be clear, not every Airman was a pilot...for every man who flew, there were ten keeping him in the air, men and women, military and civilian, who served on ground duty support , like mechanics, supply personnel, cooks, and more. And not all were black...some were white, or Latino, or Native American. 

One notable woman who helped the Tuskegee Airmen take off into history was the First Lady of the United States. Eleanor Roosevelt visited the squadron in 1941, and insisted a black pilot take her up, and that photographs would  be taken. Those photographs helped convince President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to send the unit into action, first in North Africa, and later in Europe. 

The 99th, along with other squadrons, would later form the 332nd Fighter Group in Europe -- their planes boasting tails painted bright red. In Europe the airmen would fly more than 15-thousand sorties, completing an unequalled 15-hundred combat missions, all while showing great courage, skill, and dedication. Among their decorations: one hundred and fifty Distinguished Flying Crosses. Squadron leader Benjamin O. Davis Jr. would eventually rise to the rank of three star general, receiving a fourth star post retirement.

The Tuskegee Airmen were deactivated in 1946, the experiment a great success. But more than that. The brave fliers had proved themselves in combat, and their performance helped pave the way for desegregation of the military in 1948.

Today the National Park Service’s Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama, helps tell their story, and preserves their memory for all time. 

Among the many contributions by African Americans to the country are their service and sacrifice in times of war. We pause to remember the Tuskegee Airmen. Breaking barriers and fighting Nazis, the proud pilots of the 99th Fighter Squadron earned the respect of their fellow pilots and wrote their names in the history books. Their success helped pave the way for the desegregation of the military after World War II.

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    04/11/2025

    This Week at Interior April 11, 2025

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    This Week at Interior

    President Trump this week signed Executive Orders aimed at achieving the Administration's goal of American Energy Dominance with a renewed focus on coal. One of the orders directs Interior to identify untapped coal resources on federal lands, while removing barriers to mining and leasing.

    The value of untapped coal in our country is one hundred times greater than the value of all the gold at Fort Knox, and we're going to unleash it and make America rich and powerful again.

    To advance the President Trump's order, Interior will implement a series of policy moves and regulatory reforms to position coal as a cornerstone of the nation’s energy strategy by ensuring federally managed lands remain open and accessible for responsible energy development. Secretary Burgum likened the actions to creating a new Golden Age of "Mine, Baby, Mine," saying that  

    Interior is unlocking America’s full potential in energy dominance and economic development to make life more affordable for every American family while showing the world the power of America’s natural resources and innovation.  

    Among the actions are ending the moratorium on federal coal leasing, reopening federal lands in Montana and Wyoming to coal leasing, removing regulatory burdens for coal mines, and providing royalty rate relief.  

    Interior this week announced the disbursement of more than $13 million in grants to support the reclamation of abandoned mine lands, furthering the Trump administration’s commitment to American Energy Dominance, environmental stewardship and economic renewal in coal communities. The funding is administered through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and it will support job creation and economic revitalization efforts in North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.  

    Interior this week announced the release of updated oil and gas reserve estimates for the Gulf of America's Outer Continental Shelf. The new data and analysis over the last couple of years reveal an additional 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2021, bringing the total reserve estimate to 7.04 billion barrels of oil equivalent. That figure includes 5.77 billion barrels of oil and 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Earlier this year, the Trump administration announced plans to significantly increase oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf, and just last week Secretary Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to hold the first Gulf of America oil and gas lease sale since its renaming in February.

    Secretary Burgum held his first All Hands meeting this week at Interior's historic Yates Auditorium. The Secretary saluted the notable accomplishments the Department has achieved in making the transition from the previous administration, and expanded on his vision that innovation, rather than regulation, is the cornerstone of American prosperity.

    The thing that has led our country for 250 years is innovation, doesn't matter whether it's the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution our ability to innovate in a way that allowed us to win World War One and World War II and lead the world and become the world leader, all of it was innovation based, and we have to get back to those roots. That's how we win. That's how America wins in this world, that's how we win again for our children and our children's children, is we win with innovation.

    U.S. Geological Survey crews were deployed late last week and this week to monitor flood impacts after storms dumped heavy rain across portions of the southeast and Midwest. Crews are still hard at work gathering flood measurements in Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio, as well as West Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi, where as much as ten inches of rain fell causing massive flooding. The gages provide information for the National Weather Service to predict when dangerous flooding might occur and allow for warnings to vulnerable residents, as flood crests will continue into early May.

    And our social media Picture of the Week, California's Battery Point Lighthouse. Perched on California's rugged northern coast, this historic beacon stands among the rocky outcrops of the California Coastal National Monument and has guided mariners since its first lighting in 1856.

    Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X! That's This Week at Interior!


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    News and headlines from Interior April 11, 2025

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