Oscar Lawton Wilkerson Jr., the last known surviving member of the Tuskegee Airmen in the Chicago area, has died.
At schools and churches, he told the story of how the unit became legendary for aerial prowess and for shattering the stereotype that Black men weren't capable of being combat pilots.
Only the groups' fighter pilots - known as red tails because of the color of their plane's tails - served in combat during World War II. The war ended before bomber pilots were activated. In 2000, 55 Chicago-area Tuskegee Airmen - pilots, crew members and support staff like mechanics - attended an event honoring them. Now, with Mr. Wilkerson's death, there are no surviving original members of the Tuskegee Airmen left in the Chicago chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the group's history.
Mr. Wilkerson was a senior at Bloom High School in Chicago Heights when he registered for the Army Air Force. He passed a test and 10 days after graduation found himself on a train to Tuskegee, Alabama, to start training. The Chicago chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc. was named after the extinct dodo bird because its aviators "had their wings but could not fly," Rapier said.
Mr. Wilkerson, who was a bomber pilot because he was too big to fit in the cockpit of a fighter plane, didn't brag about being part of the Tuskegee Airmen, Ellison said.
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