Our theme is week is National Park Service units. Each month until I get everything up-to-date in the National Park Galleries, I will feature four parks. I have tried a few ways to organize that section of TLT but have decided that the best way is to have pages for each park with links back to the page. A lot needs redone or done. Going in order i am doing two missing from Alabama and two from Alaska. There are many already done but more not finished than finished, so this is about a three-year project.
But on to more important things, the first park, Tuskegee Airmen, is a wonderful place located near Tuskegee Alabama and the Tuskegee Institute. If you like American history, aviation, WWII history or the amazing ability of people given opportunities to take hold of those rare circumstances and go well beyond what was expected, you should visit. The heroic men of the Tuskegee Airmen all fit that category. Rather than write all that is in the two cited articles, I have some notes with each photograph. If you are not familiar with or need a refresher this NPS article is a very good overview: https://www.nps.gov/tuai/index.htm, Or this one with more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen
There may be some members still surviving but it is thought the last man died at 102 in 2023.
This is the business end of the two-seat Stearman Kaydet training aircraft used by the Airmen.
This is a full view of the trainer. It has the strips on the tail, which later became Red Tails. This is also one of the first models I ever built, I guess I was about 10 or so. Didn’t look much like the box when I was done but I did get better!
This was the workhorse of the fighter units, the P-51 Mustang with the Red Tail and other red markings. They were a formidable force in the air battles over Europe.
This is a Piper J-3 trainer and what the first flights for the Airmen would be in. Mrs. Roosevelt went up in one here. Brave woman.
This is an overview of Moton Field today. Many buildings are missing. The dinning hall / dance floor and a few other buildings are here. Including the big hanger below where the prime museum is today.
