WARNER ROBINS -- At the Museum of Aviation on Friday, in a corner of the World War II hangar, three young men in uniform huddled around an elderly gentleman as he flipped through a book of war memorabilia.
They stood in front of the new mural at the Tuskegee Airmen exhibit and together represented the past and the future of the military air power.
The man with the book was 84-year-old Leroy Eley, a Tuskegee Airmen pilot during World War II. The three young men are airmen at Robins Air Force Base, who posed as Tuskegee Airmen for the mural.
They came to the exhibit prior to the official ribbon cutting Friday night to talk about the importance of the Tuskegee Airmen, who were the first black military aviators. The Tuskegee Airmen overcame doubts to operate successfully as fighter pilots in World War II, protecting bombers in Italy. They are credited with sparking the eventual full integration of the armed forces.
Capt. Luther Brown, a navigator in the 461st Air Control Wing at Robins, said he was honored to be part of the exhibit.
“This is truly, truly amazing,” Brown said. “To play a small role in helping continue their legacy is awesome. The lesson this shows is, don’t ever stop believing in your capabilities even when folks are saying you are not capable of doing something.”
Capt. Samuel Hutchins, a contracting officer in the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, said his generation owes much to the Tuskegee Airmen.
“I don’t know if I would be where I am if it wasn’t for these guys paving the way,” Hutchins said. “Hopefully for anybody, regardless of where they came from or their background, it should let them know that they can accomplish whatever they set their mind to.”
Eley was a 17-year-old in New York when he decided to join what was then called the Army Air Forces. He trained at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Ala., but never went overseas. He went on to become a flight instructor for both military and civilian pilots, and he later worked as an inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration.
“I always wanted to fly,” Eley said. “When I popped out of my mother’s body I wanted to fly. When my two brothers were running the street, I was at home building model airplanes.”
The exhibit, which moved from Hangar One, includes a BT-13 Valiant, the aircraft Tuskegee Airmen flew in training. It’s also the plane Eley was flying on April 10, 1949, when a fuel problem led to him crash land in a freshly plowed potato field.
Eley said he was sure he was a goner because he was inverted and about to land upside down.
“Then I heard a soft voice, the softest voice I’ve ever heard, and it said ‘Leroy, get control of your plane,’ ” he said.
Somehow he did and landed the plane right-side up. The plane was totaled, but Eley didn’t have a scratch.
“I think somebody else had a lot to do with it,” he said.
To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.
E-Mail
Print
Reprint|license
