Three of the Tuskegee Airman fighter pilots spoke to a crowd of more than 400 in Mt. Pleasant, Sanpete County, on Friday, September 12. Speaking at the Mt. Pleasant North Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were Lt. Colonel Asa Herring; Dr. Thurston Gaines, an original graduate; and Lt. Colonel Robert Ashby. The three men wore red jackets in homage to the painted red tails on their fighter planes.Lt. Colonel Herring spoke first and introduced himself as the youngest of the three. In addition to training in Tuskegee, Alabama, he was trained as an aircraft mechanic. Besides serving in WWII, he served in Vietnam, flying more than 350 missions.
Next, Dr. Thurston Gaines spoke about his experiences in the 99th Air Wing, 332nd Fighter Group led by General Benjamin O. Davis. While some of their exploits have been fictionalized in movies, Dr. Gaines said that they are the only group known to be successful in protecting more bombers than any other group. “None of the bombers were lost to enemy fighters,” but the Tuskegee Airmen themselves suffered injuries and casualties, and were captured as prisoners of war.
Who were the Tuskegee Airmen? Lt. Colonel Ashby identified who qualified as Tuskegee Airmen. “As far as the Tuskegee Airman are concerned, everyone—cooks, bakers, and mechanics—were part of the Tuskegee Airmen. The mechanics registered the highest scores [on tests] that have not been matched to this day!”
Lt. Colonel Ashby revealed that the Tuskegee Airmen started as an experiment. ”It was assumed the program would fail because the participants were not capable. We [the participants] determined it was not going to fail. We told each other, ‘You’re in this program for one thing—to finish. You will not fail. If you have any other thought, get out’” The program eventually graduated almost 1,000 pilots. Only about 450 went overseas. He also encouraged the youth in attendance to dedicate themselves to their education. “We cannot afford to throw away talent.”
As special guests, the choir from the LDS Genesis Group performed several songs, led by Lyn Dudley, Choir Director. Don Harwell, President of the LDS Genesis Group, asked two of the airmen if they ever thought, while they were training, that they would speak to a predominately white crowd of several hundred who would revere them as those did that night. Both shook their heads in amazement and said, “No. They didn’t think it was possible.”The weekend events culminated Saturday morning with a breakfast fundraiser for the Foyer Coin des Ciex orphanage in Haiti, and a “fly-in” of various aircraft. Both children and adults were treated to free airplane rides throughout the morning.
Dozens of individuals and families drove down from Salt Lake and Utah counties. Most were housed with special guest hosts from the local LDS stakes. Dave Fullmer, a Genesis member who lives in Mt. Pleasant, organized the event. Fullmer and his wife have adopted three children from the orphanage in Haiti.
—Jerri A. Harwell is the author of Leaning on Prayer, and she teaches Developmental Writing at Salt Lake Community College. She resides in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.