A film by George Lucas about the famed Tuskegee Airmen was screened ahead of its scheduled release by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on Friday, according to the Associated Press. The movie, entitled, "Red Tails" is to be released Jan. 20 and it has been a long road to get the film made because of its all black cast.
Here is more information about the group.
* It was prohibited for blacks to fly in the U.S. military until civil rights groups put pressure on the government to allow them to.
* President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the Army Air Corps to develop an all-black flying unit, which became the 99th Pursuant Squadron, according to Ace Pilots.
* In 1941, the all-black squadron was formed in Tuskegee, Ala., and they became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
* The airfield was a part of the Tuskegee Institute was where the pilots trained. It was also segregated and used especially for this squadron, according to History.com.
* The base opened on July 19, 1941, and the first pilots graduated in March 1942.
* Lt. Col. Davis led the airmen into their first combat mission on June 2, 1943, in which they attacked ground targets on Pantelleria Island.
* The Tuskegee Airmen became known as the "Red Tail Angels" because they at the time had never lost a bomber that they escorted into combat and because they had red stabilizers on their planes, according to For Love of Liberty.
* In 1944, the program to train black pilots had become so successful that three other squadrons joined the 99th and they made up the 332nd Fighter Group.
* The Squadron at first was not allowed to fight alongside white pilots, but after proving themselves they became one of the most respected.
* The 332nd Fighter Group moved to Italy during World War II.
* In June 1944, the 332nd sank a German destroyer, making it the first and only time during World War II that fighter pilots sank a destroyer using only machine guns.
* On March 24, 1945, they became one of the first fighter units to escort B-17s roundtrip to Berlin, and earned the Distinguished Unit Citation for their mission, according to The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
* 992 pilots graduated from the Tuskegee course. They flew 1,578 missions, were awarded over 850 medals and destroyed 261 enemy planes.
* They destroyed 950 enemy vehicles on the ground, earned 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 744 Air Medals, 14 Bronze Stars, and 8 Purple Hearts.
* President Bill Clinton on Nov. 6, 1998, approved a law which established the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee.
Lauren Finnegan graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in political science and has an insider's perspective on the military because of her role as a military wife who has lived around the country.
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