*George S. Roberts was born on this date in 1918. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer and fighter pilot. George S “Spanky” Roberts was born in London, West Virginia, and raised in Fairmont, West Virginia. He was the son of Spencer Roberts and Estella Roberts. In 1934 Roberts graduated from Dunbar School […]
learn more*Charles DeBow was born on this date in 1918. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer, combat fighter pilot, and teacher. Charles DeBow was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was the son of Charles Henry DeBow of Lebanon, Tennessee, and Anna Sue Horne DeBow of Tennessee. DeBow’s parents moved from Tennessee to Indianapolis […]
learn more*Abbie Voorhies was born on this date in 1915. She was a Black nurse and military officer. Abbie Edith Voorhies was born in Louisiana and graduated from Kansas City General Hospital Nursing School in Missouri. Her first job was with Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. She said she joined the military after hearing that […]
learn more*Mac Ross was born on this date in 1912. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot. Mac Ross was born in rural Dallas County near Selma, Alabama, the son of Eddie Samuel “Sam” Ross and Willie B. Collins Ross. He had eight siblings: Eddie, Sammy, Jerry, Arthur, Suritha, Geniva, […]
learn more*Lemuel Custis was born on this date in 1915. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer, combat fighter pilot, Squadron Operations, and police officer. Lemuel Curtis was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, as the only child of Mary C. Goodwin Custis and Charles Custis. Lemuel Rodney Custis attended Hartford’s public schools, graduating from its […]
learn more*Alfonza W. Davis was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot. Davis was born in Pensacola, Florida, and after his mother died in 1920, he moved with his father and brother to North Omaha, Nebraska. Davis graduated valedictorian from Omaha’s Technical High School […]
learn more*The 332d Fighter Group was activated on this date in 1942. The 332d is a provisional air expeditionary group of the United States Air Force’s Air Combat Command. This Fighter Group was predominantly staffed by Black personnel and was home to the Tuskegee Airmen. The United States entered World War II with a military that […]
learn more*Edward Toppins was born on this date in 1915. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force pilot and commanding officer. Edward Lucien Toppins was born in Mississippi to Martha E. Toppins Davis, a dressmaker. He was the only brother of three sisters: Henrietta, Delphine, and Naomi. After living in Louisiana in the 1930s, Toppins […]
learn more*Joseph D. Elsberry was born on this date in 1921. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer and fighter pilot. Joseph Dubois Elsberry was born in Langston, Oklahoma. Elsberry was the youngest child and only son of Joseph Dean Elsberry, a teacher and civic leader, and Beulah Earle Meeks Elsberry, also a teacher. […]
learn more*Black history and the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) are affirmed on this date in 1943. Also known as the Women’s Army Service Pilots or Women’s Auxiliary Service Pilots, the WASP was a civilian women pilots’ organization whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Although most WASP pilots were white, they were […]
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